Chapter One
“So, big day tomorrow?” Oliver didn’t look up from the cup of tea he was messily adding water to. I watched the dark liquid spill over the edge of the cup. “Are youexcited?” he said mockingly.
“I guess. It’s the first private practice I’ve worked for,” I replied with a shrug. I didn’t look up from the magazine in my hands. It was stupid, but I didn’t want to admit just how nervous I was about starting my new job.
Oliver flicked his tea bag into the bin. “I’m sure it will all be the same as it was in the last place, Max.”
“I suppose. It’s shit ’cause I was just getting to know people at the old surgery. I hate being ‘the new guy’,” I grumbled.
“You worry too much.” Oliver sat down next to me on our heavily marked, scruffy sofa. The motion caused another small splash of tea to erupt out of his cup. He didn’t seem to notice and gingerly took a sip.
“Yeah? Well, maybe you worry too little,” I replied, throwing the magazine I’d been flicking through onto the coffee table. It wobbled on its three legs, the fourth made from a stack of old video tapes. “I might just go to bed. There’s nothing on TV anyway.” I got to my feet and shuffled through the messy flat towards my room.
“Seriously though, good luck for tomorrow,” Oliver shouted over the back of the sofa. “I’m off out tonight. I doubt I’ll be up before noon, so have a good one.”
“Cheers, I’ll try.” I smiled, shutting my door behind me. Although I could still hear the dull roar of the television through the thin wood, my room was calm and quiet. I threw myself onto the bed and groaned as my body sank into the old, but wonderfully soft, mattress.
Oliver was right, tomorrow was going to be a big day, though I hated to build it up like that. I’d been working as a dental assistant for three years – excluding the training during my university placements. The NHS were redeploying me to a fancy, partially privatised dental practice on the other side of town – Avenhill Surgery. I was going to miss my old workplace, with the creaky floorboards and the smell of damp. Maybe it was right of the council to shut it down from a health and safety point of view, but as far as places of work went? It was the best.
More than the place itself, I would miss the people – Donna especially. She had been one of the most experienced nurses and my mentor. Donna had been my rock when I’d been nervous and covered for me when I’d made mistakes. She wasn’t being redeployed; none of the nurses from that practice were, all being close enough to retirement age to take redundancy. However, being a young, fit, twenty-six-year-old, I hadn’t been as lucky.
This was the first time I would be without Donna, my safety net since I graduated. What if I wasn’t as good as she and the other nurses had always led me to believe? What if they did things differently at Avenhill, or looked down at me for not having worked at a private practice before? My work ethic was a blessing and a curse rolled into one. I wanted to do my absolute best at this new surgery… But what if my best wasn’t enough? Just the thought of it made me anxious. I sighed, at least if Iwasterrible, I wouldn’t be posted there for long – a year, at most.
My new job at Avenhill Surgery wasn’t a permanent one. I was covering someone’s maternity leave, but temporary was still better than being unemployed. I’d been so unsure of my ability that I’d almost turned the offer down and gone to work in a supermarket or a bank or something, but my heart told me that wasn’t the way forward. I couldn’t throw away all my training and experience, not after I’d worked so hard for it.
I sat up and dragged my t-shirt over my head, feeling the prickle of cool air brushing my skin. I pulled my jeans off and snuggled down beneath my duvet. I focused on dimming the nerves and turned my thoughts to other things – what I was going to have for breakfast, my plans for the weekend, the hot guy from the razor adverts...
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At six AM my alarm was screaming in my ear. I groaned and reached my hand out from beneath my cosy duvet into the cool morning air, just long enough to dismiss it. Once silence had been restored, instead of snuggling back down beneath my sheets like I desperately wanted to, I sat up and stretched. Through the darkness, I could just make out the navy tunic of my uniform, hanging on the wardrobe door as a reminder of what was to come. I ruffled my hair before swinging my legs out of the warm bed.
I grabbed a pair of clean boxers, deodorant, and hair wax before hurrying out through my door, to the bathroom I shared with Oliver.
Once in the shower, under the hot jets of water, I began to relax. Today wouldn’t be so bad – how different could Avenhill be? Sure, it was much newer and bigger than my old surgery, but at the end of the day it was still a dental practice.
The next fifteen minutes passed in a blur. I hopped out of the shower, dried myself off, brushed my teeth and fussed with my appearance in the dirty bathroom mirror. Satisfied that I looked the best that I could, I dashed back down the hall to my room and put my uniform on. I smiled, catching sight of myself in the full-length mirror on the wardrobe door. This was who I was meant to be. I should have been thankful that I managed to get a new job. I had a feeling working in a supermarket just wouldn’t be the same.
I put two slices of bread into the toaster and flicked the switch on the kettle to start the water boiling. Whilst waiting for my breakfast, I double checked I had everything I needed in my bag and laced up my work boots. The sound of toast popping drew my attention back to the kitchen.
I glanced at the clock – six-thirty. There was no time for tea, or even buttering toast. I shoved the bread into my mouth whilst I slipped my coat on, grabbed my keys and headed out. I took care to close the heavy front door quietly behind me, keen not to wake my undoubtedly hung-over flatmate.
It was a cool morning; the first after a blistering hot summer. Autumn was steadily approaching. With my slice of toast still lodged in my mouth, I pulled my wireless headphones from my pocket, pushing them into my ears before setting off towards the bus stop. I flicked through tracks on Spotify, before eventually settling on a playlist entitled ‘Confidence Boost’ – something the pounding in my chest told me I was in dire need of.
Before long, I was stepping off my bus in front of Avenhill Dental Surgery. I crossed the road and swallowed, feeling more nervous with every footfall. I hopped down a set of three steps to the main entrance. I pushed the door, then pulled, surprised when it didn’t budge. I glanced around, suddenly realising there was an intercom. Feeling foolish, I pressed the buzzer and waited.
“Hello?” A woman’s voice crackled through the speaker.
“Uh, hi. I’m Max Harley, the new dental nurse starting today?” I ran a hand through my hair.
“Of course. Sorry, I forgot that was today.”
There was another buzz and a faint click as the seal on the door deactivated. I pushed inside and brushed my feet on the mat before making my way through another door to the reception.
The familiar smell of mouthwash, mint and disinfectant hit me, and on some level, it settled my nerves a little. A rather large woman sat behind the reception desk. She looked at me over the top of the thin framed glasses that were perched on the end of her nose.
“Max? Nice to meet you, I’m Trisha.” She smiled and leant over the counter to shake my hand.
“Nice to meet you too.” I smiled back, glancing around the room. The same smattering of posters covered the walls as in my previous surgery – signs of gum disease, adverts for teeth whitening, the advantages of flossing… Except these posters were neat, not moth-eaten and ripped at every edge.
