I headed out towards the reception, relieved to escape the handsome dentist, even if it was only a brief reprieve. A girl, about my age, looked up from behind the desk. She had dark, chocolate brown curls and a cute, lightly freckled face. She smiled at me.
“Max, right? Nice to meet you, I’m Becca.”
“Hi.” I half-waved.
“You’re totally different to how I imagined you.” Her eyes widened as she realised how that must have sounded. “Sorry, that’s a weird thing to say.”
I smiled tightly, not sure how to respond. The conversation between Rowan and Trisha came to the forefront of my mind, and I changed the subject. “Hey, I heard Dr Thompson asking about a patient called Sarah? Something to do with rescheduling a root canal—”
Becca gasped. “Balls, I totally forgot! Thank you, I’ll get right on it.”
My eyebrows raised at her unprofessional language, but I couldn’t hold back my smirk. I turned my attention to the waiting room, thankful there was only one patient that may have overheard Becca’s outburst.
“Rosaline Finley, please?” A middle-aged woman got up and grabbed her bag hurriedly, following me out of the door.
“Hi, how are you today?” I asked her as we made our way towards Rowan’s room.
“Oh, I’m fine. Are you taking over from Mandy?” Rosaline replied, scouring me with her eyes.
“Yeah, she’s on maternity leave. I’m Max, by the way. Nice to meet you.” I gave her my best ‘being nice to the patient’ smile and she returned it.
“You’re awfully young,” she muttered as I held the door open for her to enter the room.
Before I had a chance to defend myself, Rowan spoke. “The young ones are always better to work with. They’ve got a fresh set of eyes. Good morning, Rosaline.”
“Oh, good morning, Dr Thompson.” The woman suddenly took on a slight blush. It seemed I wasn’t the only one who was affected by Rowan’s good looks.
“Have a seat for me.” Rowan patted the dental chair, tying his mask into position. I snapped on the pair of gloves I had taken earlier before sitting in front of the computer.
“So, how has that crown been?” Rowan asked, reaching up to adjust the height of the lamp above.
“It’s been fine,” Rosaline answered.
“Excellent, open wide for me?” Rowan leant in, holding a small, circular mirrored device. “It’s looking good, seems to have taken really well.” He glanced up at me, silently asking me with his eyes whether I was ready to start. I noted how much more intense they were when the rest of his face was covered by a mask and my gut churned. That was going to make things even more difficult. I nodded subtly.
Rowan began probing around Rosaline’s gum line, looking for any abnormalities or bleeding. He recited the codes for teeth, moving through the four quadrants, and I typed quickly, keeping up with ease. The system was exactly the same as the old one and I felt my confidence beginning to return. Once he’d finished with coding Rosaline’s teeth, Rowan stretched to change the angle on the lamp.
“Sorry, I know that’s a bit bright. Just try to put up with it for now. I’ll be quick,” he told her, and Rosaline made a strangled noise of agreement around the mirror Rowan still had in her mouth. He swivelled the mirror around to look right to the back. I got up, standing far enough away from the patient so as not to make her uncomfortable, but close enough to be at hand if Rowan needed my assistance.
“Okay, all done.” Rowan pushed the lamp away and sat back, snapping his gloves off and dropping them into a small bin at his feet. He pulled his mask down. “Everything looks just fine. The crown is still in place and everything else is great. That’ll be you done for another six months.”
“Oh good.” Rosaline looked relieved as she sat up, fussing her hair. I quickly sanitised the mirror and Rowan showed the patient out. Whilst he was away, I clicked the button on the screen to save the new records to Rosaline’s file and started a fresh patient entry.
“That went well.” Rowan smiled, as he came back through the door. “Did you manage to keep up okay? No questions?”
I shook my head. “No, all good.”
“Great. We’ve got a few minutes before the next one. Can you do me a favour and go on through to Becca and ask her to give Sarah Langley a call about rescheduling her root canal please?” he asked, pulling a fresh pair of gloves from the box.
“I’ve already sorted it. I reminded her earlier when I went to collect Mrs Finley.”
Rowan’s eyebrows raised. “I’m impressed. Thanks.”
“Sure,” I replied, quickly turning my back so I wouldn’t have to worry about what expression my face was making.
???
Before I had realised the time, Rowan was showing out his last patient of the day. He ran through how to shut things down and I grabbed my things so he could lock his office.
