Lina gave Brenda a bib and sunglasses to wear before lowering the seat back. “I’m so glad, Brenda. I’ll make this as easy as possible for you. How were the x–rays?”
Brenda grimaced. “Horrible. But I guess we’ll find out how horrible when the dentist comes in.”
Lina clicked through the screens, having a look for herself. There were a few between teeth cavities, but nothing majorly wrong that she could see. But that was for the dentist to diagnose. Some things had to be taken care of right away, and some they would only watch. It depended on the dentist.
“I think you’ll be okay. We’ll see what Dr. Rhodes thinks.”
Brenda turned her head. “Oh, they said Dr. Rhodes had a dental emergency come up. Dr. Giles is going to come in.”
Dr. Kirby Giles. That was bad for so many reasons. Kirby didn’t have great bedside manners, but he was also the last person Lina wanted talking to Brenda. What if Brenda brought up Dillon? Lina pushed aside those worries. Brenda needed her calm.
“Well, let’s get started. I’m going to polish your teeth to start with. Are you good with mint flavor?”
“Oh, yes. I love mint.”
Lina got to work, being as gentle as possible and giving Brenda lots of opportunities to rinse and suction. Brenda did great with the flossing, although scraping the plaque took some coaxing.
“What kind of horror movies have you been watching, Brenda?” Lina asked with a laugh. “I promise I won’t hurt you with these tools. I’m a dental teddy bear.”
Brenda relaxed and let her finish, but she gripped the chair the whole time like she was on a rollercoaster ride.
When Lina announced she was done, Brenda took a deep breath and shook out her hands. As soon as Lina inclined her chair, Brenda leaned forward and reached out for a hug. Lina held her tight, genuinely proud of her for working through her fear.
“Lina, no more hugging the patients.” Kirby chuckled from the doorway. He came over to stand next to them, a little too close to Lina than was professional. “When Lina says she loves her job, she’s being literal,” he said to Brenda with a wink.
Lina and Brenda both laughed at his joke, but Lina didn’t miss the side eye Brenda threw her when he leaned over to look at her dental x-rays.
Brenda fiddled with her dental bib. “Oh, Lina and I already know each other. She’s dating my son, Dillon.”
Lina could read Brenda’s mind. The woman had easily sensed the weird dynamic between Kirby and Lina and was trying to help. But this was not helping.
Kirby’s eyes stayed on the x-rays, but he frowned with a concentration Lina knew had nothing to do with cavities. “Really? Lina hasn’t said anything. It must be new.”
“Not really. She came for Thanksgiving.” Brenda beamed at Lina. “We love her already.”
Kirby’s eyes darted to Lina’s. He was likely wondering why she hadn’t mentioned a boyfriend when he’d asked her out last week. It would have been a lot easier and less insulting than telling him it wasn’t a good idea for the two of them to go out.
Lina charged ahead before Brenda could say anything else. “I don’t share a lot about my personal life here at the office.”
Which wasn’t exactly true. Lina had probably encouraged Kirby by being so friendly and open. Everyone had known about her last relationship, how it started and why it ended. The only thing she didn’t talk about was her family.
Kirby cleared his throat. “Well, Brenda. Because you neglected to see a dentist for several years, we have a lot of cavities to fix up. You’re very lucky it’s not worse than that. This old filling on the top right side needs to be replaced. It’s starting to merge with this new cavity next to it. If we wait any longer, you’ll need a root canal. You haven’t been brushing and flossing well enough in the corners. And you should definitely stay away from soda.” He went on and on, not stopping to see how Brenda was taking the news.
Lina squeezed Brenda’s hand. She would check with Ashley and make sure Kirby wouldn’t be on the schedule to do the fillings.
Kirby pushed the foot petal, lowering the chair back, and went to look inside Brenda’s mouth with the very tools that had scared Brenda before. She whimpered.
“Is something wrong?” Kirby asked, pulling his hands back.
Lina motioned for him to follow her out into the hallway. He reluctantly did, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.
“Brenda’s afraid of dentists. Didn’t you see that in her file?”
“She’s afraid of me?” Kirby asked.
“She’s afraid of the poky-looking instruments.”
“Ahh.” He went back in the room and looked inside Brenda’s mouth with the dental mirror instead, talking about the options for anesthesia for when she came back to get her fillings.
