My Brother, The Dentist

Chapter 5

As Mr Mullender returned to the class, I noticed someone trailing along behind him.

It was my brother.

"Get away from my Sam!" I shouted, running towards the back wall of the classroom. "I don't trust you!"

Mr Mullender shut the door.

"Billy, come on, just talk to your brother" Mr Mullender said, beckoning towards the chair I once sat on.

"No, I want him to leave me alone!"

"Billy, I'm sorry, okay?" Sam said, walking towards me.

I broke down into tears, sliding down the wall and curling up into a ball. My brother slid down next to me, hugging me tight. I hadn't had affection from him in a while, this was nice.

"I'll leave you two to it" Mr Mullender said, leaving the classroom and shutting the door behind him.

"Billy, talk to me. Why are you so upset?"

"You embarrassed me in front of the whole class. Maybe I wouldn't be so scared of the dentist if you weren't so forceful towards me!"

"It's hard when you don't obey what I say though Billy" he returned as if we were playing a tennis match.

"You don't give me enough time. I'm petrified of the dentist, and I'm petrified of you!"

"I'm willing to change, to make you happy" he said, wiping away the tears from my face. "Come with me to the office now, and we'll work this out."

I sniffed. Then nodded, not realising what I was getting myself in to.

"Great, let's go." He took my hand and led me outside and into his car, shutting the door behind me.

We reached his office very fast, and he took my hand and led me into a different room than last time. I was about to take a seat in the doomed dentist chair when he grabbed my arm and pulled me away. I was confused.

"Billy, what if you were to look at my teeth? Would that make you feel comfortable and as if it's not one sided?"

This seemed a bit weird to me. I already knew my brother's teeth were perfect. Completely straight, naturally white and blindingly shiny! Yet, I hadn't seen the inside before. This made me curious so I went along with his bizarre idea. He hopped into the chair and told me how to lower it. I did as he said, and soon enough the chair was lowering as if he was my patient, rather than me being his. I liked this a lot, for once I was in power.

"There's a box of gloves just over there and there should be a mirror in a packet on the side" he explained, pointing in two different directions. I ended up finding these things in a matter of seconds, but struggled to get the gloves on my hands properly.

"How on earth do you do this so easily Sam? They just slip on your hands!" I said, getting frustrated.

He laughed at me, "years of practice I guess, I've just learnt where my fingers need to go. But then he stopped me. "Billy, that's not gonna work. You can't rub your ungloved hand all over the gloved hand, because then what's the point of even wearing the gloves? You're still spreading germs!"

That seemed understandable.

I grabbed a new pair of gloves and slid them on much easier this time. Wow, I was becoming a natural already!

After the gloves were on it was time to start looking at my brothers teeth.

"Now, what do I do next?"

"Well..." Sam started. "Next I would move the light to shine towards the patient's mouth, but considering you can't reach just leave it" he giggled slightly.

"You're a funny one aren't you" I joked, playfully punching his shoulder. Something about his perculiar sense of humour just couldn't be ignored. Wow, what a moron!

"Alright, just use the mirror to look at my teeth now I guess".

"What about that spikey tool?" I asked, feeling confused about the whole idea in general.

"That spikey tool" he began, "is called an explorer. And i'm not trusting you with one of them. You'll probably stab my gums!" he laughed.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not a psycho Sam!"

Sam just smiled at me, grinning wide, then opened his mouth up.

"Hey, no! Close your mouth!" I shouted. "I want the power of saying 'open' like you do!"

"Ugh, fine" Sam said, shutting his mouth closed tight. It seemed so strange Sam being in the chair, as it was usually him putting others through the misery that is visiting the dentist's office.

"Open please" I grinned, and funnily enough my brother obeyed. Wow, this power really did feel great. No wonder my brother became a dentist! I took hold of the mirror and began looking around at my brother's teeth. They were completely spotless and clean as a whistle! There were no fillings in sight, and as I felt along them with my finger I could tell he'd had braces, due to the pure straightness that they held. Sam stayed completely still, not moving at all, just carefully watching me with his beady eyes. It made me feel embarrassed for myself about the huge fight I had put up at my last appointment. I wonder how often people refuse to let him look at their teeth?

"Sam, i'm so jealous of your teeth!" I whined, taking the mirror out of his mouth and pulling off my gloves.

"Thanks Billy" he grinned, sitting himself up in the chair and restoring it to its normal state.

"Sam, I have a question, it's a bit weird and random though" I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Hit me!" he returned, straightening up his hair.

"Do you often get people who refuse to let you look at their teeth?"

Firstly, he laughed slightly, putting his full attention back on me and not his hair. "Literally most of the time" he explained, getting up out of the chair. "Considering this is a children's dentist for ages 0-18, most of them absolutely hate it here. Funnily enough though, most of their parent's just leave them here for me to deal with, probably knowing the fight they're going to put up" he continued to laugh.

I found this very interesting and thought it'd be cool to see Sam in action throughout the day!

"Anyway, Billy, you wanna get in the chair now?" he asked me, gesturing towards the chair. It sat there, looking as if it was about to gobble me up.

"I don't know Sam... I'm feeling a bit sick".

"Sit and we'll just talk" he said, patting on the chair.

I sat down. It didn't make me feel good though. I just wanted to go home. Why was I doing this? Sam took a seat on the stool beside me.

"So Billy, why are you so scared" he asked, patting me gently on my right shoulder.

"I don't know Sam" I began to sulk. "I guess i'm scared of the pain, and the whole idea of someone looking at my teeth just kind of freaks me out".

"Okay Billy, well you know I'd never hurt you on purpose, right?"

I nodded my head, staring deep into my brother's bright brown eyes. Why was he so perfect? He had clear, smooth skin, perfect teeth, cute tiny dimples, and fluffy brown hair that curled up at the top into a perfect gelled quiff, which bounced as he walked. Then there was me. Freckled, bumpy skin, crooked teeth, puffy cheeks, and boring brown hair which I could sweep to the side somedays if it didn't decide to play up with me. Thinking of this made me tear up inside, and I just had to say something. So I sighed to get my brother to notice.

"Talk to me Billy, what's bothering you?"

I looked him up and down. "Well, Sam. You're just perfect. Where as i'm just ugly and pathetic, a wimp!"

He hugged me tight. "Billy, you're amazing okay? I love you so much and I just want the best for you, and that is that".

A smile let loose out of the corner of my my mouth. Then, I made the bravest, most boldest move i've ever taken in my life...

I took a huge deep breath.

"Sam, I'm ready for braces..."

"B...b...but Billy, are you sure? That's very brave of you!"

I thought for a moment, then sighed a deep breath. "I know this is the best thing for me Sam, and I know it will make you happy."

"I'm only happy if you're happy Billy."

I smiled at him with a subtle motion. "So, when can we get this over with then? I'd rather it be sooner than later if i'm honest."

"I'll go check my schedule for tomorrow, there may be a free slot available if you're up for it?"

I nodded my head, and Sam wandered out of the room, leaving only me left in the mortifying room. I looked around taking in all my surroundings, wondering how I could possibly be so scared of something so small. I pondered to myself in silence, question all my thoughts. It was tranquil for a while, until Sam bombed back into the room murdering the silence and creating a dance party around my heart.

"Good news Billy! There's a slot free at 3:45 tomorrow, so i've set you an appointment!" He gleamed his big shiny teeth at me.

"Alright cool" I replied, brushing past him and out into the corridor. I felt his presence following behind me, then his soft palm gently grasp my shoulder.

"You're totally sure about this right Billy? I mean... I don't want you to feel pressured at all..."

"Honestly Sam don't question me anymore, you're putting braces on my teeth tomorrow and that is final, okay?"

"Okay" he whispered, slowly lifting his palm away.