Chapter Text
John was practically vibrating in his seat by the time the receptionist walked over to inform him that his dentist was running late. He appreciated the notice but he had guessed by then. He had been in the waiting room for about 25 minutes now, forcing himself not to look too hard at the posters of dentures, braces and diagrams of teeth, He knew there was a chance he would start crying or hyperventilating if he did and he wasn’t sure what was worse.
Silver had had a phobia of dentists his whole life and he had a few coping mechanisms that had unfortunately all failed for that day’s appointment. The office knew of his fear so they would schedule him at the very end of the day and told him to come in just in time for his appointments since the waiting room just got him worked up.
Secondly he always got knocked out, regardless of what he needed to get done. For that to happen Max would come with him so she could drive him back. But this was a bit of a last minute appointment so she was on a business trip for at least two more weeks and he just couldn’t wait anymore. He’d been having a slight tooth ache for a good couple of months but had put off getting it checked because… well because he hated the dentist. But now his face had been swollen for three days and he couldn’t even drink without pain.
Suddenly Silver realized that the receptionist had been saying something else and he’d just blanked through the whole thing.
-Sorry, what was that?
-Oh, I was saying we sent a memo when it happened but it was a while ago so you might have missed it. Your old dentist retired, you’re being seen by our new doctor.
John muttered a soft okay, processing the news and he was left alone once again. It’s not like he particularly liked the old guy but at least he knew him and was used to his way of working. He had no idea what to expect from some new doctor which didn’t help the rising anxiety. This was really becoming a nightmare. He wiped his hands in his jeans but he knew they’d be sweaty again in a minute. He tried doing one of them breathing exercises that people recommended. Inhale, hold, exhale. It was trembly but it was something.
John had been staring at the clock to time his breathing so he knew that another ten minutes had passed by the time the receptionist came back to tell him the doctor was now ready. She led him through the short hallway to a closed room on the side, knocked and opened it before waiting for an answer. The smell of disinfected surfaces and that weird pleather dentist chairs were made of hit Silver in waft, and his breathing quickened slightly.
-Doctor, this is the patient I told you about. John Silver.
John could just see a short ponytail of ginger hair from behind the tall woman.
-Right, that’s okay. Thank you Miranda-the doctor answered without looking up.
Miranda, turned back to Silver and indicated for him to come into the room with a gesture and a smile. She turned and closed the door after stepping out. The light click made John react and he looked up from his shoes to look at his new doctor. He drew in a sharp breath and in turn the dentist looked up as well. His eyes widened slightly.
-Oh. Hello John.
-I… Hi, um, you’re… Uh, dentist.