My Brother Dr. Reese

Appointment

"We've got to make you a profile before we start, I can fill some of it out myself-" Chad says, typing a little. "-Let's start with something easy: any allergies?"
"Nope," Cadence says, popping the "p".

"Nervous?"

She sucks at her teeth before answering. "Yeah."

"Is it bad?"

"No, I'm just . . . not all that comfortable,"

He nods, reassuring her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She glances down. "I don't have anything crazy, like Minty, it's just awkward, I guess. Especially 'cause, you know, it's you."

His face immediately fills out with concern. "If you'd prefer, I can get one of my professors-"

"No, no, that's worse," she cuts him off.

"Oh," there's a beat of silence. "Is there anything else?"

She shakes her head.

"Anything I should know about? Sensitivity, pain, stuff like that?"

She shifts in discomfort. "A little bit of sensitivity."

"It's okay," he pushes away from his computer, turning his chair to pat her knee. "Anywhere in particular?"

Cady brings her hand to her mouth and bites at her thumb, her head lowering. "No,"

He shifts forward, looking up at her. "Are you sure?"

She unconsciously leans away, blinking hard, and wipes at her eyes with the heels of her hands.

"Are you crying? I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. We don't have to talk about it right now,"

She won't meet his eyes.

"How about we take a little break?"

She nods, swallowing. Chad wastes no time leaving.

As soon as he's gone, I pat the visitor's chair next to me. "Come sit with me."

She looks relieved. I lay her head on my shoulder, stroking her hair, and hum a few bars of Outer Space/Carry On. And before I know it, she's singing along, her voice soft.

Slowly, we fade out into silence.

"What's going on with you and Chad?"

She starts crying again. "I-he-I made him angry."

My brow creases. "He's not mad. He's worried."

She doesn't say anything after that until he comes back, Ty in his wake. Luckily, her tears are dry, and there don't seem to be any more on the way.

"More questions?"

Chad shakes his head, a small smile on his face. "No more."

Without another word, she moves to the larger chair. Chad doesn't say anything except ask if she's ready. When she nods, he starts the exam.

About halfway through, his face goes white and he hunches over a little. Ty approaches him.

"Chad?" he says quietly. "Want me to take over for a minute?"

Chad nods, his expression tight, and exits the room, his step pained. I follow him out.

"Chad? Are you okay?"

He shakes his head. "I'm fine, Minty. You should go back in. Cady needs you."

He's headed towards the bathroom anyways. I grumble a little and turn back. "You'll tell me what's wrong when you come back in."

"I'm fine. Nothing's wrong,"

I roll my eyes and step back into the exam room. Everything seems to be fine: Cady's relaxed and sat up, Ty's talking to her, finishing up the routine.

"While Chad's gone, I'm going to get some X-rays, all right?"

Cadence nods, Ty places the film and leaves. I go with him, standard procedure. The X-ray itself takes about ten seconds, but Ty pretends to study it for a while, almost begging me to ask.

"What's going on with Chad?"

He turns slowly and runs both hands through his hair, looking helpless. "Honestly? I don't know. He won't tell me."

"Well, how can we get him to talk? Cady would help, but it could make him even less likely. He is male, after all."

Ty almost smiles at that. "Min, I honestly don't know. But I'm willing to bet my life he'll come to you before long."

Back with Cady, Ty's showing her the X-rays. Result: four cavities. Simple, not too severe, decently quick fix. Chad comes back before they start, his face white and his eyes sunken. He won't meet my eyes.

Cadence's are closed. Ty has a syringe and goes to pass it to Chad.

"You good?"

He hands it over at Chad's tired nod. The needle goes into Cady's mouth. She doesn't make a sound, almost doesn't react except to shift a little.

***

Chad and Ty take Chad's car, and Cady drives me home. Her hands-at precisely ten and two-are tight on the wheel.

"I told you I didn't want to go."

"I know," my voice is small.

"And you saw what they did, they-"

I cut her off. "-Hey, all I saw them do was fill your cavities."

Her knuckles go red and white for a moment before going completely slack, one hand dropping into her lap, the other jerking the wheel. We swerve violently, she slams on the brakes. We end up on the side of the road, not moving, not talking, until Cadence just breaks down.

"It hurt. It hurt so much and you didn't do anything."

"I couldn't tell. You barely even moved when he gave you the Lidocaine. Why didn't you tell him? Me, or Ty, or . . . anyone?"

Her voice is barely above a whisper. "I didn't want to make him angry again."

I turn in my seat, dumbfounded she could even think he was mad. "He wasn't angry. He was worried. It's his job to keep you comfortable, but he's not a mind-reader. You have to talk to him,"

She throws her hands up. "Well, what am I supposed to do now? Go up to him and say, 'hey, you fixed my cavities and it hurt like a mother'?"

"I don't know, okay? I . . . I don't know," I cover my face, my head dropping into my lap. Cady's gone from rage to tears again, I'm not close behind. "I'll just . . . I'll talk to him. I'll do something."

Cady comes in for a hug.

We stay like that for a long time, crying and whispering, each holding the other.