salute [h.s]

chapter 15 - distressing dentistry & cathartic confessions

She hated the dentist. Doctors, fine. But dentists? No way. Ever since she was a little kid, she'd always avoided the dentist. She'd hide in her closet every time she had an appointment scheduled to the point where her dad had to keep the appointments a secret until he pulled the car up outside the office. She wasn't sure what was so bad about them. She'd been in far worse pain coming out of the doctor's office before – there was just something about dentists that set her on edge.

She sure as hell wasn't going to say that out loud, not in front of men who had probably been shot, and knifed, and beaten, and tortured more times combined than she could possibly count. She didn't want to seem like a pansy.

"Alright, Red," Luke said using the stupid nickname he had given her almost the second they had been introduced. Surprisingly, she hadn't heard that one very often growing up. Mostly, it was 'pumpkin'. She hated to admit it, but Red was probably better. "I'm going to numb you up and then we'll yank those suckers out."

Piper swallowed around the tightness in her throat and nodded, because she really didn't trust herself to speak. Luke had already laid out a towel and had stacked a number of scary looking instruments on it. This time when he pulled his hand out of his kit, he was holding a syringe and a vial. "Are you allergic to lidocaine?" he asked as he uncovered the syringe and stabbed the sharp end into the vial.

Because he was focusing on measuring out the dosage, Piper knew a verbal answer was required. She managed to croak out a 'no', which made Luke's eyebrows shoot up his forehead. He seemed surprised that she sounded so nervous.

"You're going to be fine, Red – open up wide," he added offhandedly as he flicked the air bubbles out of the syringe. "Just a pinch, okay?"

Piper let her eyes drift shut as he came closer with the needle. She was fine with needles, normally, just not needles in her mouth. She figured if she didn't have to watch, it would probably go better. She felt Luke tugging her lip out of the way and then the sharp prick of the needle in her top gum, followed by her bottom gum. She waited a few seconds after Luke had let go of her lip before she chanced opening her eyes back up.

She purposely avoided Harry's gaze over her shoulder because she knew he would be all concerned and sympathetic, and she didn't want his pity. She didn't want to need it. She wanted to be strong and brave, but right now, with her stomach doing unsettling gymnastics, she felt anything but strong or brave.

"You don't have anything to worry about," Luke was saying as he finished sterilizing the dental pliers that he had set aside. "I've pulled out tons of teeth before and only one person ended up dying."

"Luke," Harry said warningly, his voice low and lethal.

"It wasn't even my fault!" Luke defended. "The guy had an infection like you wouldn't believe – pus and blood everywhere. His tooth had practically rotted right out of his mouth. I swear, I tried to grab on and it almost disintegrated under –"

"Luke!"

Piper could feel her head spinning and she was sure she was white as a sheet. She curled an arm around her stomach, trying to willfully keep from spilling her guts up. "Give her a break, Luke," Ashton said softly from where he was watching off to the side.

"Sorry," Luke said sincerely, looking a little sheepish. "I'm not trying to scare you. I'm actually trying to reassure you. I am totally capable of doing this."

"I know I'll probably regret asking this," Piper said, her words sounding a little funny because her mouth was almost completely numb now, "but are you actually a dentist? Or are you like Niall, and you got all your training in the field?"