by Jae
In the line below, the patient form asked for the date of her last dental visit. This is the first, she wrote in tiny letters. Too bad there wasn’t any space to add, and hopefully last.
A young woman in the same safari animals scrub top approached the waiting area.
Robin and the little boy both stared at her.
“Hi, Jayden. Dr. Kristina is ready for you now. Come with me, please.”
Clutching his mother’s hand, the boy followed her.
Robin stayed behind alone. After a while, she got up to hand the patient form to the receptionist before returning to her chair. She kept unsheathing her fangs to flick her tongue over the chipped edge. Her right knee bounced up and down. She realized that she had started counting the number of toys in the corner—a nervous habit that she, like many of her kind, just couldn’t break.
Finally, the mother and her son returned, the little boy proudly holding on to a small plastic toy. They stopped at the reception desk to make another appointment before leaving the dentist’s office.
When the young woman in the safari scrub top approached again, Robin knew it was her turn. “Ms. Caldwell? Dr. Kristina…I mean, Dr. Pérez will see you now.”
Robin’s legs felt a little wobbly as she stood and followed the dental nurse down the hall. She couldn’t remember her heart ever beating this fast in her sixty-seven years, not even during her first hunt.
The nurse gestured through an open door to one of the treatment rooms. “Please make yourself comfortable. Dr. Pérez will be with you in a minute.”
Comfortable wasn’t a term Robin associated with the dental chair. She stepped into the room, which had zebras and giraffes on the walls too. A stuffed crocodile dangled from the lamp over the dental chair. Scowling up at it, Robin slid onto the padded chair.
The nurse returned and secured a disposable patient napkin around Robin’s neck.
She flinched when the cold metal chain touched her skin. Frowning, she eyed the paper bib now covering her chest. What was this for? To protect her clothes from any blood that might spatter?
Her stomach felt queasy. Oh, come on. You’re a Girah. A bloodsucker. Don’t tell me you can’t stand the sight of blood.
Another person entered. She was so petite that Robin mistook her for a girl before realizing she was a grown woman. She wore red scrubs without any cartoon characters, and a surgical mask dangled from her neck. Her black hair, tied back into a ponytail, shone under the bright lights of the treatment room. Despite her diminutive size, she strode into the room with confident steps. No hint of fear glinted in her dark eyes as she reached out and shook Robin’s hand. “Hi. I’m Dr. Kristina Pérez.”
Her handshake was unexpectedly firm for such a petite woman.
Robin gave her a tight-lipped smile. “Robin Caldwell.”
The dentist glanced over her shoulder. “I won’t need you for this patient, Pia. Why don’t you and Stephanie call it a day?”
The nurse lingered in the doorway. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” Dr. Pérez said, her tone friendly but firm. “And please close the door behind you.”
When the nurse closed the door and her steps faded away, Dr. Pérez turned toward Robin. “This is a first.”
“For me too,” Robin mumbled, even though she wasn’t sure what exactly the dentist was referring to—treating an adult or treating a Girah. Frankly, she didn’t care. All she wanted was to make it out of this chair as fast as possible, preferably with a repaired fang.
“You look a little tense. Are you in pain?”
“No. I just don’t like dentists.”
Dr. Pérez laughed. “Well, I’m not particularly fond of sticking my hand into a vampire’s mouth either; trust me.” Despite her words, she didn’t seem to be scared.
Weird.
“So,” Dr. Pérez stepped closer, “what seems to be the problem?”
“A piece of my left fang broke off,” Robin said, hoping the dentist wouldn’t ask how it had happened.
“Okay, let’s take a look.” Dr. Pérez pressed a button.
The chair lifted up and tipped back, making Robin clutch the armrests with both hands.
The doctor snapped on a pair of latex gloves, sat on a stool, and wheeled herself toward Robin. She pulled the tray with metal instruments closer.
Robin eyed a dental probe and other instruments she couldn’t identify. She flinched when her gaze landed on the drill in a holder alongside the chair.
Dr. Pérez must have seen where she was looking. A gentle grin curved her lips. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of pointy things.”
Great. Why did she have to get a dentist with a sense of humor? “Only if they’re used to poke around in my mouth.”
“I’ll try to make it as painless as possible.” Dr. Pérez adjusted the overhead light until it shone into Robin’s face.
A startled hiss escaped Robin.
“Oh, sorry.” Dr. Pérez pulled the light down a little. “I forgot that Girah don’t like bright lights.”
Robin squinted up at her. “How do you know so much about my kind?”
“Let’s just say I lead an interesting night life that brings me into contact with all kinds of people,” the dentist said.
What was that supposed to mean?
Before Robin could ask another question, Dr. Pérez tugged her surgical mask up over her mouth and said, “Okay, let’s get started.”
Her heart beating even faster, Robin dug her fingers into the armrests and nodded to indicate that she was ready.
“Um, you’ll have to open your mouth, you know?” Amusement colored the dentist’s tone, even though the mask now hid her smile.
Again, Robin wondered why she was so calm. Willing her jaw muscles not to tremble, she slowly opened her mouth as wide as she could.
Dr. Pérez leaned over her and used a long-handled mirror to peek in.
Good thing Girah have a reflection.
After a few seconds, Dr. Pérez took the mirror away and gave Robin a rebuking look. “Is this some kind of joke? I don’t see any fangs.”
“Oh, sorry.” Robin unsheathed both incisors and presented them with a grim smile.
“Ah. Okay. I can see the problem. How the heck did you manage to do that?”
Robin resisted the urge to squirm. “I…um…I bit down on something that I shouldn’t have bitten.”
“I thought Girah don’t need any solid food.”
“We don’t,” Robin said. “It wasn’t food.”
“Oh. I see.” The dentist was clever enough not to ask further questions. “Okay. So, let’s talk about treatment options. Since your fangs are retractable and I assume you want to keep it that way,” she waited for Robin’s nod, “we can’t use a cap. Fortunately, the broken-off piece isn’t that big and the pulp is intact, so we can use dental bonding.”
Bonding? At a dentist’s office? That didn’t sound promising. “What’s that?”
“It’s basically a bit of composite resin that is molded into the shape of the broken-off part and attached to the tooth.”
“That doesn’t sound very solid.” Robin frowned up at the dentist.
“It is. It’s just not as strong as your natural fang,” Dr. Pérez said. “If you take good care of it, the composite resin should last about five years before it needs to be repaired.”
Needs to be repaired? Robin didn’t like the sound of that. It meant that she’d have to return to the dentist.
“You’ll have to try not to bite down on hard things,” the dentist continued. “Is that going to be a problem?”
Robin blew out a breath. “No. I’m trying to quit biting anyway.”
“Good for you,” Dr. Pérez said, as if she heard of Girah wanting to give up fresh blood every day. “Okay, let’s get that fang fixed. Open wide, please.”
“What about anesthesia or laughing gas?” Robin asked.
The dentist shook her head. “Not necessary for this procedure. Which is good news, because I hav
e no idea how Girah react to Novocain or to nitrous oxide.”
When Robin opened her mouth, Dr. Pérez put a piece of cotton wool under her lip, propping it up, and held what looked like a row of teeth next to Robin’s lips.
“Wha’ ’a’?” Robin asked, her mouth still wide open.
The doctor seemed to understand her anyway. “It’s a shade guide. It helps me select the composite resin color that matches the color of your fang most closely.” She turned off the overhead lamp and then regarded Robin’s fang in the sunlight streaming in through the window. “Looks like a B1.”
Was that good? Robin had no idea, and she didn’t ask. She just wanted the dentist to get on with it.
Dr. Pérez started to work on her fang with a variety of instruments, finally using a syringe to apply what she called etching gel.
Having Dr. Pérez’s hand so close to her fangs made Robin nervous. She could feel the dentist’s blood pounding through her arteries. A sharp ache started in her jaw and her gums. It had nothing to do with the damaged fang and everything to do with the urge to sink her incisors into the blood vessels. Well, incisor, singular, since her other one was out of order for the time being.
She fought against the bloodlust and held still as Dr. Pérez washed off the gel she’d applied.
The stuff tasted bitter, making Robin grimace.
“Hold still,” Dr. Pérez said. Her small hands were steady as she used a tiny brush to apply another liquid to the fang.
Robin marveled at her courage—or maybe it was stupidity. The more uncomfortable she became, the more the urge to bite increased. This naive human had no idea how close she was to becoming an after-lunch snack.
“I don’t think you’d like the taste of latex, so you might want to abstain from biting my hand,” Dr. Pérez said, never pausing in what she was doing to the fang.
Robin stared up at her, but the face behind the surgical mask gave nothing away. The doctor’s dark eyes twinkled.
“You might want to close your eyes,” she said as she moved what looked like a penlight to Robin’s mouth. “I’m about to use an ultraviolet light to cure the bonding agent.”
Despite the warning, Robin kept her eyes open. No matter how much she hated bright lights, she wanted to keep an eye on this strange human.
“Don’t close your mouth.” Dr. Pérez took her hands away and turned around to prepare something on the tray.
Not being able to see what she was doing made Robin even more nervous. She lay there waiting, her mouth wide open, feeling like an idiot.
Dr. Pérez turned back around, a tiny spatula with some of the tooth-colored, puttylike resin in her right hand. She gave Robin a reassuring nod. “Ready?”
Robin nodded. She tried to hold still as Dr. Pérez applied the resin in layers and shaped it, going back for more material several times. Trying to distract herself from her helpless position and the human blood source just an inch from her mouth, she stared up at the ceiling.
Safari animals looked back at her.
She diverted her gaze to the stuffed crocodile dangling from the lamp. Did crocodiles need to visit the dentist every once in a while too?
“Are you still okay?” The doctor used the ultraviolet light again.
“Yeah,” Robin said, but because she couldn’t move her mouth and tongue properly, it came out as more of a gargle.
“Good. I know keeping your mouth open for so long is uncomfortable. You’ll be able to relax your jaw in a moment.”
Robin suppressed a grin. The muscles and joints in a Girah’s jaw were much stronger than those of humans. Her kind were used to having their mouths wide open, clamped around a human’s neck, for as long as necessary to feed.
Dr. Pérez clicked off the ultraviolet light and rolled her stool back a bit. “Okay. You can close your mouth, but don’t bite down.” She turned and sorted the equipment on the metal tray. “Now the fun part starts. I get to use my instruments to trim and shape the fang.”
“You dentists have a strange idea of fun,” Robin grumbled.
Over her shoulder, Dr. Pérez threw a grin her way. While it wasn’t visible beneath her mask, it crinkled the skin around her nose and eyes.
If she weren’t a dentist, she’d be almost cute, Robin decided. The drill in her hand wasn’t cute at all, though.
The doctor’s gentle laughter tickled Robin’s ears. “It’s always the big, bad predators who panic in my chair.”
“I’m not panicking.” Looking straight into the dentist’s eyes, she used her mind-control skills to get her to shut up and just get on with the treatment.
“Last week, I had a tiger shifter in here who nearly changed into her animal form at the mere thought of having her teeth cleaned,” Dr. Pérez continued with an amused shake of her head.
Frowning, Robin increased the force of her thrall.
Nothing.
The dentist prattled on and on about the tiger shifter being reduced to a quivering kitten in her chair.
What the…? A pounding started behind Robin’s temples, just the way it had happened when she had tried to thrall Alana, back when she had no clue Alana wasn’t fully human. “Who the fuck are you?”
“The dentist who’s about to trim your fang into shape.” Dr. Pérez rolled closer on her stool and leaned over her. “Open wide.”
Robin bared her fangs in a grim snarl.
“Wider.”
Hurling glares at the suicidal woman, Robin opened her mouth a little more.
The high-pitched buzz of the drill started, making her forget about the mystery of Dr. Pérez’s identity for a while. It didn’t hurt, but the sound sent shivers down Robin’s spine. She clutched the armrests with both hands until the fake leather material groaned under her grip.
“Easy, easy. I’m gonna need that chair for other patients, you know?” Dr. Pérez switched to another torture instrument. This one had a small, rotating disc at its end.
Robin could feel its vibrations as the doctor moved it along her fang.
Finally, after using a third instrument on the fang, Dr. Pérez moved the tray back and declared, “All done.”
Even though the dental chair was still in a reclined position, Robin tried to jump up.
Dr. Pérez pressed her back with unexpected strength. “Oh, no. Not so fast. We’re all done with this part of the procedure, but I still have to check the fit.”
Sighing, Robin slid back into the chair.
“Now try to bite.”
Robin stared at her.
Dr. Pérez laughed. “Not me. Just close your mouth and see how it feels.”
Gingerly, Robin closed her mouth. She sheathed and unsheathed her fangs a couple of times and flicked her tongue over the restored left incisor, grinning widely when she cut herself on the razor-sharp tip. “Feels great.”
“Does it retract like the other one?”
“Like a charm.”
Dr. Pérez got a mirror out of a drawer and held it out for Robin to see.
Robin checked out the new fang, marveling at how great it looked. She couldn’t tell that it had ever been broken. “You did good work.” She grinned, showing off her shiny new fang. “Maybe I’ll let you live.”
The dentist just laughed. She took off her surgical mask, moved the patient chair into an upright position, and pressed a button that made water run into a plastic cup to Robin’s left. “You can rinse your mouth now.”
Robin did, thoroughly spitting out the remainders of the bitter stuff. When she climbed out of the chair, elation washed through her. Okay, now get the hell out of here.
Dr. Pérez stripped off her latex gloves and offered her hand.
Robin shook it. The doctor’s fingers were warm against her clammy ones, reminding her again of the blood flowing through her. Strangely, she couldn’t tell what blood type Dr. Pérez had. When she enclosed the dentist’s hand in both of hers for a moment, she again tried to thrall her. Direct body contact always helped, even with stubborn cases like this one. She lo
oked into Dr. Pérez’s eyes and threw the veil of forgetfulness over her.
“Call me immediately if you have any problems with the fang,” Dr. Pérez said.
Dammit. It wasn’t working.
“Otherwise, I’ll see you in six months.”
She wanted to stick her hand into a Girah’s mouth again—this time a Girah with two fully functioning fangs? Something had to be seriously wrong with this woman. “Who are you?” Robin asked again.
Dr. Pérez just smiled in her mysterious way and led her to the door.
* * *
At home, Alana oohed and aahed over the fixed fang and asked all kinds of questions about the treatment, but Robin was still more preoccupied with the dentist. A call to Shelby hadn’t revealed any new information—either the coyote shifter didn’t know who or what Dr. Pérez was or she was protecting her identity.
“She looked and smelled human, but I’m sure she’s not,” Robin said. “Otherwise, she’d have had the sense to be afraid. And I couldn’t thrall her.”
Alana cupped her face with both hands and leaned up to kiss her, making Robin’s body tingle in the most pleasant way. “You can’t thrall me either, and I’m not afraid of you, but I’m still human.”
“That’s different. You’re a former djinn.”
“You don’t think she used to be a djinn too, do you? Surely I would have heard if someone else had left the Great Energy to become human.” Despite her cautious words, excitement glimmered in Alana’s eyes.
Robin knew how hard it was for her to be physically human but still not fitting in with the rest of the species. How great would it be for her to have someone who could relate? Robin would have loved to say yes, but her instincts made her shake her head. “I don’t think so. There wasn’t even a little tingle when she touched me.”
“Maybe she’s human after all. It might be just your overactive imagination telling you otherwise.” Alana gently poked her in the ribs. “We all know how you writers are.”
“Maybe.” But Robin didn’t believe it. Still thinking about her strange experience with the dentist, she went into her office and booted up her computer. As Alana had reminded her, she was a writer, so why not do some research? She opened her browser and typed the words Pérez pediatric dentist into the search engine.
