Page 59 of Rex

“Why don’t you all grab a seat in the living room, and I’ll get us drinks. Beer, Freddy? Candy?” Les suggests.

“I had your mom pack a bag. She won’t be returning home until Rex and the guys have a chance to change her locks and codes, too,” Freddy explains.

“Thank you, Freddy. I guess Les is stuck with us for a day or so,” I respond.

Les returns with the drinks, and we all sit around discussing the events of today. Mom assures me that she spoke with Lucy and she’s going to be fine. Battered and bruised, but no serious injuries. While Mom is explaining this, I can almost feel Candy’s anger permeate the room. Glancing her way, I notice the tightness around her mouth and the frown lines between her eyes.

“What’s wrong, Candy?” I ask, and all eyes turn her way.

“I should’ve insisted on me, Reno, or even Ava working with her dog before she got hurt. He’s a great dog, but neither she nor Chubs are good at training or enforcing rules,” Candy answers.

“Not your fault, Candy. You have him now, though, right?” I ask.

“Yeah, he’s at my apartment, and Reno’s going to work with me and him tomorrow.”

“Maybe he should work with Lucy and Drew too,” Les mutters, and a few laughs echo in the room.

“Since you’re all together and safe, I’m going to head out. Need anything, don’t hesitate to call,” Freddy states as he stands.

“Same for me,” Candy says and follows Freddy outside.

“I haven’t eaten yet, and I’m starved. What do you have in your fridge, Les?” I ask.

“Nothing, as usual, but I know how to use DoorDash. What’s everyone hungry for?”

Arriving at the office the next day, I pull Georgeanne aside and fill her in on my night. Eyebrows raised, she listens and nods in understanding when I tell her the guys will be here to rework the security system.

“I’ll let the front desk know. Anything you need to do to be safe, let me know. We’ll take whatever precautions we need to,” Georgeanne says before giving me a brief hug and walking away.

Walking to the room containing my first patient of the day, I scan the chart and realize my newest patient is a child. Kids are some of my favorite patients, but sometimes their parents aren’t. Oftentimes, the parents’ fear of dentists overrides their common sense, and they’ve needlessly frightened the child.

“Hi. I’m Aria. What’s your name?” I ask brightly as I step to where the child can see me.

“Daniel. Do I have to call you doctor?” the tiny patient asks.

“Nope. You can call me Aria,” I answer, then turn to the nervous mother sitting in the corner. “Hi, Mrs. Rosenburg. Is this Daniel’s first dental exam?”

“Daniel is sitting right here, and yes, it is,” Daniel answers in a dry tone.

“Daniel, please! I told you to be extra nice today. Dr. Zanetti can make this painful or not, so you don’t want to upset her,” Mrs. Rosenburg says while I cringe at her words.

“No pain, no worries, Daniel. Do you know what x-rays are?” I ask.

“Yeah. They’re just pictures of your bones. They don’t hurt. I had some taken when I broke my arm.”

“Oh, wow. How’d you break your arm?” I question while pulling on gloves and taking a seat next to him.

“Fell off my bike. Mom told Dad to take my training wheels off, and I said no, but he did it anyway. Dad told me I was a big boy and I could ride without them. ‘Oh, you can do it, Daniel,’ they said. No, I couldn’t. Fell off, broke my arm, and they were both wrong. X-rays didn’t hurt, but breaking my arm did. I’m four years old. How old are you?” Daniel says in nearly one breath.

“I’m almost thirty,” I say with wide eyes and grin when Daniel smiles broadly.

“That’s old! That’s even older than my mom!” he exclaims.

“Daniel! That’s not nice!” his mother admonishes.

I laugh and gently poke him in the ribs and am rewarded with an even bigger grin from Daniel. After chatting with him for a fewmore minutes, I start the exam. After I’m finished, we move into another room and get a full set of x-rays.

“See? No pain,” I say.

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