Chapter Twenty-three
Dani is studying her reflection inthe small round mirror of her compact, checking on the status of the bruise under her left eye, when her intercom buzzes. “Mrs. McKay is here to see you,” the receptionist announces.
“Have her take a seat. I’ll be with her in a few minutes.” Dani dabs an extra drop of concealer on the bruise, hoping to diminish its mottled mustard-and-purple hue, then pats some powder over it.
She can still see it.
Not that it matters. None of her patients has noticed it so far, closing their eyes almost the second she reclines their chair, too wrapped up in their own issues to worry about hers. It’s doubtful that Maggie McKay will be any different.
She should never have agreed to fit her in. But then, what choice had she had? The woman had called her at home first thing this morning, frantic because a filling had fallen out when she was brushing her teeth and she was afraid she might have cracked the tooth. She was starting a new job tomorrow, and she didn’t have a dentist, was there any way Dani could see her sometime between when she dropped her son off at camp and picked him up again? She knew it was an imposition but she was desperate and yada, yada, yada.
So how could she say no? Especially if she ever needed Erin to babysit again. She presses the button on her intercom. “Take Mrs. McKay to room 3,” she directs the receptionist, taking a final glimpse at her eye before returning her compact to her purse. She closes the door of her small office and heads down the winding hall of the clinic she shares with two other dentists toward examining room 3.
She stops when she sees the beautiful blonde sitting in the chair. Is it possible she has the wrong room? she wonders, checking the number on the door. “Maggie?”
“Thanks so much for seeing me,” Maggie tells her. “I didn’t know who else to call.”
“Happy to help out,” Dani lies, approaching the chair where Maggie is reclining, her large purse filling her lap. “You look so different.”
“You like it?”
“It’s gorgeous.You’regorgeous.”
“Amazing what a little hair coloring can do,” Maggie says.
“Well, it’s very lovely.”
“Thank you.”
“You said somethin’ about losin’…losing…a filling,” Dani says, careful to enunciate the finalg.She sits on the stool beside Maggie’s head and starts adjusting her chair. “Why don’t we just put your bag over here, so it’s not in our way?”
“No, that’s okay,” Maggie tells her. “I can hold on to it.”
“I’m gonna need a little space. It’ll just be on the counter. Right over here. It’ll be perfectly safe. I promise,” Dani says, lifting the bag from Maggie’s lap. “My God, what have you got in this thing? It’s as heavy as a possum.”
Maggie laughs, although the laugh is more nervous than amused.
Dani continues lowering Maggie’s chair until she’s satisfied with the angle. “Why don’t you open your mouth and let’s have a look.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve been to the dentist.”
“So I see,” Dani says, manipulating a small mirror inside Maggie’s mouth. “Your teeth could use a good cleanin’, that’s for sure. Get the receptionist to make an appointment with the hygienist before you leave.”
“It’s the back tooth….”
“Yes, I see the problem. I’m afraid you’re gonna need a crown.”
“What? Can’t you just refill it?”
“No, I cannot. There’s barely enough tooth left to fill. Whole thing would just collapse.”
“But how many visits is that going to take? I mean, you have to take a mold and put in a temporary crown and—”
“Oh, my good Lord. Ithasbeen a while since you’ve been to the dentist. No, we haven’t done that in years. It’s all done by computer now.”
“By computer?”
“Computer takes a complete picture of your mouth, measures everythin’, the space between the teeth, all that stuff, then goes ahead and makes the crown, all by its lonesome. I just fit it in and make a few adjustments, if needed. No big deal. You’ll be out of here in a couple of hours.”