The Exam

Lance burst through the narrow front door and walked briskly past the sea of purple and pink petunias. He planned to rip the wallpaper down first, once the practice was his.

He reviewed the details of his first patient quickly while slipping on his lab coat. Eleven years old, still waiting for his first molar to fall out, watching an upper tooth for decay…how could he let himself get distracted? He had too much riding on this day to get frazzled by…He reached exam room one. As he opened the door, he saw that his father was already in the room. The old man would definitely count that as strike one. He couldn’t see the patient, who was already lying back in the exam chair.

As he approached his father and the patient, the horror of the situation came into full view. His dreams of finally ridding his life of purple and pink petunias started to fade away.

He looked at the chart in his hands. How could he have missed this? Eleven years old, still waiting for his first molar to fall out, watching an upper tooth for decay…He must have glanced over the name, James Avery. The same eleven-year-old James Avery who terrorized The Highgrove Harbor Condominiums. The same Eleven-year-old James Avery who just this morning, threw a lit set of firecrackers into the elevator just as the doors closed on Lance. This same eleven-year-old James Avery who fed ham slices dipped in Lysol to Lance’s beloved Pit Bull, Julius. The same eleven-year-old James Avery whose father, Jimmy Avery, owns the entire gravel business in the tri-state area. This same eleven-year-old James Avery would make or break Lance’s chance at taking over his father’s 40-year-old dental practice.

Metal dinosaur clips held a blue bib around James’s neck. The kid wore the same smug expression he always wore on his face. An expression that said, ‘I own you, and you know it.’ But as soon as James saw Lance, the color drained from his face.

Lance started in a pleasant tone.

“James, how are you this morning?”

 As Lance continued to speak, his tone turned more sinister.

 “I myself, I had quite an electrifying morning…but you already knew that. I see from your chart and your x-rays that you have four cavities. We’ll need to go ahead and fix those. And while we’re at it, remove that lower molar. Oh, and of course the second one too! We have a lot of work ahead of us this morning.”

Before Lance’s father could interject, Lance placed the chart in the cabinet and closed it. He then asked his father to help prep the patient for the upcoming procedures.

“Dad, I double-checked the chart this morning, this is an extreme case. We need to do this now. This young man’s dental health is at stake.”

His father looked apprehensive but moved quickly to gather the tools they’d need.  As Lance prepped for the unnecessary procedures, he thought back to every abuse he suffered from James. The baseballs through the windshield of his prized 1965 Porsche, his wife’s rose garden being dug up every few weeks, the foul packages left at their front door…the death of Julius. There was no turning back now. Lance had a chance to hurt James. He would not get another. He would likely lose everything after this.

James seemed to silently plead to Lance to stop what he was planning to do. Lance slowly placed the mask over James' nose. The nitrous oxide quickly went to work soothing James. Lance picked up the scalpel and made a swift cut to the gum. Lance took his time lifting the bib to wipe away the blood.

Three hours later, James quietly walked out of the dental office clutching his nanny’s side. His face looked like he had been stung by a swarm of bees. It would take a while for the swelling to go down—maybe even a month—Lance thought with a smile.

But Lance shouldn’t have been smiling. Two hours into the surgery, his father retrieved the chart from the cabinet. His father tried to stop the surgery, but it was too late. They had to continue. Lance’s father later made it clear that he’d be sticking around for another five years. Maybe one day he’d explain why he’d done it. His father would understand his motivates—he loved Julius as much as Lance did.

The next morning, Lance sat in his office preparing for his string of patients—a cavity, wisdom tooth removal, another cavity, scaling, and root planing…It would be a slow day. A voice burst out of the intercom.

“Call on line one, Dr. Kiss. It’s Mr. Avery.”

Lance was expecting this. He put the phone on speaker.

“Good morning Mr. Avery, This is Dr. Lance Kiss. How can I help you?”

Lance knew the gravel king could bury him, he half expected him to walk into the office and do it where he was seated. But he didn’t expect what came next.

Jimmy Avery had a stentorian voice. It resonated through his entire office. 

“Thanks. The kid had that coming.” He said, before quickly hanging up.

Lance sat quietly for a while listening to the dial tone. A while later, he walked out of his office, through the hallways he’d walked countless times. But this time he smiled at the sea of purple and pink petunia wallpaper as he strolled into exam room one.

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The End Is The Beginning

We decided to pull the plug at 3:25 pm. Once we made that decision, we thought it would go a lot faster. Three days passed. Little did we know what was going on behind the scenes.  A battle was waging while our father lay wasting away in a small hospital bed in a dingy hospital in Long Island, New York.

 His mind was still there, but his entire body was quickly breaking down. He couldn’t walk. He couldn’t talk. He couldn’t breathe. They were keeping him alive. We didn’t understand why.

 Months later when one child jets around the world and lives lavishly off the funds of his life: we understand. We understand that though we came first, we were not the priority. Why the divide? Why the secrecy? Why the unfairness? Fair. Things have never been fair and how could they be? The minute I was created and set forth on this earth, the world told me nothing in my life would be fair.

 This was just another thing in the string of things that weren’t fair. This one came 28 years in. Or just a week shy of 28.

 It didn’t even hurt.

 That’s a lie. It did hurt. I just didn’t want to admit that someone who showed they didn’t care about me my entire life could elicit these feelings.

 I tried to pretend that it didn’t mean as much as it did. As we sang songs, held hands, and recalled a life well lived with little regard for others, it all came tumbling out. The tears, the feelings, the regret, the heartache, the longing. The cork was released. And as hard as I tried, I could not tamp the feelings back down again.

 Two years later, I still remember Tuesday at 3:25 pm. I wish it hadn’t gone so fast.  

--

Bree bounced behind Robert eagerly.

“So… what do you think? Be honest, on second thought, lie to me.”

Robert mulled it over for a few more seconds as Bree breathlessly waited for his reply. After what seemed like a lifetime, he finally responded.

“It’s good…it’s just very…real. You never talk about your past or your family to anyone. Let alone in your writing. Are you sure you want to publish this?”

Bree grabbed the pages from Robert’s hands and turned to look out of the window. The Pacific stretched out for miles in both directions. She never thought in a million years she’d live on Water Way Street. She grew up close by, about 25 minutes away, but it was an entirely different place. A place where some kids didn’t ever see the water, let alone live on it.

She turned back to look at Robert, then gestured to the view beyond the window.

“Writing about a star-crossed vampire and werewolf couple got us here. But it isn’t real. It isn’t me. Maybe they don’t want to hear my real story, but I think I’m finally ready to share it.”

Robert crossed to the window and took Bree’s free hand.

“Okay, let’s send this new book off to Jill. Your first non-fiction novel.”

Bree kissed his cheek then whispered to him, “I’ll also send her the next installment of Love Worth Dying Again For.”

All of the tension in Robert’s body was released as he shouted: “Thank God!”

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