Adopted by Pentatonix

Thirty Four- Deal

Ana

I walk back to Mrs. Kimberly's desk and take a big drink of my water. My head hurts from all the stress I just went through and I haven't drank anything since this morning. My anxiety was sky high through the whole thing on account of the needle and worrying Tommy would start crying.

I check around to make sure no one is here. I rummage through my bag until I find my Advil. I take two with a sip of water, hoping it will make the headache go away. I guzzle half of my water afterwards. I must not have checked hard enough because as soon as I sit my water down there is a voice.

"What did you just take?" Avi ask
I sigh. I was really hoping for them to not know.
"Advil. Two, two hundred milligrams, gel capsules." I answer
"Well that's specific." He scoffs
"You were going to ask anyways." I say snarkly
"True. What for?"
"Headache." I answer bluntly
"Do you know why?"
"Stress and dehydration. I'm not completely ignorant to medicine."
"I never said you were. Why didn't you tell us?" He ask. He leans against the counter, showing no signs of leaving.
"Because, if I told you then you would turn into Doctor Avi, and I don't like Doctor Avi. I like regular Avi. I'm quite capable of taking care of a simple headache by myself."
"I believe you are, but I wish you would tell us when something is wrong. Even if it is as simple as a headache."
"Fine, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but to be fair, it just started." I defend

He accepts my answer but makes me promise to tell him if it keeps hurting. We eat lunch together then everyone goes back to work. Luckily my headache goes away after lunch. It's a slow day today. I'm able to get through six more chapters in my book and all of my schoolwork done. I sit at the desk scrolling through twitter, filled with boredom.

A lady walks in, and Mrs. Kimberly left a few seconds before saying she had to use the bathroom, so I check her in. She doesn't have an appointment so I schedule it as a walk-in. She's lucky they don't have anyone scheduled for the next two hours. She should be their last patient. I take her information just like how Mrs. Kimberly does. I've seen her do it a thousand times, so I know exactly what to do.

Since I have to tell Scott and Mitch about her so they can get ready, I walk her to the elevator and lead her to the waiting room.
"You c-can wait in here w-while they get ready. It shouldn't be long." I say. Swhe nods silently and sits down. I go to their office to see them relaxing and doing paperwork.

"Hey Princess, what are you doing up here? You never come up here." Scott says. It's true. I avoid coming up here like mice avoid snakes. Sometimes I feel bad about it but I still don't come up here.
"You have a patient. She didn't have an appointment but said her mouth hurt. You don't have anymore patients so I figured you could see her now." I explain quickly, eager to get back to my safe front desk.
"Did you bring her file?" Mitch ask. I hand over the file to him and stand in the middle of the room.
"Is that all you need?" I ask
"Yep. I'll go set up now." Mitch says. He hands the file to Scott then leaves. Scott reads over her file with a concerned expression.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, she just hasn't been to the dentist in four years. That's strange, but nothing I haven't seen before. Thanks princess." He hugs me quickly and escorts me out of the office.

I pass by the waiting room to see the girl pacing nervously. She keeps mumbling to herself and running her hands through her hair.

"Ma'am a-are you alright?" I ask quietly, by now my hands are shaking from being up here so long. My mind begging to go back downstairs.

She stops pacing and turns to me. Her face is flushed of all color and her eyes are full of fear. I know this look all to well.
"I'm fine. Did they say how long it would be?" She ask her voice cracking as she speaks
"It s-shouldn't be m-much longer." I stutter, my body itches to feel those steps under my feet, but I know I can't leave her. She sits down and places her face in her hands.

I sit next to her and try to figure out how to help her. I gingerly place one hand on her shoulder and the other in my lap. She looks up from her hands to me. It's now that I notice the tears that brim her eyes. I hand her the tissues box off the side table. She dabs her eyes and balls it's in her hand.

"Do you w-want some company?" I ask
"Yes please, if you aren't busy." I can tell she really needs someone so I plan on staying.
"I can s-stay." I force out
"Thanks. Do you work here?" She ask
"N-No, my mom w-works here. I j-just help out. She's the g-gynecologist." I explain to her. She seems to loosen up a bit.
"Oh okay."

The air conditioner cuts on and she jumps at the noise. I jump when she jumps out of reflex.

"Sorry, this is so embarrassing. I'm an adult who is afraid of the dentist. You're just a kid and you're fine."
She takes a deep breath and talks with her hands.
"N-Not exactly." I protest, she looks at me with a confused expression. "I-I don't s-stutter unless I'm n-nervous." I explain
"Why are you nervous? You aren't even being seen." She says.
"I-I'm petrified of the d-dentist, so I usually a-avoid coming up here. I d-don't unless I have to."
"Oh, you can leave if you want." She offers, I can tell she really doesn't want me to go though and it wouldn't be right of me to leave her.
"N-No, I'll be fine." I take her hand in mine to show I'm not leaving. She gives me a sad smile. "You're doing a lot b-better than I would." I chuckle "They l-literally would have h-had to drag me in here, w-while I was h-having a panic attack."
"Really?" She ask, I nod. "Do you know the dentist?"
I nod again "Me a-and my mom are really close w-with them. We are n-neighbors, and do a lot t-together."
"Are they nice?" She ask nervously
"Yes, I-I just don't have good experiences with d-dentist."
"Me either. My roommate forced me to come."
"He said y-you haven't been in a while. Neither have I, b-but they haven't r-realized that yet."
"But you said you're really close?"
"We are, but I'm a-adopted. I've only b-been with my mom for a little o-over a month."I explain
"Ohh, well your secret is safe with me."
"Thanks."
"Do I know you from somewhere?" She ask, before I can so no the door opens. Her grip on my hand tightens and tears fill her eyes again.

Mitch comes out with her file in hand. "Jenny Lancaster?" He reads off the file. He looks up to us and his face immediately turns to concern. She hasn't even looked at him yet because her face is in her hands again. He kneels down in front of her and gently removes her hands from her face. He dries her tears with a tissue and begins talking to her in a calming voice.
"Hey, it's okay." He says, he lifts her chin to make her look at him. Her eyes go wide when she sees him and cries harder.
She wipes away her tears frantically and tries to stop crying. "This just got so much more embarrassing." She sniffles.
"Why honey?" Mitch ask
"Y-You're Mitch Grassi from Pentatonix." She says
"Yes, at least I think that's who I am." He jokes. She laughs slightly at him and wills herself to stop crying.
"Wait! You're Ana." She says and turns to me now excited. I nod.
"Are you ready to come back?" Mitch ask. Her smile instantly fades and fear takes over her body.
"No I'm fine. I don't really need to see a dentist." She says, she stands up quickly and grabs her phone, ready to leave.
"Hold on there." Mitch says, he stands in front of her, not allowing her to pass. "You haven't been to a dentist in a while, and your file says your mouth hurts. Is that true?" He pushes
She gives him a small nod.
"How about we make a deal? If you let us give you a checkup then you can meet everyone. Does that sound fair?" He ask, she thinks it over and huffs. "Deal."
Mitch smiles and wraps his arm around her back to make sure she doesn't get away. I sit in the chair not knowing what to do now.

She turns her head to me and gives me a sad look. "Can Ana come?" She ask Mitch. They both turn to me and Mitch begs me with his eyes. I get up, shaking from all my nerves. I follow close behind them to the exam room. Scott sits in a stool next to a dental chair with a tray of tools next to him.