Butterflies

First Day

We sat outside in the sunshine while he tried to teach me some chords on his guitar. It was harder than I thought. Since I had small hands, it was difficult to stretch my fingers onto the right strings. Shawn laughed as he watched me struggle.

"Why is this so hard?" I asked, jokingly. He reached his arms around me and helped position my hands. After awhile, I began to get the hang of it. He played me a few of his songs which made me smile. His hand smoothly shifted across the neck of his guitar and he didn't even have to look.

"What would you like to do today?" he asked, putting his guitar to the side. I thought for a second.

"Coffee shop?" I smiled. He nodded and both of went back into his room to get dressed. A little while later, we got into his car, soon turning into the lot next to the cafe. As we walked in, James greeted us and I gave him a big hug.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in so long!" I said as we both pulled away.

***

2 Days Later

I arrived to my brand new office a few minutes early and met all of the people on the staff. Most of them were my age, except for a few receptionists who were a little older. When Dr. Finn arrived, I told him I had a patient coming in and that I was ready. He walked me back to an exam room that was already set up and we waited for Shawn. It was only a few minutes later that I heard his voice at the front desk, signaling that he was here and ready to be my patient.

"Mr. Mendes" I said in a rather professional voice. He stood up with a grin on his face and followed me down the hall. As we entered the bright exam room, he looked around and nodded.

"Wow, this place is nice" he said, taking a seat in the chair. "I can tell you like it."

I smiled at his remark because it was true, this office is amazing. Before I could say anything, Dr. Finn stepped in and took a seat in the assistant's chair. He shook hands with Shawn and introduced himself as I set up the tools.

"Today I am just going to be supervising Rachel's exam as I'm guessing she has told you. I just want to double check that she is a good asset to my team, which I'm sure she is" he smiled. "Really, it's just protocol that I have to do for everyone I hire. Anyway, it's nice to meet you Mr. Mendes and how about we get started shall we." he said.

I draped a paper bib around Shawn's neck, like usual, and clipped it on the other side. As I began to lean the dental chair down, he looked over in my direction.

"I feel like we do this too often" he smiled, which made me laugh. It hadn't been long since his last cleaning yet here he was again, laying in a dental office, for me. I reached my arm up, positioning my light right above his mouth. Dr. Finn scooted out of the way as I took a seat. Once I had my mask and gloves on, I tapped his lip with my mirror. 

"Open for me" I said. He quickly complied and I used my tools to look through his mouth. As I was tapping on his back molars, I noticed something. Between his teeth, there was a small cavity beginning to form. I decided to not saying anything just yet until I knew for sure that if needed to be fixed. I went through the whole exam; scaling, brushing, flossing, and polishing. Once I finished, Shawn began to sit up but I stopped him. 

"Hold on, I need Dr. Finn to check something." I said, seeing his eyes go wide. Dr. Finn seemed to be surprised too but he quickly got up and snapped on a pair of gloves. "Hey, it's nothing to worry about. Trust me" I whispered as he laid back down. Dr. Finn rolled his chair over and we repositioned the light. 

"Shawn, open for us real quick." Dr. Finn said. I showed him the spot that I was concerned about.  He tapped on it a few times and used different tools to get a better look at it. Only about a minute later, he rolled back and pulled his mask underneath his chin. 

"Everything looks good except for we did find a small cavity beginning to form. It's nothing to worry about sense Rachel caught it early. It's a pretty easy fix and you should be good within no time." he said. Shawn seemed disappointed yet still thanked Dr. Finn as he left the room to see other patients. 

"A cavity?" he said, mostly to himself, once we were alone. I took a seat next to him and grabbed his hand. 

"Shawn, I promise this isn't a big deal. Everyone gets them, including me. Don't be hard on yourself." I said. He looked at me, still with a disappointed expression covering his face. 

"I guess you're right. How come you didn't see it at my last appointment?" he asked. 

"It's probably just been forming over the past few days. It's very small and in the very early stages. Honestly, fixing it will take like 10 minutes, I swear." I said. He seemed better so I began to clean up. 

"Let's get you out of here, babe" I laughed, leading him out of the office. Before I left him, I stood on my tippy toes, giving him a peck on the cheek.

"See you tonight" he smiled.