Living with my greatest fear.

~Chapter 4~

Ellie's POV:

I'm so glad we're leaving Grant's office now. I absolutely hate it there. Grant told me he just had to clean up and write some stuff down in my journal and then we would be ready to leave. He said that I could wait in the waiting room rather than in the exam room, which I was glad about. The waiting is a lot nicer than the exam rooms, they're still horrible but better. I just sat on the first seat I came across and waited for Grant. I went to take my phone out of my pocket to find it's not in there... Where is my phone!!? I go back into the exam room to ask Grant if he has seen my phone.

"Hey, Grant. Have you seen my phone? It's not in my pocket."

"Oh, hey, E. Yeah, I took your phone, remember? To get you to come here?" He replies.

"Oh yeah... Well since I'm here now and I have had a checkup, can I have my phone back?"

"Only because you've been alright," he winked at me, "It's on the counter over there," he said pointing to the counter by the sink.

"Thanks, Grant. How much longer are you going to be? I want to go home now."

"I've just got to write in your journal then we can go."

And with that, I nodded and left the room to go and sit back in the waiting room.

*10 MINUTES LATER*

Grant's POV:

I've just finished writing in Ellie's journal, so now I can get Ellie from the waiting room and we can go home. I log off of my computer, pick my bag up, turn the lights off and close the door. Ellie heard the door close, so she stood up and came walking towards me.

"Hey, E. We can go home now," I said smiling.

"Yay! OMG, I'm so happy to leave this place!"

I lead Ellie out of the office, close the door and lock it up. We get to the car, I unlock it and we both get in. The car journey back home was much the same as it was on the way here; silent. I get why Ellie is so scared, loads of people are. But, I would have thought having your brother as your dentist rather than a random stranger would make it less scary and easier.

"Hey, E, do you want to tell me why you are so scared of the dentist?" I ask, not really expecting much of an answer.

"I don't know, Grant, I just am. I hate every minute of it."

That's the kind of answer I was expecting. I don't think that's the full truth though, I think there's something that she isn't telling me. I just nod to what she said and continue to drive home.

*5 MINUTES LATER*

Ellie's POV:

Oh my God! I'm so happy to be back home. Even though we were only there for 1 hour and 30 mins, it felt like I'd been there for hours. When we get in, I go straight upstairs, not really wanting to talk to Grant. I don't have anything to say to him and I don't want a whole lecture about my teeth at the minute, or any minute really, but especially not now. Not after what he told me earlier. I get into some comfier clothes just to lounge about in for the next hour or so. Just when I've finished getting changed, I hear a knock on my door. There's only one person that can be.

"Go away, Grant. I have nothing to talk about," I say, quite annoyed.

"I just want to speak to you about something. Can I come in, please?"

I really don't want to speak to him, but he isn't going to give up speaking and if I don't let him in, he would probably just barge in and take my phone or ground me.

"Fine, come in."

"Hey, Ellie," he says, quietly.

"What did you want to talk about, then?" I say, not wanting to talk. 

"I just wanted to say that I'm proud of you, E. I really am. I know how much you hate coming to my office. I know it takes a lot of courage for you to come. So I just wanted to say thank you," he says, calmly.

"Thanks, I guess, You're not making me want to go anymore, if that's what you're trying to achieve here," I say, rather bluntly.

"I'm not trying to get you to want to go anymore. I just wanted to tell you that I am proud of you. That's all. Now, do you want to come downstairs and we can watch something on TV?"

I thought about it for a minute... Do I really want to spend more time with him at the minute? Do I really want to spend more time with my dentist ? I guess he's not my dentist now, only when we're down at his office.

"Sure, but only if we watch something good!" I say, smiling.

"That's the smile I like to see! Of course we will watch something good!"

We go downstairs and try to find something on TV. We decided to continue to watch Euphoria. Grant asked me if I wanted anything to eat.

"Ummm.... Can I have a chocolate bar?"

"Not at this time of night, Ellie. You won't be able to sleep!"

"What else do we have, then?"

Grant lists a load of fruits and healthy snacks but I zone out until I hear that he has stopped talking and is waiting for an answer.

"I don't want any of those, thanks. Can I have a can of Coke?"

"Only if you let me brush your teeth tonight."

"Ugh... Why do you have to brush my teeth?"

"There's loads of sugar in a can of Coke! I want to make sure you get all of the sugar buds off of your teeth!"

"Is cleaning my teeth once already today not enough for you?!"

"It's not that I'm just choosing to brush your teeth, I'm doing it to make sure they are squeaky clean!"

"Fine!!" I say, getting quite agitated.

*1 HOUR LATER*

Grant's POV:

The episode of Euphoria we were watching has just finished. I told Ellie that if she were to have a can of Coke then I would brush her teeth tonight. She said she still wanted a can, so now it's time for me to brush her teeth.

"Come on, Ellie. Let's go upstairs now"

"Why?"

"I need to brush your teeth and then you're going to bed," I say, as it will almost be 10pm by the time we've finished and she will have to get up relatively early tomorrow.

"Ugh. Okay, fine"

I get up and follow Ellie upstairs. When we get into the bathroom, I ask her to sit on the counter. I get her toothbrush, run it under water, put some toothpaste on it and run it under some water again.

"Open up for me, princess," I say, politely.

Ellie obviously wasn't sure of the situation, so she only opened her mouth a bit.

"A bit more for me? ....Thank you"

When she opened her mouth a bit more, I put the toothbrush in her mouth and turned it on. I brushed each and every side of every tooth. I was brushing her teeth for about 5 mins to make sure that I did it well.

"Spit out in the sink for me, please" "Thank you, baby"

We go into her room and she gets into bed. I give her a kiss on her forehead.

"Night, Princess"

"Night, Grant"

And with that, I went to her door and closed it behind me. Hopefully she gets a good night's sleep tonight and doesn't worry about tomorrow.