AJR-Panic Attacks

Winter- 5 (Dentist)

Winters POV

"Winter are you ready to go?" Mom asks me.
"I guess so." I call back from my room, walking out to put my shoes on. It's spring break, and I have to go to the dentist. I have to get a cavity filled, and I'm not excited about it. Mom and Dad put their coats on, as do I, and we head out. I got to hold Dad's hand as we walk down the street to the dentist. I've been here a few times before, but never for a cavity. I'm a little nervous. Me and Dad sit down on the chairs in the waiting room, as Mom signed me in. I was looking at the ground and fiddling with my fingers because I was so nervous. Dad could tell.
"You ok Winter?" Dad asks. I don't look up as I shake my head.
"It's ok bud." He says, rubbing my back for a moment. "You have nothing to worry about, it'll be ok." He says.
"B-but they said something about a needle.." I say nervously.
"Yep. Just one little needle for a couple seconds and it's over. Then you won't feel a thing." Dad says. Mom comes over and sits beside Dad. Mom could also tell I was nervous.
"You ok baby?" She asks me.
"He said he's scared about the needle." Dad answers.
"Aww, Winter. It'll be ok." Mom says. I know they say I don't have to worry, but I'm still gonna. Dad takes out his phone and plays a game. I notice and lean my head on his arm to watch.
"Winter Met?" Some lady says calling us back. Mom and Dad stand up and Dad grabs my hand. The game worked as a good distraction for a bit, but I'm still nervous. We walk with the lady to the room and I sit down in the chair. Mom and Dad take seats on the extra chairs that were in the room. I started shaking a bit, seeing the lady move around behind me, getting everything set up.
"Hello, I'm Tiffany. I'll be getting you ready for you filling today. I'm gonna get you sir to put these super awesome glasses on, and I'll put this purple paper bib on you, and I'll lay you down." She seems really nice, but that didn't take away the fact that I was nervous. Tiffany handed me some sunglasses and I shakily grabbed them and put them on. Dad could see me shaking and rests his hand on my ankle. Just knowing he was there was good for me because I felt like it was ok, even if I was still nervous. Tiffany came around on the other side of the chair and put the purple bib thing on me.
"Alrighty! Lean back on the chair and I'll sit you back." Tiffany says. Even through the sunglasses my eyes were filled with panic and Dad could tell. I know Dad couldn't do much about it. He rubs his thumb around my ankle to let me know he was still right here. I lay back in the chair and Tiffany tells me to scoot back. I try to move closer up, but then Dads hand is too far away, and he lets go.
"Alright. I'm gonna have you open you mouth super wide so I can put a freezing gel in so we can numb the spot for the needle, ok?" She says. I get scared and don't open my mouth.
"Can I have you open your mouth?" She asks again. I feel Dad's hand on my ankle again and I feel safe enough to open my mouth slightly. Tiffany forces it open wider and I tense up. Dad went on with rubbing my ankle, and a few moments later my mouth was just cold. It was just a q-tip with gel that tasted kind of like bubblegum. I relaxed when Tiffany let go of my mouth.
"I'll let that sit for a few minutes and then we can continue." She says. Tiffany stands up and leaves.
"Good job Winter." Mom says.
"Now what's gonna happen?" I ask.
"She's gonna come back, take the q-tip out, then she's gonna do the needle, then you won't feel anything, and they'll start fixing the cavity." Dad explains.
"So the needle is next?" I ask scared.
"Yes. But it'll be ok." Dad says.
"B-but I'm s-scared." I stutter out, my nerves getting the best of me.
"You'll be ok Winter, I promise." Mom says.
"Yeah. We aren't going anywhere either, ok? You'll be alright bud." Dad adds. Tiffany comes back in and takes the q-tip out of my mouth.
"Does that feel numb and tingly?" She asks. I nod.
"Awesome!" She says. I hear her rustling with some things, my only thought is that it's the needle and I get very nervous. I start shaking even more then I was before and I tense my whole body up. It was as if every single muscle in my body was tense. Tiffany says,
"And now I want you to open really wide!" I can't. I freeze.
"No!" I say, even though my mouth didn't open.
"Open wide!" Tiffany says again. I freak out and cover my mouth with my hands and start crying.
"Winter!" Dad says with sadness in his voice. I didn't want to make him sad, but I couldn't help being scared.
"Dad, would you like to come over and help out for a moment?" Tiffany asks. Dad stands up and Tiffany wheels a chair from beside her to beside me so Dad can sit on it. Dad starts by resting his hands on my sides to get me to calm down.
"Winter, it's ok." He says. But I'm not ok. I'm scared. "It's just a little pinch and then it's over." Dad says. I look up at him and he looks so calm. Way calmer then me. Some of the muscles in my body started to relax, but I was still really scared.
"Dad, can you hold his arms down?" Tiffany asks. Dad grabs my arms and pulls them away from my mouth. I tense up again, somehow more then I did before, and resume crying. My back was arching and I was squirming to get away from the needle. I was terrified. I'm itching to sit up and get away. My breathing starts to get faster and faster..
"You can calm him down a minute. I can't do anything if he won't let me. Take all the time you need." Tiffany says, even though I could barely hear it. Dad's grip loosens and I sit up quickly, shaking a lot. Dad pulls me into a hug, which was slightly weird because we were both sitting sideways, facing different directions.
"Shhhh, it's ok Winter." Dad whispers in my ear, trying to calm me down. I was crying and shaking so much it scared me even more. Dad's embrace was so comforting though. I wish I could stay like this forever.
"It's just one tiny pinch. Then it's done." Dad explains. I know it is, but I'm still terrified. "Take a big deep breath-" Dad says. If it'll help me calm down, I'll do it. I take a deep breath and I feel a little calmer. "And settle down. Good. You can do it Winter. I'm right here, ok?" Dad says. I nod. Dad releases me from my hug and lays me back down. Dad holds my arms down on my stomach and nods at Tiffany to continue.
"Ready?" Tiffany say before she forces my mouth open and I feel a pinch. It hurt a lot. I start crying again. I try to get my hands away from Dad, but his grip is too strong. I felt another hand on my ankle, and I think it's Mom. Tiffany lets go of my mouth and I realize the shot is done.
"All done Winter." Dad says.
"All done!" Tiffany exclaims.
"Good job baby." Mom says.
"I'll let you sit up for a minute to calm down, how about that?" Tiffany suggests. I feel the chair moving back up, but I just sit up and launch at Dad. Dad wraps his arms around me and pulls me into a giant bear hug.
"Good job Winter." I grab onto Dad's shirt because I was still stressed, and continue crying. Daddy rubs my back and I calm down.
"Good job Winter." Dad says again.
"I'll go grab the dentist now and we'll get started." Tiffany says, and leaves. Mom comes over and sits beside us on the chair that I was on.
"Good job baby." Mom says.
"The worst of it is over Winter. You did great." Dad adds. I was still nervous about what happened, and still pretty tense from the whole ordeal. Dad knows just the thing to make me calm down entirely. My song. He starts singing my song gently while continuing to rub my back. Dad starts to sway along to the beat of the music, allowing me to relax and feel safe. Daddy finishes the song, and I sit up to say,
"Thank you."
"Of course Winter! Are you ok?" Dad replies. I nod. I lay back down on Dad, and Mom asks,
"Is your mouth starting to feel numb?" I reach my hand up to my cheek to feel it, but I can't. I smile and nod. Before long Tiffany comes back with another guy, who I'm assuming is the dentist.
"Alright Mister, time to fix that cavity!" Tiffany exclaims. Mom moves back to her seat, and Dad sits me back on the chair. I cling on to Dad's shirt though, not wanting to let go from my safety. Dad unwraps my fingers from his shirt and holds my hands as the dentist is getting situated.
"Dad, we're gonna get you to stay there to keep him calm as we do the filling, alright?" Tiffany says. I breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that Dad doesn't have to go back to where he was sitting before, and I can hold his hands.
"And so if the freezing didn't work perfectly, we will have to give him another shot. And we don't want that now do we!" Tiffany jokes. I don't laugh. I tense up hearing the word 'shot' again. Dad rubs his thumb around my hand again and I relax. The chair goes back down and Dad holds my hands down on my lap again. I grab onto a few of his fingers, and he rubs his thumb around the back of my hand.
"Are you nice and numb sir?" The other dentist asks. I nod. "Perfect! Can I get you to open your mouth super big?" It takes me a moment, but looking at Dad convinces me that it's ok and I open my mouth. Not as big as I could go, but hey it was open. The dentist forces it open wider like I was expecting, and puts a thing in it. It was like a vacuum thing but it was really big. They said I could relax my mouth, but I couldn't. It was really big and it was kind of uncomfortable. They started working on my cavity, and I didn't feel a thing. I got to hold Dad's hand the whole time and I didn't get nervous again. A while later they finish the filling, and sit me up in the chair. The guy dentist leaves, and Tiffany says,
"You did awesome!" She takes off my bib and I give her back my glasses. I launch back at Dad when everything was off of me. Dad wraps his arms around me again and whispers,
"I'm so proud of you Winter." Mom comes up behind me and rubs my back and says,
"Great job baby. You did awesome!" I smile at her comment. I get handed a goodie bag by Tiffany, which was just a toothbrush and floss and toothpaste. Very unexciting. Dad stands up, setting me down and we walk out. I hold Dad's hand the entire way back. We get back up to our apartment and Mom asks what I wanted to do. My mouth was still numb, and the dentist said it'll be numb for a few hours, so I'm not allowed to eat anything.
"What if we watch a movie?" Dad suggests. Uncle Adam got Dad a mini projector a while ago, and movies are a great way to pass time. I nod and smile. Dad knows that movies always cheer me up.
"Go get your pyjamas on and grab some blankets, I'll set up the movie." Dad says. I run to my room and put on my pyjamas, then run back out with a bunch of blankets in my arms. Mom was already sitting on the couch, so I run and sit next to her, covering the two of us in blankets. Dad sets up the movie and before he sits down, he pulls down all the curtains so it's darker in the apartment. Dad sits down beside me and I cover him with blankets and we watch the movie. I snuggled close to Dad as the movie played on the wall. I fell asleep during the movie, only to be awoken by Dad rubbing my back.
"Winter.. Dinner time baby." He says. Wow. I slept that long? I guess it wasn't that long since we got home around 3:30.
"Come on, let's go sit at the table." Dad says pulling me up. I was still trying to wake up, so Dad pulled me up into a hug and rubs my back. I yawn as I try to wake up from my nap. Dad walks me over to the table and sits me down.
"Morning Winter!" Mom says, setting down some food.
"Morning." I say.
"How does your mouth feel?" Dad asks.
"Ok. The freezing has gone away, but it kinda hurts a little."
"Well, good thing dinner is Mom's most amazing, delicious, infamous soup!" Dad smiles. Mom's soup is wonderful. I smile. Mom serves me and Dad food, and we eat the delicious soup. We clean up our dishes and we go back to the living room and watch another movie. I fell asleep again, and didn't wake up until the next morning.