A Brush with Love(20)
Harper stopped in her tracks, eyes wide.
Then she smiled.
CHAPTER 10
DAN
Dan could almost see the thought bubble forming over Harper’s head, and he knew the line she was about to deliver. As she opened her mouth to speak, he cut her off.
“Are you stalking me?” he asked. Harper’s head drew back as he stole the words from her. An incredulous look glinted in her eyes.
“Just here for a lock of hair and then I’ll leave you alone,” she said, looking like she still wasn’t sure what to make of him.
“I’m not really willing to part with any of it, but I’d be happy to sneeze into a tissue if that’s okay with you.” He ran a hand through his hair and cringed as he realized how much he flexed his bicep.
Meathead.
Excessive masculine pride replaced his embarrassment as her eyes lingered on his arm a beat too long before flicking back to his face. A blush crept up her throat.
“I appreciate you being such an easy target,” she murmured, eyes moving around the room, “but what are you doing here?”
“I’m scheduled to be your shadow, I think. I’m on a specialty rotation today.”
She nodded coolly but picked at her nails. Her eyes bounced up to his, and he saw the nervousness there.
“Is that okay?” As excited as he was, he didn’t want to annoy her.
“Of course.” She waved him off, moving to action. “We have a difficult first patient, so don’t engage too much. You might give him more to complain about.”
He touched a hand to his chest in mock offense. “Me? I’m sure my winning personality will make his day all the brighter.”
“I’m sure,” she said, looking skeptical.
Harper handed him a yellow isolation gown to wear over his scrubs and pulled on her own. She moved into the hall and Dan followed.
She weaved through the clinic with the same confidence he’d witnessed in the lab. Each step was purposeful and determined, her hands knotting the tie of the isolation gown around her waist with agile fingers.
“We’re extracting the retained root tips of number thirty-one. The radiograph indicates the roots might be close to the IAN, so we’ll need to be careful. Number thirty has serious decay and gingival overgrowth, so it could be tricky to extract in one piece, but I have a new technique I’m excited to try. The patient has high blood pressure and is a prolific smoker. His history of tobacco use could result in wound-healing complications and leave him susceptible to infection, but that’s not anything you have to worry about today,” she said, glancing at him over her shoulder.
Dan blinked at her, trying to translate the terms he vaguely recognized while also counting his teeth with his tongue. Harper gave him a gentle smile, pausing outside their assigned operatory.
“His bottom-right second molar only has roots left in there, and the tooth in front of it has serious decay,” she said, tapping on her right cheek. “It’s causing him a lot of pain. The root tips might be near the nerve that runs along the jaw bone, so we need to be very cautious in our extraction,” she explained, a smile tugging at her lips, “but I’ve been reading up on an approach that’s had great recent success, and I’m excited to try it.” An eager glow emanated from her smile. “Smoking has been shown to affect wound healing in multiple ways. Decreased proliferation of red blood cells and macrophages, increased chance of microclots, decreased oxygen to wound sites that can lead to necrosis—these are all things you’ll learn later in pathology. You’re lucky, this is a fun case to see your first year.”
Her smile was infectious.
“You really like this, don’t you?” he asked.
“Well, duh,” she said, shooting him a goofy grin. “Relieving people’s pain, getting to work on the complexities of the body, all within the confines of a millimeter or two? What’s not to love?” She tucked her chin to her chest and fumbled, trying to tie the smaller strings for the neck closure behind her. “You clearly hate lab work, but don’t you at least like this part of it?”
Dan didn’t want to dampen her enthusiasm with a definitive “hell no,” so he shrugged and reached out a hand. “Here, let me.” He turned her gently, brushing her hands away. His fingertips grazed against the nape of her neck, and she sucked in a breath. He hummed to himself as he tied the knot, fighting a smile at her reaction.
“All done.” He felt her take a deep breath, her shoulders rising, before she turned. When she faced him, she was composed and serious.
“Thank you,” she said evenly. “Like I said before, his chart notes indicate he’s a tough patient, so try to not let him bother you. I’ll need you to be ready with certain tools, but the most important thing you can do is keep the suction steady so blood and debris don’t pool during the extraction.”
He nodded, ready to work, wanting to impress her. She turned and headed into the room.
“Hello, Mr. Owen. I’m Dr. Horowitz, and I will be your student dentist for today’s procedure. How are you?”
A surly-looking man in his midfifties sat in the dental chair, arms crossed against his chest and a firm grimace on his face.
“I’ve been waiting for fifteen goddamn minutes for you to show up. So, not great, sweetheart,” he said, looking Harper up and down.