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Chapter 34

Claire glanced at the clock, then down at the schedule in front of her. It was almost 1:30, and she had one patient left before she got off at two o’clock. She smiled when she saw that the patient was a baby, only fourteen months old. They didn’t get a lot of babies in the office, even though it was recommended that babies be brought to the dentist for the first time between six and twelve months. At least her last patient of the day would be interesting.

Make that last patient of the week, she thought, remembering that it was Friday once again. And this Friday had to be better than the last one.

The past week as a whole had been better. She and Nick’s talk in the middle of the night had eased the tension that had been building between them. Over the course of the week, his mood had improved steadily, aided by the fact that his ulcer was finally almost healed. “It’s still tender,” he’d confessed on Tuesday, “but I bet I’ll be able to wear my leg again by the end of the week.”

She hoped he was right, for his sake. Even though he was less sulky now, he still had cabin fever, and she couldn’t wait until it was cured.

“Claire?” Claire looked up to see Carey, who worked the receptionist’s desk, standing in the doorway of the break room. “Just letting you know, your 1:30 appointment is here.”

“Oh okay. I’ll be out to get her in a minute,” replied Claire. She looked down at her schedule again, checking the patient’s name. Elaina Hammond. “Elaina,” she said to herself, grabbing the schedule off the table and standing up. She left the break room and walked up the hallway to the small waiting room. Opening the door, she stepped in and called, “Elaina?”

It was not hard to tell which patient was hers, as there was only one baby in the room, an adorable little girl with round, rosy cheeks and light blonde hair that was clipped in place with a little red bow. The baby’s mother, a young, pretty, blonde woman, scooped her up and juggled her on one hip as she strode across the room.

“Good afternoon,” Claire said to the woman, her smile drifting from the mother to the baby. “Go through this door and to the second room on your left, please.” Once they were in her cubicle, Claire said, “You’re welcome to sit in the dentist chair and hold her, if you’d like. Usually that makes it less scary for the kids, having Mommy hold them.”

“Okay,” the mother agreed, and Claire put the head of the dental chair up and the legs down so that she could sit, the baby in her lap.

“I’m Claire, and I’ll be taking a look at Elaina first,” Claire introduced herself as she set a tray of instruments out. “Is this her first visit to the dentist, Mrs. Hammond?”

“Yes, it is,” the woman answered. “My husband heard it was good to start taking children to the dentist early, so he had me make her an appointment. And call me Leah, by the way. ‘Mrs. Hammond’ sounds so… old,” she added, wrinkling her nose. “Technically it would be Mrs. Gaylers-Hammond anyway, but I don’t like for people to call me that either. I just got married this past February – Valentine’s Day, I should say – and I guess I’m just not used to being a “Mrs.” yet.” As she talked, she waved her left hand around, making sure Claire caught a glimpse of the sparkling rock on her ring finger.

“I’m sure that does take awhile to get used to,” Claire said lightly, and before she could stop it, the thought came – Claire Carter… Mrs. Claire Carter. What would that sound like? She felt herself beginning to blush; it was too soon to be thinking of things like that, and certainly, this wasn’t the place to be having those thoughts. Yet she couldn’t help it, couldn’t stop the thoughts from coming. Or what about Mrs. Ryan-Carter? Using my maiden name, like she did…

Looking at the blonde woman in front of her, who was smoothing back a few stray wisps of her daughter’s hair, something suddenly dawned on Claire. “Did you say Gaylers-Hammond?” she asked, trying to keep her voice casual while studying the woman through narrowed eyes.

“Yes,” replied Leah. “Gaylers is my maiden name. Why? Have you heard of me? I work in entertainment; I’m trying to get into acting-“

“Oh, uh… I’m not sure. Maybe. Your name just sounded familiar somehow…” Claire trailed off vaguely, struggling to hold back what she really wanted to say. Something had clicked, and she knew exactly who this woman was now.

Leah. Nick’s ex, Leah. The conniving vixen who had made Nick believe she was carrying his child in order to win his heart, and his money.

Her eyes dropped to the child sitting on Leah’s lap. There was the baby… the baby he’d once thought of as his, before she was even born. He had wanted that baby. He rarely spoke of it, but from the little she had heard, that much was clear. He had let Leah into his home so that he could take care of her and the baby, once it was born. He had planned for them to become a family… to marry Leah, and to be a father to their daughter.

What Leah had done had been devastating to him.

Knowing all of that, it was hard to even look at the woman without wanting to strangle her. Be professional, Claire warned herself. You can’t let your feelings get in the way of doing your job. Taking in a long, calming breath, she steadied herself and sank down onto a stool in front of the dental chair. “Okay,” she said, inhaling deeply. “Let’s see if Elaina will open her mouth for me…”

***

Nick stood in front of the full-length mirror on the back of his bathroom door, scrutinizing his reflection. He turned to the left, then to the right, stopping to pull at the left leg of his jeans. He smoothed the thick denim back over his prosthesis and straightened himself, turning back to face the mirror. He was comforted by the sight of himself looking whole and complete, the way he was supposed to look, the way he wanted other people to see him. It was all an illusion, of course – the hunk of titanium inside his pant leg would never be flesh and blood – but to him, the illusion was better than the reality.

It had been over a month since his attempt to run on his prosthesis had backfired, and finally, he had healed enough to wear the artificial leg again. He’d been trying it on all week, wearing it a little at a time, while Claire was at work. She didn’t know. Today was the first day he was going to wear it out, and he wanted to surprise her.

It was their six-month anniversary, and he was going to pick her up from work and take her out, to make up for last Friday and all the nights before that. He glanced at his watch. It was already 1:30. She got off at two. Deciding he had better leave now, to make sure he didn’t miss her, he left the bathroom, shutting off the light on the way out, and went into the bedroom to find his shoes. It felt so good to be walking again, although a month of not doing it had left him slightly unsteady. “It’ll get better with practice,” he told himself, sinking down on his bed to put on his shoes.

After pulling his shoelaces tight, he stood up and left the room. He found the car keys for the Jag and, within minutes, was pulling out of his drive, on the way to the dentist’s office where Claire worked.

***

“Dr. Somers will be in to examine Elaina in a few minutes.” Claire left the room, closed the door behind her, and let out a huge sigh as soon as she was out of earshot. Forget all the kids that kicked and screamed and tried to bite her fingers. Forget all the people with rotting teeth and rancid breath. That had to have been the hardest patient she’d ever had to deal with. Well, not the patient… more like the patient’s mother. The baby, Elaina, had been good, as far as babies go; she hadn’t put up too much of a fuss when Claire looked at her teeth. And for what it was worth, Leah had been pleasant enough… but Leah, Claire had determined, had no clue who she was. She wondered how she would have been treated if Leah had known she was Nick’s current girlfriend and knew all about what Leah had done to him last year.

Oh well, it didn’t matter. It was over now, and Claire had determined that next time Elaina came for an appointment, she would make sure one of the other hygienists saw her. Being in the same room with Leah and fighting to hold her tongue was an experience she did not want to repeat anytime soon.

She wandered back to the break room and found Laureen sitting there, bent over a short stack of paperwork. “Hey,” she said.

Laureen looked up and smiled. “Hey, Claire. You getting off soon?”

“Yep, I’m off at two. You?”

“Same. Just finishing up this stuff before I go,” answered Laureen, motioning to the pile of papers in front of her. “So, you doing anything fun tonight?”

“I dunno… Nick and I’ll probably just hang out at home,” Claire replied slowly, knowing he probably wouldn’t want to go anywhere. They’d do what they always did – order a pizza, rent a DVD or two, and spend the night on the couch or in bed together. It wasn’t a bad way to spend the night, but she couldn’t wait till he was back on his feet and ready to start going out to places again. She didn’t mention to Laureen that it was also their six-month anniversary… six whole months since they had made their relationship official on New Year’s. In a way, it felt much longer than that. Granted, they had known each other for over two years now, but she could hardly remember a time when she had not loved Nick. And he was so much a part of her life now that the years before she’d met him seemed even more distant.

“That sounds nice,” Laureen’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “I’m going over to Tim’s place… we’ll probably do the same thing.”

“Have fun,” Claire said, hoping she didn’t sound sarcastic. She was dying to ask if Laureen had heard any mascot stories yet, but Carey popped in before she had the chance.

“Claire? You’re needed in the waiting room.”

“The waiting room?” Claire repeated, frowning in confusion. “Okay…” She followed Carey up the hall, hoping this didn’t have anything to do with Leah. But as she walked past her exam room, she caught a glimpse of Leah still sitting in the dental chair, holding Elaina while the aging Dr. Somers examined her. Continuing on quickly, Claire pushed through the door that led to the waiting room.

Her confusion vanished when she spotted Nick slouched in a chair in the far corner of the room. Breaking into a delighted grin, she hurried over to him. “What are you doing here?!” she exclaimed, her surprised voice ringing through the otherwise deserted waiting room.

“I came to pick you up from work,” he smiled.

She smiled back, happiness bubbling inside her. He was here… he was smiling… and when she looked down, she saw that he was wearing his prosthetic leg. Well, that explained it all - both the surprise and the smile. She dropped down into the seat beside him and nudged the foot of his prosthesis with her own. “So… how’s it going?” she asked, giving him a meaningful look.

“Fine,” he replied with a nod and a meaningful look back.

She smiled again. “Good.”

“So… are you ready to go?” he asked, shifting in his seat.

“Oh… not quite. I just have to clean up after my patient lea-“ She stopped suddenly, struck with the horrible realization that Leah was still there… and now, so was he.

“What?” he asked, looking confused. “After your patient what?”

Claire stood up abruptly. “You know what, you should come wait in the break room; that’ll be better,” she said quickly. “Come with me; I’ll take you back there, and you can hang out while I finish up. Laureen’s back there; she’d love to talk to you; you know she’s a fan…” She reached for his hands and tugged, trying to pull him up out of his seat. He gave her a bewildered look, but reluctantly stood up.

“Okay…” he said, his eyebrows furrowing. “Whatever you think would be bes-“

Now it he who stopped suddenly, and Claire didn’t even have to turn around to know why. She had heard the door to the waiting room open and Dr. Somers’ kind, gravely voice say, “Have a nice weekend, Mrs. Hammond. We’ll see you and Elaina back here in six months.”

Claire turned just in time to catch the flirtatious smile Leah shot the older dentist, as she said in a sugary voice, “Thank you so much, Dr. Somers. And like I said, you can call me Leah.”

Feeling sick to her stomach, Claire slowly looked back at Nick. The blood had drained from his face, and he stood stock still, staring over her shoulder, his jaw clenched, his eyes hard and cold. His hands, she saw, lowering her eyes, had been balled into fists. A vein bulged in one of his forearms. His whole body had tensed.

She wanted to say something, but she didn’t know what. He wasn’t looking at her anyway; his steely gaze was still fixed on Leah. Biting her lip, she turned her head again and followed it.

Dr. Somers retreated from the waiting room, closing the door behind him as he disappeared. Boosting her daughter higher on her hip, Leah turned. She saw them instantly; there was no denying the look of shock that flickered across her striking features.

Just as quickly, it was gone, replaced by the same artificially sweet smile she’d given Dr. Somers. “Hi, Nick,” she said softly, swaggering across the room toward him and Claire. “Didn’t expect to see you here. Do you have an appointment this afternoon too?”

“No,” Nick answered her, his voice low and stoic. “I’m picking up my girlfriend.” He reached for Claire’s hand and pulled her around to his side. She immediately slid her arm around his waist and stood possessively by his side, staring Leah down.

“Your girl-? You mean her?” Leah questioned, looking from him to Claire. “You’re dating Nick?” Her voice was filled with contempt.

“I really don’t think my personal life is any of your business,” Claire spoke evenly, “but yes, we’re dating.”

“We’ve been together six months,” Nick added, and Claire glanced up at him just in time to catch the smile he gave her, a brief crack in the stony façade he was maintaining. She returned the smile, then looked back at Leah, whose pouty look vanished just as quickly as her shock had earlier.

Back came the sugary smile, as she said sweetly, “Wow, that’s great. I’m glad you found someone new, Nick. My honey and I got married earlier this year, in case you were wondering.” She flashed her diamond ring around again. “We’re very happy together.” The way she said it, it was almost as if she were trying to convince herself, and Claire wondered how happy she really was. She didn’t see how someone like Leah, someone who deceived and manipulated other people, could ever be truly happy. To be happy with your life, you first had to be happy with yourself – isn’t that what people always said?

“Glad to hear it,” Nick said hollowly, his voice completely void of any sincerity.

Wondering how long this conversation was going to last if the two of them were left on their own, Claire decided to step in. “Well, excuse us,” she said to Leah, “but I need to get back to work. Come on, Nick, I’ll show you to the break room. It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Hammond. Sorry - Mrs. Gaylers-Hammond.” Bringing her arm tighter around Nick, she guided him across the room, past Leah, and through the waiting room door. Letting the door slam closed behind her, she walked Nick back to the break room.

Laureen looked up in surprise as the door burst open, and they came in. Her face lit up when she saw Nick. “Hi!” she squeaked.

“Hey,” Nick said weakly and looked at Claire.

“Will you wait here for a few minutes? I won’t take long; I promise.” I’m sorry, she added with her eyes, hoping he would understand. I’m sorry you had to run into her.

He offered her a tiny smile. “Sure. No hurry.” He sat down at the table and smiled across at Laureen. “Hey, Laureen, wassup?”

Relieved, Claire backed out of the room and closed the door. Well, she thought, I guess that could have been worse.

***