SPN Fan-Fic (Meta) : Toothache
Title: Toothache
Fandom: Supernatural
Words: 2223
Summary: Dean suffers a toothache between The Girl Next Door and How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters (Season 7)
Tags/Warnings: Some description of a dentist visit and nightmares pertaining to it.
He scrunched up his eyes in the blinding light, head straining back on the thick cushioning of a huge black leather bound chair big enough to sit two of him, his mouth open so wide his jaw hurt. A vacuum tube dragged down the bottom lip it was hooked to as it gurgled noisily, sucking water and saliva and a bit of the bottom of his cheek. A high keening whirl started up to his right, making him jump and sending multiple shivers up his spine. Thick, prying fingers in squeaky rubber gloves pulled at the side of his mouth and cold, hard metal pushed at the inside of his cheek. He gripped his chair with both hands, arms taut, as metal touched tooth. The keening sound started vibrating in his brain as the icy cold point of the drill circles wider and deeper and pieces of tooth flew up and around his mouth. No… don’t go there...don’t touch that… arms flailed, legs shot out, little cold shocks started shooting through his tooth, then a sudden blinding pain up to his eyeballs.
Bobby was watching him from his desk as he bolted up on the sofa. “Another nightmare?”
“Just the usual,” he gasped, still out of breath. He swallowed and felt an uncomfortable heaviness in the back of his mouth. Letting Bobby’s presence and the welcoming feel of the study wash over him, he slowly got up and walked over to the desk, grabbed the whiskey bottle and poured himself a drink.
:::::::::
Dean straightened out of his slouch and sat frozen on the sofa for a second with his mouth in a surprised “O,” then quickly grabbed the wastebasket next to him and pushed the last of cake out of his mouth into it. Jumping off the sofa on his good leg, he hopped hurriedly to the washroom sink, grabbed his toothbrush and, covering it with toothpaste, opened his mouth and looked at his own worried face in the mirror.
“What’s the matter, Dean?” Sam called from the kitchen table where he was reading the newspaper he’d just bought at the corner store.
“Oh, nothin’. Just too much cake.”
Dean heard Sam bark a laugh and he grumbled, “Hahaha.” He was going to brush his teeth so well, they were going to squeak every time he smiled.
:::::::::
Bounding up from the sofa, gasping for breath, the terror in his eyes gradually subsiding as through the haze, Dean started to see Rufus’ log cabin around him. IT’S JUST A DREAM, DEAN. NOT REAL. He flopped his head back down on the cushion and waited for his heartbeat to slow, feeling cold sweat trickling on his brow. Damn. He didn’t need this, not now, when everything was falling apart. He got up again, grunting, and looked around for Sam. The cabin was empty. Where the Hell was that brother of his?
::::::::::::::
He drove Rufus’s old car to track down Sam, who had disappeared with HIS BABY to who knew where. Would his brother be a completely off his rocker, only hearing Lucifer’s voice and talking to himself? God forbid got himself arrested or institutionalized maybe even ended his life somewhere like he almost did a few days ago? He ground his teeth together and was rewarded by a dull ache as he pressed down. It wasn’t a cavity. Just a loose tooth. And he had much more pressing matters to think about.
:::::::::::::::::::::
Sam poked his head out the motel bathroom, toothbrush in his mouth. “Are you OHey?”
“Yeah, fine.” Dean grunted as he sat up in bed, moved his legs to the side of the bed and sat there for a bit, rubbing his face. He heard Sam spitting out the rinse from his mouth.
He’d found Sammy trying unsuccessfully to deal with a Kitsune on his own. Although his gut told him he had done the right thing, it was hard to keep such a heavy secret from Sam. Especially when he kept thanking Dean for letting Amy go.
He bit down on his back teeth and again felt the same uncomfortable feeling. It didn’t hurt… well, it did a little but not much. It was probably just from being flung by Leviathan Cas. Just in case, he got up and hurried to the bathroom. Peering into the mirror, he opened his mouth and searched his back teeth. Wait… was that a little speck of food stuck on one of his bottom teeth? He must have missed it when he brushed last night. He grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste and started brushing vigorously.
Sam glanced his way as he flossed. “What’s the occasion?”
Dean spit out some toothpaste and inspected the spot on his tooth in the mirror. “Waitress at the diner has the hots for me. Better safe than sorry.”
“U-huh,” Sam nodded dramatically. “Hey, you ’member Dad used to make us show him our teeth every night? Must have been that military training. He sure was strict.”
“How could I forget. You always got the pat on the back and I had to go rebrush,” Dean grumbled.
“I still remember that time you got your first cavity. Have you been to the dentist since then?” Sam threw over his shoulder as he went to pack.
“Suuuuure.” Haha… not a chance. He’d rather die.
He shuddered and quickly blocked off the memory. Anyway, his tooth was fine. He rubbed at it with his tongue. Just a bit loose. And that spot of course was just his imagination. It was time for some pancakes and a bit of flirting with the pretty waitress before they went to check out a ghost car case.
:::::::::::::::::::::
Dean sat at the kitchen table of their motel room staring at his computer and sipping his whiskey as he waited for Sam to come back from whatever crazy exercise he was up to this time. His brother was acting like he was applying for sainthood. His cheerfulness made Dean want to gag. He seemed to be ‘handling’ Lucifer for now, but it was only a matter of time before the other shoe dropped.
His own nightmares were worse than ever. If it wasn’t Cas sinking into the pond and Leviathan infesting the Earth or Amy pleading with him as he killed her, it was the damn memories of the dentist visit. It didn’t help that the funny sensation at the back of his mouth had gradually grown into a constant ache. He wasn’t getting any sleep and only getting through the day by drinking lots of whiskey and ibuprofen to numb the pain. Sam knew he was hiding something and yes, he was going to tell him about Amy sometime... he was just waiting for the right time. He really needed some pie. Banana cream pie would be just the thing to cheer him up.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Dean felt the migrain start up again as soon as the sheriff left his cell. He sat on the cement block of a bench and rested his head on his hands. At least the toothache was mostly gone - just an uncomfortable feeling when he swallowed. But there was a dull throbbing on one side of his head, mostly on the side with the toothache but also sometimes on the other side and in the back, in his eyes and now his nose. He wondered if Leviathan Dean also had the same pain. Maybe that’s why he liked winking so much. He hoped so. He didn’t need any more of a disadvantage than they already had. He looked up quickly at the sound of the Sheriff coming back and winced as he was rewarded with a whooper on the side of his head. The sheriff had a phone. Great. Maybe they had a chance after all.
:::::::::::::
Dean sat gloomily nursing his drink at a noisy Vagas bar. He had suggested they have their little Vegas outing to celebrate being back together. Unfortunately, Sam was still in a strange mood and prefered to spend his vacation camping out than gambling and getting laid, and had left Dean to fend for himself. Dean felt miserable even though the nightmares had gotten a bit better after hearing that Sam didn’t blame him for Amy. Ibuprofen was not doing much for his migraine or for the neck and shoulder pain, mostly again on the left side. He was dying and his little brother didn’t care.
::::::::::
Dean watched Garth leave after the embarrassing hug, feeling content after finally getting back together with his brother again. He was so glad the whole wedding fiasco was just a demon deal. He took the bottle of Ibuprofen out of his pocket and chucked down a bunch of pills.
“Dean, is there something else you’ve been hiding from me? Is there something wrong with you? Like more than normal?”
“Thanks, Sam.”
“No, I mean, I’ve seen you wince like several times since dealing with that demon and you are still downing an obscene amount of drugs and booze even after… you know. If it is not another one of those secrets, maybe you can tell me?”
Dean sighed. “I think it’s my tooth, man. I might have to ask you to pull it for me.”
“What are you talking about? Why not just go to a dentist?”
“Naw. Not worth the bother.” Dean waved off the idea and walked to the driver’s side. He'd rather get Sam to pull it himself than to go through that again.
He heard Sam sigh in exasperation as he followed.
The dentist invaded his mouth, first with the cold hard metal mirror and gloved hands. Poking and tapping and pushing open his mouth farther as he dug deeper with his big meaty fingers. “Yup, there’s a cavity alright,” the dentist sounded happy. Then suddenly there was that high pitched sound of the drill that made Dean almost bite the dentist’s fingers off and jump out of his chair. The dentist yelled in pain and dad came barging in the door.
“Dean Winchester you get back in there and take it like a man.” dad snapped.
“Yes sir.” Dean slowly crawled back onto the seat but his legs stayed curled up against his chest and there was no chance he was opening his mouth. His eyes wandered the room trying to look at anything but the dentist with his silver drill or dad with his thunderous eyes and his eyes found Sam’s, standing in the doorway to the room, his hand in dad’s, watching wide eyed. When their eyes met, Sam’s expression changed to determination. He released dad’s hand and walked toward Dean.
“Dean, do you want me to hold your hand?”
Dean took a deep breath, let it out noisily and answered “No, silly. I’m fine.” He scooted a bit more to the center of the chair as he looked at the dentist. “You didn’t warn me about how noisy it would be is all.” he shrugged, then slowly rested his head against the headrest, solemnly looked at the dentist again and opened his mouth.
He didn’t make a sound as a hole was drilled in his tooth, the decay removed, tooth cleaned and filled without any anesthetic, since boys were supposed to be stronger than that, but he couldn’t help his eyes leaking like the freak’n Niagara.
::::::::::::::::
“Okay, so whatever turned Gerry Browder into a pumpkin head... and is currently turning Dean into an idiot --” Sam jerked his head pointedly at Dean as he talked to Bobby.
“I'm right here. Right here.” Dean insisted joyfully.
“Is in the Turducken Slammer at Biggerson's.” Bobby finished. “You think he’ll recover if he just stops eating the stuff?”
“And maybe drink lots of fluids?” Sam added. “Wait. This would actually be a good opportunity… Dean, you’re going to a dentist.” He said triumphantly.
“OK.” Dean shrugged.
::::::::::::::::::::::
Sam stood watching Dean with Bobby at the doorway to the dentist’s office, his arms crossed. He felt a strong sense of deja vu as Dean lay back in a dentist chair, not a care in the world, waiting for the dentist to fix his tooth which had thankfully not been an abscess but was shot to the roots and needed a root canal done.
“It’s incredible the amount of pain you’ve been bearing for so long, mister.” The dentist told Dean as he looked at the tooth through the mirror in his mouth.
“Thi’ i’ ‘othin’” Dean replied looking proud.
As the dentist released him and went to gather his instruments, Dean turned his head to Sam.
“Sam, you know that time I had to get my tooth fixed in second grade and you asked if I wanted you to hold my hand and I said no?” Dean said happily.
“Yeah?” Sam swallowed.
“I only said that because I didn’t want to look chicken. But I don’t care anymore so you can hold my hand if you want.” Dean stretched out his hand as he smiled at Sam.
Sam wasn’t quite sure if he should laugh or cry. “Alright.”
Sam dragged a stool over to sit next to Dean, clasped his big sturdy hand and then covered them both with his other hand. Then he looked up and nodded at the dentist to start.
Bobby shook his head as he watched them from the doorway.
“Idjits.”
Then he turned to go back and wait in the car.
Fandom: Supernatural
Words: 2223
Summary: Dean suffers a toothache between The Girl Next Door and How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters (Season 7)
Tags/Warnings: Some description of a dentist visit and nightmares pertaining to it.
He scrunched up his eyes in the blinding light, head straining back on the thick cushioning of a huge black leather bound chair big enough to sit two of him, his mouth open so wide his jaw hurt. A vacuum tube dragged down the bottom lip it was hooked to as it gurgled noisily, sucking water and saliva and a bit of the bottom of his cheek. A high keening whirl started up to his right, making him jump and sending multiple shivers up his spine. Thick, prying fingers in squeaky rubber gloves pulled at the side of his mouth and cold, hard metal pushed at the inside of his cheek. He gripped his chair with both hands, arms taut, as metal touched tooth. The keening sound started vibrating in his brain as the icy cold point of the drill circles wider and deeper and pieces of tooth flew up and around his mouth. No… don’t go there...don’t touch that… arms flailed, legs shot out, little cold shocks started shooting through his tooth, then a sudden blinding pain up to his eyeballs.
Bobby was watching him from his desk as he bolted up on the sofa. “Another nightmare?”
“Just the usual,” he gasped, still out of breath. He swallowed and felt an uncomfortable heaviness in the back of his mouth. Letting Bobby’s presence and the welcoming feel of the study wash over him, he slowly got up and walked over to the desk, grabbed the whiskey bottle and poured himself a drink.
:::::::::
Dean straightened out of his slouch and sat frozen on the sofa for a second with his mouth in a surprised “O,” then quickly grabbed the wastebasket next to him and pushed the last of cake out of his mouth into it. Jumping off the sofa on his good leg, he hopped hurriedly to the washroom sink, grabbed his toothbrush and, covering it with toothpaste, opened his mouth and looked at his own worried face in the mirror.
“What’s the matter, Dean?” Sam called from the kitchen table where he was reading the newspaper he’d just bought at the corner store.
“Oh, nothin’. Just too much cake.”
Dean heard Sam bark a laugh and he grumbled, “Hahaha.” He was going to brush his teeth so well, they were going to squeak every time he smiled.
:::::::::
Bounding up from the sofa, gasping for breath, the terror in his eyes gradually subsiding as through the haze, Dean started to see Rufus’ log cabin around him. IT’S JUST A DREAM, DEAN. NOT REAL. He flopped his head back down on the cushion and waited for his heartbeat to slow, feeling cold sweat trickling on his brow. Damn. He didn’t need this, not now, when everything was falling apart. He got up again, grunting, and looked around for Sam. The cabin was empty. Where the Hell was that brother of his?
::::::::::::::
He drove Rufus’s old car to track down Sam, who had disappeared with HIS BABY to who knew where. Would his brother be a completely off his rocker, only hearing Lucifer’s voice and talking to himself? God forbid got himself arrested or institutionalized maybe even ended his life somewhere like he almost did a few days ago? He ground his teeth together and was rewarded by a dull ache as he pressed down. It wasn’t a cavity. Just a loose tooth. And he had much more pressing matters to think about.
:::::::::::::::::::::
Sam poked his head out the motel bathroom, toothbrush in his mouth. “Are you OHey?”
“Yeah, fine.” Dean grunted as he sat up in bed, moved his legs to the side of the bed and sat there for a bit, rubbing his face. He heard Sam spitting out the rinse from his mouth.
He’d found Sammy trying unsuccessfully to deal with a Kitsune on his own. Although his gut told him he had done the right thing, it was hard to keep such a heavy secret from Sam. Especially when he kept thanking Dean for letting Amy go.
He bit down on his back teeth and again felt the same uncomfortable feeling. It didn’t hurt… well, it did a little but not much. It was probably just from being flung by Leviathan Cas. Just in case, he got up and hurried to the bathroom. Peering into the mirror, he opened his mouth and searched his back teeth. Wait… was that a little speck of food stuck on one of his bottom teeth? He must have missed it when he brushed last night. He grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste and started brushing vigorously.
Sam glanced his way as he flossed. “What’s the occasion?”
Dean spit out some toothpaste and inspected the spot on his tooth in the mirror. “Waitress at the diner has the hots for me. Better safe than sorry.”
“U-huh,” Sam nodded dramatically. “Hey, you ’member Dad used to make us show him our teeth every night? Must have been that military training. He sure was strict.”
“How could I forget. You always got the pat on the back and I had to go rebrush,” Dean grumbled.
“I still remember that time you got your first cavity. Have you been to the dentist since then?” Sam threw over his shoulder as he went to pack.
“Suuuuure.” Haha… not a chance. He’d rather die.
He shuddered and quickly blocked off the memory. Anyway, his tooth was fine. He rubbed at it with his tongue. Just a bit loose. And that spot of course was just his imagination. It was time for some pancakes and a bit of flirting with the pretty waitress before they went to check out a ghost car case.
:::::::::::::::::::::
Dean sat at the kitchen table of their motel room staring at his computer and sipping his whiskey as he waited for Sam to come back from whatever crazy exercise he was up to this time. His brother was acting like he was applying for sainthood. His cheerfulness made Dean want to gag. He seemed to be ‘handling’ Lucifer for now, but it was only a matter of time before the other shoe dropped.
His own nightmares were worse than ever. If it wasn’t Cas sinking into the pond and Leviathan infesting the Earth or Amy pleading with him as he killed her, it was the damn memories of the dentist visit. It didn’t help that the funny sensation at the back of his mouth had gradually grown into a constant ache. He wasn’t getting any sleep and only getting through the day by drinking lots of whiskey and ibuprofen to numb the pain. Sam knew he was hiding something and yes, he was going to tell him about Amy sometime... he was just waiting for the right time. He really needed some pie. Banana cream pie would be just the thing to cheer him up.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Dean felt the migrain start up again as soon as the sheriff left his cell. He sat on the cement block of a bench and rested his head on his hands. At least the toothache was mostly gone - just an uncomfortable feeling when he swallowed. But there was a dull throbbing on one side of his head, mostly on the side with the toothache but also sometimes on the other side and in the back, in his eyes and now his nose. He wondered if Leviathan Dean also had the same pain. Maybe that’s why he liked winking so much. He hoped so. He didn’t need any more of a disadvantage than they already had. He looked up quickly at the sound of the Sheriff coming back and winced as he was rewarded with a whooper on the side of his head. The sheriff had a phone. Great. Maybe they had a chance after all.
:::::::::::::
Dean sat gloomily nursing his drink at a noisy Vagas bar. He had suggested they have their little Vegas outing to celebrate being back together. Unfortunately, Sam was still in a strange mood and prefered to spend his vacation camping out than gambling and getting laid, and had left Dean to fend for himself. Dean felt miserable even though the nightmares had gotten a bit better after hearing that Sam didn’t blame him for Amy. Ibuprofen was not doing much for his migraine or for the neck and shoulder pain, mostly again on the left side. He was dying and his little brother didn’t care.
::::::::::
Dean watched Garth leave after the embarrassing hug, feeling content after finally getting back together with his brother again. He was so glad the whole wedding fiasco was just a demon deal. He took the bottle of Ibuprofen out of his pocket and chucked down a bunch of pills.
“Dean, is there something else you’ve been hiding from me? Is there something wrong with you? Like more than normal?”
“Thanks, Sam.”
“No, I mean, I’ve seen you wince like several times since dealing with that demon and you are still downing an obscene amount of drugs and booze even after… you know. If it is not another one of those secrets, maybe you can tell me?”
Dean sighed. “I think it’s my tooth, man. I might have to ask you to pull it for me.”
“What are you talking about? Why not just go to a dentist?”
“Naw. Not worth the bother.” Dean waved off the idea and walked to the driver’s side. He'd rather get Sam to pull it himself than to go through that again.
He heard Sam sigh in exasperation as he followed.
The dentist invaded his mouth, first with the cold hard metal mirror and gloved hands. Poking and tapping and pushing open his mouth farther as he dug deeper with his big meaty fingers. “Yup, there’s a cavity alright,” the dentist sounded happy. Then suddenly there was that high pitched sound of the drill that made Dean almost bite the dentist’s fingers off and jump out of his chair. The dentist yelled in pain and dad came barging in the door.
“Dean Winchester you get back in there and take it like a man.” dad snapped.
“Yes sir.” Dean slowly crawled back onto the seat but his legs stayed curled up against his chest and there was no chance he was opening his mouth. His eyes wandered the room trying to look at anything but the dentist with his silver drill or dad with his thunderous eyes and his eyes found Sam’s, standing in the doorway to the room, his hand in dad’s, watching wide eyed. When their eyes met, Sam’s expression changed to determination. He released dad’s hand and walked toward Dean.
“Dean, do you want me to hold your hand?”
Dean took a deep breath, let it out noisily and answered “No, silly. I’m fine.” He scooted a bit more to the center of the chair as he looked at the dentist. “You didn’t warn me about how noisy it would be is all.” he shrugged, then slowly rested his head against the headrest, solemnly looked at the dentist again and opened his mouth.
He didn’t make a sound as a hole was drilled in his tooth, the decay removed, tooth cleaned and filled without any anesthetic, since boys were supposed to be stronger than that, but he couldn’t help his eyes leaking like the freak’n Niagara.
::::::::::::::::
“Okay, so whatever turned Gerry Browder into a pumpkin head... and is currently turning Dean into an idiot --” Sam jerked his head pointedly at Dean as he talked to Bobby.
“I'm right here. Right here.” Dean insisted joyfully.
“Is in the Turducken Slammer at Biggerson's.” Bobby finished. “You think he’ll recover if he just stops eating the stuff?”
“And maybe drink lots of fluids?” Sam added. “Wait. This would actually be a good opportunity… Dean, you’re going to a dentist.” He said triumphantly.
“OK.” Dean shrugged.
::::::::::::::::::::::
Sam stood watching Dean with Bobby at the doorway to the dentist’s office, his arms crossed. He felt a strong sense of deja vu as Dean lay back in a dentist chair, not a care in the world, waiting for the dentist to fix his tooth which had thankfully not been an abscess but was shot to the roots and needed a root canal done.
“It’s incredible the amount of pain you’ve been bearing for so long, mister.” The dentist told Dean as he looked at the tooth through the mirror in his mouth.
“Thi’ i’ ‘othin’” Dean replied looking proud.
As the dentist released him and went to gather his instruments, Dean turned his head to Sam.
“Sam, you know that time I had to get my tooth fixed in second grade and you asked if I wanted you to hold my hand and I said no?” Dean said happily.
“Yeah?” Sam swallowed.
“I only said that because I didn’t want to look chicken. But I don’t care anymore so you can hold my hand if you want.” Dean stretched out his hand as he smiled at Sam.
Sam wasn’t quite sure if he should laugh or cry. “Alright.”
Sam dragged a stool over to sit next to Dean, clasped his big sturdy hand and then covered them both with his other hand. Then he looked up and nodded at the dentist to start.
Bobby shook his head as he watched them from the doorway.
“Idjits.”
Then he turned to go back and wait in the car.