Chapter 83 Chapter 83
“There’s just a bit of cleaning Doc. Martino needs to finish. After the patient, you may go inside, Doc. Jade,” said Doctor Martino’s apprentice to me.
I AM CURRENTLY in the lounge of the dental clinic owned by Doc. Martino. He stays here whenever we don’t have medical missions. I also admire his dedication in choosing to build his own clinic instead of becoming a dentist at St. Aveline. Though, as far as I remember, his clinic is still associated with the hospital since he’s a great doctor and St. Aveline can’t fully let him go. That’s why when someone wants to have their teeth checked, patients are referred to this clinic. Well, also because patients already have great trust in Doc. Martino, they themselves recommend this place to others.
I looked around and couldn’t help but smile. It was all a dream before, but now it has become a reality. I still remember my first visit here—I had just finished my board exams, and he was insisting that I take a specialization in dentistry so we could work together, but I objected, since back then my heart was already set on general medicine—well, until now. My only fear is returning to being a surgical resident.
“Doc. Jade…”
I was pulled out of my thoughts when someone called my name. When I turned around, I saw Doctor Martino coming out of the door and removing his mask.
I smiled at him and waved back. “Hello, Doc!”
He gestured with his hand, commanding me to “come in.”
I was surprised when he made me sit on the dental chair and handed me a glass of water. He also placed a towel on my chest before putting the mask back over his mouth.
“Gurgle,” he ordered, and I didn’t protest. A moment later, he pressed something, causing me to lean back and lie down along with the chair. He positioned the light above me and told me to say “ahh.”
I looked at him as he inserted the dental mirror into my mouth.
“You’re using your mouth often,” he commented, making my eyes widen in shock. Right! Dentists can tell if you’re doing something unusual with your mouth! How embarrassing!
I immediately slapped his hand away and stood up from the dental chair. He stepped back in confusion.
“Doc. Martino! I didn’t come here to have my teeth checked!” I shouted, making him furrow his brows.
“Then why are you here?”
“I’m here to talk to you!” I said in panic. “Why aren’t you letting me join the next medical mission, huh? Hannah called me and said you removed me from the list!”
“Didn’t she explain to you why?” he asked, then turned his back on me. He shifted his attention to other things, pretending to tidy them up.
I stood up and walked toward him to pester him.
“Because my mom will still be there? So what, Doc. Martino? I don’t go to medical missions for her! I’m there for the patients, so whether she’s there or not, I’ll still do my job!” I explained at length, but he just avoided me again by rolling away on the stool.
But I still insisted and blocked his path.
“Doc. Martino, please! You know where I’m coming from! You know how much I love doing this—helping other people. Are you really going to stop that too? You’ve known me since med school; you’re my senior. You saw how much I yearned to help, how hard I worked to become a doctor… you know this will hurt me if you do this.”
He breathed a sigh of disappointment. He removed his mask and hairnet, along with his latex gloves. He glanced at me as if he were trying his best to accommodate what I needed but still couldn’t fulfill it. He faced me while slouching, his arms resting on his thighs, his hands clasped together.
“Remember when I advised you before to consider dentistry? That way, if you ever had nowhere else to go, you could stay here with me,” he began.
“But didn’t I tell you that general medicine is what I like!”
“But I told you dentistry is safer. Quieter,” he added.
“But if it’s not what I like, why would I choose it? Even if it’s the quieter one, or the safer one, or the one that would bring me peace, I wouldn’t choose it—”
“Because you want something that will challenge you every day? Those cases that need different approaches and strategies? You want your mind to be tested every single day? Why do you always like to put your life in a complicated situation?”
At that point, I couldn’t speak anymore. Of course, he knows me well. He is the quietest witness to everything I’ve been through in life. I still remember that he was the one who accompanied me to the examination room on the day I was completely crushed and already wanted to give up because my life—and even my relationship with my ex—was so fucked up.