Alvaro

Knowing that Elias was abused his entire life I wasn't surprised that he didn't know what French toast was. But he didn't know what Raspberries, blackberries, or even blueberries were. He worked at a grocery store, I would've assumed he would've tried different foods. Apparently not...

We pull up to the dentists office and I look in the rear view mirror to see Elias. He's staring out the window with a look that I could only describe as nervous. I understand why he's nervous. He's never been to the dentist so he doesn't know what to except.

"You okay back there Elias? You look deep in thought."

He doesn't respond but his hand fidgets with the hoodie.

"It's okay to be nervous, Leo and I will be with you for every step of the way."

He looks up at me with sad eyes. Is he scared?...

"What's going to happen is we'll check you in at the front desk, they'll call you back and you'll be expected to sit on the chair. The dentist will lean the chair back and ask you to open your mouth, you'll need to stay still and let him look. You'll feel him poking around in your mouth but it's fine and normal. He might ask you some questions, ask to take pictures of your mouth, or ask you to brush your teeth. It's all normal but it's okay to be nervous, even scared. You've never been to the dentist before but these are routine. We will start bringing you 2 times every year. Do you understand Hermanito?"

Elias nods his head and unbuckles his seatbelt. We all get out of the car and walk up to the office.

Elias walks behind me, he looks like he's trying to hide behind me, but also trying to look......tough?.....

We walk inside and go to the front desk to check Elias in. A redheaded lady in dark blue scrubs sits behind the desk.

"Hi how can I help you?" She asks us.

"Yes, checking in for Elias. He has an appointment with Dr.Roberts at 11am." I tell her. I keep my gaze neutral. I need to make sure I stay strong in public, there are eyes everywhere.

"Yes I have him checked in, if you could fill out this form, and you can go ahead and have a seat in the waiting area, Dr.Roberts will be with you soon." She tells me while handing me a clipboard with the forms attached.

We go sit down, Elias sits in between me and Leo, he's watching the tv, it's got the lady and the tramp play and his attention is fully on it.

When we get home we will have to have a movie night.

Looking at the forms I notice most of the questions we can't answer.

'Any allergies the patient may have?" I'm not sure, he either hasn't told us or doesn't know of any

"Do the patients gums bleed, or are easily irritable?" He's never been to a dentists so how would we know

"Are the patients teeth sensitive to hot/cold temperatures?" Again I'm not sure, we don't know

I end up filing out N/A on a lot of the questions. We don't know for sure yet.

I finish and go give the receptionist the clipboard.

"The doctor will be with you soon." She tells me.

We wait for another 10 minutes before w're called. I nudge Elias who just grunts and stands up, not taking his eyes off the tv.

"We can watch The Lady and the Tramp when we get home." I tell him as we follow the assistant to tell room.

"That's what the movies called? And you're sure we can watch it when we go back to your house?" He asks me

"It's our house Hermanito, but yes I promise. It's on Disney+."

Elias smiles and looks around, seeing all the signs and teeth all over the walls. We walk into the room and the nurse immediately sits down and starts typing on the computer.

Elias looks at the chair wearily, sitting down stiffly on the chair.

The nurse asks a few more questions about medical history before she leans his chair back and asks Elias to open his mouth.

The chair leaning back startles Elias and he grabs my hand tightly. He looks at me with nothing but sheer panic.

"Elias you're okay, she's just looking at your teeth, just take a breath and everything will be okay." I tell him squeezing his hand.

He just looks at me as he barely opens his mouth.

The dental assistant goes and takes X-Rays of his mouth, asking him to bite down, then moving the object in his mouth, and repeating the cycle.

"Alright the doctor will be with you shortly." She tells us as she walks out of the room.

Elias is still holding onto my hand tightly when Leo stands up and walks to the back of the room, grabbing something before we see the tv turning on.

Elias immediately turns his attention to the tv, watching as Leo scrolls through before going to Disney+ and putting on the Lady and the Tramp.

Elias starts to relax and keeps his gaze on the tv. That's when the dentist walks in and Elias immediately tenses up again.

"Hello Mr.Rameriez I am Dr.Roberts how are we today?" He asks nicely.

Elias just stares at the man with a look that I could only describe as annoyance.

"If you can go ahead and open your mouth we can get started." The doctor asks Elias.

Elias gently opens his mouth, definitely in hesitance. Dr.Roberts immediately gets to work, doing whatever it is dentists do.

Dr.Roberts and his assistants continue to talk in their dentist lingo before Dr.Roberts looks at the X-Rays and then looks at us again.

"I am seeing a lot of plaque build up on his teeth, not surprising after what Mr.Rameriez told me. Most of his baby teeth are gone, he still has his molars which he should've lost by now its not a major worry but we still need to keep our eyes on it. He might need to get them extracted." He tells us before continuing to ramble on.

"Two of his canines will need root canals, his gums are damaged and I can see the decay on his teeth. We can get them done today but you'll have to stay longer. He has two cavities in his molars which we can put a silver tooth on today as well as a cleaning. Elias you're going to hear a lot of buzzing and loud noises in your mouth but that is normal, we're cleaning your teeth to make sure they're healthy."

Elias just squeezes my hand tighter as they start cleaning his teeth and fixing his cavities. He flinches a lot and I just squeeze his hand, making sure he knows I'm here for him.

After they fix his cavities they start on the root canals. Normally you'd have to make a separate appointment but we were all expecting this so we came prepared.

2 hours later

Elias was standing next to me completely out of it. They gave him some laughing gas to help keep him calm and pain free and it still hasn't worn off. He's wobbling on his feet and his eyes are dazed.

Me and Leo help lead him to the car carefully and lay him down in the back seats. He's mumbling to himself, not making any sense. I lay a blanket over him at let him rest. His dentist appointment was at 11, we left at 1:00, his doctors appointment is at 2 and we've got to go now.

We sit in silence, driving silently, not even the radio is on. I don't want to disturb Elias, his day is only going to get longer...

"My mouth hurts..." I hear him say softly.

I look through the rearview mirror and see his eyes filled with tears. Poor kid...

"I know sweetheart, it's gonna feel uncomfortable for the rest of the day. You can have some more medicine when we get home okay?" Leo tells him softly.

"I don't like the dentist." He tells us while glaring at Leo's seat.

I chuckle at him, what kid likes the dentist?

"I know, I don't like the dentist either but it's a necessary evil Hermanito, it makes sure we're healthy." I tell him.

He just grumbles and closes his eyes again, trying to get comfortable.

We get to the doctors office 45 minutes later, maldito trafico...(Fucking traffic)

I open Elias's door and get him out but he fights me on it. Grumbling and muttering words under his breath as he drags his feet to the office.

The check in process is similar to the dentists. Medical history that we can't answer, very vague answers to specific questions. Elias sits next to me leaning just enough into me that he can slouch but not enough so that he can rest his head on my shoulder.

We wait a few minutes before getting called back.

The nurse owes the normal procedures, checking weight, height, and blood pressure. At 13 years old Elias is 5'3, and 123lbs. He seems to be a normal weight but he's not. All of that is muscle, muscle weighs more than fat. He's so skinny you can see his ribs. The fighting and training he did when living in Chicago made him prioritize muscle over weight. If only we had found him sooner...

As we wait for the doctor to come in me and Leo talk quietly. Elias is coming to it slowly and uncomfortably. He keeps messing with his jaw and his mouth. Wincing as he does so. Then we hear two knocks.

"Hi Elias Rameriez correct?" She asks as she sits down and logs into the computer.

"yes"

"Hi Elias, my name is Dr.Brown it is so nice to meet you. This must be Alvaro and Leo correct?" She asks as she glances towards us.

"Yes I'm Alvaro Elias's guardian and this is Leo our brother." I tell her.

"So we're here for a check up and multiple vaccines correct?"

"Yes, he's very behind on them and he needs to get the asap."

"Yes I see that. I'll get those sent in immediately but first now we're going to start with the check up process. Now Elias I know you haven't been to the doctor in a while but I'm going to explain everything that is happening okay?" She asks Elias.

He just nods and tries to keep his distance from her.

The check up goes smoothly, his hearing is perfect, reflexes, and heart rate are good. The issue we have is when she tries to test his vision. Now usually they use letters but because he can't read yet they're using the one they give to toddlers and kids. The ones with the different shapes. His vision isn't 20/20 he is nearsighted. Meaning his eyes can't focus on far way objects. So he will need glasses. This brings us to our first problem at the doctors office.

"No I'm not wearing glasses, I'll look like a nerd, and be weird. My eyes are fine, your chart is just messed up." He tells her.

"Once you learn to read we can check again but it's very common to wear glasses." She tries to tell Elias.

He just argues with her until contacts are brought up.

"We can get you contacts Elias it's not an issue at all. He glasses can just be for home or late nights." Leo convinces him.

After that 10 minutes of arguing he Elias reluctantly agrees to using contacts. We have to go to the eye doctor for it but I'm sure if Dr.Brown puts in a prescription we can get them online. I don't want to push Elias any further than he already has been.

Then the shots come around.

Elias definitely doesn't like them because now I'm sitting behind him holding him tight while Leo holds onto his thigh since he can't hold his hand in the brace. He's getting 5 total today. We're hoping to speed up the process of catching him up on his vaccines.

"There we go Elias there 3, you have 2 more to go. Want to finish them or take a break?" Dr.Brown asks him.

Elias is holding back tears, I'm not sure if the needle scares him or what else but it breaks my heart.

"Just get the damn things done so I can go back to sleep." He sneers at her.

She squeezes his bicep and quickly injects the 4th one.

"Okay one more. Now I know you're not going to like this one but it needs to happen okay? I need you to stand up and pull your pants and underwear down. This one goes in your bottom." She tells Elias gently while getting the last needle ready.

Elias immediately starts thrashing in my arms, screaming at the top of his lungs and trying to get away.

"NO YOU'RE NOT FUCKING PUTTING A NEEDLE IN MY ASS. GO TO HELL!" He yells. He's screaming and thrashing in my hands.

Everyone is scrambling trying to get him to calm down but it's like his rope snapped. He's not listening to anyone. He's screaming and crying, refusing to pull his pants down. It's like he's in another world right now.

We can't get him to settle, eventually the doctor asks permission to give him a small dose of a sedative, not enough to knock him out but enough to hopefully calm him down.

I agree after looking at the state Elias is in. He's backed himself into one of the corners of the room. Grabbing his hair, rocking, and screaming.

The doctor gives him the sensitive and within 5 minutes he's calmed down and slumped against the wall. He's still crying but to drugged to scream and fight anymore.

I hold Elias in my arms and decide to just go ahead and get this shot over with. It's the only one he needs in the butt and I don't think we can wait any longer to give it to him. He's gone 6 years without it, he doesn't need to go another few months.

I carry Elias out to the car, letting Leo drive and laying Elias down in the backseat again. His head in my lap.

He's still sniffling, eyes dazed when he asks me a question.

"Mamma used to stick me with needles..." he says softly.

Immediately I tense up. I see Leo's eyes snap to mine in the rearview mirror. I gently shake my head at him. Telling him not to react. I don't know the state Elias is in but it's very fragile, we need to be very careful.

"Elias what do you mean by that?" I ask him gently.

"When I was to loud, not acting right, or she had friends over she said it was to help me calm down but it made me feel funny. I didn't like it.." he says.

I take a deep breath in before asking my next question.

"Elias how old were you?" I asked him. Keeping eye contact with Leo.

"I dunno, I remember it starting when I was young. I had my tiger Twinkles still. She tore him up when I was 7" he says as he yawns

His tiger...

I gave him that tiger when he was born. It was my gift to him. And our mother tore it up... if she was alive... oh this fucking shit I would do to her....

I gently scratch his scalp with my nails, dragging them through his hair. As much as I would love to question him more he's not in the right state to answer the questions I have for him.

I hear his breathing soften and he's asleep. He really needs it....

We pull up to the house and I gently carry him to the living room. That way we can keep an eye on him when he wakes up and we don't have a repeat of yesterday.

I sit down in the chair next to the couch.... Rummaging through my thoughts...

His mom was drugging him for lord knows how long... at least 7 years old.

God what else is going to pop up?

I sigh loudly while looking at Leo. We both try processing this information...

What other surprises will we find out?...

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Okay not my favorite chapter. It feels rushed and not detailed but I didn't know how else to right this chapter. I'm NOT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL. ALL THIS INFORMATION IS RESEARCHED OFF OF GOOGLE!!

Anyways what are we thinking?? In the past two days I've seen the amount of people reading this story basically double. Makes me very happy.

Don't forget to comment/vote. I love reading and interacting with comments. I'm trying to figure out how to send out an announcement but whatever, I swear guys I'm a teenager!😭