"Fluoride?" Dr. Stevens asked.
Matilda handed him a bottle of the chemical.
"Here you are." she responded.
"What flavor is this one, doc?" the woman in the chair asked.
Dr. Stevens grinned a bit, then sighed.
"It's supposed to be grape, or bubblegum, or something," he explained.
Matilda smiled at the patient and rolled her eyes.
"...but it's really just got that medicine taste to it. They try to cover up." he continued. He handed the patient a glass of it to swish around, then he took off his gloves.
Matlida stepped back and yawned.
"You can go now, Matilda." Dr. Stevens dismissed her.
Matilda headed away from the chair and out front to the desk.
"Anybody else scheduled, Liza?" she asked the receptionist.
Liza spun around in her chair away from the computer screen, pulled her glasses from her face, and let them fall against her chest, kept on her by a chain. She rubbed her eyes, then raised her arms in the air.
"Nope!" she said excitedly. She dropped her arms. "Mrs. Winthrop in there is Dr. Stevens' last one today. Ready for a day off, I take it, Matilda?"
"Definitely, Liza."
"You got to review Mrs. Reynolds's X-rays from earlier, still, right?"
"Uh..." Matilda looked at the clock. "Shit. Thought I got to that already."
Liza put her glasses back on and turned back to the computer monitor.
"Sorry, Matilda."
"No, no. I'm glad you reminded me. I just thought..."
"...you were done already."
"Yeah. I forget stupid little things sometimes."
"And I usually remind you of the the littlest ones. It's just a review."
"Yes, I know."
Matilda headed back to the X-ray machine to grab the Reynolds file.