Chapter Text
The morning of February 2nd, Iris woke to Barry not beside her in bed. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence, since he often got up bright and early to make breakfast for the two of them. But given how the day before had gone and the fact that she could hear no pans clattering or singing as he danced across the floor (as was his m.o.), she worried if he was still being affected from the events of the day before. He’d seemed okay when they got home last night, but still…it was a heavy day.
Peeling back the covers, she reached for her robe and made her way down the stairs, only to find him lounging in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms at the kitchen table, munching on his third donut. Nine more were left in the box splayed out on the table.
“Hey, babe…” she said, cautiously. “Don’t you have a, uh…” She squinted as she glanced across the room at the calendar, faintly remembering what was on today’s agenda. “Dentist appointment today? And work?”
“I called in sick,” he said, which blindsided Iris. He was often late to work, but he rarely if ever called in sick, unless he actually was. “Thinking about rescheduling the appointment too.”
Iris took a seat at the table.
“Are you okay?” she asked, softly.
“Yeah, why?” he asked, and his voice certainly sounded healthy, aside from being muffled from chewing.
Iris frowned, perplexed.
“Well, then, I guess I don’t understand why you took off and why you might…”
She didn’t finish her sentence. Because the realization behind all of this was suddenly blatantly obvious. Barry wasn’t still reeling from yesterday. He just didn’t want to go to the dentist.
“Barry, you have to go to the dentist.”
He stopped chewing and groaned as he set his half-donut left down.
“But I don’t wanna, Iris!”
She chuckled and got up, removing his plate and the other donuts and taking them into the kitchen.
“Go brush your teeth and floss, and you’ll be sparkliest customer they ever saw.”
He scoffed, refusing to move.
“I don’t know that I want to be ‘sparkly’.”
She gave him a knowing look over her shoulder.
“You have perfect teeth, Barry Allen. Thousand watt smile. I can’t remember the last time you had a cavity.”
He sighed dramatically.
“I just don’t like when people are in my mouth,” he scowled.
Iris raised her eyebrows amused, so he amended his statement.
“Unless it’s you, of course.”
She smiled and walked back over to him. She tilted his chin up to kiss him on the lips and then took a step back.
“Go get ready. I’ll be here for moral support when you get back.”
He grumbled about how unfair that was, but he sped off, brushed and flossed his teeth for a solid 10 minutes, and then returned to his wife, smiling brightly.
“Good?”
She smiled right back and gave him a thumb’s up sign.
“Thousand-watt smile. Absolutely.”
He nodded.
“Right. Guess I’ll go then.”
“Wait!” She crossed the room to him then presented her cheek for him to kiss.
He smiled genuinely and tilted her face so her lips faced him head-on and kissed her.
“Mmm. Yummy.”
She laughed.
“Okay, go! Call me when you’re done, and I’ll congratulate you.”
He snickered but nodded and was gone in a flash, leaving Iris with her hair flying around her.
…
Barry could not stop bouncing his knee. Not in the waiting room, where he was definitely getting looks from other patients, and not in the exam room as he awaited the dentist to come in.
“Hello, Mr. Allen,” his dentist said, finally entering the room a grand total of 15 minutes later.
Barry smiled with his lips closed.
“It’s been a year, not your usual six months. Why is that?” He frowned, concerned.
Barry panicked.
“I…uh…forgot?”
“Hmm.”
His heart raced.
“I got my vows renewed,” he said, by way of explanation. “It must’ve been for the same day.”
“Yes…in your file here it says you were a no-call, no-show.”
Barry winced.
“At least call next time, yeah?”
Barry gulped.
“Okay.”
The dentist’s assistant came into the room, and the dentist snapped his fingers, asking for one thing or another.
“Alright, open wide, Barry, we’ve got to put this in your mouth and have you bite down on it to make sure your teeth are all right. You know the drill.”
Barry swallowed but tentatively opened his mouth.
“Wider.”
He opened his mouth slightly more.
“Wider.”
He squeezed his eyes shut and opened his mouth as wide as he could. In no time at all, that gummy structure was inside him, and he was being ordered to bite down on it. Then he had to do the same with some plastic, and then he had to wait, while they analyzed the indentations on the computer.
“I don’t think we’ll have to do any x-rays today, Mr. Allen. Your teeth look pretty good.”
Barry breathed a sigh of relief.
“Rachel here will just give you a thorough cleaning, and then you’ll be on your way. Sound good?”
The color drained from his face.
He hated Rachel. She was rough with big hands, and she always made his gums bleed.
“Uh-huh.”
She was entering the room, so he didn’t dare ask for someone else, lest that make the experience even worse.
“I’ll see you in six months.”
“See y-” Barry tried, but his dentist was already out of the room.
“Hello, there, Barry,” Rachel boomed, her low voice filling him with dread. “I hope you didn’t skip your last appointment on my account.”
Barry shook his head emphatically.
“Got my vows renewed,” he repeated. “Must’ve been the same day.”
“Aww, that’s sweet.” She grabbed a hold of his chin, forcing him to look at her. “Don’t do it again.”
He shook his head, as much as he could with her grip on it.
“Nope. Won’t.”
“Good.” She smiled brilliantly, but it was menacing to him. “I choose mint for your flavor today, sound good?”
“Actually-”
“Great! Open wiiiiide!”
He had little time to react before his slightly opened mouth was forced open, and his chair tipped back, and he spent the next half hour sealing his eyes shut, trying to keep the tears from seeping through his eyelashes every time she hit a nerve. His mouth had started to hurt, and he was practically choking on his saliva, but eventually she pulled out the suction tube and saved him from death.
“There we go. All done. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“Uh…”
“See you in six months, Barry.”
And then she was gone, and he was saved.
…
When Iris saw Barry’s name flash across her phone screen, she immediately waved out the couple employees from her office and urged them to shut the door.
“Hey, babe, how did it go?”
“My mouth hurts.”
“Aww, honey, I’m sorry.”
She leaned back in her chair and twirled a lock around her finger.
“Can I do anything to help?”
There was a silence, then-
“Actually-”
“Besides that,” she interrupted, smiling. She knew her husband too well.
“Milkshake?” he asked instead.
He could’ve just run and got one himself, but Iris knew he was not in a place to be dealing with people or anything but recovering from the supposed traumatic experience he’d just had at the dentist’s office.
“I’ll stop home on my lunch break.”
“Promise?” he asked, and she could almost picture those puppy dog eyes of his pouring into her soul.
“Anything for you, baby.”