THE GOLDEN MOLAR

Chapter One:

Professor Becky Sinclair stood in front of the smartboard, waiting as the last of the students wandered into lecture hall 230 D.

Tall and slender, she took a moment to brush back her long blond hair away from her eyes, which had cascaded down, hiding a slightly round angelic face.

She looked more like one of the students than a teacher in the Multidisciplinary Oral Science program at the University of Illinois School of Dentistry.

At 37 years of age, her husband often commented that she still looked as young as most of her students. The thought made her smile.

Without thinking of it, her fingers stroked and twisted the gold necklace she wore around her neck. Dangling from the center was a giant molar—a tooth frame in a rectangular shape gold setting.

A small smile creased her face.

The students were getting a bit hyper. That, too, was normal. The cold winds off Lake Michigan had all but disappeared the past week. Midterms were over, and as she glances at the clock on the wall, Spring Break officially started for most of them 45 minutes ago.

Taking a step forward, she lifted her hands, and almost like Moses, the motion parted the noise and talking and text messaging that was going on before the start of her talk.

“Good Morning; I can see that most of you are already on Spring Break.” She smiled and waited as the laughter died down. Then continued.

“The midterm grades will be posted outside my office door after 1 p.m.” She paused, letting the tension of the moment build. The students were sitting and with a sea of concern and anxious faces, looking back at her with anticipation.

She continued letting the tension build for a moment or two and then announced: “You all did very well.”

Again, she waited as the cheering and applause grew and finally died down.

So, she paused for a moment as she looked out at the class. Nodding her head, she continued.

Many of you have asked if this tooth, lifting up the gold necklace toward her class, had a story.

Becky looked down at the necklace. Then a faraway look came upon her face.

As a reward, I decided it’s time I told you the story behind what the tooth means and why I wear it every day.

Chapter Two:

The narcotic rhythm of a swinging pendulum inside a Grandfather clock counted cadence with the rise and fall of the little girl’s chest as its’ golden brass surface reflected her sleeping image from across the room.

Bong, Bong, nine times the clock announced the finality of the past and the start of a new hour.

If asked, the silver hair lady that sat across from the couch where Becky slept couldn’t swear if it was the old clock or the slamming of the car door, which woke her up.

Regardless, she turned her head at the sound. A silhouette of a man soon moved across the living room wall as he walked into the room.

Sadly, His eyes swept to the little girl asleep on the couch. Lingering there for a moment before moving on to the woman that was looking up at him.

“How long has she been asleep”, he asked in a weary voice?

“A couple of hours now,” she said.

She paused, starting to say how is, but stop when he stepped into the light, and she saw his slack expression, the dark circles under his eyes. His gaunt appearance testified to the hopelessness on his face.

‘Mom, there’s no change’…his voice cracking with the pain that came with the confession. He turned and hurried out of the room.

Tears clouded her vision as she watches his retreating form.

It had been two months since the car accident. She had taken the next flight out after the call. The first frantic hours had turned into days, then weeks, and now months.

She knew what he was thinking…remembering just like she was doing now, the anguish hours, the sudden moments of sobbing, grasping at anything that sounded promising.

Now, they both had lingering doubts that were shaping their lives and stripping them of any promise of a miracle.

She shook her head sadly, watching her son in so much pain. It had been one of the most immeasurable heartaches she had ever suffered. Even now, that first night was still as fresh as ever.

The doors swung shut silently as the doctor walked out of the surgery. He lifted his hand to remove the blue linen cap that covered his head. He paused as his steely gray, tired eyes glance around the room, searching and finding the person he had to break the news to.

John’s head lifted as he heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him. His eyes met the doctors just for a moment, but it was in that moment that John knew what he was about to be told.

He pushed himself off the support bean that had been holding him up for the last four hours and had to stop after the first step. Lightheadedness slammed him back against the beam as a wave of weakness turned his legs to jelly. He waited a moment and then forced himself once again to step forward to meet the doctor that was moving in his direction.

“Mr. Philips? I’m Doctor Samuel Borski.” The doctor’s eyes studied the man in front of him, reading the signs that told him how to break the news that no one wanted to hear.

John nodded his head, jerking up and down. His fingers curled into fists as he steeled himself and lifted his head to face him. Despite his tan, color faded from John’s face as he finally noticed the blood-stained gown the doctor was wearing.

“My…my wife, is...is she going to be, okay?”

“Mr. Philips, Let’s go sit over here,” the doctor said softly, his hand reaching out to steady the grief-stricken husband gesturing toward a pair of chairs away from the other people that were observing their interaction.

John’s head nodded in agreement and let the doctor guide him and help him sit down.

“Mr. Philips, your wife is alive and will physically recover.”

John’s eyebrows lifted, eyes widen, and his mouth dropped open as the doctors’ words sunk in.

“Then she isn’t she isn’t” The doctor shook his head no.

The doctor waited and watched as the man before him transformed himself. It took a few minutes before John finally noticed the look on the doctor’s face.

John’s left hand shot out clamping on the doctor’s arm…” What…What you aren’t telling me?”

The doctor ignored the pain as John’s fingers stabbed into his arm.

“Mr. Philips, the physical injuries your wife suffered will heal. However, her mind has experienced a severe shock. It could take a lot longer for it to heal.”

Red swollen tear-filled eyes stared at the doctor. The doctor could tell that John wasn’t comprehending. What he was trying to say to him. He had no choice but to give it to him straight.

“Your wife is in a coma.”

The silver hair lady shook her head, trying to force the memories back.

She took a deep breath and slowly let it out as her son disappeared into the back of the house.

The doctors had done all that they could. She remembered how agonizing it had been for her son to ask the doctors for the facts. How she watched his face as he coldly calculated the news.

She pushed herself up out of the chair and shuffled her way into the kitchen. Dinner was ready; it only had to be warmed up.

She told herself that she had to make him eat this time.

She was setting the table for two when he suddenly re-appeared. She looked up at him as he stepped into the light. His eyes were red and swollen. The collar of his white shirt was dotted with dark water spots. She knew he was trying to hide his pain from her, and so she pretended not to see.

“Mom, he said after a while, did …did she talk today?”

She didn’t answer at first. She considered lying, but finally, she just shook her head. He leaned forward, setting his elbow on the counter using his fingers to massage his temple. His little girl, Becky, had become another victim of the accident.

She wanted to see mommy. At first, he tried to explain, but then she started crying, and after days and days, he finally gave in. How could had he been so stupid?

The memory of that day… of what happens to Becky hunted him each time he saw her.

From the moment when she rushed into his bedroom, all dressed up, pulling at his arm. He pretended to be asleep- a game that they played ever since she was big enough to climb up on the bed.

“Wake up! Wake up! Daddy, let’s go see mommy.”

Her big brown eyes smiled as her little hands pounded and pushed him awake.

Finally, he popped an eye open and pulled her to him, giving her a big bear hug. Her laugher was like a drug that made him feel so alive.

The same way that Cassie’s smile affected him from the very first time they met.

It was the first time in weeks since the accident that he felt that things would be okay. The love of a little girl was the greatest medicine in the world. He couldn’t help thinking that…perhaps just perhaps.

Well, that was until the moment when they finally reached the hospital.

Becky’s eyes were wide with excitement. The hospital doors swooshed open, and holding her daddy’s hand, she pulled him forward only to stop and stare at the activity that was suddenly all around her.

There were men and women dressed in green or blue scrubs hurried past her. Some were pushing wheelchairs with people in blue bathrobes. The pungent smell of antiseptic made her nose itch.

“Daddy, what’s that smell, she asked. It makes my nose itch.”

She recognized police officers and saw strange men dressed in black with funny white collars. People were talking in low voices. Their faces all looked sad. Her head jerked from side to side as she tried to take in all the sights and sounds that engulfed her.

Yet, Becky would see a nurse all dress in the crisp white uniforms and wave to them.

“I’m here to see my mommy.” She told them.

John remembered squeezing her hand as they reached the floor that Cassie was on. Becky smiled up at him, and she started pulling him forward again. She knew her mommy was waiting for her.

But that changed as they walked down the corridor to Cassie’s room. The sounds were different up here. The click of a gurney being raised. The sounds of moans or hisses of pain coming from behind white curtains that hung from the ceiling. The crying or sobbing that went along with strangers talking in low tones.

John felt her tiny fingers tighten around his and noticed that she slowed down and started to hide behind his legs. He stopped and whispered to her. Looking back…Oh God!

Even now, remembering it brought a thickness in his throat and the stinging sensation in his eyes. Even the lack of appetite reminded him daily of the stupidity of his actions.

It happened when they entered the room that Cassie was in.

Becky stopped and stared at the figure that was in the strange-looking bed in front of her. It was way too high for her to climb up in.

Who was this? Where was her mommy?

There were clipboards with different color pieces of paper with markings on them at the end of the bed. On one side, a tall silver stand held plastic bags with some clear fluid that dipped into a long snake-like tube that was stuck in her mommy’s arm. Above the bed was a giant TV screen with flashing red numbers and soft beeping sounds.

She turned and looked up at him, and he reached down and picked her up. Her mom lay in the center of the bed. Her long blond hair covered one of the pillows that supported her head. Her eyes were closed, and her face was sickly white. At that moment, someone nearby started to scream as a feminine voice came over the intercom.

COLD BLUE…. ROOM 327

Becky’s head snaps around as the sound of footsteps and squeaky wheels rush past the open the door to the room they were in. Becky’s head snapped back to look down at her mommy.

She cried out

NO!

Hysterically, she struggled in John’s arms trying to reach her mom, and then suddenly, her body went limp.

John thought she fainted, but as a nurse rushed in. He suddenly realized that as he held her tight to his chest, his little girl’s body was a mirror image of her mothers.

He had lost both of them, and there was nothing he could do!

John snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at his mom.

“Mom, I was talking to a children specialist. He suggested that I take her back to see Cassie. What do you think?”

His heart sank as she shook her head. “I don’t know if that is such a good idea.”

He tried to explain the scientific studies and stories he had been told and, while doing so, started to wonder if he was just trying to convince himself.

She tried to get him to talk about work and the weather. His responses were short one-word answers, or something mumbled. He kept turning his head and looking into the other room where his little girl was sleeping.

Finally, she gave up, switching the topic back to what she knew he was thinking about. What he was scared of.

“Son, I’m sorry. I know you need my help making this decision, but I got to be honest.

She is a fragile little girl.

Seeing her mom again could shock her back, but it could also push her deeper where she will never recover speech.”

“I agree, but I got to do something.” He glances at the table.

All his favorite dishes, all the effort she went through for him. He wasn’t hungry, but he sat down anyway.

He nodded his head, emphasizing that he heard her. Still, as he picked up his fork, his thoughts were in the other room, with his little girl.

He was about to make the most critical decision of his life.

Chapter Three:

John woke up to a gray and overcast day. His arm reached out as he always did to touch Cassie’s warm, soft skin. Memories of having her lying next to him flashback through the cobwebs of his mind. Memories of how she would curl up against him, the sound of her breathing…The way her eyes would sparkle and smile when she would catch him in the act of watching her as she slept.

But his fingers did not find what they sort. 500 count designer sheets could not duplicate the love of his life. He stared up at the ceiling… another day…another empty pillow…her pillow next to his …. waiting, wondering if she would ever be able to lay there next to him again. The very thought brought tears to his eyes.

Why the voice inside his head cries out. It’s not fair.

She doesn’t deserve this.

They don’t deserve this.

He glanced at the clock radio by the bed. It was time, and yet he lay staring at the ceiling, rethinking his decision over and over.

He glanced at the clock again; his time was up. His eyes swept the room, stopping and resting on their wedding picture that was on the dresser.

Her smile the way she was looking up at him.

A thickness in his throat chokes him as tears flooded his eyes. The longing grew until the ache in his heart was unbearable.

“Okay, my love, I’ll try.” John said softly to the picture.

Somehow, he finally found the strength, forcing himself to crawl out of bed.

John noticed it took longer dressing Becky this time. She stood in front of him…eyes watching and not seeing.

The lack of emotion in her eyes, her face was enough to bring back the fear and self-doubt. Her arm reaches out and braces herself on her daddy’s shoulder as he slips on her dress shoes.

Her touch flew into his heart. He had to try to get her back. It was worth the risk. Cassie may never be able to come home. He couldn’t keep living without both of them.

The drive downtown took only a few minutes, and he pulled up in front of the flower shop.

“Becky, how about we get mommy some flowers?”

He wasn’t surprise that she didn’t respond. His face sagged.

It was no use. Once again, John had second thoughts.

But, just then, just for a moment, her little hand squeezed his.

John froze. Did she actually respond?

He couldn’t help but feel reassured by her little hand. It gave him some little sense of encouragement as they walked into the store.

His heart raced with excitement.

John took his time walking from one arrangement or group of flowers to another. Each time he asked her to make the selection.

Each time she just stared ahead.

His hopes for a positive outcome were fading fast as they made their selection and went to the counter.

He looked down and saw her staring at the gumball machine.

“Daddy, mommy, like gumballs,” she shouted.

His head whipped around as tears filled his eyes. An almost angelic face with big brown eyes smiled up at him impatiently waiting.

“Okay would…would you like to feed the machine? He croaked

He handed her some pennies, and he helped her turn the handle. The bright, colorful gumballs fell into the bag in his hand.

Behind the counter, the lady who waited on them smiled as the little girl fed in her last penny and turned the handle. But nothing came out.

John bent over, opening the small silver door and a human tooth dropped into his hand along with some gumballs.

Becky got all excited looking at the tooth. “OOOOO DADDY,” she exclaimed. “A lucky tooth- let’s put it under Mommy’s pillow.”

One look, and reluctantly he gave in.

Chapter Four:

The hospital was only a couple blocks away, and John let Becky pull him down the sidewalk. They went past shoe stores and books stores and almost everything else in between.

Usually, Becky would want to stop and look at the window displays.

But it was as if she was suddenly possessed.

Wildly, she jabbered way about how the tooth fairy was going to make her mommy better.

John was so happy to hear her talk…to have his little girl back that he just let her continue. Yet, inside, as they got closer to the hospital, seconds of thoughts started running through his head.

He got his little girl back. Perhaps, they should go back home and wait until Cassie got better.

How will Becky take it –once the tooth doesn’t do anything for her mommy?

He finally stopped her as they came across of empty bench in the park across from the hospital.

He picked her up, hugged her, and gently set her down. He knelt in front of her studying her face. He forced a smile on his and began.

“Now, Becky, he pleaded with her. You know that mommy is really sick, so that tooth might take a while before it helps mommy.”

Becky’s eyes sparkled as she laughed.

“Daddy, her hand reaching out to touch his face, I know that. The tooth fairy only comes when everyone asleep. Come on, mommy’s waiting.”

Paul’s fear returned as they pushed open the door to Cassie’s room.

One look was enough to tell him that nothing had changed from the day before. He saw that her hair was neatly combed and spread out on her pillow. There was a little color in her cheeks but, still, as he held her hand and called her name, there was no response.

Reluctantly, He looked down at Becky as she lifted her arms up.

“Daddy, lift me up so I can place the lucky tooth under mommy’s pillow.”

Trying to hide his disappointment from his little girl, He nodded

John reaches down, picking her up, and carries her to the side of the bed.

Still, Becky’s arm was too short of reaching up to the pillow.

Closer Daddy, she whispers.

Becky’s hand moved forward her long blond hair fell, brushing the side of her Cassie’s face.

Suddenly, Cassie’s eyes fluttered as her hands reached out to hold her little girl. Becky’s head turns as she felt her arms wrapping around her.

“MOMMY”

John stared in disbelieve, tears streaming down his face.

Becky had lost all control, screaming, laughing, beside herself. The room and doorway were full of doctors and nurses mesmerized by what was unfolding before them.

John was beside himself, muscles trembling.

How…how was it possible?

Was it really a lucky tooth or a little girl’s love?

Tears were flowing down his face; John just stood there watching the loves of his life together again…

He realized it didn’t matter. The only thing that did was watching Cassie hug and cuddle their little girl.

His Cassie was back.

Chapter Five:

Becky stopped her story, looking out over the lecture hall.

The silence within the room was a testament to the way the story held her attentive audience. Yet, its full impact was still resonating as some of the students tried in vain to hold back the tears.

“Finally, she said, please remember that no matter how hopeless the trials of life may appear, remember this story of a little girl and her father who never gave up and the miracle of the Golden Molar.”

Becky turned to her desk, picked up her briefcase and purse, then, facing her students, smiled, “Have a Great Break! Your dismissed!”

And walked out of the room.