They didn’t take her straight back this time.

“Wait.”

Just that.

No explanation.

Nora sat where she was told—on the edge of a chair positioned not quite in the waiting room, not quite in the hall. A place in between. Close enough to see. Close enough to hear.

The doors along the corridor were not fully closed.

Not open either.

Just enough.

Just enough to look in.

She tried not to.

At first.

She focused on her hands, folded too tightly together, her thumb pressing into her palm over and over.

Routine.

It’s routine.

That’s what she had told herself.

But the sound—

The drill carried differently out here.

Not muffled.

Layered.

Multiple rooms.

Multiple tones.

One high and sharp.

Another deeper, slower.

They overlapped in a way that made it impossible to separate them.

Impossible not to imagine.

A movement caught her eye.

Room two.

She didn’t mean to look.

But she did.

A girl—was already reclined, the light fixed over her face. Her mouth stretched open unnaturally wide, held there by something Nora couldn’t fully see from this angle.

The assistant stood close, one hand braced gently—but firmly—against her cheek.

The dentist leaned in.

The drill engaged.

The girl’s body reacted instantly.

A flinch.

Small, but unmistakable.

The assistant adjusted her grip without looking away from the work.

“Still.”

Nora looked down quickly.

Her stomach turned.

Don’t look.

Don’t look.

But the sound—

It told the rest of the story anyway.

A brief stop.

Then the drill again.

Longer this time.

Nora’s fingers tightened.

Another room.

Room four.

She hadn’t noticed it before.

The door was slightly more open.

Too open.

Inside—

An older woman.

Composed.

At least at first glance.

But her hands—

They were gripping the armrests so tightly her knuckles were pale.

The dentist paused.

The probe.

Nora couldn’t hear the words.

But she saw the reaction.

A sharp inhale.

A quick, involuntary movement.

Then—

The dentist said something.

Short.

The assistant reached immediately for something on the tray.

Nora’s chest tightened.

She knew what came next before it happened.

The drill.

The woman’s eyes closed tightly as it began.

Her entire body went still.

Not relaxed.

Held.

Controlled.

Endured.

Nora swallowed hard.

Her name hadn’t been called yet.

And suddenly—

She didn’t want it to be.

“First time?”

The voice came from beside her.

She turned.

Another patient.

Older than her.

Calm.

Or… practiced.

Nora nodded faintly.

“I’ve never had anything done,” she admitted quietly.

The woman gave a small, knowing look.

“They always say it’s small.”

Something about the way she said it made Nora’s stomach drop further.

From down the hall—

A different sound.

Not the drill.

A muffled noise.

Someone trying to speak around something in their mouth.

Cut off quickly by suction.

Nora’s chest tightened.

Room three.

She looked before she could stop herself.

Another girl

Her eyes were open.

Wide.

Locked on the ceiling.

Tears pooled at the corners, slipping sideways into her hairline as the light hit her face.

The bite block was visible from here.

Holding her open.

The dentist didn’t pause.

The assistant spoke—Nora couldn’t hear the words, but the tone was steady. Repetitive.

Instructional.

The girl made another sound.

Soft.

Helpless.

And then—

Nothing.

Just the drill again.

Nora looked away sharply, her breath catching.

Her hands were shaking now.

She pressed them harder together, trying to stop it.

Trying to ground herself.

It’s routine.

It’s routine.

But the hallway didn’t feel routine.

It felt—

Exposed.

Like she was seeing something she wasn’t supposed to.

Something usually hidden behind fully closed doors.

“Nora.”

Her name.

Clear.

Immediate.

She stood too quickly.

Her legs felt unsteady.

The assistant—Melanie—was already waiting.

“Come.”

No smile.

No reassurance.

Just direction.

Nora followed.

Past room two.

She couldn’t help it—

She glanced.

The girl inside was still there.

Still open.

Still.

But her fingers were curled now.

Tighter.

Past room three.

The teenage girl’s eyes flicked—just briefly—toward the doorway.

Toward Nora.

For a split second, they locked.

And in that second—

Nora saw it.

Not just fear.

Not just discomfort.

Something deeper.

Something that said:

You don’t get to stop this once it starts.

Then the door shifted slightly as they passed.

Not fully closed.

But enough.

Enough that Nora couldn’t see anymore.

Only hear.

The room she was led into looked exactly the same as the others.

Chair.

Light.

Tray.

Prepared.

Waiting.

“Sit.”

Nora hesitated.

Just a second.

Her mind replaying everything she had just seen.

The flinches.

The stillness.

The way no one had stopped.

“Sit.”

Sharper now.

She obeyed.

The chair lowered almost immediately.

The light adjusted.

Too bright.

“Open.”

Her jaw felt tight already.

Like it remembered something it hadn’t experienced yet.

She opened anyway.

The mirror entered first.

Then the probe.

Routine.

This is routine.

The dentist moved methodically.

Lower teeth.

Upper.

Everything felt normal.

For a moment—

Relief flickered.

Maybe—

Then—

Top left.

The probe paused.

Pressed.

Slid between two teeth.

Deeper.

Nora flinched.

A small sound escaped before she could stop it.

The dentist didn’t react.

Just pressed again.

Confirming.

And then—

“There it is.”

Quiet.

Certain.

Nora’s stomach dropped.

The hallway flashed in her mind.

The girl.

The woman.

The teen.

All of it.

Stacked.

Layered.

Real.

“We’ll take care of it now.”

The words landed heavier this time.

Because now—

She knew exactly what they meant.

“No—wait, I—”

But Melanie was already moving.

The tray shifting.

Instruments changing.

The air tightening.

Nora’s breathing quickened.

“I just—I just want to—maybe later—”

“You’re here.”

Final.

The same words.

The same tone.

The same inevitability she had just witnessed.

The drill was already in his hand.

“Open wider.”

Her jaw trembled as she obeyed.

The mirror pressed her cheek aside.

And as the sound began—

That sharp, unmistakable whine—

Nora realized something that settled deep, heavy, and unshakable:

Watching it hadn’t prepared her.

It had only shown her—

There was no way out once it was her turn.