One Truth Too Many

The thought I'm lucky I'm even here crossed her mind as she watched the hygienist busy herself, straightening and re-straightening what was already in place, avoiding eye contact after she answered the question: "What brought you in today?"

She thought it was obvious – several missing teeth – so she shared how she lost her teeth. No one likes to hear “my husband punched me in the face.”

It was a normal enough question, and expected. One she's answered too many times to count. She had an excuse dictated to her, but she's tired of tripping over her shoelaces.