Both of You
(A dentist's room on a Tuesday morning. Danny is eight. His dad is on the chair in the corner.)
Farida: Okay, Danny. Your tooth's been hurting with cold things, is that right?
Danny: Only ice cream. Not water.
Farida: Only ice cream. First I'm going to count your teeth. That's all, just counting.
Danny: With the little mirror?
Farida: With the little mirror.
Danny: What's the filling made of?
Farida: A soft white paste. I put it in the little hole in your tooth, and then a blue light makes it hard.
Danny: Why blue?
Farida: Because that paste only goes hard under a blue light. Nothing happens under a red one.
(A chair creaks in the corner.)
Dad: Sorry. Is it — does it hurt him?
Farida: He can't feel anything on that side now. He's going to feel me pushing, and that's all he's going to feel.
Dad: Right. Yes. Sorry.
Danny: Dad, you're squeezing your keys.
Dad: I'm not.
Danny: You are. You can hold my hat if you want.
(Dad takes the hat and holds it with both hands.)
Dad: Just for a minute.
Farida: Ready, Danny?
Danny: Ready.
Farida: Both of you? Good. Open wide.