i thought i could carry on with it, brush aside all the pain, endure the agony as if it were an indispensable part of me, hoping in vain that the longer i bear it, the lesser it would hurt.
but she proved me wrong today.
for a week i ditched all thoughts of seeing her again; about two months ago, she told me i’ll come running back to her, my ego set aside, and finally coming to terms with what she said was inevitable. “it’s being a man to admit you’re in pain,” she said. i only smiled in reply.
but smile i could no longer do for the past two days. and this morning, i could no longer bear the pain, the anguish, and the nagging thought that i must see her again, my ego set aside, and finally coming to terms with what i now believe is inevitable.
“i know why you’re here, without notice,” she welcomed without looking at me, as if the sound of my footsteps was enough to ascertain who i am and why i was there. “ang yabang mo kasi eh.”
i didn’t know what to say for fear i might give away all that i feel, which i didn’t want to do even if i knew i was on the losing end. i was left with no choice. i slowly walked towards her, close enough for her to turn to me and hold my face with her hands. and then there was silence.
but only briefly.
“you need an operation,” she said. “we need to surgically remove your wisdom tooth which causes you that severe pain. let’s do it tomorrow at 11:30 a.m.”
my dentist was right all along: i have to succumb to her needles and tools. i have to face my fear of surgery and have my impacted wisdom tooth removed. how can you blame me for my fear? it will be my first surgery, and like a few other things in life, the first almost always hurts. 
“not on this one,” netizens on Yahoo! Answers all said in a thread. i am relieved by the thought that many others before me had gone through the same procedure uneventfully.
so there. i’m finally doing away with a kind of wisdom i don’t need. i don’t care if in Korea, they call it the “love teeth,” referring to the young age and the pain of first love; in Saudi Arabia, “the tooth of the mind”; or in Japanese, “oyashirazu,” literally meaning “unknown to the parents,” from the idea that it erupts after a child has moved away.
all terms and definitions are pointless, because a wisdom tooth is worthless. and tomorrow, at 11:30 a.m., i’m putting mine to its eternal rest.
sending you the best of best vibes. it’s a small sacrifice to make, bro. toothaches are horrible.
That was a pretty suspenseful intro bro
All the while I thought you were dealing with a relationship issue hehe 
Well, good luck your wisdom tooth… hope it doesn’t aggravate you any longer
{illyria}: i don’t want to go through the same surgery again. or any kind of surgery. i just hate it.
bw: thanks, bro. i’m still recuperating; the agony is actually extended coz the dentist stitched the wound again yesterday after seeing that the wound was split open. ugh!
awwww! i remember mine hurt like hell. it was my first and only surgery so far too. and like the hurt of first love- you will always remember how that impacted wisdom tooth hurt, even with the anesthesia. oh! that drilling!
bismuth, what an apt metaphor for life and love, this surgery. that’s not to say i’m looking forward to any kind in the future. LOL!