Across the crowded room, I stole another glance. Erica was a knockout. When she walked down the street, her long hair shone like liquid gold in the sun. She was an angel sent from above to drive men crazy. I know because I once was one of them.

1:45 a.m. at the Elkhorn Bar. Semisonic, one of my favorite bands, was on the jukebox singing the song, "Closing Time." The bright lights came on; everyone stood, momentarily, disoriented. The world had been so beautiful under the cover of darkness, but in the stark light of halogen bulbs, things looked grim if you hadn't picked up a partner at this late hour.The clientele's reverie was nearing its end, and we'd soon be forced out into the cold. I had to go to work in a few hours; I should have left hours ago and faced the reality that I was going home alone tonight, not by my choice.

"Last call!" sang the bartender. People surged toward the bar, trying to get that last drink for the evening. I was being jostled around in the throng when I found myself nose to nose with a brutish boxer type. His slanted nose and unfriendly sneer, glared at me, daring me to step in front of him. Fear told me that a possible rearrangement of my face was imminent if I remained standing between him and his last beer. The girl Erica, whom I had on my mind, wouldn't have gone for a nerdy dentist like me anyway; maybe having that last drink wasn't so important.Deflated, I sheepishly turned around and abruptly ran into my angel. The last few sips of her wine splashed down the front of my shirt in our collision.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I'm such a klutz." Then she smiled at me, and I was done for.I looked down at the darkened fabric and managed to make light of my ruined shirt.

"It sort of looks like a butterfly, don't you think?" The surprise and delight on her face could have made me die a happy man. Yes, I was that inebriated.

"Or a bat?" she suggested. I liked that. She was beautiful and quick on her feet.

"Say, would you like to get a cup of coffee?" Her eyebrow arched with suspicion.

"Is that really your best line?"

"It's not a line. There's a coffee place right around the corner that's open late or early, in this case. We could grab a cup and get to know one another better?" She appeared to weigh her options. I didn't wait for a no; it was easier to dismiss her first and walk away while I still had my dignity.

"Sorry, maybe another time." I shrugged, trying to play it cool while my heart broke beneath the fading butterfly stain. I started to walk away.

"Wait," she said. A smile crept over my face, and I spun around.

"Yeah?"

"What's your name?"

"Stu," I offered her my hand.

"Erica," she shook it.

"I know who you are, I've seen you here at the Elkhorn before."

"You have? You make me sound like a barfly," she giggled.

"I didn't mean it like that," I blurted. "I just meant that I've seen you come in here with your friends from time to time."

"Well, that would make us both drunks then," she teased

"Then it's a good thing we're going for coffee," I surprised myself at my witty repertoire.We walked out of the Elkhorn, feeling eyes on us the entire way across the dance floor. Men were jealous, and women whispered amongst themselves. I was walking out of the Elkhorn with the hottest girl tonight, and I felt like a winner even wearing a butterfly wine-stained shirt.

We walked into the night, rounding the corner, spotting the neon coffee cup sign sputtering intermittently.  Erica said she liked the three lines that looked like steam wafting from the cup. I held the door for her, the little bell tinkled, alerting the staff that someone had entered the shop. We saw several people from Elkhorn had the same idea: extending the evening by coming here.

"What would you like?"

"Decaf," she said. I went to the barista and ordered our coffee, deciding to drink the same. If I chose caffeinated, I would be awake the rest of the night, and she was enough to do that to me.

Returning to the table, I set down the creams and sugars I had to pull from my coat pockets after placing the cups.

"I didn't know how you take it; I forgot to ask." I gave her a wane smile, and she laughed at me again.

"Nice save," she chose creamer, but not sugar. I appreciated that she took care of her teeth. I found myself wanting to get to know her better, and we spent two additional hours exchanging stories. The thought of going to work in a few hours disappointed me, so I told Erica that I'd walk her back to her car. Helping her into her coat, I found she was easy on the eyes and easy to talk to, and it was all I could do not to reach for those golden locks. Were as soft as they looked? The conversation was good, but it had to end.

As we crossed the street, I grabbed her hand under the guise of guiding her safely to the other side and back to the Elkhorn Bar parking lot, delivering her safely to her car. She got in and locked the door while I waved goodnight, silently chastising myself for not asking for her number. What an idiot. I let this golden opportunity get away from me when headlights shone through my windshield. I rolled down the window and stuck my head out.

She held her phone out the window. "What's your number?" I started to ramble, and she shook her head and held out her iPhone. We touched phones and exchanged numbers.

"Call me?" she asked. I nodded in response. She smiled, and I couldn't help but notice her white, even teeth, something that has always been important to me as a dentist. She either had superior DNA or she wore braces much of her childhood. Either way, it worked.

"Goodnight," I told her, not wanting her to see the melted mess I'd become. We both slipped our cars into gear and went in opposite directions. A few moments later, my cell rang.

"Hello?" I asked uncertainly.

"Stu, it's me. I had a wonderful time, and I'd love to do this again."  A hyena laugh, followed by an ungracious snort, escaped my mouth.  I tried to stop it, embarrassed by my inability to play it cool. She was so out of my league.

"I'd like that too, Erica. Call me when you would like to do this again. Good night." I decided to end the call before she realized what a wimp I was, and the only reason I bumped into her was to escape the ape-armed man who could have rearranged my face if I hadn't gotten out of his way for last call.

At the office the following morning, my assistant, Dolly, handed me a shot of mouthwash in a paper cup.

"I brushed my teeth," I responded defensively.

"Well, your breath smells like you were out last night until closing time." I loved Dolly and her frank way of addressing me. I also thanked her for rescuing me from making a mistake. I had a new patient this morning, who, according to the last dentist he'd seen, came with an excessively overbearing mother.  I was anxious to see her son, Thomas, who had a serious condition called hypodontia. In other words, too many teeth in his oral cavity. This kid sounded like he was breaking records. I grabbed his chart and went out into the waiting room, calling,

"Thomas?" I called his mane in the waiting room. He hopped off the bench, followed closely by his mother.

Once seated, I addressed the mother about Thomas's condition while Dolly put a paper napkin around his neck, secured with a chain. My curiosity was anxious to see what I'd only read about: hypodontia, which, to this degree, affected less than 1% of the population.

"Hello, Thomas, I am Dr. Stu Maver. You may call me Dr. Stu for short. I want to take a look inside your mouth, then Dolly will take some X-rays. I will study them, and we will look at a course of action to help you. Does that sound alright?" Thomas's head went up and down like an oil well rig. I kept thinking about how this kid could pad my bank account.

"I don't want to pay for extra X-rays. I've brought some from the other dentist." Mrs. Polchek pulled an envelope from her purse. I handed them to Dolly to set up on the light box.

"Open wide, Thomas." It was all I could do not to gasp when I saw the poor kid had teeth coming out at every angle inside his mouth. I poked around a little, totally in awe of the goose that would lay a golden egg for my practice. "I'm going to check the X-rays; you may close your mouth for now."

"Mrs. Polchek, Thomas is going to get his permanent teeth soon. How many has he lost?"

"Three teeth, but none of them were his front teeth. Then he started to grow more."

"I don't see any missing from his jaw; in fact, there are a lot more submerged teeth than what are currently in his mouth. May I keep the X-rays?"

"For now. If we decide to go to another dentist, I will need them back."

"Of course. Thank you for letting me study them."

"For now," she added suspiciously.

"For now." I then turned to the tyke. "Thomas, I am going to wiggle some of those teeth to see how well they are anchored. There are so many roots in the way, I need to know if they all go deep." Thomas was a good boy and opened his mouth as wide as he could. I started in the middle of his mouth with the forceps. I wanted to wiggle each tooth to see how firmly each one was set in the roof of his mouth. Some of them were stuck fast, while others had plenty of give. One of them must have been touching a nerve because when I put my hand in Thomas's mouth to wiggle the tooth manually, his jaw closed down on my finger. I felt my glove fail as he bit with all his might.

"Ow!" I shouted, and his mother stood up from the chair and came over.

"Thomas, you stop that this instant!" The kid let go, but not before my hand started bleeding.

"Oh. Dear Lord. How could this happen? Is that his blood or yours?" His mother demanded.

"It's mine, Mrs. Polchek."

"Thomas, you are a bad boy. You must let the doctor do his examination."

"That's alright, I am done." I cupped my hands over the sink and washed them thoroughly, letting the blood carry away the germs. Holy crap, that never happened before.

"Okay, Thomas, you may get down." I kept the paper towel over my hand as I explained to Mrs. Polchek that I would study the X-rays and try to design a plan to help her son, but he would have to be under sedation. I couldn't risk him biting me again. She seemed to understand. I told her I would see them in a few days, after I formulated a plan. Dolly came in after Thomas and his mother left.

"Are you alright, Doctor Stu?" She witnessed the attack firsthand.

"No, it hurts like a son of a bitch. He might have broken my finger."

"You should get a tetanus shot."

"That's a good idea. Please transfer my patients to Dr. Border; if she can't handle them, cancel their appointments. I'm going to the ER, get a tetanus shot, and go home."

My arm and my finger were sore. It had been almost ten years since I'd had a tetanus shot, and they are right, it does hurt more the longer it's been since having one. I was sitting at home eating soup when my phone rang; it was Erica.

"Erica, hello!" I said brightly.

"Oh, I was leaving a voice mail, you aren't at work?"

"No, I got bit by a patient, a six-year-old with the jaw of an alligator." This made her laugh for some reason.

"I was going to invite you to meet me at the Elkhorn on Saturday after a movie I'd like to see. Are you game?" I felt by Saturday, I would know if I had rabies or not, so I told her yes. I was glad she didn't ask me out tonight; fool that I am, I would have gone. Instead, I caught a good night's sleep.

Stepping into the shower the following morning, I was scrubbing myself when I found a sore spot on my elbow. It could have been sore from the tetanus shot, but I nixed that when I felt a hard formation beneath the skin. I found it odd but was not concerned. With my finger and arm working unimpaired, I went into the office to care for my patients.

Dolly said good morning and brought me a cup of coffee. "Dolly, you don't need to do that."

"I am nosy. How are you feeling today?"

"Sore from the bite and sore from the shot, otherwise, pretty good."

"Great, you have a full schedule today. Drink your coffee!"  She marched out the door.  I laughed because that was the way she is, brisk and down to business.

By the time Saturday rolled around, my elbow would barely bend. I was taking a shower, getting ready for my date, when I realized whatever I felt under the skin had erupted. I stood at the mirror and raised my arm, astonished when I saw three teeth coming out of my elbow.

"What the hell?" This was not possible. I put on a long-sleeved shirt and went on the date anyway.

"Full moon tonight," I mentioned to Erica. She tucked her arm into mine, and I made sure it was my good side. We walked through the tunnel beneath the overhead train tracks, headed away from the theater, headed for the Elkhorn after the movie, but I found myself freaking out when I felt a new tooth poking through the skin at my elbow.

"Stu, I want to let you know I am attracted to you." Erica's voice echoed in the dark, dimly lit cavern.

"I'm flattered, Erica."  I didn't offer her the same in return, and to this day, I still wonder what kept me from responding. All I wanted to do was go home. I needed to find out what it was I had. Did the kid give me some kind of virus when he bit me?

"Stu, I told you that I am attracted to you." Erica came closer to me, holding my face in her hands, when I caught a glimpse of her elongated canines. She didn't have those before; I distinctly remember those perfect teeth.

"Erica, what is going on?"

"What do you mean?" She leaned in, nuzzling my neck when I felt the bite. I knew I was a goner.

"Erica, I have a disease. I need to share this information with you." She pulled back saliva mixed with blood that slipped from her mouth.

"What kind of disease?"

"Hypodontia. When that kid bit me the other day, I started sprouting teeth all over my body." Erica laughed. I knew she didn't believe me, so I unbuttoned the cuff of my sleeve and rolled it up above my elbow, where fifteen teeth were protruding from my forearm.

"What the hell?" She looked confused, and then she moaned. My infected blood mixed with her supernatural powers triggered a reaction. A tooth sprouted from her face, and another one on her hand. As more teeth erupted, she tried to hide the horror of what was happening.A few more teeth sprouted on her forehead, then spread across her cheekbones. As she grew more teeth, the ones on my forearm miraculously disappeared."What have you done to me? Look at my face," she screamed. I couldn't anymore. She was horribly disfigured by teeth making their way to the surface.

"Sorry, Erica, this doesn't work for me anymore." I turned and left her screaming in agony. There was nothing I could do. Besides, she was a vampire, and I couldn't live with that. Walking away, I felt my elbow; the skin was smooth. I had found a way to cure myself. Well, I hadn't found the cure; I was bitten by the love bug, and that cured me.

Thomas sat in the chair while I explained to him and his mother that I could not treat his hypodontia. He needed to see a specialist, and I recommended my competitor, Dr. Harold Ling. Mrs. Polchek was disappointed but understood when I handed her the envelope containing all the X-rays the other dentist had taken. I was glad to see them leave the office. I wasn't going to give that kid another chance to bite me. Once they left, I went back to the waiting room to fetch my next patient.

"Marie?" Marie Damble was having a growth excised today. I numbed her mouth and took the scalpel, cutting into her gum when the blood pooled below the incision. I froze. The longing for the taste of Marie's blood was overwhelming, and I closed my eyes, trying everything I could to keep from seeing or feeling what was trying to take over my body.

 Breathing deeply, waiting for the feeling to subside, it occurred to me.  I had gotten rid of Thomas's hypodontia virus when Erica bit me and stole my blood, but I contracted a new virus. It seemed as if I hadn't gotten over Erica entirely.

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