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Part 32

My time in the hospital is boring, with a capital B.O.R.I.N.G. Fortunately for me, Ellen is keeping me company. I finish up my lunch of blah with blah sauce and a side order of blah. Ellen and I are chatting away: she’s getting me caught up on what she’s doing at school. She’s done for the summer except she plans on working heavily on her clothing line and will be going up to school about once every other week to meet with her advisor.

Ellen is currently trying to explain to me about all the various types of hosiery. Who knew there was so much variety? About the time my eyes start to glaze over, Mom, Dad and the twins come in.

“Hey, guys.”

Everyone starts asking how I am feeling and we just chat and try to catch up with what everyone is doing. The twins are trying to get everything ready so they can go off to their big scout jamboree next month. Dad says that Mr. Dorney sends his best wishes and that Dad isn’t allowed back to work until I get home. Isn’t that the nicest thing?

Shortly after they arrive, two huge flower arrangements show up. They’re both absolutely beautiful and their fragrance soon fills the room. One is from Dad’s work and the other is from the Dempseys.

“Oh, this is nice. Lordy, they smell wonderful. Mom, next time you come, can you bring me something to write with? I’m not going to have a lot to do so I might as well write some thank you cards.”

“Okay, honey. That’s a good idea. In fact I’ll bring in all of the cards you’ve gotten so far and you can reply to them as well.”

“There’s more?”

“Good heavens yes. The house and the hospital have been flooded by cards and flowers. We’ve been screening them and since you’ve been in the ICU, we’ve had the hospital spread the flowers around to others here.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea. I would like to see them before we pass them on, but let’s keep up with that.”

“So, Alex...”

“...do you have a scar?”

“Can we...”

“...see it?”

“How are...”

“...you feeling?”

“Will you...”

“...be coming home soon?”

“I think you guys talk that only because you know how annoying it is. I don’t have a scar ’cause I’m not fully healed yet and no you can’t see it and hopefully I’ll be home in the next week or so.”

We’re all smiling and feeling good and just enjoying being family when there’s a knock on the door and Nancy sticks her head in. She’s smiling and she says, “Alex, there’re two people here who’d very much like to see you. I think you might want to see them, too.”

Nancy opens the door and in walks two older people.

They’re smiling and they obviously know my folks as the man says, “Robert, Sharon, it’s so nice to see you again. This must be Alex.”

Dad says, “Hello, John, Ramona. Yes, this is Alex. I believe you’ve met our other daughter Ellen, and these are our sons, Mark and William.

“Alex, this is John and Ramona Dempsey. You rescued their granddaughter.”

“Oh, hello. It’s very nice to meet you. Is your granddaughter doing well?”

Ramona says, “Very well thanks to you. I don’t know how we can ever thank you.”

“There’s no need, ma’am, I very glad she’s doing better.”

John says, “Well I’d like to find a way to thank you. Would you accept a reward?”

“Oh no, sir, thank you just the same. If you’d like to do something, well, I’d like to meet her, your granddaughter I mean. I’d like to have a happy face to replace the one I have of her in my memory.”

“We’d like that too,” says Ramona. “I wanted to let you know that last year, we lost Elizabeth’s parents in an auto accident. Elizabeth is all we have left of our daughter and her husband. To have lost Elizabeth too, well I’m not sure John and I could have dealt with that and because of you, we won’t. Thank you my dear, thank you very, very much.”

John says, “Your mother and father said you’d not take money and I think we can arrange a little get together for when you get out of here. Robert, if you’d let us know when Alex is settled back home, we can plan to get together. Alex, take care of yourself and thank you again.”

“Yes, thank you very much. We’ll leave you to your family now,” adds Ramona.

“And thank you both for the lovely flowers and for stopping by. Tell Elizabeth that I’m looking forward to meeting her. Goodbye.”

After they leave, Bill and Mark start prancing around the room.

“Oh thaaaaannk yooou for the loverly flowers,” says Bill.

“Oh my yes, they stink soooo nice!” is Mark’s reply before they both start laughing at their own comedic wit, or what is funny to a twelve-year-old.

Mom tells them to stop and Ellen and I just roll our eyes at each other. Dad just stands there grinning.

“Dad, did Ellen tell you about the reporter that came in here?”

“Yes she did and your mother and I need to talk about that with you. First, about that reporter, I talked to the hospital administration people and the hospital is pressing charges directly and we won’t be involved unless absolutely necessary.

“Second, since the interest in you has not died down, they’ve suggested that you do a little press conference. That way we can get this put behind us and hopefully you won’t be bothered anymore. Your Mother and I think it’s a good idea but if you aren’t comfortable doing it, we won’t.”

“It’s so weird that people want to talk to me so much. I can’t say that it’s something that if I had a choice I would do, but it looks like maybe I don’t really have a choice. You guys would be there with me, right?”

“We’ll be with you every step of the way. We will want to get our stories straight before we do, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, do you really want to tell everyone why you are in the hospital? I think we can get by, by just saying it has to do with your appendix. Suit you?”

“Oh yeah, I see your point. Yeah, the appendix story works for me.”

“Okay then, maybe we can do this on Friday if you’re up to it.”

Mom says, “Ellen, could you take the boys down to the cafeteria and get them a snack?”

“Sure, Mom. Come on, guys, I think they have ice-cream down there.”

Turning to me, Mom says, “Okay, honey, I don’t think your brothers need to hear this next bit. Your father and I have talked to Doctor Martin and have made some other inquiries and we found a plastic surgeon that can finish the cosmetic work for you.”

“Really? How soon?”

“His name is Thomas Kenney and he’s a very well respected plastic surgeon with a great deal of experience doing vaginoplasties. He’s also available next week if this is something you still want and his examination confirms what needs to be done. Do you still want this and should we call him in?”

“Yes, Mom, Dad, I really do want this. Please call him. All I want is this to get done, be a girl and get back home with you guys. Oh, and to push the boys into the pool, but that’s just a bonus. I wanna go home but I want to do it as a girl.”

“Okay, sweetheart, we’ll give him a call right away.”

***

Journal Entry: May 22^nd

Gee, it’s been almost a month since I last wrote in here and boy oh boy has a ton of stuff happened. This is the first full day that I’ve been back from the hospital. The how and why of me being in the hospital is all part of the ‘ton of stuff’ that has been going on.

First and most importantly, (drum roll please) I am fully, completely, and unequivocally a girl now. There is nothing, or at least there won’t be anything once I’m done healing, that will ever give you a clue that I haven’t been one my entire life. Okay, I know I’ve always been a girl, but ya gotta realize me and the rest of the family spent the first fifteen years of my life thinking I was a boy and add to that the physical appearance didn’t quite match and well…

Now where do I start all of this? Okay, my last entry was the night before my Parkour run for Monkey. Well I did the run and it was awesome. Monkey brought over a DVD of the film he took and it was amazing. Now when Mom and Dad saw the film they kinda freaked and thinking back on it, I guess I can see why. Anyway, they told me that I can’t do the Parkour anymore or at least at any height above ten feet. Where’s the fun in that?

Needless to say, I was pretty upset about this, but like I said, I do see the reasoning behind it. I don’t like their decision, but I do understand where they’re coming from.

So the day after that, Ellen and I are out running (regular running that is) and end up over at the marina. Now we’re just walking along the sidewalk in front of the piers catching our breath when we see this little girl fall off a boat and into the water. We freak and Ellen calls 911 while I take off towards the pier. I’m up and over the little gatehouse at the end of the pier and before you know it, I’m in the water trying to find this little girl. I dive down and eventually find her, get her to the surface and the EMT’s arrive and get her breathing again and off to the hospital.

Meanwhile, back at the marina, I feel like someone is gutting me with a bunch of hooks. I know, pleasant imagery but you should have been on my side of it: that’s exactly what it felt like. Anyway, this was from me getting my period and my body not being able to do anything about it. The thought just grosses me out but they did end up fixing me up and then this real nice plastic surgeon made everything down there look like a proper vagina. That was a couple of days ago and I sure hope the doctor is right and it will look better ’cause it’s not so nice looking right now. Keep your fingers crossed.

There is some good news to report. While they were doing everything they needed to do to fix me, they really checked me out good. Dr. Martin says that there is some minor scarring on the inside but it shouldn’t cause any problems. We’ll need to keep an eye on things but she said all looks pretty good.

Okay, so the whole little girl rescue was actually caught on film AND Monkey supplied some footage of my Parkour run to the news stations so that whole thing got blown out of proportion and the media starts to portray me as some sort of superhero. Is that nuts or what? Oh, and I’m actually on YouTube and have a ton of hits.

I even had reporters sneaking into the hospital to try to interview me. Well, to try to put a stop to all of that, we ended up having a news conference at the hospital. That seems to have taken care of most of the problem but there is still a radio station that is having a contest to give me a superhero name. Yeah, can you believe it? The winner gets two full passes to some comic convention going on later this summer. I swear some people have far too much time on their hands.

Where did that superhero thing come from, you ask? Well it seems that Monkey, aided and abetted by my sister, arranged things so I looked like Wonder Woman’s kid sister while I did my Parkour. As well, Monkey adding animation to the process to enhance that look even more and you can see how it happened. I even have a fan club. Oh please! At first, I was so pissed at both of them. I mean, the least they could have done was ask me. They didn’t need to trick me.

So that’s about it. I’m back home from the hospital now and I’m trying to get my strength back but it’s difficult when it feels like someone has slapped you hard in the groin with a cactus. Yes, it feels like that, but it is getting better day by day.

Ellen has been absolutely super by helping Mom with my physical therapy and keeping me company and all. We’ve taken to watching the Next Top Model and the Project Runway shows together. At first, I wasn’t all that interested but they kinda grow on you. We bet on who we think will win and who we think will get cut. Hey, it passes the time, what can I tell you? It also gives me a tiny bit of insight on what Ellen is doing with her school. So we’ll watch that together while she works on her clothing line and I write notes back to all my fans.

Since the film of me hit the news, it’s since gone over to YouTube and I get tons of letters and stuff. Some people have even sent checks and cash! Mom, Dad and I have set up an account for all of this money. I don’t feel right taking it and in an awful lot of cases there isn’t a return address. So we set up this account and will donate it all to the Red Cross. If I hadn’t learned the water rescue and CPR from them, I wouldn’t be called a hero now. Oh, and I no longer get to open the letters. Some contained pictures of the sender, like a little girl who said she wanted to be like me when she grew up. That was nice. But I also got some that were, well, rather disgusting. Why on earth would someone take pictures of their privates and mail them to some kid and yes I’ll admit that I’m still a kid in a lot of ways? Dad turned those over to the police, but the end result is I can’t open my own mail anymore. That sucks.

All of the flowers that get sent, we send to other patients at the hospital or over to a nursing home.

Because of all of the interest in me from the media, we decided to do a news conference to get all of the questions over and done with. I couldn’t believe how stupid some of the questions were. They asked things like ‘how does it feel to be a hero?’ I don’t think I’m a hero, and I feel like I’ve always done. They asked if I had a boyfriend and really stupid things like was I glad to have saved her life. Well duh!

Now you know what the real crappy–and I do mean crappy–thing about this whole thing is? My birthday, yeah, look up at the top. It says May 22. That’s six days past my birthday and no nothing. Oh, I got some cards and the folks brought in a cake and they and the hospital staff sang me ‘Happy Birthday’ but it’s just not the same. I did get an email from Robbyn. She said that she’s sending me my present but isn’t sure when it will arrive, since it has to come from Europe. Damn I miss that girl.

Mom and Dad have promised that we’ll do something special once I’m fully better and we’ll just have a belated celebration but it’s just not the same. Crap.

End Journal Entry

***

“Alex, just what in the hell do you think you’re doing?” yells Ellen over the sound Sarah Carerra’s Intuition blasting from the radio.

I finish my crunches as Ellen goes over and turns down the stereo. “Hey I was listening to that!”

“Too bad. Now are you going to answer me? What do you think you’re doing?”

“Right now I’m just hanging around.” And I start to giggle.

“Ha, ha, very funny.” But Ellen starts to smile. “I don’t know how you can hang upside down like that–much less do crunches while you do it. You’re a freak, do you know that? You shouldn’t be able to do all that, much less do it so soon.”

I reach up and grab the bar and unhook my knees, then back roll and drop to my feet. “I think it’s actually easier than doing them on the ground, there’s no stress on the neck and back this way.”

“Which leads me back to my original question that you keep avoiding. You’re overdoing it, you know. You’re pushing yourself too hard to get back in shape. Hell, you’re in better shape right now than most people I know–no, change that, I don’t actually know of anyone in better shape than you.”

“Well, that just proves that you and your friends need to exercise more. Hee-hee.”

“Ha, I say ha, very funny. Seriously, I don’t want you injuring yourself by pushing too hard.”

“I won’t. It’s been three weeks; I’m almost completely healed now. Speaking of which, who’s driving me up for my doctor’s appointment, you or Mom?”

“We’re both going. Mom’s going to drop me off at school so I can talk with my advisor, then she’ll go with you to your appointment. When you’re done, you guys will pick me up on the way back.”

As we’re talking, we’re walking upstairs to my room. When we get there, I begin to take off my sweaty clothes.

“Are your boobs bigger?”

Looking down I say, “Hmm, I’m not sure. I don’t think so, well maybe. I did lose weight while in the hospital so they may look bigger, but I’ve gained it back. Don’t really know if they are or not.”

“That may be it. Do your bras fit okay? I seem to remember that you’re between an A and a B cup.”

“I guess they don’t fit as well as they used to.”

“Hmm, hold on a sec.” Ellen whips out her ever-present tape measure. “Take the rest of your clothes off, I want to get your measurements.”

I finish stripping out of my clothes and am standing naked in front of Ellen. Something feels strange about this until I realize that I don’t feel uncomfortable doing it and the reason I think is my acceptance of being a girl. Interesting, I’ll have to talk to Amanda about this next time.

“Hey, you look great. Is there any bruising left?”

“None that I can see, but then again I don’t have the best angle. I do seem to be healing well.”

“I’ll say. Now hold out your arms and stand straight.”

So for the next couple of minutes, Ellen measures me. When she’s done, she’s just looking at her notepad.

“Well, what are they?”

“Hmm, I think I hate you–no, I know I hate you.”

“Elllleeeenn!”

“Oh okay, I don’t hate you but I am jealous.”

“Will you start talking sense?”

“Okay, have you weighed yourself lately?”

“Yeah, this morning. I’m now up to 127 pounds. You’d think I would weigh more considering how much I’ve been packing away lately. I did lose a bunch of weight while I was in the hospital.”

“I may go back to hating you. Okay, so you’re 127 pounds and you’re five feet, eleven inches tall. Your perky little boobs aren’t so little, although they’re still perky. According to your bra here, you were 32 inches and as I said between an A and a B cup. These puppies are 35 and a strong B cup by my reckoning. That would also explain why they’re so stretched out, too–the bras that is. Weren’t you at all uncomfortable wearing them? Anyway, your hips are also 35 inches and your waist is 22 and a half inches. So to sum it up, with what I just said plus your face, hair, everything else, well you could be a fashion model. In fact I know some models that would kill for your stats and the way you look.”

“Nope, not me. Wow, they really grew this past month or so. I guess I need to go get some new bras.”

“Yeah, you. You’re prettier than those girls on our shows. You practice the walk and some of the photo techniques that models use and I bet you could do it. You’re a natural-born mimic.”

“But that would mean parading around in front of a bunch of people and although I’m not nearly as phobic about being around people as I used to be, I’m still pretty bad.”

I head into the bathroom to take my shower. While I’m washing, Ellen comes in.

“Say, will you at least try some of the walks and posing for me in private? I’d like to satisfy my curiosity about you, plus if you’d let me, I bet I could get one of the photography majors to take some pictures of you. I bet they’d do it for free just to build up their portfolio.”

“Oh no. Last time I helped one of your friends I got turned into a superhero. And I wish that damned contest would get over with soon. I’m not going to get wrapped up into one of your schemes again.”

“Schemes? Me? How can you say something like that about your sister?”

“’Cause I know you?”

“Alex?”

“What?”

Ellen flushes the toilet.

“Ellen! I am so going to get you!”

“Hee-hee, better hurry and get dressed, sis.” And she rushes out.

I finish up in the shower and get out and start the tedious process of drying my hair. With that done, I go back into my room and get dressed. I’d love to slip on some jeans but I haven’t dared to since the operation. Besides, I’m not sure if I could take it. It seems that everything is way more sensitive down there now. That’s something I need to talk to the doctor about.

Instead, I put on a mid-calf peasant skirt in navy blue and a white tank top. I slip on my sandals and head downstairs to get some lunch and to initiate my revenge on Ellen.

***

Before going into the kitchen, I make a quick detour to Mom’s office. There I quickly find what I need for my revenge. I run downstairs then head back up and into the kitchen.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Hello, sweetheart. Chicken salad for lunch–want me to fix you one?”

“Please, thank you.”

“Hiiii, Ellen.” I need to keep Ellen as jumpy as possible until we leave for my plan to work.

“Hey. What are you up to?”

“Me? Why would I be up to anything?” And I bat my eyes at her.

“Because I know you, that’s why.”

“Why, Ellen, what a thing to say.” Sotto vocé to Mom I say, “Mom, Ellen is a bit paranoid, don’t you think?”

“Don’t you two drag me into this. Here, eat your sandwich.”

I just sit at the counter smiling at Ellen as I eat my sandwich. In my lap I have a rolled-up newspaper and I bide my time.

Just as I’m finishing my sandwich I see my opportunity. Ellen is walking over to the sink and finishing her drink. I grab the paper and slap the counter as hard as I can with it and purposely do not look at Ellen.

An already jumpy Ellen predictably jumps and ends up spilling some of her drink on herself. Perfect.

“Alex!”

Looking up I say, “Sorry, I was getting a fly.”

“Yeah, right.”

Mom says, “Run downstairs and change your shirt, we need to leave here soon.”

I clear my plate and finish my drink.

Mom turns to me and asks, “Alex, I heard from the Dempsey’s this morning, they would like to get together and introduce you to Elizabeth. I figured Saturday would be nice, we could do dinner on the grill. Does that sound okay with you?”

“Sounds great, Mom, I’m looking forward to seeing Elizabeth.”

Ellen comes back upstairs and yep, she’s wearing her yellow blouse. Now if she’ll turn, I can see if she found my little addition to it.

No such luck. Ellen refuses to let me get behind her. In fact, she grabs her clothing bag and hurries out to the car while I’m running back up to my room to get my purse.

Ellen is in the back seat of the car and so I take the front. We all idly chat on the drive up. When we stop to let Ellen out, I say “Ellen, come here for a sec.”

“Not a chance. Mom, give me a call just before you leave the doctor’s office and I be waiting for you here. Bye, you two.”

“Bye, honey.”

“See ya, sis.”

Ellen turns and walks away and finally, I see that it’s still there.

Looking at Ellen’s retreating form, Mom says, “Oh, Alex. I don’t understand why you two tease each other so much. If I didn’t know how much you two love each other, I might get worried.”

“Hee-hee. Don’t say anything, Mom. I know you always advise me to hold off and to wait but I just couldn’t resist.”

“You’re a bad girl, you know that?”

I just giggle at Mom and we drive away.

***

When we get to Doctor Kenney’s office, we’re escorted straight back to an examination room. I’m given one of those horrid gowns and told to change into it and told that the doctor will be right in.

“Honey, are you sure you want me back here with you?”

“I’m sure, Mom. I probably could handle it now but I do feel a bunch better when you’re with me. Besides, my embarrassment doesn’t come from you being here: it comes from being on my back with my feet in the air and some guy, even if he is my doctor, looking at me down there.”

“Welcome to the world of being a woman, honey.”

I smile at Mom while I take off my skirt and panties. I then climb up on the table and lay the gown across my lap. At Mom’s raised eyebrow I say, “Well the only thing he’s going to check is down there and I figure this would work just as well and it’s a whole lot more comfortable.”

At that point, Doctor Kenney comes into the room with the nurse.

“Well hello there, Alex, Mrs. Conners. How are you feeling these days, Alex?”

“Pretty good, Doctor.”

“Any soreness, problems, anything like that?”

The whole time we’re talking, he’s having me lay back and get my feet up in the stirrups and he’s doing his examination, and I’m turning bright red.

“Um, well there is one thing. I seem to be really, really sensitive down there.”

“You hurt?”

“Um, no. It’s like the nerves are hyper-aware and even the lightest touch, um well, um let’s say it’s intense.”

“Oh, I see. Well that should diminish to a certain extent over time. Some of that sensitivity comes from messing around down there and is common after any surgery. Also, when we did your cosmetic work, we tried very hard to preserve all the nerves we could and you have a lot of them. When we worked on your clitoris, labia and the surrounding area, well the nerves are packed in a smaller area now. That will account for much of what you are experiencing. Like I said, it should diminish over time. Any other issues?”

“No, everything is going great. I’m just trying to get back into shape. Oh, that reminds me, when can I start swimming, wear pants, things like that?”

“You can go back to swimming right away and to wearing pants. You have healed at a remarkable rate. The resilience of youth I suppose. If I could bottle that I’d never have to work again. I do want you to continue to use the ointment we gave you for the next two weeks, and then gradually taper off. Other than that, I’ll want to see you again in three months. If you have any questions or if any problems arise, call or come on in or see your regular doctor.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“You’re welcome, Alex. You’re a remarkable young lady. Best of luck to you and I’ll see you in a few months.”

“Thanks again, Doctor, bye.”

***

As I get re-dressed, Mom calls Ellen to let her know we’re about to leave the office.

As we’re pulling up to get Ellen, I see that she’s just a tad pissed. She’s on her phone and not at all pleased

“Uh oh, maybe I should have taken a cab home.”

Mom just shakes her head.

We pull up and Ellen puts her garment bag in and climbs into the back seat. After slamming the door, she throws a yellow piece of paper at me.

“You’re dead, Alex. Just wait until we get home. I’m going to beat you to death with this phone.”

Just then, her phone rings again. After listening for a minute she yells, “No, I’m not free tonight!” and she hangs up.

I look at my note that says for a good time to call Ellen and it has her number written below.

“Alex, how could you? I didn’t find out about it until my adviser noticed it when I was leaving his office. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing. I think it’s the same guy that keeps calling too.”

“Well it’s just payback for this morning. Truce?”

“Truce, but only if you can get this creep to stop calling me.”

I take her phone and when it rings again I answer, “San Francisco Police Department, Vice Squad, Detective Callahan speaking, may I help you?”

I hand the phone back to Ellen, “Humm, they hung up for some reason. Fancy that.”

“Detective Callahan?” asks Ellen.

“Yeah, Harriett Callahan. You know, this has absolutely made my day.”

At this point, all three of us start to laugh.

XXX

Poor Alex, things just keep on happening to her. Now we have this radio station contest. So how about it, any suggestions on a superhero name for her? Let me know. The winning name will be announced soon.

Luv, Connie

I’d also like to thank, once again, Megan Campbell. I’m a big fan of hers and Alex is a big fan of Sarah Carerra. Thanks Megan for letting me mention your character.

-C