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(Jessica)
  
After the final bell, Steph and I walked outside together to meet mom.

“Hi mom, this is Stephanie.” I said.

“THE Stephanie?” Mom asked raising an eyebrow.

“Yes mom, we talked and she explained what really happened. She wasn’t the one that spread the pictures, it was her asshole brother.” I said.

“Jess! Language!” Mom admonished me.

“Sorry, mom, but he is.”

“And I second that.” Steph said.

“Mom, Steph wants to go to the hospital with us.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” She asked me.

“I don’t know mom, but she is worried about him too, wouldn’t be fair to her to not have any news and he will need all the support we can get.” I said and Steph looked at me confused.

“Okay, Jess. It’s your call. Let’s go.”

We entered the car and soon we were on our way.

“What do you mean he will need all the support we can get?” Steph whispered to me.

“I’ll tell you later, okay?” I whispered back.

“Okay.”

  

  

We arrived at the hospital and went to find Dad to get some news and try to find Mrs. Evans. We found him and he took us to see Sam and his mom.

“How is he doing, Daddy?”

“The operation went fine and he is still asleep, but I think he might wake up soon.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?” Steph asked.

“Yes it is.” He said.

We arrived at his room and his mother was seated on a chair beside his bed and she looked very tired.

“Hi Mrs. Evans, have you been here all morning?” I said.

She turned her head and said. “Oh, hi Jess, ever since he came back from surgery.”
“Hi Mrs. Evans.” Steph said meekly

“Steph, what are you doing here? I thought you and Sam weren’t friends anymore after what you did to him.” she said angrily.

“Mrs. Evans, I talked to her and found out what really happened, she was not at fault, but Sam was too hurt to listen to her side of the story.” I said.

“Is it true?” She asked Steph.

“Yes, Mrs. Evans. My brother did it, and I haven’t spoken with him every since. He destroyed the one thing that I treasure the most, my friendship with Sam.” She said trying holding back her tears.

“It’s good to know you aren’t responsible for what happened Steph, specially now that he will need all the friends he can get to support him.”

“What happened to him? No one told me anything yet, just that he was in the hospital. What kind of surgery he had?” She asked and Mrs. Evans faced dropped.

“What happened Steph, is that he will have to make a hard decision in order to have a normal healthy life.” Her mother said crypticaly.

“I don’t understand.” Steph said confused.

“Yesterday we came in the morning to find out why his puberty haven’t started yet and the doctors discovered he had a hormone deficiency, and in the afternoon he got a testosterone shot to kickstart it.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it. But why he had to have surgery?”

“A few minutes after the shot he started to feel ill and collapsed. The doctors suspected he had an allergic reaction to the testosterone shot, but stabilized him. During the night he had another one and once again the doctors managed to save him, but they found out he developed an allergy to his own testosterone.” she said

“Oh my. Does it means the operation he had was to remove his...” she said raising her hands to her mouth.

“His testicles, yes.” I told her and Mrs. Evans started to cry again.

“My poor baby. Why did that have to happen to him.” She said.

Steph turned to me and asked. “What does it means to him?” She looked very worried.

“It means he will never grow to be a man because his body will reject any testosterone, his only option for a healthy normal life is to take female hormones.”

“You mean, turn him into a girl?”

“Yes, but it has to be his decision.” I said.

“Oh my, poor Sam, he didn’t deserve to have to make such a decision like this.”
  

  
(Stephanie)

“Mrs. Evans, did you eat anything today?” I asked.

“No, Steph. I been here all day.”

“Why don’t you and Jessica go to the cafeteria and eat something, I’ll be here with him. There are some things I need to tell him, even if he can’t hear me.” I told her.

“I think I could eat somethig. Thank you Steph. I’ll be back soon.”

“Thanks Mrs. Evans.” I said.

“Call me aunt Carla like you used to, Steph, and you too Jess.”

“Okay aunt Carla, thank you.” I said.

After they left I sat down beside him and holded his hands. “Hi Sam, I can’t tell you how much I missed you. I wish we had never taken those pictures. What my brother did to you was unforgivable. That day was the worst day of my life, when you looked at me like that and ran away I felt like I had lost a piece of myself. There isn’t one day that I don’t remember the look in your eyes, Sam. There is nothing in my life I valued most than your friendship, you were like a brother to me, even closer than my real brother. I hope that someday we can be friends again.”

I cleaned up my eyes and took his hand again, I felt it move, squeezing my hand and I heard a faint voice.

“Steph?”

  

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To be continued....