The New Life of Jamie Sarah Potter (1)

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Slowly I opened my eyes. I was laying down... The first thing I noticed was an IV tube had been put into my wrist. The second thing I noticed was all the walls where write and the third thing I noticed was the smell of iodoform, that is that disinfectant that hospitals use. Its what gives them their unique smell. And given I was laying in a hospital bed, with an IV hooked up to me and the pale blue privy currant wrapped around the area. I concluded that something must have happened.

I slowly closed my eyes and tried to think back what happens. My rips hurt like hell, my head feels numb. I felt like somebody had honesty took a four-wheel drive truck and ran me over not only once but twice. The only thing I remembered was standing in the headmaster's office, then that bitch, Linda walking over to me and slapping the dog shit out of me... Just thinking about that brought waves of pain coursing through my body.

“Jesus..” I said opening my eyes again as I forced myself to sit up. I noticed somebody had undressed me because I was not wearing my school uniform, no instead of wearing a button-down shirt and gray trousers, with heavy woolen socks and black sneakers, I was clad in only a thin... Pink hospital gown, at least the gown was pink...

“Where the hell am I?” I’m aware I had already answered my question. But still, I had to ask. At that moment the current was pulled to the side and there stood a nurse. Standing beside the nurse was a doctor. And behind the doctor stood my mom, dad, and older sister. Standing behind them was a man and women I’ve never seen before.

“Welcome back to the world of the Living Mr. Potter.” The doctor said. He said smiling as he reached down and removed the chart somebody had clipped to the end of the bed. “You had us worried there. Nurse, could you please check is temperature.”

I opened my mouth and then I closed it... The nurse smiled as she used some weird looking machine to check my temperature. “104.5 Doctor.” The nurse said taking a deep breath. “Four points of fever doctor. We’ll get you something to bring that down hon.” She said patting me on the shoulder.

The doctor made a note on the chart.

“We’ll keep you overnight then. Just to be on the safe side.” He then took a flashlight and a stick of some kind and started to poke around me. It felt weird having somebody shine a light into your eye and shove and stick down your throat. In the end, it was concluded that I might have a small touch of the Flu... Anyway, the doctored told the nurse I need some kind of medicine and she skirted away to get it. Leaving me with the good doctor and my family, who at this point had remained quiet.

“So, Jamie... Remember what happened at all?” He said pulling up a seat and going over to my side.

“I remember seeing cartoon stars..” I said in an honest tone of voice. “I remember seeing balls of light and hearing voices.” I paused and peered toward him. “It was something straight out of those old cartoons, you know when something heavy falls on one of the characters. And all around them they see those stars, but they're not, really stars per se, but they look like those stars you draw in preschool.”

Mom at this point broke down crying and dad and Lily wrapped her their arms around her. I could hear her sobbing something along the lines “They hurt my baby, they hurt my baby!” over and over again. It made me blush, mom has never fussed over me. Neither has a dad, I guess being a girl is different than being a boy.

The doctor nodded his head and cleared his throat.

“Linda Perry, attacked you, Jamie... In fact, she knocked you out. No doubt you did see stars. She also did a number on you. But nothing too bad. I mean nothing compared to the last home game you guys had. Man the waiting room was overflowing. It was like something from the old sitcom NASH.”

I blinked and blinked again and I swear the color just drained from my face. I could only be in one hospital, and that was the local hospital. The sign out front read KINGS DAUGHTERS HOSPITAL but we all knew it as ‘King Slaughters’. There a reason behind that colorful nickname. The hospital was old and acted more like a band-aid station than a hospital. Meaning the minor things they could deal with. Like, say the seasonal outbreak of the flu or the common cold. They also seemed good at patching up the Benton Academies Football Team... But anything major though. And you’ll find yourself being loaded up in a meat wagon, that local slang for an ambulance and hauled off to Jackson.

The doctor cleared his throat and pressed on though and that brought my rambling mind back on task.

“But yes, as it happens, you were attacked by Ms. Perry. Going on the police report filed on her behalf, she claims at the time she was filled with ‘Rage’ and ‘Anger’ because and these are her own words. So please don’t take offense. ‘That some transgender freak of nature’ dared to use name. And that what she’s claiming caused her to snap out. Now a test was run, and that revealed she has a number of emotional and mental problems. She was on medication, but the Rev. John Mark, the pastor of First Benton Baptist Church, has urged her to stop taking them claiming and these are his words ‘The Devil is sending the demon of Anger after you! You must pray away the demon through prayer and fasting!’ and so fearing ‘For her soul’ She stopped taking them..”

I blinked and blinked again. My mind started to become foggy.

“Right now she in St. Dominic’s.. receiving some much needed medical care. The school still debating what to do. But the deacon’s of First Baptist has already removed the Rev. John Mark following what happened at the headmaster's office. It seems endangering two young people was more than enough.” Dad said looking down. “I know its hard, but we must pray for Linda, her aunt pulled me aside while they were treating you. The poor girls has been going through a lot since her favorite aunt died this last winter. Her aunt was kind of like a second mother to her.”

I nodded my head again and leaned back. My eyes started to feel heavy and all I wanted to do was sleep.

“Aright.. he needs rest. And visiting hours are over.” The doctor said standing up and peering toward the group of people who had gathered around my bed.

I wanted to correct him, but then I remembered I was still legally James C. Potter... My head started to fill heavy. The rays of light from above felt like a thousand needles sticking into my eyes. The whole room started to swirl around me, and all I could do, all I could do was just lay there and try to take shallow breaths.

“Hey, Jamie.” I heard a voice whisper.

“I want you to know, I’m going to make good on that promise okay? One day... Like maybe next week maybe sooner. But you and I are going to the movies together. I know there that anime movie coming out, the one with the huge robots and the stuff. So, we're going to go see that. I promise you... So get better kay?” I felt something warm touch my forehead and the same voice whispered again. “Love you, sis, sleep, well princess.”

I fell into a dreamless sleep after that, okay almost dreamless. I found myself standing in a field, the sky above me was a darkish red. No sun or moon appeared to mark the passing of the days. The air, cool and crisp remained, as there was no sun or moon to mark the passing of day into night, there was no way one season could end and another begin. I had neither watch or phone, so the passing of seconds and minutes and hours could not be marked, but with neither sun or moon, what was the point?

The whole dream was just me standing in that field, peering up at a moonless, sunless, starless sky.

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Comments

Daddy

has to take the rap for a lot of that.The bad reverend had to go because he opened the school to a major law suit in several different ways. It is too bad Daddy gets to walk away relatively clean from this.

The Good Rev. John?

Never known too many pastors that deserve that title and John certainly does not. His poor advice did more to harm Linda than help, yes I believe demons are real but depression is much more common and treatable with proper medication that should only be stopped on the advice of a medical professional not a spiritual leader. I do hope Linda gets the help she needs and gets her anger under control. As for Jamie I have a feeling she will be fine she has a loving family and some good friends watching out for her but every road has bumps along the way

EllieJo Jayne

Ditto

EOM


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Jamie Potter and the End of Days?

laika's picture

Hope Jamie's dream at the end isn't a prophecy- sounds ominous! (Or maybe she's just forseeing a forest fire, where the sky gets weird like that. Which isn't good, but it's better than the seals being popped to the sound of trumpets and the stars falling from the sky...)

What was revealed in this chapter almost (almost...) makes me feel a little sorry for Linda. It's never good when someone even crazier than you convinces you to throw away your koo-koo medicine. Not as bad as these cases you read in the news when parents decide to withhold life saving treatments from their child because "faith is all they need" and the kid dies but the same dangerous mentality; about as dumb as those extreme Pentecostalists drinking poison and playing with snakes because God says it's the thing to do. And I don't think either of those practices are actually recommended in the Bible. So take your psych meds kiddies---in the cosmic scheme of things there's probably a reason they exist---and don't play with poisonous snakes...

And I'm really sick and tired of people like that doctor deliberately misgendering transpeople to make a point. Let's hope Jamie's out of there + enjoying her new life before too long.
~hugs, ronni

Hospital name

Curious as to where you got the hospital name....

Bunch of cow pies

Jamie Lee's picture

Where were Linda's parents during her being told to get rid of the meds? Were they the ones who decided she could stop taking them?

Still, she is responsible for putting Jamie in the hospital and should be isolated and evaluated for proper meds and/or counseling until it's determined she won't flip again and put someone else in the hospital.

Others have feelings too.