The first thing Ryan became aware of was that he was aware. It seemed as if he had regained a train of thought and that his brain started working after a long rest. Everything was jumbled though as he tried to piece together what was going on. Something weighed heavy on him, but he couldn't nail it down. In an effort to clarify his thoughts, he tried to structure what had transpired that would give him that stressed feeling. He thought back about school, his girlfriend...his condition!

Ryan's thoughts instantly organized and his eyes quickly opened. Everything was out focus. He blinked several times to clear his vision and attempted to rub his eyes with his hands. Panic set in as he couldn't move. It was as if his whole body was asleep. His eyes darted back and forth frantically trying to figure out what was going on as he instinctively tried to scream for help. All that came out was a faint, raspy whisper. Determined, Ryan tried to yell out again. He could feel his vocal cords quiver as the volume of his voice increased. "heeellllppp". It was barely audible.

He took a second to concentrate his entire being on his vocal cords and took a deep breath. "HEEEEELLLLPPPP!!!!", he screamed. His voice came out! "HEELLLLPPPP!!!", he yelled again. His voice was very raspy and breaking, but he could speak!

"Ryan! I'm here baby!", he heard his mother's voice. The sound of her was like a gift from heaven.

"What's happening?!?", Ryan asked his mom in a still raspy voice.

"You've had the 2nd fever sweety", she replied as she ran her fingers through his hair attempting to calm him down, "Your feeling will be coming back to your body in a couple minutes. You've been asleep for a while Ryan. The numbeness is a result of that. Just relax."

Ryan did as he was told and just tried to calm his nerves as he closed his eyes. His mind was still foggy and drifted in and out of focus. He could feel his entire body start to tingle. It reminded him of the feeling he got when his arm would fall asleep at night. It felt like a bunch of springy needles pricking him all over whenever he moved. Even with all that discomfort though, he was thrilled because his movement and feeling was returning.

He opened his eyes once more and everything began coming into focus slowly. He could pick up his mom silhouette as well as his brother's and sister's.

"Hey Ryan, welcome back.", his sister warmly stated as she gave him a hug.

"Owwww", he replied. The hug sent needle sensations all over his body.

"Dang, he sounds like a girl", his brother quietly said as his sister gave him an elbow to the side and told him to be quiet.

"Ryan dear, are you ok?, his mom asked.

"I feel like I was hit by a truck...", he stopped. His voice stunned him. He did sound like a girl.

"I know baby, this is all normal though. You body went through some changes and that why you are aching.", his mom replied.

"Mom, I sound like a girl", Ryan said with a shaky voice.

"I know honey. Try not to talk too much. Your voice is very raspy.", she replied not knowing quite what to say, "Take these pain killers. They will help with the soreness."

With his mom's help, Ryan sat up in the bed. His tingling was quickly going away and he could move his body well now. He sipped down the pills with a glass of water. He was so thirsty.

"Yes, go ahead and drink all the water Ryan. We kept you hydrated but I'm sure you are craving a drink.", she tried to joke.

"Mom, everything is still blurred.". Ryan began rubbing his eyes to gain some clarity while freaking out at his wierd voice.

"Your vision will return baby, just give it a couple minutes.", she replied.

"Oh mom...my voice"

"I know...it will take some time to get used to, but it's going to be ok.", she tried to comfort him.

"How long was I asleep?", Ryan asked. His body grew stronger by the second as he sat himself up in bed more firmly.

"5 weeks honey...a long time."

"What?! Oh my gosh mom!", he said in a shocked and very girly tone.

"It's going to take a while for all this to settle in Ryan. You are being overloaded with so much right now. Please just try to relax and let me take care of you.", she pleaded.

Ryan's eyesight was losing its blur. With each passing minute it became that much sharper.

"Where am I?" he asked. The room, although still out of focus, looked alot different than his bedroom. There seemed to be alot more posters on the wall and the color was different. Ryan rubbed his eyes again.

"You're in my room.", his sister replied with aprehension.

"Huh?", he replied. He was in his sister's room?

"Look at the bright side of this, I get my own room now", his brother joked in a most inappropriate way.

"You be quite young man!", his mom scolded, "We moved you in here because it's closer to my room so I could take care of you."

Ryan closed his eyes for a minute and contemplated what was happening. Obviously his mother was trying to soften what was happening. He knew that he was moved into his sister's room because he probably had changed enough that he "fit" into a girl's room more that a boy's. He had to reamin calm although he was shaking from nerves of the unknown. He took a deep breath and open his eyes.

"I can see you guys now.", he stated as his vision cleared, "my voice is so wierd."

"You sound like me now. I think it's an improvement", his sister joked in a sweet way that made the others giggle.

"Yeah, thanks. I have to admit...what am i wearing?", Ryan asked as he just noticed what he was clad in.

"You didn't fit into your pajamas anymore so I put you in these.", his mom aswered with trepidation. Did she screw up?

"No way, mom...really?!? Where did you get these?", he asked. He was shocked that his mom would do this to him.

"They're Kristen's sweety...like I said, your pajamas were swimming on you and I just thought that you may want something more feminine when you woke up. I wasn't sure what to think baby. You can switch clothes if you want."

He was wearing a pair of his sister's pajamas. They were familiar to him as he had seen her wear them a couple times before. They were a light lavendar and white pinstripe print. The shorts were short! To make matters worse, they had a little lace along the waistband and around the leg openings. The top was a tank that once again had lace along the bottom.

He grew embarassed that his brother and sister were looking at him and pulled the covers over himself.

"I'm sorry Ryan, I thought that you might be ok with this.", mom stated. "You two ought to leave please."

Ryan's siblings left the room.

"Please talk to me Ryan. I know this is difficult, but I'm here for you.", his mother pleaded.

"I can't believe you dressed me like this mom. I know what's happening to me, but you should have asked first."

"I know I should have. I wasn't thinking clearly I guess. This is all so new for me too baby. I really screwed up and I'm so sorry.", she apologized.

"Oh mom, I don't know what to think. Do I look different?"

"Yes Ryan. Let me help you over to the mirror.", she answered as she helped her son out of bed and over to his sister's full length mirror.

The two stood in silence as they beheld the changes that occured. He was tiny! The mother he used to look down at was now 3 inches taller than him. He must have been barely over 5 feet now. He looked so small and fragile. Every trace of his muscles were gone and he looked just plain frail. He walked closer to look at his face. He still looked like Ryan, but everything looked younger and more babyish now. His masculine features were gone and he looked more like he did when he was a little boy. His felt his masculinity drain at the sight of such a small, tender body.

Ryan's mom just held her arms on his shoulders as he began to tear up. He couldn't keep his macho act up in the presence of such a drastic change.

"Oh mom...why is this happening to me?!?", he cried out as tears flowed down his pretty face.

"Oh dear, I don't know baby. I don't know what to say. Things will get easier I promise.", she replied as she hugged him deeply.

"I can't wear these clothes mom. I don't want to be a girl. I know my body is changing, but I don't have to dress this way if I don't want to right?"

"No sweety. We will find boy's clothes that fit you. You don't have to do anything you don't want to Ryan.", she tried comforting him.

"I need some time alone mom."

"Are you going to be ok?", she asked with concern.

"Yeah mom, I just need to get my arms around this."

With that, his mom left the room.