Notice: This is a fan fiction of based upon the stories in Lilith Langtree’s “Comics RetCon Universe”. The story is mine, but some of the characters are not. Mystique from Marvel Comics’ X-men are trademarks of Marvel Comics. All rights reserved. The Riddler, Joker and Green Arrow are trademarks of DC Comics. All rights reserved. To the best of my knowledge, all the other characters are fiction. Any resemblance to a living, dead or undead person is completely random.

I yawn and make a show of stretching. “Wow!  Look at the time!  I think I need to get some sleep.”

Jenny leans forward, looking incredulous. “No way!  Come on.  You can’t stop now! What happened after that?”

I decide to tease her some. “Well...” I stop with a heavy sigh. “If you really must know, I woke up in my hotel room with Milla laying naked in the bed next to me.”

Jenny leans back and sighs with disgust. “Damn it Ally!  That’s not funny and what is it with you and Milla?”

I shrug my shoulders and smile.  “Beats me.  I really don’t know why she likes me so much.”

“Arrghh!  Even when you’re a girl, you are such a guy!  You can’t just stop like that! I wanna know what really happened next.”  She shakes her finger at me in frustration while I calmly take a sip of wine to hide my smirk.  Oh yeah, my male mojo is still intact.

I pause for a second to savor the taste.  I really don’t understand how I can like and appreciate the taste of wine now, but I guess it works out in my favor since I was out of everything else. “Well, I’m not really sure myself. I had some weird dreams about DBO and I remember waking up once for a little bit. I was burning up with a fever and there where some doctors standing over me saying stuff, but I couldn’t understand them. About the only thing I do remember from that time is someone cooling my forehead with a washcloth and that it felt so comforting.  Other than that,  I really don’t remember much until I woke up Wednesday morning.”

Jenny relaxes as I continue my story.  She takes another sip of her wine too.  “Okay, go on.”

I felt weird.  

It felt like every muscle and bone in my body hurt.  Even my teeth hurt.  I wanted to move, but as sore as I felt just sitting still, I was afraid that I might hurt myself more.  I could understand that after getting zapped like I did, but beyond the aches and pain, something just didn’t feel right. I could feel a blanket wrapped around my chest and tucked under my arms to leave my shoulders and arms exposed.   I wasn’t cold, but I think I would have preferred to be completely under the covers.  

Even with my eyes closed, the light seemed very bright. I was afraid to open them. Did they have to have the lights on full blast?  I blinked once to test the idea of opening them, but the glare made me close my eyes almost immediately.

Besides the usual antiseptic smells, I could hear all of the sounds one would normally associate with a hospital.  Everything seemed louder than normal.  Like my hearing was better and not damaged from all the concerts I went to when I was in college or maybe the acoustics in the room were just really good.  As sore as I felt, I decided to just keep my eyes closed and not move for a few minutes. I wanted to savor the sensation of being alive.  I heard the occasional sound of footsteps walking in the hallway outside of my room, but it was muted. I couldn’t tell without opening my eyes, but I guessed that the door to my room was closed.  I wondered how I rated a private room.

My tongue felt like someone had poured sand into my mouth while I was out.  I didn’t think that there was anyone in my room, but I still tried to ask for water. All that came out of my throat was a high pitched sound that vaguely resembled the word.  It was more of a groan.  I tried to get some saliva going, but there was absolutely nothing there.

Since I had never actually stayed in a hospital, I knew that I needed to open my eyes and look for one of those call button things.  As I opened my eyes, the bright light made me blink and squint a lot. I must have done that for a minute until my eyes adjusted to the light. I reached up to rub my eyes and I felt a slight pinch in my left arm.  That stopped me as I turned my head to see what was pinching my arm.  

Some long silver colored hair got in my face and left eye. Also, my ear felt funny as it rubbed against the pillow.  Those strange sensations were forgotten when I saw the skin of my exposed shoulder and left arm.  I had an IV taped to my arm and my skin looked dark blue.  Not only that, but my arm looked smaller and smoother.  Gone was the course, dark hair on my forearms. Without the hair, my arm looked feminine to me.

Well, I remembered being shocked and smelling something burning, maybe the doctors put some new high tech blue colored burn therapy goo on my skin? Maybe the blue stuff was just making my arm look smaller and smoother?

My sore neck and back muscles protested when I lifted my head up to get a better look at my surroundings. Yep, I was in a hospital room and it was a private room.  The lights were off and the curtains were closed, but the room still seemed bright to me.

I shook my head in confusion and felt my hair shift around a lot more than I was used too.  How long was my hair now and if it felt so long, how many months was I unconscious?  I spotted the nurse call button thing hanging close to my right hand.  As I reached for it, my upper torso twisted and something else on my chest moved too.  That stopped my reaching for the call button.

I looked down and really focused on my chest.  What I saw was not something I expected to see from this angle.  I saw the rounded shape of what reminded me of a pair of women’s breasts pushing against the bedding that was wrapped around my upper torso.

That distracted me enough that the sound of a woman’ voice speaking from the doorway surprised me.  “Oh.  You’re awake.”

I didn’t notice the door open.  I looked up and saw an attractive, brown haired, thirty-something woman wearing purple hospital scrubs. She had a lanyard around her neck with a badge on it, but it was twisted around and I couldn’t see what I assumed to be her name badge. She had a concerned look on her face as she approached me.  “How are you feeling sweetie?”

The basic question distracted me from the strange visual and physical sensation caused by whatever was making the mound shape on my chest.  “Water?”  I ask in a barely audible voice.  It was more of a croak, but the pitch was higher than I expected.  I tried to clear my throat to get rid of the pitch problem to ask again, but the woman reached behind my head to help support me while she held a glass of water to my lips.

“Here you go dear.  Take small sips.” She said with almost a paternal smile.  It sounded like she was treating me like a child.  I didn’t care because the cool water washed away the sandpaper feeling in my mouth and soothed my throat. I could not remember the last time a simple glass of water tasted so good to me.  I focused all of my attention on her face while I was drinking the water.  She had some amazing green eyes while her caring and patient expression reassured me.  After I finished the water in the small glass, I relaxed back into my pillow as she gently helped me lower my head.

“Thanks.” I said, smiling at her.  Now that my mouth was no longer desert dry, I expected my voice to sound normal.  It didn’t.  I sounded like a girl and I think my confusion started to show on my face.

“Shhhh. It’s okay honey.  You don’t need to speak right now.  I’m sure your voice is still just a little raw.”

I think that she was trying to get me to not talk, but out of habit I replied. “Oh, okay...”

My throat did not in any way, shape or form feel raw, but my voice definitely sounded like a girl’s voice.  I started to really get worried.  “What’s wrong with me?”

She gently placed her hands on my shoulders and leaned down. “You’re fine dear. Nothing is wrong with you.  Just relax and calm down.”

That didn’t help.  It just told me that something was really wrong with me.  Which reminded me that my skin looked blue and my hair was really long and silver and the lights weren’t on, but it was still really bright in here and there were some lumps on my chest.  Was I starting to panic just a little?  Yes.  Especially since the woman now holding me down looked like she was only five five or so and maybe a hundred and twenty pounds, if that.  I should have been able to easily force myself up with my five eleven and two hundred fifty pound weight advantage, but here she was holding me down pretty easily.

“Let me go!”  I started to thrash around some as I worked on sitting up.  My voice only added to my panic.  “What’s wrong with me?!  Why do I sound like a girl?”  I yelled as my panic overcame what little rational thought I had left.  I felt a pain in me left arm as the IV needle was pulled and tugged on from my thrashing.

I had to get out of here!  The nurse let go of me with one of her hands to reach for something.  That is all I needed in my panicked state to force myself into a sitting position.  The bedding fell from my chest as I struggled and that is when I saw them.  Breasts.  I had breasts. All that was secondary to the fact that my skin was blue, hairless and perfectly smooth without a single blemish. I felt my? breasts heaving up and down with every breath as I struggled for air. I reached up with my right hand and grabbed one of them.   I felt that.

“Ahhhh!” I screamed.  “What happened!?  Is my?!”  I ripped the covers off from around my hips and legs and instead of my manhood, I found more blue hairless skin leading to a flat and smooth roundness with a small clear plastic hose coming out from between two blue, pleasantly rounded and hairless girl legs.  That is when I felt a small pinch on my upper arm.

I forgot about the nurse.  I turned and looked for what just pinched me. I spotted her calmly extracting a syringe from my arm.  

“What did you?”  I asked her as my chest heaved as I struggled to find enough air and then, it heaved a little extra on top of that.

“It’s nothing to worry about dear.  Just something to help calm you down.”

It must have been some pretty fast acting stuff, because I could feel my breathing start to slow in spite of my desire to freak out.  

“What happened to me? Why am I a girl?”  I asked as I started to feel a lassitude take control of my muscles.  I felt my eye lids begin to droop and I struggled to keep them open.   

The nurse gently guided me back down. “Shhhhh. It’s okay honey.  You just relax now.  Everything is going to be okay.”  

“Wha?” Was all I could manage to mumble before blackness once again over took me.

I stop and take another sip of my wine.

Jenny gasps with excitement. “Holy crap!  That sounds pretty scary.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.” I say, taking another sip from my wine glass.  I’m starting to feel pretty good now.  The wine is definitely helping me relax.  I briefly close my eyes and shudder as I recall how I felt that first time.

“Are you okay?  We can take a break if you want.”  Jenny says as she leans over and touches my leg reassuringly.

I open my eyes and manage to crack a small smile.  “No. I’m fine.  I can continue. The second time was a little better, but I think it was only because I was tied down.”

The second time I woke up, the light was still shining brightly through my closed eye lids and once again, my mouth felt like a desert.  I didn’t feel sore this time, but I still felt the wrongness of my body.  I tried to move my arms, but this time I was restrained.  I gently tugged on my restraints a few times, just to make sure I really was tied down.  My hands did not move more than a few millimeters.

That made me open my eyes and again, I had to blink and squint for almost a minute before I could really open my eyes and look around.  I was able to partially lift my head and neck up, but with my arms restrained, I was unable to really get enough leverage to really lift my head and see anything useful. My long hair still got in the way as I turned my head.  I still had blue skin and an IV in my left arm.  I did spot a small glass of water sitting on a table next to my bed.  That reminded me that my mouth was dry and I was thirsty.  I redoubled my efforts to escape from my restraints so that I could grab the water glass.  After about half a minute of tugging, pulling, twisting and not getting any closer to freedom, I decided to try using the call button that was conveniently placed next to hand.

After a bit of wiggling, I was able to stretch my fingers, grab it and press the button.  The same nurse entered the room a few seconds later.  This time, she looked a little more cautious as she approached me.  

“How are you feeling today dear?” She asked with a concerned expression.  

I didn’t try to answer her this time.  I just turned my head and looked at the glass of water.

She got the hint. “Oh?  You’re thirsty.  Of course. Let me help you with that.”  She grabbed the glass and helped me lift my head up so that I could drink from the glass.  I slowly swallowed the water and watched her face.  She looked so patient and concerned about me.  Once I drained the glass, she helped me gently lower my head back to the pillow again.

“Thanks.”  I said, softly.  I thought that if I whispered I might not sound like a girl.  That didn’t work. I just sounded like a girl whispering.

“Oh, your welcome dear.  Would you like me to get you some more?”

I tugged on the restraints once and looked down.  “Can you untie my hands, please?”  I said that as politely as I could and once again, my girl voice sounded so alien to my ears.

She looked at me with a sad expression. “I’m sorry sweetie, but doctor’s orders until she’s sure that you won’t try to hurt yourself again.”

I started to feel tears build up in my eyes and drip down the side of my face. I felt the wrongness of my body.  I slid my tongue across my teeth.  My teeth felt so perfect and strange. I wasn’t used to having perfectly straight and smooth teeth. My canines felt sharper too. It was the countless little things that all added up to make me feel like a stranger in my own body.  I moved my legs a little to help make myself comfortable and that felt strange. My legs slid so smoothly across the bedding and I could feel a tube or something running under my left leg.  The big ones were the empty feeling between my legs and the extra weights on my chest.  “Why am I a girl?”

She gently placed her hand on my right arm and looked into my eyes. Her eyes were so full of concern for me.  “Oh sweetie.  I don’t really know.  All I know is that when you were admitted into the emergency room covered in electrical burns; the doctors expected the worst.  It’s a miracle that you’re alive at all right now.”   

Maybe that explains why I’m blue.  They must have had to use some skin treatment thing on me to prevent infection.  A blue iodine or something.  I hoped that it would wash off. That didn’t really answer my question though. She said that she ‘didn’t really know’, which kind of meant that she had a good idea.

“You’re not allowed to tell me why I’m a girl?”

She grinned at me.  “You’re pretty smart for someone who should still be in the burn or cardiac unit right now.”  She certainly knew how to make me feel like I should just be glad to be alive. “No, I can’t tell you because I really don’t know.  I have some ideas, but Doctor Karow and Doctor Morgan want to wait until we get some more tests back from the STAR labs before they are willing to confirm their suspicions.”

“When will they get the tests back?”

“Well, they expected them back yesterday, but it sounds like the labs and the DMA wanted to double check the results.”

Ah ha!  She let something slip.  The DMA. “Does the Department of Metahuman Affairs mean that I’m one of those ‘meta-human’ freaks?” I said with a touch of panic in my voice. I was a little scared.  I had heard about Jade, Terra and who hasn’t heard about American Dream?  Seriously, they were hot! I remembered reading that Terra used to be dude.  Was there something about being a meta-human that would make me a girl.  I never wanted to be a girl and I most certainly did not want to be a girl now. Was there some secret gay part inside of me that I didn’t know about?

Her reaction surprised me. She leaned over, grabbed both of my shoulders and looked at me with a little bit of anger in her eyes.   “You are not a freak!  Don’t you ever think that!  Do you hear me?  No ever!”  

“What?  Lady, I don’t know if you noticed, but I have fucking blue skin and who knows what else!  How am I not a freak?  Get me out of these fucking things!”  I said with a growl as I angrily jerked my arms against the restraints as I tried to push her away from me.  Compared to my old self, I felt so damn weak.  I thought that if I was only still a guy, I could have easily broke free.  

I think that I started to cry as I futilely struggled against the restraints.  I tugged and pulled, but my arms wouldn’t budge.  All this time, the nurse stayed quietly at my side until I tired myself out and I broke down. I felt worse than when my girlfriend left me.  I felt like the world had just ended and I was the only survivor.  No reason for me to keep fighting.  Elvis had left the building.  

I felt her hugging me.  It felt good and reassuring somehow, but I didn’t know that nurses could hug their patients.  I slowly stopped crying and she pulled away with a sad smile on her face.

She reached for a tissue from a nearby box and carefully dabbed around my eyes.  I watched her every move.  I was too afraid to say anything and too exhausted from my struggles.  I wanted to know why she was so sad.  I started to feel like a jerk for being such a bad patient. I didn’t even know her damn name.  How rude was that of me?

“What is your name?”  I asked, softly.

“Kim.” She said with the beginnings of a smile.

I mulled her name over in my head a few times. I remembered a Kim that I liked from High School. “Kim?  I like that name.” I said, truthfully.  The sound of her name felt good to me.

She smiled. “Thanks. So do I.”  She casually checked a clipboard hanging beside my bed. “Now, I know that your name is really John, but all the nurses in this section have been calling you Jane.”  

I’m not sure how to take that revelation.  It actually makes me feel a little uncomfortable.  I don’t feel like a Jane.

She glances at me like something is matching up. “Would you like some more water, John?”

She stressed my name. It sounded good to hear her say it.  One little fragment of normality amongst a sea of wrongness. I didn’t trust myself to speak, so I just nodded my head yes.  

“Good. I’ll go get you some of the good water from the break room.  Be right back!” Kim said as she grabbed the glass and left the room.

I used that time to take a quick non-touch inventory of my body.  I touched my tongue to my teeth and lips.  My lips felt a little poofier, but my teeth felt perfect and smooth.  Well, except for the little sharp canine teeth I seem to have developed.  My ears felt different too.  Maybe they were longer, but I couldn’t tell without seeing or touching them.  Based on my blue skin, silver hair and ears, I thought that I might be a dark elf, but I didn’t think that dark elves had vampire teeth. I glanced down and I definitely had boobs.  I could feel the extra weight and loose feeling on my chest as they minutely shifted with every move I made.  I tried to move my hips to see if I could feel my penis wiggle against my legs, but it just wasn’t there. I even tried flexing my penile muscles, but instead of feeling an internal to external response; I felt a completely internal response instead.  Was I really a girl now and did I somehow turn into V?

My thoughts were interrupted by Kim returning with the glass of water.  She smiled and helped lift my head up enough so I could sip from the glass.  “Sorry John, I would just raise the bed up, but the restraints get in the way.”

I just nodded as I drank greedily from the glass. I didn’t care about the bed because the ice cold water tasted so good. The first glass of tepid water that I drank earlier tasted pretty damn good, but the ice cold water she gave me tasted like heaven. After I drank it down, I laid back with a pleased sigh.

“Thanks Kim.” I said, smiling for the first time. “That tasted like heaven.  It’s amazing how a simple glass of water can taste so good, but I’d kill for a beer right about now!”

She giggled at me. “John, Oh my.  I’m glad I was able to make you smile. You are so...”  She stopped herself from saying whatever it was that she was going to say. “Umm, let’s just say that I think that you might have a problem getting a beer right now.”

“What?  Why? Is there something else wrong with me?”  I asked, looking desperately at her eyes to see if there was something horrifying about my appearance.  I started to get worried again.  Was there something more wrong with me besides me being a dark elf chick?

She nervously glances around the room for a few seconds. She doesn’t answer me. Instead, she puts her fingers to her lips as she turns to leave the room.

“What? Kim. What’s wrong with me?” I asked, with a hint of additional panic in my voice.

She stops at the door and turns back. “Don’t worry. I’ll be right back. I just need to get something from my purse.”  She said with a whisper.

I stopped my story as I giggled at myself.

“What?!  What’s so funny?” Jenny asks, looking at me like there is something wrong with me.

“Oh, nothing.  I just remembered what I was most worried about when Kim left the room.”

“And that is funny, why?”

I can’t help myself. I giggle some more.  “Well, I wasn’t worried about all the things I should’ve been worried about.”

“Umm, what things?”

“Well, I wasn’t worried about being a dark elf or even being a girl.”  I stop and look at her as she hangs on my every word.

“What!? Damn it! What was it?” She asks, frustrated by my teasing.

“Well, let me tell you what happened and maybe you will figure it out.”

“Arrrghh!  Fine!  Get on with it then!”

I felt worried about Kim’s reaction.  I rolled my eyes each way to try and look at my face, but all I could really see was a slightly smaller blue nose on my face and my silver hair when I turned my head.  My ears definitely felt different too.  They felt longer on top, but if I was a dark elf, than having pointy ears would make them longer.

She quietly returned to the room less than a minute later hiding something flat in her hand.  Once she closed the door, she held the object up for me to see.  It was a small mirror.

“Now.  Based on your reaction yesterday, the doctors and the shrinks wanted to wait until they were around to show you this and I could get into trouble for showing you now.” She had my undivided attention.  I really wanted to see what was so freakishly wrong with me. “So, you have to promise me that you won’t freak out and panic like you did yesterday. Okay?”  She asked, looking very nervous and expectant.

“Am I that bad looking?” I asked.

She nervously laughed. “Oh no sweetie.”  There she was calling me ‘sweetie’ again.  “Not at all.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, feeling dubious.

“I promise.  Now, do you promise not to freak out?”  She asked waving the mirror back and forth, like it was a secret grand prize or something equally valuable.

“Ummm, I’m not sure if I can promise that.  I’m really feeling worried now, but I can promise to try.”

“Hmm, okay.  Here.”  She held the mirror down so I could look at myself.  The mirror was pretty small, but from about a foot away, I could just see my entire face.

I was stunned.  I saw my eyes flare open with shock and what stunned me the most was that, even with the blue skin, I looked totally hot.  Since my eyes were the first things I noticed, I studied them.  The looked slightly larger than normal, but my eyes were a dark red that I found captivating. Especially when they were offset by my silver eyebrows.  My lips matched and complemented the red color of my eyes.  They were the most perfect cupid bow shaped lips I could remember seeing. I licked my lips with my tongue just to check to see if I was wearing lip color or something.  I wasn’t, but they looked so red.  It was like I was wearing a blood red shade of lip color.  My nose was perfect for my face and when I scrunched up my lips to play with expressions, my nose made the cutest little crinkles around the edges.  Just seeing that made me laugh as I turned to look at Kim in wonder at what I was seeing.  She smiled encouragingly at me.

With my head turned to the side, I could see that my ears were pointed on the top. I was definitely my DBO character.  I would recognize that face anywhere, but I think that I finally saw why Kim thought that I might have trouble getting served a beer. I looked like I might be sixteen or maybe eighteen in bad lighting. Certainly not old enough to drink.  Hell, I might not even pass as a driver.

“Holy shit.” I said with an incredulous whisper as I recognized myself.

“What?”

“I’m Vylencia.”

“You’re what?”

“I look like my Dragon’s Blood character, Vylencia.” I said, absently as I continued to study my appearance in her mirror.  I grinned to expose my teeth and I found that I did have fangs.  Not horror movie scary vampire fangs, but cute little dainty fangs instead.   My hair was straight and it looked completely silver.  Not bleached blond and not grey, silver as in metallic silver and it looked like it might come to about the middle of my back if I was able to sit up and let it fall naturally.

“Well, Vi-lencia would make a nice name for you.  Better than John anyway.”  She stumbled a bit over the pronunciation.   “Do you want me to still call you John or is Vi-lencia okay?”

That thought scared me a little. “Ummm,  I don’t know.  I like my name, but I can see how I don’t really look like a ‘John’ anymore.”  

She just nods her head in agreement.

I know that I shouldn’t have to ask her, but I do anyway. “Am I really a girl now?” I asked, plaintively with a glance down towards my chest and lifted my head to look lower.

She just nodded at me as she pulled the mirror away and hid it a pocket.

Unable to really see anything with the covers on, I plopped my head back into my pillow with a sigh.  “Well, I guess it could be worse.  I could be dead.”  

I thought that I handled the official news pretty well, but I guess I didn’t because I felt surprised when Kim started dabbing my eyes with a tissue again. I looked up at her caring face and that just made the tears worse as I started to softly sob. I felt like a total wuss. “It’s okay sweetie. Go ahead and cry. I’m right here.”

I open my eyes and my vision is a little blurry from all the tears. “Why me?  What did I do to deserve this?”

“You didn’t do anything.”

“Then why am I being punished?”

“John, what makes you think you are being punished?  Do you believe in God?”

“Ummm, sorta, yeah. Why?”

“Well, I’m no preacher or anything, but God has a plan for you and it’s not about being punished.  That’s not how it works, but it’s up to you to make the most of what has been given to you.”

“What do you mean?  I’ve only had stuff taken. What’s been given to me?”

“Well, for one, you’re young again.”

“Okay, but I don’t want to be young again. What if they make me go back to high school?”

“I doubt that they will make you do that, but what if they did?  Haven’t you ever wondered what it would be like if you could go back to high school knowing what you know now?”

“Well, yeah, but not as a girl and even worse, I’m a dark elf!  I can’t be normal.  I am a freak.”

“Stop that right now!  You are not a freak and I don’t want to ever hear you say that again!  Do you understand me?”

“Yeah, but...”

“No buts!  You’re a dark elf. So what.  What’s so bad about being a dark elf if you played one in that game of yours?”

“Umm, well, they are supposed to be evil.”

“Are you evil?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then what’s the big deal and don’t elves live a long time?  Didn’t they say something about that in that Lord of the Rings movie?”

“Well, yeah.  They are supposed to live almost forever in Tolkien’s books.”

“See!  There ya go then.  You’ve been given a gift.”

“Okay, but I’m a girl.”

She looks down at herself. “And that is bad, why?”

The first three things that instantly popped into my head were peeing sitting down, periods and pregnancy.  I must have looked a little funny just laying there with a slightly stunned looked on my face as I tried to come up with a winning argument for each item.  There had to be more that just those three that were bad about being a girl, right?  If Kim was a guy, those three right there would be the end of the debate. I would win, but I knew that there was little hope of me winning if I tried to use those bad things.

“Ummm, because up until I woke up, I was a twenty seven year old mostly happy single dude?  I don’t know how to be a girl. I never wanted to be a girl and I have no desire to learn. I just want to be myself again!”  

I couldn’t help it. I started to cry. I felt so damn frustrated, lost and helpless.

“I just want to go home, wake up and find out that this is all just a bad dream.”  I said, tears now flowing freely down the sides of my face.

Kim held my hand while she dabbed the tears from my eyes. “Oh sweetie. I’m so sorry.”

“I just wanna go home.” I said, again.  I wasn’t very rational, but I am so glad that she was there with me. Just seeing her face and the genuine concern in her eyes made me feel better.

Kim surprised me when she leaned over and gave me another hug.  With her help, I managed to bring my tears under control.  “Thanks.” I said, sniffling.  

“Oh, after all those tears, you must need to blow your nose.”  She reached over, grabbed some more tissues and held them over my nose. “Here, blow.”  She said, like it was the most natural thing in the world for her to do.

“Really?” I asked, sounding all nasally with the tissues over my face.  Seriously, I can’t remember the last time someone had to help me blow my nose.  Now I really felt helpless, but what else could I do with my hands tied down.  She nodded, affirmatively and after a second of hesitation, I blew.

It felt so good to be able to breath freely through my nose again.  

Kim smiled at me. “There, is that better?”

“Yeah, thanks, but ummm, when are the doctors going to be around so I can get out of these things?”  I tugged my restraints with frustration.  I could have taken care of my own nose, if it wasn’t for the damn restraints.

She just smiled at me.  “I’ll go check to see if they are available.  You think about what we just talked about.  You hear?”

“Yes mom!”  I said with obvious false gratitude as I smiled sweetly at her.

She just laughed and shook her finger at me sternly before she turned and headed for the door.  She glanced over her shoulder.  “I’ll be right back sweetie.” She said with saccharine sweetness.

I laughed. “Okay, I won’t go anywhere.”  I said as I shook my restraints.

That earned me another smile as she gently closed the door behind her.

There really wasn’t much left to think about.  We pretty much covered all the big items already.  I sighed with frustration and felt my chest move, but I only noticed it because I took such a large breath.  I only noticed my chest moving while I was breathing if I concentrated on it.  Since I really couldn’t see my new plumbing, there wasn’t a lot I could do about that right now either.  Was being a girl really that bad?  Millions and millions of girls somehow manage to get through the day and be happy about it, right?  I’m just not sure if I am ready to jump on that bandwagon just yet.

I was just kind of zoning and almost sleeping when the door opened thirty minutes later.  It was Kim and she was accompanied by two men and one woman wearing doctor coats over their street clothes.  I guessed that these were the doctors who could get me out of the damn restraints.

The woman doctor hung back a little as the two male doctors smiled as they approached my bed.  The oldest looking guy plastered on a fake smile as he looked me over. “Hi.  I’m Doctor Karow and this is Doctor Morgan.” He introduced the guy standing beside him. “And behind us is Doctor Weisse. So, how is our patient feeling today?”  

I hesitated to answer him because I really don’t think that the dude cares how I am feeling today. His obviously fake platitudes are annoying. I glanced over at Kim for a second and caught her ‘go on’ expression.  I returned my focus to the fake smile dude. “Umm, your patient is feeling a little tied up at the moment.”  I said as I shook the restraints again.

He managed to look a little chagrined by my response.  “Well, yes. They are there for your safety, but maybe we can see what we can do about that.” He glanced behind him to look at the female doctor standing next to Kim.  “Doctor Weisse?  What do you think?  Is it safe for the patient if we remove her restraints?”  

He called me the patient again.  I had a name.  It might not have fit my appearance, but anything is better than being just ‘a patient’.  I really wanted to yell at him for his crappy bedside manner, but I could see Kim was starting to look a little worried about me. She was giving me the ‘dude! chill’ look with just her eyes.  

Doctor Weisse approached the side of my bed and looked down at me. She silently studied me for what felt like minutes, but it was really only ten seconds or so.  I started to get nervous and I looked back to Kim for reassurance. It looked like Kim wanted to say something, but all of the doctors in the room made her hold herself back.

Dr Weisse turned to Kim. “So, Nurse Elletson.  You’ve spent some time with our patient here.  What do you think?”

Kim looked surprised to be asked for her opinion. “Umm, I’m not sure if I’m qualified to make that kind of judgement ma’am.”

Dr Weisse just smiled at her. “Come now.  I saw how John looked at you.  She obviously trusts you.  Do you think that she would be a danger to herself or the staff if we released her?”

I started to get a little worried about that myself. I couldn’t help noticing all the she’s and her’s in that last sentence. Maybe my being called ‘the patient’ isn’t all that bad.

Kim looked back to me while I tried not to look desperate for her to agree that I would be good, umm, girl and not try to freak out again.  She sighed.  “No Doctor. I think that John is scared and worried about what happened to him, but I don’t think that she would try to hurt herself now.”

Now I was really feeling gender pronoun confused.  I was most definitely a girl now. I only had to look in the mirror to confirm what the rest of my body was telling me.

Dr Weisse looked back to me. “So, John. What do you think?”

I glanced back to Kim for a second before returning my gaze to Dr. Weisse. “Umm, well. I am a little, no, a lot confused right now. I really don’t know what to think, but I would like to think that I’m done freaking out over waking up a girl.”  Dr. Weisse smiles a little at me and that encourages me. I grin. “Now, the blue skin, that’s a different story. Please tell me that it will wash off.”

She laughs and turns to the other doctors. “I think that it would be safe to remove her restraints.”  She said as she walked around to the other side of the bed and started to release my left hand.  I pulled it back and smiled my thanks to her as she reached across and released my right hand too.  

“Thanks.” I smiled at her as I rubbed my wrists before glanced back to Doctor Fake and Doctor Silent Bob to see what they wanted.  

Kim took that moment to insert herself at the side of my bed, closer to my head. “Sorry Doctor Karow.  Would you like me elevate John’s bed now so you can examine her easier?”

He looked a little flustered by her question.  “Oh, certainly.”

I felt my bed begin to fold forward as it lifted my upper body into more of an upright seated position.  I leaned forward a little and my hair fell back behind my head and back.  I shook my head and brushed an errant strand back with my hand as I wiggled to try and find a comfortable position with the strange feeling of having long hair pinned behind my back.  It tugged and pulled on me every time I moved my head. I managed to do all that while still remembering to not let my bedding fall from covering the new growths on my chest.

Doctor Karow took out his stethoscope. “Okay, umm, John.  I just need to check your lung function and heart.  If you could lean forward?”

I leaned forward while he had me breath in and out a few times as he listened to my lungs through different spots on my back.  

“Sounds good. Now lean back and if you could allow me to lower your bedding so that I can listen to your chest.”

I suddenly felt a little nervous about that.  It was strange for me.  From my perspective, I have only had boobs for less than an hour now and I was already worried about exposing myself in front of strangers?  I glanced to Kim again and she nodded to reassure me.  I lifted up my arms and let the bedding fall to my hips while I felt my cheeks turning red from embarrassment.  Maybe they were turning purple instead?   I don’t know, but as Doctor Karow began listening to my chest I turned and looked at Kim.  I felt a little better just seeing her smile encouragingly at me.  

“There.  All done.  You’re heart and lungs sound perfect.  You’re one lucky girl.  You’d never know that less than a week ago you were admitted to this hospital covered with second and third degree burns over the upper half of your body.”  I heard Doctor Fake Smile tell me as I turned to look at him with surprise.  Yeah, his bedside manner really really sucked and he must be more delusional than me if he thought that lucky and girl belonged together in the same sentence.  I so wanted to scream at him, but Kim’s hand on my shoulder reminded me to play nice with the crummy doctor.  Plus, I didn’t want Doctor Weisse to tell them that I needed to be tied down again.

“Umm, thanks Doctor.”  I respectfully addressed him instead saying what I wanted to say. “Can you tell me why I turned into a girl?”

Doctor Fake Smile looks over to Doctor Silent Bob.  “John,” Silent Bob begins and scores some points for using my name, “the early lab results told us that you possessed the metahuman gene, but the test results also returned some anomalies.  We didn’t want to officially comment until we were able to consult with STAR labs.”

“Ookaay...what was so anomalous about the metagene test?”

“I’m not sure that I know how to really explain it, but from what the STAR labs folks reported; it appears that your sections of your RNA are in a state of quantum entanglement.”

“What does that mean?”

“We aren’t sure, but the DMA and STAR labs would like to run some more tests on you at their facility in San Fransisco.”

“The DMA too?”

“Yes.  Agent Forsythe from the LA branch along with Agent Helligar from the SF branch are planning on stopping by later this afternoon to escort you to STAR labs for further evaluation.”

“Oh, so I’m healthy enough to leave the hospital?”

Doctor Silent Bob looks at Doctor Fake and Doctor Weisse before he turns back to me. “Yes John, considering the condition in which you arrived at this hospital, you are perfectly and disturbing healthy.  I’ll get started on your discharge paper work and have it all ready for when the Agents get here.  Nurse Elletson?  Would you be kind enough to remove John’s IV and catheter?”  

“Yes Doctor Morgan.”

The two of them turned and left my room. Surprisingly, Doctor Weisse stayed as Kim walked over to the left side of my bed.  Doctor Weisse just calmly stood off to the side and watched Kim work.  I kind of forgot she was there as felt Kim pull off the tape holding the IV to my arm.

“Now, this might hurt a little, but it shouldn’t be more that a pinch as I remove it.”  Kim said, smiling at me encouragingly.

I cringed a little as Kim removed my IV, but it didn’t hurt as much as I expected it too.  She was a pro and I couldn’t help smiling at her.  Next up was the catheter.  Kim reclined my bed again and I started to get a little scared.  I didn’t know what to expect and this would be the first time I actually felt something down there.  I closed my eyes until I felt her slide the covers off my hips and legs.  If I still had my penis, I’d be more worried about sporting an embarrassing erection.  The feeling of being so exposed and vulnerable took me by surprise.

Kim took one look at me face and stopped what she was doing.  She grabbed my hand and leaned in close to my face.  She looked so concerned and I felt so small. “Oh, it will be okay sweetie.  It’s just a little tube. It will be over before you know it.”

“Okay.” I stammered.

She released my hand and returned to the catheter.  “Now, just relax dear.”  

I tried too, but I still wasn’t used to the different muscles down there.  I felt a slight tug followed by something coming out of me from a place that shouldn’t have existed on me.  I think a whimper escaped my lips, but I’m not completely sure.  I felt the bedding cover my legs again and then, she pulled me up and gave me a big hug.

“Is it out?” I asked, peering over her shoulder to look at the sheets covering my legs.  I no longer felt the tube under my leg, so I guess it was out.  I pulled my legs up. It felt strange to feel my skin slide smoothly against the sheets, but it also felt good to bend them for the first time.   

“Yes dear, it’s out.  You can now enjoy the torture of long bathroom lines and cold toilet sets.”  She said with a mischievous smirk as I jumped back with shock.

I laughed. “You big meanie!  Your lucky that I respect my elders. If you weren’t old enough to be my mom, I’d seriously consider giving you a piece of my mind.”

She just laughed at me as let me go and walked over to the medical closet.  She pulled out a hospital gown and helped me get into the flimsy thing.

It didn’t really cover much. “Umm, I don’t think that I have any clothes.  What will I do this afternoon?”

I jumped a little when Doctor Weisse spoke. I kind of forgot that she was still here. “If Kim can help me get some measurements for you, I think that the two of us can head down to the mall and find you a set of clothes during lunch.  You wouldn’t mind that, would you Kim?”

Kim looked at Doctor Weisse. “Umm, no Doctor Weisse.  I will just need to check with my shift supervisor to make sure it’s okay.”

“Excellent.  No need to be so formal with me Kim.  You can just call me Cathy.  Doctor Weisse this and Doctor Weisse that is so cumbersome.”  She laughed.  She had a nice and friendly laugh.  “I will speak your supervisor and see what we can work out.  In the mean time, do you think that you might be able to find us a tape measure or something we can use to get some measurements on John here?”

“Sure. I think we have one somewhere at the nursing station.”  Kim said as she headed for the door after a worried glance at me.  

I smiled and I saw her shoulders relax just that tiny bit before she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Doctor Weisse cleared her throat to attract my attention. “Well,  I see that you two are getting along well.”  She said as I turned to face her.  

I pulled my legs up and sat cross legged with the covers wrapped around my hips.  That position felt so comfortable and natural to me.  I remembered trying to sit like that as a guy and it felt like I was trying to force my legs to bend more than they should.  

“Yeah, I like her. I feel, umm, I don’t know.  It’s like I’ve known her for a really long time.”

“I have to admit John, I am concerned about you and Kim right now.”

“What does that have to do with Kim?”

“I watched you two interact in here and I watched Kim on the way here.  She was exhibiting strong signs of attachment for you. Far more than is normal for a typical caregiver and patient relationship.”

“Is that bad?”

She frowned while thinking up her reply. “Metahumans are kind of new ground as far as human psychology is concerned.  The exact numbers are hard to get, but with a majority of the emergence's changing sex in the process; I am concerned that the trauma is being brushed aside.”

“Well, from personal experience, I have to agree with you about it being traumatic, but what can anyone do to help me?  It’s not like there is a support group for umm, Sudden Gender Reversals.  Is there?”

“There is a Trans-Gender community that could be tapped into and there are some parallels to what you are currently going through, but they don’t usually have super powers that can complicate things if they have a hard time adapting to their new gender.”

“Yeah, I guess I can see that.”  I admit.  “but what does that have to do about Kim?”  I’m a little worried about Kim. What if someone tried to hurt her?  What if I accidentally hurt her?

“I’m sorry if I am making you anxious, but I have only seen the type of interactions that is occurring between yourself and Miss Elletson on one setting.”

“What are you seeing?”

“I don’t want to jump the gun with my hypothesis just yet, but I would like to help you as much as I can.  Is that okay with you?”

“Umm, I guess so, but will you tell me what your hypothesis is?”

She smiles. “I think I can do that.  It might be nothing.”

Kim times her entrance perfectly.  “Here we go!  I found a tape measure for you Valer...ummm.” She stammers to an embarrassed stop as she realizes what she started to call me.  “Oh my god, John!  I am so sorry.”  She rushes over to my side.  I dart a glance over to Doctor Weisse and she is casually observing us.

“It’s okay Kim.”  I tried to reassure her, but honestly, it did kind of freak me out a little bit. “Not that big of a deal, but what were you going to call me?”

“Umm,” She nervously laughs. “Well, I was kind of thinking about your name and how Vi-lencia sounded and I just thought that it sounded close to Valerie, so...I’m so sorry!”  She did look so worried about it.

“Valerie huh?”  I said, mulling the name over.  It sounded okay.  I wasn’t sure if I was a Valerie, but I don’t think that I am really a John anymore either.  “Well,  I guess we can try it out.  It’s not like we can’t pick something else later if we don’t like it, right?”

She surprised me by giving me an enthusiastic hug. “Oh my god!  Really?  You don’t mind?”

“Well, it is a bit sudden, but umm, I guess I need to get used to having a girls name sooner or later, right?”

“Great Valerie!” She said, happily.  “Let’s get you measured!”  She motioned for me to get out of the bed.

The name didn’t sound that bad to my ears and it made her happy.  I moved to get out of the bed and I paused as I exposed my legs over the side of the bed.  They really looked nice to me.  Very smooth, shapely and blue.  I felt the gown ride up and my backside felt very exposed as I jumped down to the stand on the floor. I stumbled and thankfully, Kim as there to catch me.

“Thanks.  My balance is a little, umm, different.”  I said as Kim helped steady me on my feet.

“Oh, I wish I had my camera! This is like your first baby steps!”  She laughed.

“Ha ha ha...not.  Okay, what next?  This gown sucks.”

“Lets get you into the bathroom here and have you undress so we can get you measured.”  She said, motioning me toward the room’s bathroom.

Doctor Weisse lent us a hand with that and I was both pleased and horrified when I discovered that I was five foot eight inches tall with 34C upstairs, a 26 inch waist and 36 inch hips with a 32 inch inseam.  Holy centerfold measurements batman!

Once we had everything written down and I was back into the stupid gown, Kim looked at me.  “Is something wrong Valerie?”

She startled me with her question, because I think something was wrong.  I felt an unfamiliar pressure in my groin.  “Umm, I’m not sure.” I said with a confused expression. “I think that I might have to go pee.”

She stepped back with surprise for a second. “Oh?  Well, lets get you to the toilet then.”  She helped me sit down on the seat.  I didn’t really need her help with the sitting part, but it was still nice of her.  

I ended up just sitting there for over a minute with both Doctor Weisse and Kim looking at me expectantly.  “Ummm, I’m not sure what to do now.  There’s nothing there.”

“Oh, just try to relax your muscles and let it go.”  Kim said.

Doctor Weisse decided to step in and help. She tapped Kim on her shoulder. “Maybe we should leave Valerie alone so she can relax. You and I can think about some clothing ideas while we wait for Valerie to get done.”  She looks at me. “How does that sound to you?”

“Umm, great Doctor Weisse?  I have to umm, wipe when I pee, right?”

Both of them look at each other for a second with a surprised grin before Doctor Weisse turns back to me. “Sorry,  The question just took me by surprise for some reason. I know it shouldn’t, but it just seems so basic.”  She smiles apologetically at me.  “Anyway, to your original question, yes, you do need to wipe.  Front to back, not back to front. Just start from the top and wipe down and let go.”

I feel my cheeks warming up from embarrassment. “Oh, thanks. Am I blushing?”

Both Kim and Doctor Weisse smiled at me as they studied my face.  Kim shook her head no.

“I can’t tell.  I guess that could be one advantage to your skin color.”  Doctor Weisse said as they both stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door to give me some privacy.  “Just holler if you need some help Valerie.”.

“Okay!”  I said while sitting anxiously on the toilet.  With them both gone, I lifted my gown and glanced down to look at my girl junk or would it be girl space because it just looked so empty?  “How in the hell does this work?”  I muttered.  

I let out a frustrated breath and as I exhaled, I felt my body relax a little.  A trickle began to flow and that helped me feel the muscle that I needed to relax more.  I felt the warm glow of satisfaction as my bladder rapidly drained into the toilet. It sounded more like a water fall instead of the stream I was used to and it was over much faster.  I felt a little, umm, wet down there.  Who in the hell designed this?  I gingerly wiped as instructed and I couldn’t help shudder a bit from the alien sensation.  If only  I didn’t have to wipe, I thought that I might be able to get done in the bathroom faster than before.  Was I crazy to think that in light of all the evidence to the contrary?

I stood up, flushed and walked over to the sink and mirror.

“Don’t forget to wash your hands sweetie!” I head Kim yell through the door.

“Yes mom!” I yelled back, smiling.  I studied my face in the mirror as I dutifully washed my hands.  Yep, blue skin not withstanding, I was a total babe.  I pulled my hair back. It liked to keep falling foward and get in my way.

“Umm, Kim?” I yelled through the door.

“Yes?” I heard her yell back.

“Can you bring me some scissors?”

The door opened and she looked anxiously at me. “Why?”

“My hair. It sucks. I know it looks nice, but it keeps getting in the way.”  I said with a slight whine.

Kim looked shocked by my simple request.  She looked back to Doctor Weisse and she wasn’t much help either.  She looked surprised too.

“Don’t you dare!  Your hair is gorgeous. Any woman would happily offer their first born child to have hair like yours.”

“Ha! Well that’s an easy one since I totally don’t plan on having any born.  Just cut it off please?”

“No can do Valerie. How about I show you how to put it in a pony tail instead?”

“But..”  I said, stammering.

“No buts!  I’ll be right back. I need to get my brush and a scrunchy from my purse.” She said as she left the room in a rush.

I looked at Doctor Weisse with my mouth open as I tried to form a coherant word.  It was my hair.  Why couldn’t I cut it and why did it feel like I had to listen to her?  Was that why Doctor Weisse was still here?

“What’s wrong with me Doctor Weisse?”

She studied me for a few seconds before she responded. “Have you ever heard of imprinting?”

“You mean like when a baby bird is born and the first thing they see, they think that they are their mother?” I asked.  

She nodded her head while I thought things over. I felt confused about how that might apply to me, but at the same time I could kind of see what she was getting at.  I did sort of feel sort of attached to Kim.  It was a strange feeling since intellectually, I knew that she wasn’t my mom, but at the same time I felt so much safer when she was near me.  The ‘safer’ part is what really threw me for a loop.  Not ‘attracted too’ or ‘horny about’ or ‘in love’, although, I think there was some love in my feelings too.

Doctor Weisse just studied me as I am sure that a hundred different expressions danced across my face.  I was feeling very confused about myself when Kim returned with a determined expression on her face and holding a brush and a scrunchy in her hands.  

She faltered and stopped as she noticed my expression. “Valerie? What’s wrong honey?”

I felt an overwhelming urge to hurl myself into her arms. I shuddered for a second as I forced myself to turn away her and look at Doctor Weisse instead.  “Holy crap!.  I think you’re right.” I walked numbly to my bed and started to climb into it.

“Valerie, Honey.  What’s wrong?” I heard Kim ask me with a worried tone.  I felt so drawn to her, but I knew that it was wrong. I was just a patient to her.  Maybe she really did like me, but not how I liked her.  I felt like I needed her to feel her touch. I needed her to just hug me and tell me that everything was going to be alright. Realizing that, I just wanted to curl into a tiny little ball and not have to deal with anyone.  “Go away.  I’m fine.  I just wanna be alone for awhile.”

I flinched when I felt her hand on my shoulder.  “Val? What’s wrong?”  

“Doctor Weisse?” I heard Kim ask.

“Let’s step outside and chat for a bit, shall we?”

“Is she going to be okay without us here?”  Kim asked, nervously.

“I can hear you ya know?  I’ll be fine.  I just wanna be alone for a bit.”  I sounded just like a pouting litlle teenaged girl.

“Come on Kim. She’ll be fine and it will only take a minute or two.”

“Well,”  Kim sounded very torn. “if you’re sure.  Valerie, I’ll be right back.” She said as she let herself be led out of the room by Doctor Weisse.

I pulled the covers over my body and started sobbing into my pillow.  I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t noticed it sooner.  How could I feel so attached to my nurse?  It really felt like she was my mother, but I had a mother, and a father already.  Well, maybe I still did.  I had no idea what they would react when they found out that their son is now their dark elf daughter.  What if they didn’t believe me or didn’t love me anymore?  I don’t know how long I cried for, but I also felt so tired and with the covers pulled over my head, I felt my eyes start to droop.

I heard the door open, but I felt too tired to really care.  Maybe if they thought I was asleep, they would leave me alone.  I was surprised when I felt someone climb onto my bed.

“Valerie? Please, can we talk about it?”  Kim asked, softly.

“What’s there to talk about?”  I whispered while I her proximity was starting to drive me to distraction.

“About us honey.”

I pulled the covers off my face and looked at her with a mixture of hope and confusion.  “What do you mean?  Didn’t Doctor Weisse explain this imprinting thing to you?”

“Yes, she did and I agree with her.  I didn’t notice it myself until she said it, but I feel so protective towards you.  Every time I see you, my heart just flip flops and I find myself just wanting to wrap you up in a hug, but I know that less than a week ago you were a twenty seven year old man.  It makes me so confused.”

As I listened to her, I found my eyes drawn to her face.  She looked so conflicted and her eyes were so open and honest. She looked so close to tears and like she was holding herself back from hugging me.   

“You do?”  I asked while I started to feel like shit because she looked so pained.  Now I wanted to hug her and try to make her feel better.

Now she started to cry and that broke my resolve.  I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her as tight as I could while she hugged me back.  “It’s okay Kim. Please don’t cry. I’m sorry.”

We sat like that for awhile. I’m not sure how long, but I started to feel guilty because I knew that she had other patients that she needed to see.  I reluctantly broke her hug. “Kim?  I’m sorry that I’m so high maintenance.  Won’t you get in trouble with your boss for spending so much time with me?”

She surprises me by smiling at me. “Oh, it’s okay.  Doctor Weisse and Doctor Morgan has already talked to my supervisor.  You’re my only patient right now.”

I can’t help myself, I started to smile with what I was sure a silly grin. I felt so happy to hear her tell me that.  “Oh!  That’s awesome!  Now you can cut my hair!”

Her jaw dropped with shock. “Why you little!  There is no way I’m letting you cut your hair and don’t you dare cut it on your own!  Do you hear me young lady?”

“Ha!  Got ya!”  I said as I laughed and pointed my finger at her.

“You little...” Kim laughed delightfully as she gave me a quick hug before she hopped down from my bed.  

“Now. Let me show you how to put your hair into a pony tail. It’s one of the first things all girls learn.”

“Okay.”  I meekly reply.

She started by brushing my hair back and I felt like melting from the sensation. It felt so good.  She finished by pulling it back and I tried to see what she did with the scrunchy, but she made it look so easy.  Before I knew it, my hair was pulled back into a tight pony tail and best of all, it was out of my face.

She pulled the scrunchy out and handed it and the brush to me.  “Okay, now you do it.”

It took me five tries before I was finally able to come close to duplicating her feat.  It looked so simple when she did it, but how could I hold my hair tight while wrapping it up with the scrunchy?

Once I got it, Doctor Weisse rejoined us in my room.  “Okay, I just spoke with Doctor Morgan.  The DMA agents are going to be here at two pm and we need to get you some clothes to wear before that happens.”

I glanced over at the clock and was surprised to see that it was already eleven am.  “Holy crap!  That’s only three hours away and I’ve never know a woman who could shop for clothes that fast!”  

“Valerie!  I can’t believe that you think that!” Kim said with a smirk.

“Umm, well it’s true isn’t it?” I asked, my head tilted inquisitively to the side and crossed my arms challenging her to deny it.

She laughs. “You might wanna take that back young lady. After all, I am going shopping for your clothes and I think that pink would go great with your blue skin!”

“Oh yeah.  You’re the best Kim!  Have I ever told you how much I love...you?”  I stumbled to a stop as I realized what just slipped out.

Oh crap!

Kim looked as white as a ghost and I could see tears beginning to form in her eyes.  

“I’m sorry Kim!  I didn’t mean it.  I don’t know why I said it.  It just slipped out.”  I said in a rush trying to make her feel better.  The sight of her starting to cry, started to make me cry too.  “Please don’t be mad at me!” I sobbed.

I didn’t know what to do. She hated me now. So I was pretty surprised when I felt her hug me and kiss me on my cheek.  “I love you too Valerie.” She whispered in my ear as I froze with shock.

“Huh?” I said, brilliantly.

She let me go and dabbed her eyes. “I think that I’ve cried more today than in the last month!”  She laughed. “I can’t wait until you see what Cathy and I pick out for you!”

“Cathy?”  I asked as I looked at Doctor Weisse standing silently by the door.  She smiled at me.

“Oh. I am so doomed.” I said without enthusiasm as I imagined them returning with mini-skirts and pink baby-doll t-shirts.

“Don’t worry sweetie.  I’ll be back in a jiffy.” Kim said as she gave me a quick hug before she and Doctor Weisse left the room.

I wasn’t sure what to do now.  There was no way that I was going to try walking around the halls with my butt hanging out of the flimsy hospital gown thing.

I decided to just hang out in my bed and watch some TV.  I put it on one of the twenty four hour news shows and my eyes started to want to close on me.  I snuggled into my blankets.

“Wake up sleepy head.” I heard Kim gently whisper in my ear.

“I dwon wanna...” I said as I glanced over at the wall clock and saw that it was only one pm.  I had another hour that I could sleep.  I tried to pull the covers over my head.

“Come on Valerie.  We got some clothes for you to try on.”  Kim said as she shook me awake.

“But moomm!”  I said, whining. I felt so sleepy and the bed felt so warm.

“What did you call me?” Kim asked, whispering in my ear.

“Mom? Why?” I said, still not firing on all cylinders until her question registered on me.  I bolted upright in my bed.  “Oh my god!  I’m sorry Kim. I’m a confused mess today.”

She just smiled at me. “It’s okay Valerie. I understand and while I love my boys, I always wanted a daughter.”

I felt shocked and I didn’t know why.  I saw her wedding ring, but it never really registered with me that she could be a mom too.  “You have kids?”

“Yep!  Two boys.”  She reached into her purse and pulled out the family photos. “My oldest, Nick, is twelve and the youngest, John, is ten and this is my husband, James.” She said, pointing out each one to me.

I studied each one a lot harder than I would have in the past.  I don’t know why it felt so important to me.  When women at the office foisted their family pictures off on me, I would only give them the standard polite and “Oh, they look so cute/pretty/just like you.” noises.  So, this time when I told her, “Nick has your eyes and John has your nose and they are so cute!”  I wasn’t just being polite.  It kind of freaked me out.

I looked to Doctor Weisse. “What’s wrong with me?  Why am I acting like this?  Kim’s not my mom and her family isn’t my family, so why do I feel so attached to people that I don’t even know?”

“There’s nothing wrong with you.  You went through a very traumatic experience and Kim was your primary caregiver during that time.  In a sense, you were effectively reborn and it is my hypothesis that the close proximity and the care she provided caused a delayed form of Filial Imprinting.  What I find most surprising about this is the fact that Kim feels the same way toward you, but again, that is not uncommon either.  If the imprinting was only one-sided, then I would be concerned. So, my advice for both of you is to just enjoy it.”  Doctor Weisse said.

I looked back to Kim and she looked so happy. I just gave her a hug and it felt so good.  “Okay, so what horrible girlie girl clothes did you two pick out for me?” I asked with a laugh.  I just felt so happy. It was crazy and maybe even stupid, but if it worked, then it wasn’t stupid.  The jury was still out on the crazy part.

Both Kim and Doctor Weisse laughed at me.  Kim reached down, pulled up two large bags and set them on the foot of my bed.  Before she could really get started, I jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom.  “Be right back, gotta go!”

It was much easier the second time, but I would have been happier if I could have just peed standing up and not have to deal with the cold seat and wiping thing.  I quickly washed my hands and fixed my pony tail.  It had gotten a little loose during my nap.  I felt so excited.  I really wanted to see what kind of clothes they got me.  Anything would be better than this damn ill fitting hospital gown I was wearing, even something pink.

I nearly tripped when I exited the bathroom and saw all the clothes laid out on the top of my bed. “What am I going to do with all those clothes and how did you get so many in only two hours?”  There were at least ten different shirts, four pairs of jeans, two pairs of some white khaki pants, a white with purple flower print sun-dress looking thing hanging off the side, two packs of panties, one plain white set and the other a variety color pack, three tan colored bras of different design, four pairs of shoes, three packs of socks, a small black leather purse and a small pink Hello Kitty rolling suitcase.

I completely ignored everything else. “A Hello Kitty suitcase?  Are you trying to kill me?”

“What? It’s cute and it was on clearance!” Kim proudly boasted.

“Yeah, but it’s pink!  That’s probably why it was on clearance, because no one in their right mind would want it!” I said.

Kim pouted and gave me the fakiest boo-boo eyes I have ever seen.. “What you don’t like it?”

“Well, I don’t need all these clothes and we don’t even know if they will fit me, so I might not need it.  You can take it back, right?”

“Nope. It was on clearance. All sales final.”

“Ah ha! See!  Told ya!  Even the store that sold it to you doesn’t want it!”

“Well, just give it a try.  It really was the best I could find for the price. If you don’t like it, you can always donate it to charity later.”

Now I was starting to feel guilty.  She went out of her way to get me some clothes, probably even spent all of her own money and she never asked me to help.  Not that I could right now, but once I got to my bank.  That could be difficult. I doubt that the folks at the bank would believe that I’m really John Wilson.  “I’m sorry.  Thanks, but this is way more than I was expecting!  I will pay you back as soon as I can get to an ATM.  Well, if I can find my wallet.  Do you know what happened to my wallet?”

“Sorry, but it was burned to a crisp.  We were barely able to find anything in there to use as an ID for you.” Kim said.

“Oh, damn.”

“Don’t worry about it.  You can pay me back later or not at all.  I enjoyed shopping for you.”  Kim said, smiling happily.  She reached pulled out a pair of the plain white panties and handed them too me.

I took the hint and slid them on.  They fit perfectly and the slight pressure against my girl bits served to remind me just how different my new body was.  Even the way they fit and covered my ass felt different, but it was nice to be covered back there again.

Next, she handed me a bra. I retreated into the bathroom to try and figure it out. I’ve removed plenty of my ex-girlfriend’s bras, but I could count on one hand the number of times I was asked to help put one one.  So, it was not a surprise to Kim or Doctor Weisse when I fumbled with my attempt to put it on.

Kim came to my rescue. “Here, let me help and show you how they work.”  She smiled warmly at me.

“Umm, okay.  Thanks. I’ve only taken them off before.” I said, laughing at the thought.  I think that she was happy to have someone that she could show how to put on their first bra.  We really were imprinting each other like Doctor Weisse said.

She showed me how to adjust the straps to make the bra more comfortable across my shoulders and the trick for reaching behind my back to connect the tiny hooks.  The first bra felt too tight around my chest, but my breasts felt a lot better with the support.  The second bra felt much better, while the third bra didn’t fit at all.  They were all labeled as the same size too.  

Kim put the other two bras back in the bag to return to the store.  We tried the jeans next and only two out of the four fit me comfortably.  Once again, they were all labeled as the same size. No wonder why women take so bloody long to shop.  Their clothes are all mis-labeled.  Both of the white khaki pants fit, but they were also both Capri style pants and the high-water look was not something I was used to seeing on myself.  They did look good on me though.  Kim had me try on a set of some plain black shoes with a very small half-inch heal.  She called them flats, but oh well.  They kind of pinched my toes a little, but Kim said that was how they were supposed to fit. Plus, they were cheap, so it didn’t matter because I would be replacing them with something better the first chance I could.  That is what she claimed, but I didn’t plan on wearing anything other than sensible shoes, like sneakers or boots, if I could help it.

She made me try on the sun dress too. It felt very weird to be fully dressed but still have my legs feel so open and exposed.  I tried to tell myself that it was like wearing shorts, but it wasn’t. I accidentally smiled when I saw myself in it and I knew that I was doomed to keep it when I saw the satisfied look that Kim gave me.

All the other shoes fit me too. I wasn’t fond of the boots.  They had a two inch heel and while they both thought that they looked nice on me, I hated them.  The sneakers were great, but the open toe sandal things just looked so unpractical, but at least they didn’t have a heel.

I ended up wearing the black flats with the white Capri pants and after looking over the shirts, Kim tossed me a black baby doll t-shirt that said “Keep out of direct sunlight” on the front.  I thought it was awesome and laughed at her joke.  She had to show me how to put that on with the long hair and pony tail, but once everything was on, I felt pretty good. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the pretty girl I saw in the mirror, but I liked the clothes that she was wearing a hell of a lot better than the hospital gown they replaced.

Kim packed the rest of the clothes into my suit case and handed me the small purse.  I opened it and my eyeballs nearly popped out of my head when I saw the pads and tampons in there. They weren’t the only things in there. I also saw a small girl styled wallet, a silver cell phone, a tube of lip balm and a small cosmetic’s case of some kind, but it was the tampons that drew all of my attention. “Tampons!?  The pink suit case was one thing, but this is too much Kim!”

She had to remind me of my situation though. “You’re a girl now.  You will need those, eventually.”

Not a battle I could win or something I really wanted to think about right now.  “Well, umm, okay, but what about the cell phone? You didn’t need to get me one of those.”

“You might need one.  How else can you call me if you need something?”

“Well, I uhh, I could just use my own cell phone. Well, if it didn’t burn up too.”

“Yes, but you need one now and besides, that’s just a pre-paid one anyway.”

“Oh.”

“Plus, I already programmed all of my numbers in there and Cathy, I mean Doctor Weisse programmed her number in there if you need someone to talk too.”

I took the cell phone out and looked at it.  It was just a cheapo and basic cell phone.  No keyboards or internet on it, nothing but a simple phone, but to me, it was much more. My eyes started to leak again as I thought about what she did for me and all of the stuff she bought for me.  Until today, she was effectively a perfect stranger to me and now, I couldn’t even begin to think about how much of a mess I would be right now if it wasn’t for her.  Once again, Kim wrapped me up in a hug and I decided right then and there that I didn’t care how anti-male the damn suitcase was, I was going to keep it.

Doctor Weisse choose that moment to quietly leave the room. Once I finally stopped crying, I had to run into the bathroom and umm, freshen up.  Kim helped me pack the suitcase with all my new clothes.  She also thought to include some smelly soap and expensive shampoo with conditioner from one of those expensive bath boutiques that are a standard mall fixture.  There was also a hair brush and a travel sized hair blower in there too.  The blower was pink, but I decided to let that one slide.  

Kim saw my curious look though. “Hey, it was on clearance too.  I swear, you kids have expensive tastes!  Just wait until you have to pay for everything yourself!”

I started laughing and she soon joined me.  “Don’t worry, umm, Mom, I’ll pay you back with my paper route money.”  I said once I could breath again.  That thought got be worried though.  All this stuff was a lot of money.  “Umm, Kim?  All this is really too much for me.  From shopping with my girlfriend, I know that clearance or not, all these clothes weren’t cheap.  All that I really need is what I have on.  Why don’t you just take everything else back?”

Kim just smiled at me. “Oh no you don’t!  Like I said before, I always wanted a daughter to spoil and while I know that you’re not really my daughter, I still enjoyed having the chance to spoil you.”

I had one last card to play to try and get her to see reason. I tilted my face down and shyly asked. “Umm, what will dad say?”

The expression on her face was priceless.  “Valerie Something Wilson!”  She tried for the parental three name you’re in so much trouble phrase. “Don’t you worry yourself about what...”  She got that far before she lost it and started laughing.  That made me laugh. Once that started, it wasn’t easy to stop laughing either.  As soon as one of us would stop, the other would try to stop and that caused the one who stopped first to start laughing again.

By the time we had both stopped laughing, we still had fifteen minutes before the DMA agents were due to arrive so Kim took the bull by the horns, me, and drug me into the bathroom to give me a quick class on feminine hygiene with a specific focus on the how and why I needed to know tampons and pads worked.  I really wanted to put my fingers in my ears and go “la la la la la” until she stopped talking, but I guess it was better to learn from her versus some stranger.  She also took the time to try and have the safe sex talk, but I already knew how the birds and the bees worked.  Although it was disturbing to my male mind, I actually thought that some of the female specific birth control information was good to know though.  In the end, I really wished I was still a guy.  There was just too much to worry about as a girl.

At that point, I realized that I hadn’t bothered to look out the window.  It made me wonder if Kim knew something that I didn’t when she got me the “Keep out of direct sunlight” shirt.  “Umm, Kim?”

“Ya?”

“Is there a reason that you got me this shirt?  Like, did you all keep the curtains closed because the light hurt me or something?”

“Umm, no.  We had them open for awhile, but the doctors thought that with your red eyes; you might be an albino and the light might hurt your eyes.  Why?”

“I was just wondering.  I mean, I do have fangs. It would really suck to walk outside and burst into flame or something.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that, but if you want to make sure, why don’t you open the curtains?”

I actually felt a little nervous about that idea.  I didn’t think I was a vampire, but I knew that my eyes were more sensitive to the light.  I walked over and peeked out side for the first time.  The sunlight felt good on my face, but it killed my eyes.

“Well?” Kim asked, anxiously.

“The sunlight feels good on my face, but it’s killing my eyes.  I think I need some sunglasses.”

“Do you wanna run down to the gift shop?  They have some cheap shades there that you could buy.”

It sounded like a good idea and I thought that it would be good to get out of the room that I’ve spent one hundred percent of my time in for the last three days.  The only thing I worried about was spending even more of Kim’s money and if we had time to do that before the agents arrived.

“Do we have time?”

“We should, but not if you shop like a girl.”

I just stuck my tongue out at her and headed for the door.  Kim grabbed my purse off the bed on her way out. “Don’t forget your purse.”

I stopped and looked back at her. “Do I really need to carry a purse just to go to the gift shop?”

She just looked at me like I was talking crazy.

“Fine!” I said in a huff as I grabbed it out of her hand.

I felt a little nervous stepping out of the room for the first time, but the staff never looked twice as we made our way to the elevators.  Kim stopped at the nurses station and let them know that we were heading to the gift shop to buy sunglasses and that we would be right back.

The hospital common area was a different story.  As soon as I walked out of the elevator, I could hear all the conversations stop as people turned to look at me.  I tried to step back into the elevator, but Kim stopped me. “It will be fine honey.  Don’t worry. I’m here.”

“Yeah, I know you’re here, but so are they.”  I said as I pointed to all the people who were pausing to stare at me.

Kim surprised the crap out of me. “Hey!  Haven’t you all ever seen someone with silver oxide poisoning before!?”  She yelled, looked around fiercely.

I was surprised that they bought it, but I think that the combination of her hospital scrubs and attitude made everyone get on with whatever it was that they were doing before they saw me.

“Silver oxide poisoning?” I whispered incredulously out of the side of my mouth.

“Hey, it was the only thing I could think of.” She whispered back.

“Is it real?”

“Hell if I know, but it worked!”

That made me smile and we made it the rest of the way to the gift shop with out further drama. People still stopped and stared at me, but with the scowling Nurse Kim at my side, they soon stopped.

I found three pairs that I liked, but it was the black plastic wrap-around frames with red polarized lenses that really caught my eye.  They definitely felt cheap, but they also blocked the glare and looked good on me.  Two out of three ain’t that bad. It took me longer to pay for the things than it took me to find them.  The damn person in front of me insisted on paying with a check, but it worked out because Kim grabbed me a black ball cap with the hospital logo on it.

“Here, this isn’t the most stylish, but it should help with the sun.” Kim said as she handed it to me to try on.

My pony tail made it a little hard, but it was adjustable so I didn’t want to mess up my hair trying to make it fit.  I just set it on the counter and looked at Kim expecting her to pay for it.

She just looked back at me and smiled. “What? You have money.  You pay for something for a change.”

Crap. Now I was holding up the line.  I fumbled for a few seconds opening my purse and digging out the wallet that Kim had so thoughtfully provided. I glanced inquisitively at her as I held the wallet and she nodded affirmatively at me.  I opened it and found out that I had a hundred dollars in there.

“Kim! What the hell?” I whispered to her as I took out a twenty and gave it to the cashier who was doing a poor job of hiding her curiosity about me.

“You needed it. Now stop complaining.” She whispered back.

As the cashier counted out my change, I could tell that she wanted to ask me why I was blue. “Silver oxide poisoning. I tanned too much and used too much sunscreen.” I said to her with a hushed whisper.

She nodded and smiled. “Ohh.  I was wondering. Sorry.”

“No problem.” I smiled at her and she gasped.  I thought she saw my fangs and freaked out about that, but I was wrong.

“Is no place on earth safe from the Devil’s unholy spawn?!?!”  I heard a man’s voice yell with evangelistic zeal from behind me.

I turned and saw a six foot something man with long scraggly hair and a three day beard looking at me with anger and hate in his eyes. He fit the stereotypical religious nut to a T and that scared the crap out of me. I backed up and bumped into the counter.  I was trapped.  I felt so helpless as I watched him reach into his vest for something.  I expected him to pull out a gun, but instead he pulled out and brandished a simple silver cross.

“What in the hell do you think your doing!?” Kim yelled at him as she jumped in front of me.  I expected it to end there, but it didn’t.

He casually back handed her and knocked her to the floor. “All who stand beside the Devil shall be cast down by the rightous!”

“Kim!” I forgot about my fear and rushed to her side.

She looked up at me and her eyes widened. “Valerie! Look out!”

I started to turn my head to see what I needed to look out for when the nut kicked me in the chest and knocked me away from Kim.  He kicked my boob and it fucking hurt.  I rolled over and looked up to him.  Why in the hell did he have to be so damn big?  What happened to those scrawny dudes that rode bicycles around town?

“Demon! Unhand your beguiled servant!  For I am the righteous and I will lead your enslaved servant into the light as I cast you back into the fires of hell that spawned you!”  He certainly liked monologuing.  He held his cross in his left hand like it was a shield and I would’ve laughed at him if it wasn’t for the big ass hunting knife in his right hand.

“Run!”  Kim yelled at me.

I ran, and as my feet scrambled for traction on the carpet in the gift shop, I really wished that I had worn the sneakers instead of the damn flats.  I felt the air of something passing close to me as he screamed, “Die!”

I already tried that this week. It was not on my to do list.  I didn’t know were else to go that might be safe, so I ran for the elevators.  Not the smartest plan I could have come up with, but I was scared and I had a knife welding maniac chasing me.  There were a lot of people in the hallways, but a path opened up pretty damn fast when people noticed the big nut with the knife chasing someone down the halls and screaming bible verse at the top of his lungs.

Where was a damn cop when you needed one?

I skidded to a halt next to the call button and it was then that I noticed that I was now trapped. The elevators were in a damn alcove instead of a hallway that I could just run past them and through.  Oh no, nothing that easy for the doomed star of this slasher pic.  I was trapped in a dead end.  The only way out was via an elevator or back the way I came.  I heard an evil chuckle from behind me.  I turned and watched as the nut job casually advanced on me with a satisfied grin.  I was still a virgin in this body and according to the slasher film plot rules, I should be safe.

The damn dude started to preach while he walked forward and I retreated to the far wall.  I felt so damn helpless.  Why couldn’t I actually be Vylencia?  This first level Religious Zealot would be paste for her.

I tried to reach for something, anything inside of me that would allow me to cast even the tiniest spell.  Nothing happened.  I closed my eyes as his presence loomed over me.  This was it.  Game over.

“Valerie!” Kim yelled from behind the dude.  I opened my eyes and helplessly watched as she was held back by some dude wearing a suit.  I felt a moment of happiness knowing that she was safe.  If she had tried to run past the dude to get to me, she might have been stabbed.  I looked back up at the nut job and straighted up. Damn he was big, but hell if I was going to go out as a sniveling girl.

“I cast you back to the hell that spawned you!”  He screamed just before he made the final lunge for me.