Previously

Just as Tony turned into a street that had tram tracks, his taxi went off to the centre of the road. There was a tram coming towards us – and a big truck pulled out of a side street. I heard a lot of screeching of tyres, then metal crunching. I felt like I was being pushed against the door from Tony's side of the car. Then I felt something warm running down the back of my head.-------

I was dreaming and Jean was holding my hand.

I said “Why am I in bed talking with you Jean?I don't remember going to bed.”

Jean smiled at me and then faded, and I woke up to find myself in a strange room and the bed had rails on the side like a cot so I wouldn't fall out I suppose. I thought 'shit the taxi — the noise and then the pain in the back of my head.' I touched the back of my head to see what damage there was and to make sure I didn't have a big bald patch there. I felt a funny lump with some sort cotton bits sticking out. “Stitches” I said.

I had never really seen inside a hospital room before but when I saw all the gadgets hanging off the wall, and oxygen bottles and masks hanging on the wall, the penny dropped. Then I started to panic.

“Mummy! Helen! Tony! Oh no they're all dead!” and I started to scream at the top of my voice “DOCTOR! NURSE! ANYBODY!!! Where's my Mummy?”

Someone opened the door. It was a nurse and she was out of breath.

“What is all the noise about? You will wake up all the other patients in the hospital.”

“I want to see my Mum. Oh nooooo! She's dead isn't she?” I started to sob.

The nurse said “Calm down little one, your Mum is fine. She'll be back in ten minutes. She just went to get herself a cup of strong coffee.” The nurse then put the side of the bed down and got me to sit up and have a drink of water. I had the hiccups from crying.

I said “M-m-my h-he-ad h-hurts”.

She sat on the bed beside me and hugged me and said, “Shhh now, everything will be ok. You have had a nasty bump on the back of your head, and have six stitches in the cut, and no they didn't shave your beautiful blond hair off. You were out cold when the Ambo's brought you in. Let's see, that was at two this afternoon and it's nearly midnight now so you have been in dreamland with the fairies for almost twelve hours. My name is Mary and I will be your nurse till eight in the morning, I'm going to go and get you something for your headache. No more yelling now ok?”

Just then Mummy came into the room with a cup of coffee in one hand and some sandwiches in the other. She put them down on the cabinet beside the bed and sat down beside me and put her arm around me. She had tears running down her cheeks and said, “Carla, I thought we had lost you when you didn't move in the wreck. The fire department had a new piece of equipment called the Jaws of Life. They used it to prize the door open to get you and Tony out of the front of the crushed car.”

“Mummy are you hurt? What about Tony and Helen?”

Mummy replied “Darling I'm fine. I have a bruise on my leg and Helen has a sprained wrist, but Tony is in intensive care and drugged out so I haven't been able to see him, but Isabella is with him. He has a broken leg and some internal injuries, but will recover and be ok according to the doctors here at the Mater Hospital.

“Mummy, Jean was here holding my hand before I woke up - I wish you could see her too. she looks so pretty in that gown she wears.”

“Darling, I think she has enough on her hands protecting you, don't you think?”

“Mummy what happened?”

“Well Tony had corrected the way the tyres had slipped on the wet tram tracks and the tram had stopped when that big truck just slammed straight into us.”

I said “I don't remember anything after I heard the crunching sound of metal and something warm running down the back of my head.”

“Carla, you lost quite a bit of blood by the time the paramedics got to you through the window of the car and stemmed the flow. They had to wait for the firemen to use that amazing tool to open the door to get you and Tony out and put you both on stretchers.”

“Tony was awake the whole time but the medics gave him a pain killing injection, He kept on saying “My God I’ve killed her.” because you were not moving, but the medics said you were just knocked out.”

“Mummy I'm wearing some kind of nappy, did the nurse put it on me?”

“ No sweetheart I did that. They were going to put a catheter in because they didn't know how long you would be out for, but I told them you had a serious bladder infection and didn't want to make it any worse, so I said I would look after you. The sister in charge wasn't too happy but she gave in and allowed me to stay with you.”

“Mummy, if the doctor sees I have got a willy they will call the police and arrest me!”

“Oh Carla they can't do that. Besides I got in touch with Rose and she has been in touch with the head nun who is also the administrator of the Mater.”

Just then Mary the nurse came back with my pain relief pills, “Here we are cutie pie this will stop that bad headache and let you get some sleep till morning.”

While I was taking the pills Mary looked at Mummy and said, “Could I speak to you outside for a moment Mrs White?”

Mummy replied “No nurse, you can discuss anything about my daughter in front of her. She is very intelligent and will know exactly what you want to talk to me about.”

“I'm sorry Mrs White I didn't mean - I mean I have a child a bit older than Carla and h--sh-she is the same as your daughter.”

“Look nurse Mary is it? Call me Donna. Err it looks like we have something in common doesn’t it?”

Mary said the nun in charge of this Hospital was well aware of kids with gender dysphoria and they were treating them in a special program set up by the hospital board and the Catholic Church.

She went on, “Doctor San-Lee is the doctor involved with this program, so I was not surprised when sister Bridget called me when I started my shift to look after Carla.”

Mummy smiled at me and said, “Carla you need to get some sleep now, I’m going to lay down on this stretcher they brought in for me earlier.”

I asked Mummy where Helen was and she said she was back at the hotel and will be here in the morning. She said “Get some sleep now. It's already one o'clock and I can't stay awake any longer.”

Mary came in every hour and checked my pulse and blood pressure. Jean was in my dreams as clear as a bell and we seemed to talk like it was the most normal thing to do. She told me not worry about Tony because he had a connection with Anna just like we did.

It was seven am in the morning when Mary came in and said she is about to finish her shift, but not to worry about the nurse that was on the day shift because she was a close friend and was informed about my little problem. She said she would see me at seven tonight because I would still be there one more night so they could make sure I was ok.

Mummy stayed to have a hospital breakfast with me before she went to see how Tony was getting on and go back the hotel to get cleaned up and come back with Helen.

She said, “Now don't you start to worry about anything while I'm away. I am going to ring Bill and Rita and let them know what happened.”

The day shift nurse came in to take my vital signs.

She said “G'day little one I'm Rachel and I'll be looking after you today. Let me have a look at that lump on the back of your head. It looks good, so you can get up and I'll help you in the shower”.

“Errr My Mum is coming back soon to help me with that.” I lied.

“It's alright luvy. Mary filled me in about your little plumbing problem.” she said. Because I had a concussion she had to watch that I didn't get giddy and fall over and hurt myself.

Rachel was just as nice as Mary and told me about Mary's transgendered daughter Sam and said she was going to bring her in that afternoon to meet me.

“You'll have to stay till tomorrow morning because that is a nasty bump on your head and Doctor San-Lee is coming in later to check you out before you go back to your home in the bush”

After the shower I got dressed in hospital gown and a dressing gown and was ready to go to where Tony was, Rachel didn't want to leave the ward so she got a young trainee nurse to take me in a wheel-chair down to where the ICU ward was.

The nurse said “Hello I’m Jan and I’ll take you down to see your friend.”

When we got to the ward where Tony was supposed to be he had been moved to a private room like the one I was in and it was down the corridor from the ICU unit. The door to his room was open and when Jan wheeled me in, there was Mummy, Helen and Bella talking with Tony. Jan said I could get out of the chair but to stay in the room.

Tony had his left leg in plaster up to his knee and looked like he was have trouble breathing.

He said “Come here sweetheart! and give me a careful hug. I have a bit of bruising in the chest but I 'll be ok in couple of weeks.”

I had tears running down my cheeks and gave him a gentle hug and kissed him on his cheek and dripped tears on his face. He kissed me back and said, “Oh Carla when I saw you in the cab not moving with blood all through your blond hair I thought I had killed you.” That started Mummy Helen and Bella sniffling and looking for the box of tissues that are in all the hospital rooms.

After about half an hour Jan came back to take me back to my room three levels up. I said 'bye to Tony and Bella, and asked what Mummy was going to do now. She said, “I'll come up to your room with Helen in a while, I have to make some calls and arrangements for us to get home on the weekend.” I was only back in bed for five minutes when Rose walked into the room and said, “My God child what have you been up to? You certainly know how to keep everyone on their toes don't you?”

That did it. The dam broke and I just started to sob and couldn’t stop. Rose came and held me in her arms and stroked my hair careful not to touch the stitches, “Oh sweetheart I wasn't going mad at you. I think this has all been a bit too much for you hasn't it?”

Once I was calm she said, “Carla, I have some good news for you and your Mum. My colleagues have agreed to take on your case and when we get sorted I'll be in touch.”

I said “Does that mean I can stay being a girl?”

“Well, seeing I have never seen a boy when I talk with you, - I guess that is exactly what it means, but you have to be very patient because it will take a long time to achieve the end result.”

I said, “Me and Jean can live with that.”

“You are a funny little thing aren’t you? We are going to get on fine if you keep making me laugh every time you say something.”

Just then Mummy and Helen came into the room and could see my tear stained face through my smile. Helen hadn't met Rose but said, 'isn't she a delight to be around?'

Mummy said “Rose, this is Helen a good friend of ours. She was in the car with us yesterday. That is why her wrist is in bandages.”

Rose said “I know that you want to get back home Donna, but we should keep Carla in one more night to make sure there are no after affects of her concussion. She can check out in the morning and you can get Jim Ryan to remove the stitches in a week.

Doctor Rose San-Lee said 'bye' and left. Mummy and Helen stayed and talked about things that were going on back home and I was getting bored with their conversation when someone knocked at the open door. They're supposed to be private rooms but the doors are never closed. Any wonder Mary told me not to yell like I did when I woke up.

Anyway Mary came in and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and said “I’ve brought someone along for you to meet.” A shy girl was standing at the door she was about two years older than me, and she was quite pretty.

“Well come on Samantha, don't just stand there! Meet someone with the same problem as you."

The poor girl went bright red and gave me her hand and said, “Hello Carla. My Mum is a bit direct but she loves me and is helping me to be the person I need to be.”

I said, “Hi. I hope we can be friends and compare notes. I live a long way away so I can only see you when we come to Brisbane for my appointments with Rose.”

Samantha said “Well maybe we can see her at the same time as she's my doctor too.”

Mummy, Helen and Mary went to get themselves a cup of tea and left Sam and me to get know each other.

I said “I'm turning nine in June - how old are you?”

“I'll be eleven in September and next year the doctor said she is going give me something to stop me from going into boy puberty.”

“Well,” I replied “I hope she does that for me too because I can't even see anything in my little marble bag.”

We were still giggling when the ladies returned with sandwiches and soft drinks for us.

“Well it looks like we have two new girlfriends bonding doesn't it?” said Mary.

Well, all my visitors left, even Mummy as she went back to get our plane tickets for the trip home and said she would pick me up in the morning from the hospital to go straight to the airport.

Before she left I said “Are you coming to see me tonight before I have to go to sleep Mummy please?”

“Of course I will sweetheart, but I will go back to the hotel to pack up all the bags to put on the plane for our trip home.”

Mummy came back like she said she would, but only stayed for a short while and went back to pack our things.

Morning came and Mary was still there finishing her shift and came to say goodbye and said to stay in touch with her and Samantha and said we could talk by phone to stay in touch. Mummy turned up and said, “Ok girl, get your stuff and lets go.”

Mummy had brought my clothes to wear the previous night. It was my pink denim skirt with the red blouse and red sandals. I put a barrette on my head because that wouldn’t interfere with the stitches in the back of my head. Helen stayed with the cab while Mummy signed the discharge papers. Jan the nurse came with a wheelchair to take me down to to the cab.

I asked “Why the wheelchair?”

“Regulations dearie, just enjoy the ride ok?”

We got in the cab and arrived at the airport an hour before the flight was leaving for Charleville. Mummy said that Daddy would be there to pick us up and take us back to Quilpie and home.

To be continued

Next time two people that I don't really like are in Quilpie and going to make “trouble.”