The pain came and went over the course of the afternoon. Mostly it went when I got another dose of pain meds. I don’t know what type they were, but they helped. It also helped that the pain I was feeling wasn’t worse than many of the injuries that I’d had over the past couple of years. Sure, it hurt, but I could deal…until I couldn’t.

Then they gave me more pain meds and the pain levels dropped down to a manageable level.

I spent time talking to my parents, and Shawn. There was a lot of smiling, and a lot of laughing that I tried to refrain from. I didn’t kiss Shawn as much as I wanted to, but we held hands a lot.

Mr. Davies came in around seven in the evening.

“What are you doing here, Mr. Davies?”

“Louis, Mandy,” he said nodding to my parents.

“Brent,” my dad responded, “what can we do for you?”

“I’ve spent the day in and out of court trying to get your hearing postponed, AJ. Best I could do was move it to tomorrow.”

“But…I’m not supposed to leave the hospital for a few days.”

“It can’t be helped. I tried to get it in front of Judge Anderson, but they feel he’s too close to the case as it is.”

“They?”

“Judge Anderson pulled strings to keep Julian Thoreau in jail.”

“So Rita is safe?”

“She’s safe. She’s also in a women’s shelter.”

I sighed in relief. So much had happened since Saturday in my life, and I felt bad that I hadn’t thought more about Rita. Why wasn’t I a better person? I let my selfish concerns take precedence over what was going on in Rita’s life.

“So, they are requiring you to be in court tomorrow morning, and they aren’t accepting that you are in the hospital as an excuse.”

“It’s not an excuse!” Shawn exclaimed.

“Shawn, this is my fight. Mr. Davies, what time tomorrow?”

“Ten am.”

“I’ll be there in a wheelchair, but I’ll be there.”

“AJ…”

“Mr. Davies, you did what you could, now it’s my turn. As long as my doctors don’t have a problem with it, then we might as well be there.”

.-.. .. -. .   -... .-. . .- -.-
Mom and Caroline arrived early the next morning to get me ready. Mom had a new dress for me. Caroline had a new hairstyle. She tied up my hair in the silver ribbons again, but this time it was individual locks wrapped in the ribbon. The ribbon was in sort of a loose cross pattern.

The dress was white with silver accents. It covers me completely, but again, like the shirt, it screams girl to everyone who chooses to look. It is longer than most of the skirts I’ve been wearing recently, but I think it will be a lot more comfortable to sit in, since it will still go halfway down my calves when I’m seated. The hem is shorter in front than the back, and I really like how it looks. Mom’s found a pair of ballet flats with the same accents as the dress. Overall, I love how it looks and have to admit that at least for today I do look like a princess.

I’m afraid of…blood or something else showing through, but the doctors have taken care of that. They wrapped up the area, loosely, and there would be a nurse with me the whole time.

They took me down to an ambulance and drove me over to the courthouse. We arrived close to ten, and they wheeled me into the courtroom. I sat there as primly as I could with all of the gauze wrapped around my nether regions.

“All rise for the honorable Judge Haskins,” said the bailiff, a stern looking woman.

The judge came in and looked at me not standing, “AJ Smith? I’m going to have to ask you to rise.”

“Your honor, I can’t.”

“This has gone on long enough. I’m not buying that you were in the hospital, I’m not buying you’re a girl, and I’m not buying the pitiful attempt that your lawyer has been putting forth to get this case thrown out.”

“Your honor!” Mr. Davies began.

“Judge Haskins,” I said, interrupting my lawyer, “what do I need to do to prove to you I am female?”

“You could strip,” he said with a knowing smile.

I looked up at the nurse, “can you help me?”

She looked a little shocked, but I was banking on calling the Judge’s bluff.

“Judge Haskins!” Mr. Davies began again.

“The boy won’t go through with it, he can’t. It would destroy the illusion.”

I nodded at the nurse and she helped me out of the dress. We removed my bra as well. Leaving me in the wrappings below and nothing else.

“Is this enough or do you need more, your honor? I’ll remind you I am a minor.”

He wasn’t looking at me anymore, and he was bright red with embarrassment. “Clear the room!”

He got up and left, dragging the bailiff with him. There hadn’t been any other people really, but my parents and the lawyers. Mr. Davies was almost out of the courtroom as soon as the judge called for it to be cleared. The prosecutor was right behind him.

The nurse helped me to get dressed again, and I was again sitting primly in the wheelchair.

“Dad, could you tell Mr. Davies he can come back in?”

My dad was as embarrassed as the other guys, and I thought I’d let him get out of there for a moment or two. My mom came over and held my hand, and I took the moment to silently cry a little bit. I acted strong in the moment, but that wasn’t who I was. I don’t like being naked in front of people. Talking about underwear embarrasses me.

There I was, though, catering to the whims of a self-important ass, just to prove to him I was as female as I claimed.

Mr. Davies came back in and gestured to the nurse behind me, “the Judge would like to see us in his chambers.”

We wheeled around to where the Judge’s office was, and went in. The prosecutor was there already.

“What was that stunt you pulled?” the Judge practically screamed at me.

“Your honor, if this continues, I’m going to sue you,” my lawyer began.

“What?”

“I’m not a prosecutor, so I can only bring a civil case, but you are sexually harassing my client, requiring that she disrobe in an open court, and then trying to punish her when she complies with your illegal requirement. At the very least, you should recuse yourself from this case.”

“How dare you,” Judge Haskins began.

“He’s right, Phil. You were out of line. If I actually thought that you knew before hand that she had breasts…”

The Judge looked uncomfortable, and refused to meet my eyes.

“You knew!” the prosecutor was angry, and not keeping it to himself.

“Harold told me that she had them, but I…”

“Don’t say another word. Brent, you and your client can leave.”

We got back to the hospital, and I just lay down on the bed in my new dress. I didn’t want to get out of it, and so I took a nap there in the dress.

Someone fidgeting in the seat next to the bed woke me.

“Hey, sleeping beauty.”

“Hey, but she was woken with a kiss,” I say blushing.

He leaned forward and we kissed, me smiling the whole time. He began laughing, and I couldn’t help it, I began giggling as well.

“So, about sleeping beauty…”

“I talked to Mr. Reiss, remember? I wanted to, I really wanted to, but I was afraid of hurting you more if I did.”

“Oh,” I said. The smile left my face, but his finger on my chin lifted my head until I was looking into his eyes.

“It was more fun kissing you when you were awake anyway.”

“Then let’s do it again,” I said.

.-.. .. -. .   -... .-. . .- -.-
I’d missed two days of school, but one thing about a remote access school like I went to, I was able to be in school and be in a hospital room at the same time.

Caroline was in there on Thursday morning, and I was completely ready for the cameras by the time my classes started. I got a lot of people concerned about my health, and I just told them that I had a birth defect resolved.

It was true, in certain regards, so I was fine with the minor lie. I spent time talking to Kelly and Jasmine between classes, and the time spent helped me to forgive them for never showing up in my hospital room.

I enjoyed classes the next couple of days, however the announcement at the end of class on Friday threw me a bit.

“Students, there is just one more week until our first dance of the year. We’ve made sure that the ballroom is wheelchair accessible as it seems that one of our students will not be able to attend otherwise. She can still walk, just that she had some major surgery to prevent anything life threatening.

“Our prayers go out to Anne-Jeanette and we hope that she’ll be able to be back with us here at school soon.”

I was blushing a lot at this pronouncement, and I was glad that I could shut off the link soon after that.

They discharged me from the hospital shortly after classes on Friday, and I was back home and in my room that evening.

.-.. .. -. .   -... .-. . .- -.-
Saturday morning, I was in some comfortable clothing and in my wheelchair at West Coast MMA.

“What are you doing here?”

Andrew looked startled to see me, “I thought I’d come to class. At worst I could be a punching bag for the ladies, you know, someone with the same mass as one of their attackers is going to be. At best…I thought I might learn something.”

“Why would you want to learn self defense,” Hannah said butting in, “you look big enough to take care of yourself.”

“Hannah, by that definition you wouldn’t be allowed in here either.”

“But I’m a woman.”

“So?”

She sputtered a little at that, and I just smiled at her, “men can be raped too.”

She snorted, “can’t rape the willing.”

“And you have to be willing to be sodomized?”

Her smile fled her face and she paled a bit, “and just because a guy’s dick responds, doesn’t mean he is looking for sex,” one of the other girls said.

“Guys always want sex,” she responded a little huffily.

“And a girl in a tight dress with a short hemline is just asking for it.”

I looked pointedly at Hannah, and gestured toward the door. “From the moment that I met you, you struck me as more the abuser than the abused. I’ve been raped before, Hannah. I know what it feels like to be that helpless, and the ones who did it thought that I was a boy.”

There were some slack jaws around the room, and Andrew was just staring at me.

“I had and occluded vagina, and a growth that looked like a penis. That was corrected so that my first period doesn’t kill me, but when I was first in Juvie everyone assumed I was a boy.”

Hannah’s feet went out from under her, and she collapsed to the ground.

“I didn’t…”

“Think about your actions and how they would impact another person, I know. You need to work on that. Try and be a little more sensitive to those around you. Now, class, I’d like for you to show me what you remember from last week.”

.-.. .. -. .   -... .-. . .- -.-
“AJ, is what you said earlier true?”

“Hey, Andrew. Yes, it’s true. If you could refrain from spreading it around school I’d appreciate it.”

“Why…”

“Because I’m afraid at how bigoted people can be,” I said a little testily.

“No, why would I tell anyone. Unless you’re lying to me about your period.”

“What? no,” and I blushed.

“Then that makes you a girl in my book. No guy I know can bleed for a week and survive.”

“Andrew!” I blushed and smiled all at the same time.

“Well, I’ll see you at school on Monday.”

“Bye, Andrew.” I was still worried about what would happen with this knowledge he now had, but the future was something I was unable to see.

.-.. .. -. .   -... .-. . .- -.-
I was in my room, relaxing on my bed and doing my best not to be in pain. To tell the truth, most of the pain had faded since Tuesday. I was catching up on my homework from the week, since I’d missed two days.

I was feeling so feminine there on my bed. I was wearing a grey pencil skirt with a gauzy over-layer with a flower print. On top I was wearing a white tank under a translucent blouse. It had a similar flower pattern as well, almost making the ensemble look like a single piece.

I was lying on my stomach with my feet in the air.

“So, this is what you do while we’re out having fun.”

“Jasmine! Kelly!”

They laughed at me, and I just giggled.

“What are you doing here?”

“They’re here to try on dresses for the dance.”

“What?” I’d heard nothing about this, and it was something that I’d have loved to have heard earlier.

“I decided that the three of you should wear ‘Anne-Jeanette’ dresses. I’m trying to get these girls to agree to have suits made for their dates, but they’re wary.”

“You three go on then and have fun,” I said with a smile. I was frankly a little jealous, knowing they were trying on new dresses, and I wouldn’t be.

“You’re not getting off that easily, Anne-Jeanette. I have a new dress for you as well.”

I beamed a smile at her. “Go ahead, and I’ll meet you there.”

I gave Shawn a quick call.

“Shawn, you know that dance you agreed to go to with me next Friday?”

“Yes..?” he said a little warily.

“Well, my mom wants to design some suits for it, specifically for my date and for Jasmine’s and Kelly’s dates. So, I was wondering if you’d like to come…”

“Be a fashion model?”

“Yes,” I said in a small voice.

“Ok, since it means more time with you.”

I squealed and bounced a little, which sent a twinge from my new womanhood, which caused a low moan from me.

I slipped into my wheelchair, and maneuvered myself down the hall to my mom’s studio. The other girls were giggling and twirling in their dresses. These weren’t normal formal dresses, but they were pretty everyday dresses.

“What’s this?”

“We’re just looking at some of the new styles your mom’s creating.”

“Those look good on you.” I said smiling, and they did. “Shawn is coming over, mom, to be fitted for a suit.”

“Really? That’s great, Anne-Jeanette.”

“You know that your dates are going to look under-dressed compared to the rest of us,” I said to Jasmine and Kelly.

Jasmine rolled her eyes at me, and Kelly just grimaced, “Look, Anne-Jeanette, neither of us have found our princes yet. You can ask your guy, and he’ll agree, but can we really ask ours…”

“Which guys are you going with?”

They mentioned them, so I just rolled back to my room.

“What are you doing?” Kelly asked. Jasmine just came along with me.

I logged into the school’s system and sent a chat request to the two boys. Sam accepted first, and then Jason added himself a short time later.

“Hey, guys, Jasmine and Kelly wanted to know if you wanted to get your suits for the dance from the same place that they’re getting their dresses. No, it wouldn’t be anything at all girly. Some nice masculine suits that would match the style of your girl’s dresses. They’ll care, you just need to come over for a fitting.”

“Huh?” Sam said.

“Um, you’re sure it would be nothing girly?” Jason responded.

“Nothing girly and you can tell everyone you got to see my house. My mom is a designer.”

That got Sam’s attention. I gave the two of them my address and signed off. Kelly and Jasmine were staring at me wide eyed.

“What?” I just asked with a smile. I love being a girl.