Chapter 3

Mrs. W had headed back out to the waiting room, and she was not a happy woman. Her daughters, with the apparent complicity of a lot of people including Drew's chaperones, had deliberately hid the fact that Drew was a boy. And now, because of it, Drew was in a hospital bed, virtually catatonic. She was absolutely incensed that the chaperones would go along with this charade, and put a child in harms’ way for their own personal agendas. As for her daughters, well, they would be lucky if she didn't ship them off to private school for now and VMI (Virginia Military Institute) when they were old enough. They were certainly going to be grounded and broke for the foreseeable future.

As she rounded the corner back in to the waiting area she noticed that Miss Bell and the chaperones were not there yet, so she thought this would be a good time to have a family discussion first. Donald and the girls were sitting quietly in a corner, waiting for her to come back. Brit noticed her first.
“Mum, mum is Gaby alright?!!” Brit asked.

“No Brit, ‘Drew' is not alright. And do you have anything to tell me?” came the ominous reply from her mother.

Brit and Deb knew, right then, that their mother knew exactly who Drew was and what had happened.
“We can explain mum…”started Deb.

“Explain?!!” interrupted Mrs. W. “Explain what? Like why you never told us Drew was a boy? Like how you asked Drew to become Gaby so we wouldn't find out? Like why you thought it was all right to make someone pretend to be someone they are not, 24 hours a day 7 days a week, until they snap from the pressure? Like how putting Drew in the hospital with a complete mental collapse is a good thing? Yes, please try and make me understand all these things before your father and I send the pair of you to military school! Because, young ladies, right now, that's where I feel you should be going. Obviously your father and I can't seem to get through to you, maybe they can.”

Mr. W was visibly taken aback by his wife's outburst; but then what she was saying began to filter in and he began getting angry.

“A boy!” he thundered “The pair of you made Drew, a boy, be Gaby while he was here?!!! What in the name of heaven were you thinking? Never mind, it is obvious that you weren't thinking. Jocelyn, how is Drew doing?” he asked, turning to his wife.

“Well, Dr. Maggie was sedating him the last I saw, and she and Jules were going to her office to call Drew's parents in England. After which, she quite bluntly told me, she wants to talk to each and every person who had something to do with this deception and Drew's subsequent breakdown. That means our two, the chaperones, Miss Bell and Madeline Peters for certain….who else we'll have to wait and see.”

Deb and Brit were quietly crying on each other’s shoulders now, they were scared to death.
“But mum” Brit wailed “we didn't mean for anything to happen. We thought it would be like when we were in England; we put him positions where he had to be Gaby, and he just went along with it. We were just having fun…..”

Brit then realized what she had just admitted to and sat down in her chair with an audible thump. She was in for it now. She had just admitted to her parents that she had pulled this same kind of prank in England. They were going to blame her for everything.

“Besides, Drew had dressed up before as Gaby, mum….before we ever got there.”

“Britney Walters, you did this to him BEFORE?! Young lady, you and your sister will be explaining every single action to Dr. Maggie, and if you leave anything out, or lie about anything, you will regret it! Even if Drew did it before, and even though he looks very good as a girl…..that is not the point. You, your sister, the chaperones and I suspect Maddy Peters have taken away his right to choose and be Drew, in whatever form that may take. I've half a mind to do the same thing to you two. Maybe we should cut your hair and make the pair of you go to school as boys, do sports as boys, and everything else as boys for the next 6 weeks – maybe then you might understand what you have put poor Drew through! In fact I think that may be quite appropriate. I will discuss this with your father and the school later.”

Britney and Deb were now literally quaking with fear. They knew that they had finally pushed their mother too far. They both sat there sobbing quietly, eyes on the floor, not daring to look up at their mother.

“We didn't mean to hurt him” they whimpered.

Mrs. W looked over as she heard the doors to the emergency open. Racing through the door came Maddy, followed by Miss Bell, Miss Cowlishaw and Mr. Pilling. Maddy saw the Walters', changed directions and came running over to them.

“Where's Drew? What's wrong with her? Where do I find her?” Maddy cried as she got to them.
“Maddy, go and sit with Brit and Deb, and I will explain what we know in a minute” directed Mrs. W. “Ah, Jessica, Miss Cowlishaw and Mr. Pilling; the other three villains of this piece. Please come and sit down and I will explain what the lot of you have achieved.”

Miss Bell looked askance at Mrs. W “What do you mean villains, Jocelyn?”

"Well, Jessica, you know that Drew is a boy, don't you?”

“Yes, Jocelyn, what does that have to do with this?”

“Everything…..The chaperones, and I use that term loosely, Maddy and my girls seem to have decided that Drew shouldn't be a boy, that he should be Gaby all the time. And since they arrived Drew has had to become Gaby 24 hours a day 7 days a week. What do you think would happen to a pubescent male when people have systematically stripped his masculinity away from him. He has had a nervous breakdown and is under sedation right now. Dr. Maggie and Jules are attempting to contact his parents right now. Dr. Maggie wants to interview every person who had something to do with this so that she can define an adequate treatment here, and arrange for long term treatment when Drew gets home. So you may as well all pull up chairs and sit down, because we are going to be here quite a while. And maybe all of you should think about what you've done to Drew and why. Because if I were him, I sure as hell would want to know why.”

The news that Drew had had a nervous breakdown and was under sedation hit the four newest arrivals hard. Miss C and Mr. P turned ashen and looked very ill, Jessica looked very confused, as if she didn't quite get what was going on; and Maddy began to cry – heart wrenching sobs began to be heard. It was like her world had ended. And in some ways perhaps it had. Perhaps Drew would never be Gaby again. Perhaps he would hate her for what she had done. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps…….all these thoughts and more started to rush through Maddy's mind.

Guilt began to rear its head in Maddy's thoughts. What had she done? She had taken her best friend, her boyfriend, and turned him into what she thought wanted. She hadn't stopped to think of what Drew wanted. She hadn't stopped to think of what might happen to Drew – she had only cared that she got what she wanted. But Drew was just so amazing as Gaby! Gaby was everything Maddy wanted – the melding of both worlds. But now, thanks mostly to her, Drew was lying in a hospital bed, sedated because he could no longer take the strain.

Had she really done what Mrs. W was accusing them of? Had she systematically stripped away Drew's masculinity? She then thought of the number of times that Drew had said he wasn't doing it anymore, and she had talked him round to it. Obicon, when all he had asked for was one male costume, and she had gone and made sure all of the costumes were girls or men who have to dress as girls. The number of times she had packed his after kit for races with Gaby clothes, or none at all, so he would have to borrow from her. Sports Day. Halloween, when she had a fit when he came dressed as Dracula, and got her mum to talk him into changing. Cheer Squad. And then of course, the ever missing adhesive remover. How many times had she spirited it out of Drew's bag so it would be missing when he got home; and then would have to stay as Gaby for an extra day. And Maddy did not really want to confess that the bottle hadn't accidentally broken when Drew had gone to Paris – she had emptied it and told him it had broken. She had essentially forced him to go abroad as Gaby And the fun she and Brit and Deb had had when they were in England – pushing Drew to be Gaby so often; and then on the trip here – Drew had no idea that Maddy had packed so many of his Gaby clothes. She thought it would be brill to have her Gaby all the time. And Brit and Deb were happy to go along with it. But what she was beginning to realize, was that it could, and had, hurt Drew. And hurt him in a way that she was not sure he would forgive her for.

Right now Maddy just wished she could run away and hide. But Mrs. W had said they were all going to have to talk to Drewbie's doctor so she could figure out how to treat him. And she knew she would have to be totally honest with the doctor, or it could hurt Drew more. What was she going to do?
Just then, Maddy's guilt ridden thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of a doctor. Before she could ask anything, the doctor spoke.

“Good morning everyone, I'm Dr. Maggie. I'm sure that by now, Jocelyn has informed you what has happened to Drew. At present, he is under sedation and being moved to his own room. He will not be allowed ANY visitors for now, until I have had a chance to assess him and confer with his parents. I understand Drew has been ‘portraying' Gaby since he arrived here, and it seems this is the likely cause of his present state. I will need to speak to each one of you individually over the next several hours and I want; no make that I need, to get the entire story from every person here. Drew's health depends on everyone here being 100 percent truthful with me. Britney, I'll speak to you first, since I understand you had a lot to do with ‘Gaby's' stay here in Grottoes.”

And with that she turned to head back to her office with Brit in tow.