So Andi spilled her story.... which was wilder than anything I made up to throw Tina's dad off my trail. I made a mental note to steal some of this to bolster my own cover story.

Her parents were genuine off-the-grid types. Not hippies apparently. She didn't go into much detail, but they seemed more like right-wing survivalist types. They were really into Nietzsche ….and it seems, Mary Baker Eddy. They were NOT into doctors.. believing that the way we got to the top of the food chain thousands of years ago is because our species was the best of the best and every challenge overcome made us better.

Those were the people who raised – and home-schooled - Andrea. She didn't go too much into her childhood, but I got the sense from her relaxed demeanor that it wasn't really traumatic. Not to her. Since her parent's worldview was the only one she knew. She seemed to have a surprisingly uneventful and emotionally nourishing childhood.

Until she was eight.

That was the year she apparently caught a cold... nothing unusual... until it seemed to become a flu.... then maybe strep... and kept getting worse.

Her parents were very supportive, convincing her that she had the resources to focus her own innate immune system to vanquish this illness and thereby strengthen her immune system. She believed – and still does – that they were sincere in their beliefs and confidence that she would defeat this illness once she learned how to harness her innate strength and channel her body's resources to smite this attack.

While she quickly conceded that her parents were well-intentioned – but deluded – and it's amazing that she didn't die, she stated for the record that she believed to this day that they never intentionally placed her in jeopardy.

Their own faith in their beliefs were sorely tested when Andi apparently lapsed into a coma. Her face twisted with ambivalence as she described their anguishing over whether to bring her to a hospital, certain that it would mean social services wrenching her custody from them.

While they were still wrestling with their dilemma – three days later – Andi's fever broke.

The recovery was long and daunting. Her parents upturned their lives and devoted themselves 24/7 (actually 8 hour shifts each around the clock) to Andrea's recovery.

It took well over a year for her to feel this daunting ordeal was behind her. Her parents showed infinite patience – and more than a little guilt – as Andrea slowly crawled back the long road to recovery.

The ordeal took its toll. Her parents tried to spin it as 'war scars'.... her proof that she had prevailed over a near-fatal illness. Andi never bought that rationalization, yet saw no point in arguing the issue since things were what they were and she just needed to learn to deal with them.

For one thing, she was mute.

If you've ever had laryngitis, you will understand. It 's baffling, the first time it happens, that suddenly you can't make a sound beyond the woosh of your breath.... In time, you accept it, because.... it just ….IS. Eventually.... with a relief and newfound appreciation of precious things heretofore always taken for granted - your voice returns.

Andrea's recovery was slow. Eventually she recovered a whisper.... which over months evolved into a ghost-like rasp. When something that could be generously called 'a voice' eventually returned – along with an early puberty – Andrea was nearly ten.

The fact that her quirky parents had recused her from the public education system by home-schooling her, spared her from a lot of the awkwardness of her long recovery. ….And the eventual restoration of the voice that grew back.

She was a seemingly inconspicuous ten year old, who, when she opened her mouth, sounded like Darth Vader with a headcold.

Her parents did their best to make light of it and spare Andrea of any self-consciousness. Still, she was mortified by the sound of her new 'voice' and chose instead to revert to muteness – to her parent's everlasting chagrin.

Another surprise – whether related to the hormonal havoc instigated by her illness or just something that was always in her DNA... was the profound effect of puberty on the precocious tween.

She burst into young-adulthood with alarming alacrity. Her parents struggled to appear nonchalant and supportive, yet it was clear to Andi that they were nearly as distressed by the physical changes as she was. By the time she was actually a teen, she had sprouted to over 5'11” and had filled out into a frame that could be euphemistically described as 'Amazonian'. She was fiercely athletic with an imposing muscular frame. Ironically, as her folks long told her, her illness seemingly left her far stronger. Literally. However, by the age of 15, she looked like a 29 year old transgender woman.

When she turned 18, she fled the nest. She bore her parents no ill will and still had a strong sense of appreciation and complicated affection for her parents, who she viewed as always trying to do what they considered best. They were worlds apart in their world view, and the gulf only grew wider as Andi made her way in the outside world. Still, she made it clear that she bore her parents no animosity or ill will, and while she profoundly disagreed with their philosophy and life choices, she respects that when she turned 18, they let her go without a fight.

She got her GED, made her way through community college working under the table and low skill jobs, slowly making up for the 18 years of cultural isolation. She still remained an outsider of sorts.... remaining mute to the outside world. She learned American Sign Language in community college and that proved an immense help in 'mainstreaming' her life. Over time and much struggle, she made her way through college and med school.... where she researched her own past and speculated that based on her hazy recollections she was likely hit by a bout of scarlet fever or Kawasaki Syndrome..... She ultimately earned her L.P.N. eventually landing a coveted job at University Med Center, where her cool head and quick mind earned her a prime slot on the emergency room crew.

That's where she met Dave.... which she glossed over diplomatically... only saying that he ingratiated himself to her with his goofy charm and insane doggedness until eventually she found herself where she never allowed herself to imagine.... in a loving committed relationship with a guy who got her, knew her baggage, and had no problem with it.

I felt a pang at that, as when I allowed my mind to even go there, I couldn't imagine where I'd end up ....let alone with whom... always presuming my paradoxical gender-straddling existence would guarantee a life spent alone. The only question I ever dared to let myself wonder was, in the end, when I stopped straddling, which side of the metaphorical line would I end up.

“I knew you two bitches would never figure it out on your own.” Zoe cackled. The she got serious. “But I also knew it was important that you did.” and she flashed an uncharacteristically warm smile to Andi ...who returned it.

Then she glared at me “so no more of this sign language bullshit!”

“It's NOT bullshit!” Andi and I both blurted out simultaneously... then turned to grin at each other. The first of many such moments.

Zoe rolled her eyes “whatever..... do you know how fucking hard it is to eavesdrop when you're both just playing fucking charades?” she groused. Then her gruff face faded and she gazed at us sincerely. “Walls are down. No more games. OK?” she smiled.

Andi eyed me with a nod and beamed back to Zoe. My response was slightly less enthusiastic, but I hoped Andi didn't catch it. Her walls were down, but mine were still intact, and she didn't even know they existed.