Chapter 2 -- Injured Reserve

The squeaks of the old truck echoed against the barn. Victor, finishing his chore of adding to the manure pile, turned around to see his dad exit the house and jog over to the old clunker. Its muffler belched out a bunch of black smoke as it chugged to a halt. His dad opened the passenger door and began to put on gloves he had stuffed in his back pocket. Jerry, the old gas station owner waddled around the back end of the truck shouting something about his helping, but Victor's dad waved him off. With all of his might, his dad lifted the awkward metal contraption out from the truck while Jerry grabbed a trolley off the back end of his overloaded rusty old clunker. Victor's dad tilted the huge contraption and Jerry slid the trolley's platform underneath the beast.

Dusting off straw and horse gunk of his pants, Victor cautiously approached the two men as they worked. He could see that the object his dad extracted had some sort of thick metal pole with a lever at the top. A curved pipe attached to it and away from the lever pointed down to two big wooden bowls. A smaller wooden bowl on top was offset from a larger wooden bowl beneath it. "What is that, Dad?"

"An old fashion water pump. Remember, when we dug a new well for the village in November and set up the water tower?" Victor nodded. "We're putting this over the old well hole allowing the residents to get water from another source in case the new well clogs or a power outage from a summer storm." Victor jumped up on Jerry's tailgate, sat down, and watched his dad and Jerry work. His dad grunted as he finished removing the old mechanical pump coming out of the old well by pulling on its wires. As he pulled the wires, he continued his explanation, "The bosses think it will look cool. I have to agree. Plus, it means we don't have a hole that kids can fall down in the middle of the compound."

Jerry chided Victor with a soft nudge, "Like your new brother or sister, sport." He then reached in to grab measuring tape and sauntered the few steps back to the well site. The two men measured and made marks in the dirt. Then they rolled the pump to the side to give themselves room to work. Jerry set up some sawhorses and a table with a chop saw.

"Victor, don't you have schoolwork to do?" as he came over to grab a pad to write on.

With pride in his voice, Victor announced, "Nope, finished it all Dad. In fact, I finished the third grade this morning before I did my chores. Mom's real pleased."

Jerry came back over again and gave him a high five. Victor grabbed the ends of the tailgate and swayed his shoulders as he grinned at his dad. "So, can I just watch, please?"

His dad patted him on the shoulder and ruffled his hair, "As long as you don't get in the way. By the way, someone is due for a haircut." He placed some tools back into the truck and then grabbed some stakes and string. He handed the pad to Jerry, "Looks like a perfect five four three. Nice and square." Jerry smiled.

The rest of the morning, Jerry and his dad worked on the pump installing it over the old well. First, they staked out where the new platform was going. Then they started to assemble its parts. Victor loved hearing the pop pop of the nailer. He was intrigued with the shrill metallic sound of the chop saw too. "Measure twice, cut once." Jerry kept saying. Victor was especially proud to be asked to ferry wood from Jerry's truck. Of course, Jerry or his dad had already carried the heavy concrete blocks that became the feet of the platform, but the rest was easy since they were aligned using his dad's math and plan. On several occasions, one or the other men had to duck from getting hit by the two by four Victor took off the truck. But, it was worth it to see Victor have so much fun being part of the man team.

Finally, standing on the new platform, his dad and Jerry lowered a new plastic pipe they had assembled down into the narrow pit underneath the platform. Once they were convinced it was at the water's depth of twenty feet, they fixed it to the platform. The two men rolled the pump onto the platform and attached it to the water pump next. Jerry then tested it by pouring water from a plastic container into the top of the new pump. As he swung the handle up and down, water soon came out of the curved pipe and fell into the first bowl and then cascaded down into the next bowl. The two men gave echoed each other as they shouted together, "All right!"

Victor's mom shouted out the front door to come get their lunches. She had made them turkey sandwiches made with her homemade bread, a pitcher of iced tea, and some potato salad. As they sat on the platform eating lunch, Victor asked, "Why did you pour water into it, Mr. Jerry?"

Jerry spit out a wad of tobacco and laughed. "Son, that is called priming the pump. Y'all don't do that and the well gonna be dry as a bone when you crank this sucker. Remember that." He gingerly moved up and down the pump arm and more water gushed out.

Reading the confusion in his son's face, his dad added, "That is so they can create a vacuum all the way down the water down below. Otherwise, all you will pump is air."

Jerry laughed and took in another wad of tobacco. "Ain't'cha about to play little league, Victor?"

"Tryouts are tomorrow!" Victor answer excitedly.

"Damn!" exclaimed his dad. "I knew I forgot something!"

Victor looked worried. "Dad?"

"Sorry son, but your mom has to go to the baby doctor tomorrow and we have to pick up stuff in Deming since Sam's away."

"But Dad?" he whined.

"Victor Maria Martin. Don't you give me any more lip. I'll call them and work something out."

Jerry looked down. Three names. That means bad things. He became concerned. "Is Mom really that bad?"

He sighed heavily. "Not yet we think, the baby and ... you know ..." He was searching for words a little boy could understand.

"Woman's trouble." Jerry motioned a circle around his belly to the young lad. Alex nodded in agreement even though it answered nothing.

After a moments of reflection, "But dad, you promised to take me! Isn't there any way, please?" whined Victor again.

"Sorry son ..." Before he could finish, Jerry stopped him.

"I can take him Alex. Hell, it's tough on the kid being all here by himself. I'll take him in. I gotta take in some scrap and then get more supplies anyways to build more of these suckers." He chuckled at his own pun and slapped his knee. “These suckers! I kill myself with my corny jokes!” Alex chuckled too. Victor didn't get it.

"But, how will we get him back. You won't have any room once you're loaded up with supplies. And our van will be full too with all the stuff we have to pick up in Deming."

"Cal and his wife can bring him back. He's the league's head umpire and marketing guru. Why, Hell, the league wouldn't exist without him. I'll pick up Victor, stop by your neighbor to deliver one of these water pumps, and take Victor to the tryouts." The two men shook hands and Victor breathed a sigh of relief.

About this time, Susan came out from her place to see what the morning's commotion was all about. As the men packed up Jerry's truck, Victor showed Susan how the pump worked as if he had done all the work himself. Soon, because it was a warm day, each was taking turns sticking their head underneath the spigot while the other one worked the pump. Victor's dad shouted, "Don't you dare drown, I don't know how I would explain that to your mother." So, they just splash each other.

Victor cried out after Susan had gotten him a good one, "Dad, can I have a squirt gun?" She roared with laughter. Victor smiled back at her.

"Too late, you already are a little squirt!" his dad joked. Feeling they had milked out of the new pump all the fun they could have, the two kids skipped off laughing on the way to Susan's because she had a new coloring book and some puzzles.

Jerry commented, "They seem to get along well."

"They sure do. I guess they realize that until summer comes, they need each other."

"That will change soon when she starts growing into a woman."

"Yeah, we won't even get that far I fear. It has sometimes been a contest between us and her parents as to which one of us leaves here first. Well, until recently. I think they have decided to leave after this summer. Sam's off this week getting training for working in the oil fields around Roswell. He said he'll apply for a position in the fall. They haven't told Susan. Like us, they don't have an extra car or I could ask them to take Victor instead. I just don't know how to tell Victor he'll be alone come the fall."

"Of course, he'll be an older brother by then. Maybe he can help his mom take care of the baby."

"That's what we're praying for. Sally has had three miscarriages since having him. That is why we need to see the doctor tomorrow. We just can't put it off. Part of the reason he wants to play baseball is that he still knows a few of his schoolmates in Silver City. I think we can allow him that this year, but next year, we won't be able to afford it. We may have to send him off to spend the summer with his aunt Vicki in Wisconsin. Although, we need him here to help run the village store and work the barn. Good thing he loves horses."

"I understand. Why did you come work here anyway if you knew it was going to be like this?"

"We rent out our Silver City home to college students. We figure if we can pay off the mortgage with the rent, we can move back in five years. So, even though they don't pay a lot here, we are earning so much extra money because we don't have to pay room and board. And, it is fully furnished so we can rent our home fully furnished too. The village also picks up our health, food, and utilities tab. By the way, thanks for helping me install the pump. I really appreciate it. And, you did a great job in making it." Alex gave Jerry a hug.

As Jerry drove off, Susan and Victor rushed out onto her porch and waved goodbye. Then the two headed over to the barn to go for a horseback ride. One of their favorite things to do together.

The next day, soon after Victor was picked up by Jerry, a scream filled the air of a dust cloud and was quickly drowned out by the noise of metal hitting metal. Afterwards, the air was filled with silence afterwards except for the occasional sound of creaks coming from the heavily damaged trucks that had merged together. The mining truck and Jerry's truck came to rest in a deep ditch which had become their final resting place.

At that moment, at a Walmart in Deming, Alex Martin loaded the family van with the crib and the other items their bosses had donated to them including stuff for the village store. Of course, after they were done with the furniture, it was expected that they would be put in the common room for residents that needed it on their summer trips. But, at least for them, they would have the benefit of new furniture for their precious child.

The only thing left was the doctor's visit. Today, they would hear what sex their baby was. Or not. They had spent the better part of the week debating the merits of finding out. Giggling to herself, Sally waited for Alex to open her door. He gave her a kiss as she exited. They loved growing their family.

The glop of clear fluid on her belly caused Alex to chuckle. "It seems like you are using amniotic fluid on the outside to look inside."

"Guess you could say that." Doctor Alvarez kept moving a plastic paddle across his wife's belly looking at the baby. The sweep of a screen that showed their baby was occasional punctuated by a colored blip that showed the doctor some information. She would occasion mark a part of the screen and move on. "Looks like a July 4th due date is no longer the case. June 14th is more likely now. You just went from Independence Day to Flag Day." She chuckled. "Come on little one. Give us a look."

A knock on the door was normal in this office, but the doctor missed the look on her face. "Doctor. There is an urgent call from the hospital on line 2. I think you need to take it now." The tone in the secretary's voice caused her to turn and see the look on her employee's face. The exchange of glances was discernible to them, but not to the happy couple.

"Thanks Cindy." She picked up the phone and punched line two with one hand. "Hello ... Mildred, hey, what's up that you called with such urgency here ... Yes, as a matter of fact. I am just finishing up with my last patients of the day, the Martins, so I can come over right away and ... Oh my ... Airlifted you say ... when did it happen ... I know I am on call, but it's not my specialty ... Sure, I know Dr. Smith is doing required continuing education this afternoon ... had to miss it because of poor planning ... Too bad he doesn't have privileges here ... Yes, I concur. He would be the best for this. Is he agreeable? Yes, good! Well then, tell the higher ups I would agree to grant him temporary privileges. That would make him the most qualified then." She moved uneasily in her rolling chair half looking at the monitor and half glancing at her anxious patients who didn't seem interested in what she was saying. "... Well, yes, I can talk to them about using him if you want me to instead. I'll get there right away ... How long before the patient is stabilized? ... An hour. Okay, thank you." She hung up and paused for a moment. She took a look at the monitor, clicked a photo, and began to shut things down.

Baffled, Alex asked, "Did you see the sex of our baby?"

"Yes. Let's hold off on that for the moment. Alex, Sally, there is no easy way to say this ..."

"Our baby's dead!" Sally's complexion grew pale.

"No ... of course not. Your baby is fine." She looked at her patient and made a quick assessment of Sally’s emotional stability. "Sorry, Sally. Knowing how much you hate shots, I hate to tell you I have to give you a special shot to help you and the baby. Just standard stuff. That's all. While I get the shot, you two discuss whether you want to know the baby's sex." As an afterthought, as she exited the room, she said, "Sorry about the shot."

Later, at the hospital, Dr. Alvarez said, "The mom's sedated now. I have briefed Alex here on Victor's condition, Dr. Smith."

Dr. Smith turned towards Mr. Martin. "Here is the short and quick of the matter. Your boy is sedated and stable. He has had fluids and a blood transfusion. His wounds presently are packed off. But we need to do surgery on them right away to save what we can. When the mining truck hit, there was some sort of mechanical pump between your son's legs and it damaged his penis badly."

Alex ventured, "But, he was wearing a cup. How is that possible?"

Dr. Smith took a breath. He was a baseball fan too. "I bet it was a cup from twenty years ago?"

"Yes, I wore it when I was his age. It was a kid's size too. I thought it would protect him."

Dr. Smith took his time and explained it to Victor's dad. "It is made of hard plastic. And when a baseball is headed to you at 100 miles per hour, it most certainly does protect you. There was no way you could have known about this. So, please don't blame yourself. I am really impressed with your looking out for him. However, in an accident such as this, a perfect storm happened and it was moved aside after the seams of his old uniform ripped, which meant the cup did the exact opposite of what it was supposed to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Here, please put your foot up on this chair, and I will show you how it happened."

Alex complied and Dr. Smith tapped his calf with a light karate chop. "So, did that hurt?"

"No, of course not."

Dr. Smith tapped his shin with the same light karate chop. "Ouch. That did hurt."

"When the truck was hit from the side, your son's cup somehow shifted to the side. That allowed a hard surface to be in between the heavy metal and your son's thigh." He pointed to the outline of a bruise on Victors's thigh which matched the outline of the cup. The unconscious boy shifted on the bed. Normally, the soft tissue would have just been bruised. But, with the cup acting as a hard surface, like your shin, the metal parts of the pump damaged your son's penis and testicles." The two stared at the bandaged area between his legs.

"Alex, I have known you for a long time. I was your son's obstetrician too. Trust me when I say Dr. Smith here is an expert in penis reconstruction. Listen to him."

"That is not quite the whole story. In Colorado, where I practice genital surgery almost daily, what I am is an expert in creating a penis where there was none before. I create a pretty good penis for transgender men. And I also create a pretty good vagina for transgender women. That means I know what to save and how to save skin for you son. If I can't restore his testicles or his erectile tissues, I can at least give a good foundation to have a healthy and adequate penis reconstruction after puberty."

"So, he won't have a penis now?"

"Not if you want it done right later. Believe it or not, I think the best way to help him get his penis back is to give him a vagina. It will save the most skin possible for a future phalloplasty. Phalloplasty is what we call the reconstruction surgery for a penis."

"Are you sure we can't give him a penis now?" Alex grimaced at the question as he asked it.

"Yes, I could. But, what ever I do now will not grow with him. Ironically, if I construct a vagina with the remaining skin, the skin will grow and stretch with his body as he grows bigger. If I were to create a penis instead, he will have little more than an eight year old's penis when he turns 14 or 15. Maybe even smaller. Either way we go, he is going to have a tough time."

Dr. Smith could read the confusion in Alex's eyes. "Look, do you remember getting a ton of erections when you went through puberty?"

"Yes."

"Do you ever remember a time where maybe your penis felt like about to have the skin seperate from your hood? Some men do, others don't."

"Oh yeah. It happened to me. My doctor just chuckled and gave me some cream." He looked at Dr. Alvarez and blushed.

"That is normal. During your growing years, it is common to get very hard erections that help stretch the skin around the shaft of your penis. If it doesn't, you might get what is called a micro penis by your friends. The same thing will happen to Victor as he doesn't have a decent amount of erectile tissue left. As he grows older, a reconstructed penis made today will remain the same size, even with hormone replacement therapy. By the time he hits his adult size, he will be able to have reconstructive surgery. Only, by that time, it could be far more invasive in terms of where we get the skin from in order to give him a decent size penis that functions well enough to be satisfying for sexual intercourse."

Cupping his hand, he poked his finger into it. In another context, it would have been an obscene gesture. "If I build a vagina with the left over skin, then he can poke and dilate the skin on a regular basis as he grows. Then when he is older, there will be a much better chance of enough skin to rebuild a realistic penis, one which can penetrate a woman during intercourse with greater sensitivity, without, maybe, having to do skin grafts at all. By creating a pocket, we can inflate the remaining skin. If you create an external sealed pocket with a penis now, it won't grow with him."

Alex nodded. "It is easier to build a mountain if can you sink a hole first."

Dr. Smith left the worst for last. "Finally, there is another reason to go this route. Your insurance is Zelophehad Health Co-Op. That is a Christian medical sharing company."

"Which means?"

"That means you only get one shot to correct your son's penis now. Your insurance will not cover continuing transgender, or, in this case, same gender long term care. There is an additional benefit in that since you live in a rural area, it means that you won't have to deal with visits to the doctor every month until he hits the age of twelve or so. Additionally, once it heals, you will only need to do regular doctor visits until he hits the age of puberty. And then, you can just go on HRT until we are ready to reconstruct his penis. My guess is that would give you about seven years before you need to switch insurance companies."

After letting that sink in, he added, in a serious tone, "Whatever I do now, your insurance will cover it because of the emergency aspect of what happened. But, if you decide to follow my advice later, say in a month, they won't pay for a neovagina. It's now or never."

Alex stared out the window for what seemed like an eternity. "Now." came the plaintive response.

After signing the papers, he watched his son get wheeled down the hallway to surgery. Surgery would take about four hours according to the doctors, so he headed down to the admission office to fill out more paperwork. Coming out of the elevator he saw his mother walking down the corridor, he exclaimed, "Mom! What are you doing here, Mom?"

Turning around, she seemed rattled to see her son. "Oh, sorry Alex, they messed up my bill again. I have to go straighten things out. So, what are you doing here? Are you here to help me?"

The next few minutes were spent in updating her on everyone and what had happened. "Jerry's dead. And little Victoria ... I mean ... Victor is hurt. Can I help?"

"Yes, Mom. Can you come with me to help explain to Sally what has happened? They sedated her because they don't want her to lose the baby. They have already ordered bed rest for her. God bless Dr. Alvarez. She and her staff knew what to do. But, now I have to tell Sally the truth."

Outside the operating room, Dr. Alvarez talked to Dr. Smith. "So, you're headed off to Brazil after this?"

"Yes, to do research on a new surgical treatment for women. But, I have made a plan to stop by on the way back and see the boy."

"He should still be here. I heard his dad arranging with his grandmother to take him in for the month or so he needs to be close to me. That way I can look in on him and hasten his healing."

"Good. In a body that small, it won't take much to go wrong. I would be building a very big vagina in an adult. But, in a child ... if it doesn't work, what I am learning in Brazil ought to help cure that if it becomes a problem."

"If anyone can pull it off, it is you. I've seen your work. You are very talented. Well then, good luck and Bon Voyage. I'll take care of him on this end. And, thank you for agreeing to do this. It was extraordinarily kind of you."

In a waiting room at the hospital, Alex and his mom held hands and prayed. “I am sorry Sally couldn't hear the whole truth."

His mom squeezed his hand. "She's going to be okay."

"He’s still a boy Mom. He’s still a boy." He leaned back against his chair and stared up at the ceiling. "That's all that matters. He's still a boy.”

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