Chapter 2 (Revised)   "It's strange, until last week I was Simon, now I'm Eve as well"

 
Authors note: This series was first published in 2009 and has been revised prior to re-publication.
 
 
Previously:
 
Simon Jones had just discovered that his birth name was Eve and, following a collapse at school, he was admitted to hospital as Eve Jones wearing mis mothers shorts & t-shirt. The hospital has assumed he is TG and his mother has not yet managed to correct them. He's now faced with talking to a psychiatrist about dreams he's been experiencing.
 

Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 2
 
 
I was not happy about talking to a shrink, but Dr. Fox seemed kind, and she took me slowly through my dreams, at least those I could recall. My mum was sat next to my hospital bed and had just been told much the same but Dr Fox went over each dream several times, trying to tease more memories from me each time. In the end, I was very relaxed, indeed tired, but this may have been down to the sedative I was on.

Dr Fox thanked me, "Eve, I'm so glad we could have this chat. I can see you're exhausted, so I'll be back in the morning, don't go anywhere will you?"

She left the room before I could think of a witty response. A nurse arrived and told me she would change my dressings and check my blood pressure. As the nurse left, mum kissed me and suggested I took a nap.

I woke to see an orderly pushing a wheelchair into the room, "Time for your MRI" he said, rather too joyfully.

Two nurses helped me into the wheelchair after putting a gown on me. That's when I finally noticed the catheter bag. Ughh!. They moved my IV onto a hook above the chair, "Off we go Eve," he said and we headed for the lift, then down two floors, along a long bright (too bright!) corridor, following the signs to the Diagnostic Imaging Suite.

The orderly handed a form to a guy in a lab coat, "Right Eve, you've been here once before but I don't reckon you remember too much of it. I'm Craig, by the way." My chair was pushed over to the drum with a table running through it. I didn't like the idea of the head wear.

I was carefully laid on the table and my head locked into the restraint, as were my hands and legs. Already I didn't like this one little bit. A pair of headphones was put over my ears, they were odd as they had tubes not wires. They also did something with my catheter that I tried not to pay any notice of. It wasn't comfortable, and that's the best I could say.

"Eve, you have to stay perfectly still. It will get very noisy but if you move we'll have to repeat the scan."

I was becoming strangely familiar with this new name, the one that I'd had from birth. Hmmm.

They played me some classical music through the cans; I think it was Spring from the Four Seasons, or maybe Summer. I'd heard it a few times as 'music on hold'.

He wasn't kidding about the noise. A robotic voice told me to 'keep still'. Even if I had really wanted to hear some Vivaldi, I couldn't have because the noise was deafening. I was so glad when ten minutes later when it was over, except Craig told me they'd repeat the scan 'just to be sure'. Thanks.

I wasn't back in my bed until over an hour later. The orderly who had taken me for the MRI couldn't be found until one of the technicians looked in the staff canteen along the same corridor. As it was now lunchtime I was given a potato and leak soup (at least that is what they said) and a crusty bread roll with instructions 'not to get any crumbs on the bed'. As the roll was past its' best, I gave it a miss anyway. Sleep came easy to me.

I smelt fresh coffee as I woke up. Someone must have heard my silent pleas. I was helped to sit up by mum and she held the cardboard cup to my lips until I was able to take it for myself. She was smiling as I drank it, I'm not certain why but it did concern me. Before I could ask, the door swung open and Mr. Bishop, the surgeon walked in, followed by a gaggle of people in white lab coats.

"Good morning Eve, I hope you don't mind but these are medical students. I've asked them not to ask you any questions. Are you OK with them here?"

I nodded but made an waful attempt to hide my nightie. He continued, "I've had a look at the MRI scans and it looks like we got all of the tumour. Also, there is no obvious damage where your head hit the table, only bruising. You did however suffer substantial concussion. You'll stay overnight for observations and I'll check you in the morning, you could go home at lunchtime if there are no more concerns."

I thanked him and he left, followed by the gaggle.

So far today, four different different people had called me 'Eve' and I hadn't corrected them. My name is Simon I told myself. I must keep reminding myself, otherwise would I lose my identity? Mum was still sat there and offered me a glass of water, which I took.

"Simon, I know you're confused. When we get out of the hospital we'll straighten everything up. I've asked our solicitor to prepare a statutory declaration to change your name, if that's what you want. I'm sorry how this started."

She started crying. I held her hand and started crying myself, I never normally did that.

After a cardboard meal I fell asleep again. I woke at 7 in the morning and pushed the call button. A nurse appeared and I asked her for a coffee. She returned with a coffee and some toast. The crumbs warning was repeated. The coffee was warm and tasteless, the toast was cold. No marmalade, or jam, either. Did I get a choice for my food and was there any decent food anyway?

I must have dozed some more until I smelt coffee again. This time it was hot and tasted wonderful. I figured mum was getting her supply from elsewhere. The duty vampire arrived and took some more blood, she then went to the IV and adjusted the valve. Finally she changed my dressings. Dr. Fox arrived just then. We talked some more and she asked me how I felt being called Eve. I tried to explain that this was very new to me but most of the time I didn't notice if I was called Eve or Simon.

"It's strange, until last week I was Simon, now I'm Eve as well," I said.

Dr. Fox latched onto that last comment and asked me to explain it. Of course I couldn't - not fully. Dr. Fox told mum she'd see me as an out-patient next week. She also asked me to keep a diary of my dreams and to take it to the appointment. I asked if it would mean a day off school and she just smiled before she turned and left.

"Mum, what just happened? What haven't you told me?"

"Simon, they are keeping you off school for the next week until they're sure there's no damage, physical or mental."

"Great, now I'm waiting for the men in white coats. Oh damn, I've already seen them."

Mr. Bishop arrived a while later and asked how I felt.

"That's a strange question, I've been knocked unconscious, been treated as transgendered, been operated on for a tumour and I'm now seeing a shrink."

"I can see you are recovering quite well by that statement. I had the sedative discontinued his morning but we left the IV there just in case. I'll have a nurse remove the canula before you leave. You will be home in a few hours, but now I need to speak to your mother briefly."

He signalled for mum to follow him and they walked out of the room together. I fell back off to sleep, due to the lack of anything else to do.

This time I dreamt I was playing netball, and I was dressed just like the other girls. I don't even remember doing any more than walking past the netball court previously.

The rest of the morning flew past, easy if you're asleep. A nurse came in and told me she was taking my blood pressure and removing the catheter. I gritted my teeth as it was withdrawn. Mum returned at midday and said I had been discharged. She'd brought some clothes, thankfully a set of sweats and clean underwear - all my own clothes. The underwear certainly felt odd.

I winced as I dressed but was too pleased to be getting out to worry about any temporary discomfort. My training shoes were by the bed already and, having put them on, I was helped into a wheelchair. I was pushed past the nurses station into the lift and down to the entrance. An ambulance was waiting for me, they weren't keen on me getting into mum's car and bumping my head.

***

Once home I was pushed into the kitchen and moved onto one of the chairs there. I didn't notice mum coming back in carrying the flowers that were still OK, as well as the teddy bears. The ambulance women left and then it was just mum and me.

Mum went first to the filter machine and put on a pot of proper coffee. I got the feeling we'd need the whole pot. She then went to the fridge and prepared some lunch for us. My appetite hadn't fully returned, hospital food does that to you, but a cheese roll was just what I needed. The coffee was poured and she finally sat down to talk with me.

From her bag she retrieved a small book. "Simon, Dr. Fox asked you to keep a diary, did you have a dream while you were asleep this morning?"

I nodded.

"I thought so, you didn't say anything but there was some REM."

"REM, isn't that a band from Georgia?" I asked.

"No, in this case it is Rapid Eve Movement and usually means that you're dreaming."

I took the diary and wrote a note of my dream. I found it strange that before mum had asked me about my dream I couldn't remember much of it but now I had the whole dream on paper.

After I put the diary down, mum reached back into her bag and pulled out some tablets and a letter. She first explained that one set of tablets was in case I couldn't sleep and the other was a mild sedative if I was in pain. OK, so far. Mum would look after the sleeping pills, and I would be allowed to keep a couple of the painkillers, just in case, while mum would keep the rest of the supply.

"Simon, I know you're normally sensible but I just want to be careful. I won't be far away for the next week, my office have given me time off to look after you."

She then picked up the letter and said it was my copy of the discharge letter to our GP, Dr. Kumar. In the letter, Mr. Bishop described the injury, the tumour, the surgery and the post-operative care. Nothing strange there, but I was referred to as Eve throughout. He next wanted to see me on Monday morning at 11.

It was then that I realised I didn't know what day it was. I asked mum, and she said it was Friday, September 11th. She asked me if I needed to know the year, then giggled and moved away before I could reach her with my hand. I'd missed nearly two weeks of my life.

I felt to the back of my head and touched the dressing gently. I had a horrible thought and asked mum about my hair.

"Yes Simon, they had to shave most of your hair off round the back before they operated. You had a very major operation and they are amazed at your speed of recovery but you have a wound there that won't completely heal for one or two months; it has to be kept covered and the dressing changed regularly. The district nurse will be here tomorrow morning and you'll be then seen at the surgery every Monday and Friday. You'll also be seeing one of Mr. Bishop's team on Wednesdays and Dr. Fox on Thursdays."

Right, that's two days a week in the doctors surgery and two at the hospital.

"When can I go back to school?"

"Not yet and maybe not back to that school."

I sat stunned, "Why not?"

Mum took a deep breath and looked straight at me, "Simon, I'm sorry that this started like it did. I should have been with you at the school that morning but I thought you bcould cope without me and maybe thought my work was more important. Can you forgive me?"

I reached out and took her hands, "Mum I forgave you as soon as I was conscious enough to think after the surgery. This wasn't your fault."

"But Simon, I should have already changed your name then none of this would have happened."

I looked at her and started crying. She came round to me and asked me what was wrong, I waved my hand at a box of tissues and she handed me one. I dried my eyes and told her nothing was wrong, I was just so happy to be home. I'm not sure she entirely believed me.

I then had an overbearing need for the toilet. She put me back in the wheelchair and we wheeled to the ground-floor toilet. I got out of the chair and sat to relieve myself. The catheter had been taken out shortly before we left the hospital and I was a little sore, make that very sore. Maybe one of those pills wasn't a bad idea.

After washing my hands and then my eyes I looked in the mirror. I couldn't remember there being a mirror anywhere in the hospital. There was a purple bruise above my left eye. Turning my head I could see the edge of the dressing, there was stubble around the dressing. The rest of my hair looked like I had been dragged through a hedge backwards. I was a mess. I forced myself to just accept this, just as I'd accepted everything else.

I exited the toilet and Mum went to put me back in the wheelchair but I stood up straight, albeit a bit shaky, and said I'd walk back to the kitchen. She held my arm as we headed back to my cold coffee. I asked for a refill but she shook her head, doctor's orders, no more than two cups a day. Damn! No Coke or Pepsi either and no alcohol, as if. I asked where this came from and she showed me the second page of Mr. Bishop's letter. I sighed, at least I could get my morning fix of coffee.

I then asked what Mum had meant about my school. She went to the lounge and came back with a bundle of letters. I recognised the school's letterhead and the county council's logo but not the rest.

"Simon, your incident caused a storm. The school and the Local Eduction Authority are under investigation. Your head has been suspended, as has Mrs. Everett from the LEA. Ofsted has asked another county's LEA to appoint a temporary head. Parents have been pulling their children from the school.

"The local newspapers and local TV stations want an interview, but I've told them to speak to Dixon Hill & Co, our solicitors. Mr. Dixon has waived his normal fee, apparently they are waiting for the school's and LEA's solicitors to respond to a claim for damages. Oh, and the Health & Safety Executive want a statement from you on Monday. Mr. Dixon will be here. They might charge the head with negligence. The word is that he'll be sacked next week after an emergency governors' meeting."

"All because of me?" I asked.

"No, several parents have told the Osfted inspectors that their children have been refused permission by the head to have their parents present for disciplinaries and other serious matters."

She continued, "You'll have a private tutor here, Monday for four hours each afternoon and all day on Tuesdays. All your other appointments are before lunchtime. I've arranged the tutor but the LEA is picking up the cost."

"So, I don't get off school completely?"

"No," she said.

I asked about the flowers from the hospital. She told me that some of my school friends had sent flowers, as had my relatives. Claire and Annie Johnson, twins who I had been through school with, had left two of the teddy bears. The school governors, LEA, and mum's employers had sent the rest.

I was starting to yawn and mum saw this, despite my attempts to hide it, "How about you get some sleep in the lounge?" She helped me into the lounge and I laid on the couch.

I woke just before six and could smell cooking in the kitchen, real home cooking. There was a glass of water on the table, I took a sip and then swallowed the whole glass. Looking around I saw the local paper on the table, last Friday's edition. It was open on page 3 - 'Girl beats St. P's GCSE record'. The byline read 'Sixteen year old Eve Jones has broken the 10 year record of grade A passes at GCSE level'. I wasn't impressed with that article. I turned to the front page, the headline read 'Schoolgirl Injured In St. P's Incident.' The article continued but didn't mention my name anywhere.

So the school and the LEA have me as a girl, the hospital have me as transgendered and now the local paper has made me a girl. Who next? Am I an alien?
 
(to be continued)