A New Style of Education

by Karen Page

Part 53

Brian's surgery and a bithday wish.

---

Part 53

Saturday 7th January 2006

I knew I shouldn't be running inside the building, but I didn't care. All I wanted to do was get to the car park. It was raining, but I pushed open the door and rushed outside only to find that the car hadn't arrived. The only person mad enough to be outside was Stacy, and she had been sensible enough to bring an umbrella.

"How did your session go?" Stacy enquired as we sheltered under her brolly.

"It could have been worse. At least Rachel didn't ask what you'd said to make me sick. I think she had some general ideas, but she did say she wasn't going to ask for specifics. She also said the other day that if I was going to be Beta-One next year then I would be working closely with you so there was some handover."

"That's the way it has been done in the past. This year will be a bit different though as next year's head student won't be the same as Beta-One. For me, the handover to Susan will be minor, but you two will have to come to a working relationship and decide where the boundaries are. The Beta-One handover will be a lot more work as the existing and proposed people normally cover the last field trip together, to make sure the knowledge is passed on."

The sound of a car approaching stopped our conversation and we both looked to see it arrive. I was rather surprised to see Edith get out of the front passenger seat and Andy stagger out of the rear. Helen had been driving?

"Never again," Andy moaned theatrically, as Helen got out of the driver's door.

I abandoned the shelter of Stacy's brolly and ran towards Helen. It didn't bother me that the rain started to get heavier.

"Are you okay?" I queried.

"Surprisingly, yes. I wasn't happy when we found out where we were going, but it seemed to have been okay."

"So, is that it? Are you cured?" Perhaps this was wishful thinking on my part. I took her into my arms, and hugged her. As we held each other, I felt all my worries disappear.

"Why don't we discuss this inside," suggested Edith. I realised how wet I was and we scampered inside, to get out of the rain.

Once we were all inside, Edith continued. "This has been an important step for both Helen and Andy, though I don't think we are at the end of the road just yet. Let's see how things progress before we declare anyone cured. I must admit that the four of you are very good patients. None of you have tried to rush your recovery, but on the other hand, also none of you have given up either."

As we walked back to our year room, I had the chance to ask Helen about her driving. "I didn't think you were allowed to do that yet?"

"I've only done it twice before and Edith though it might be nice for me since I'd done so well at the shooting. She also said that she'd asked that you and Stacy not tell us that you'd already had that treat the other day."

"Sorry." I hated keeping things from Helen.

She gave my hand a squeeze. "It's okay. I understand why."

"You look like a drowned rat," Paula exclaimed as I entered our year room. "Helen you're not much better!"

"I think we better sort ourselves out," Helen laughed. "I hadn't realised how wet we were."

"You two must have it bad if you miss each other for a few hours and get wet to greet each other."

I laughed at what Anna had said. "Yeah, I think I have it bad, though I was also very worried about Helen. She'd had a nice trip to the shooting range."

That grabbed everyone's attention. Well, I suppose being soaked to the skin had already done that.

"Since Helen isn't locked up, I presume she didn't go ballistic and shoot anybody?"

Martha certainly had a strange sense of humour, but it certainly broke the stillness. A small shiver from me was a stark reminder to go and change.

* * *

Sunday 8th January 2006

When we got to orchestra practice the first think I noticed was a small upright piano. This was strange, as any piano music would normally be at the front, and would be the grand. Then when the orchestra practice got under way there was a real eye opener. Lewis did the introduction and got Mrs Russell to hand out the new music. It was the reverse of what it had been only a few months ago.

I wasn't the only one who'd noticed as Kevin, my fellow French horn player, teased Mrs Russell as she handed him his music. "How do you like your new position?"

"It's great. This is the way the school orchestra should be. It's just taken a while to find someone!"

When all the music was handed out, Lewis called us all to order. "For those who like to get their music in order we will be practicing in this order; Harry Potter - Hedwig's Theme, William Tell Overture, and Liberty Bell March. Our next practice will cover Pirates of the Caribbean, Hall of the Mountain King, and Ride of the Valkyries. Some practices will be the Beethoven and Shubert so you don't forget how to play them my way."

That got him a chorus of 'Oooohs'.

"For all those not in the know, we have some different instruments for the Harry Potter. As some of you saw, Jill is going to use the Cor Anglais in this and I know she has been practicing. The other instrument I'd never come across before is the Celesta. This looks like an upright piano, but inside are bells, which is driven from the keyboard. Unfortunately I couldn't find a bow big enough to embarrass Dan, but we can rectify that as the beginning few bars are a solo."

"Oh, no pressure then," laughed Dan. "I wondered why I was asked to practice on this instrument the other day. Okay, I'm ready when you are."

"We'll do a straight run through so we all get a good feel for it, and then we'll go back and tidy up."

We didn't do a bad job as these were all very popular tunes. I would never have expected the orchestra to play such light orchestral music and even film music. However, since this was for a school, we had to tone down what we played to fit in with our audience.

The whole concert for a school sounded strange. The school gave concerts oversees, but in this country was very much hidden. From what Mr Hobson had said on Friday, it sounded like this had been done before, but to me it didn't make sense. I decided to talk to Helen about it that night.

"I'd not thought of that," mussed Helen as we snuggled up together that night. "I wonder if there is someone at the school that Hayfield is interested in."

"And they are trying to encourage them to take up an instrument."

"Or they were playing one, but they were giving up on it. You're seeing Stacy tomorrow when you have your chat with Edith, so why don't you ask her then?"

Sleep that night was disturbed as Helen woke up with a nightmare. This wasn't the first one since she'd proposed, but normally she would tell me about it, and settle back to sleep. However, tonight's seemed a bit more severe. I'd been worried she might have a nightmare after her trip to the shooting range, but last night she slept right through. So, I'd been secretly hoping that the nightmares might be over, but it seems I was so wrong.

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

"No." Helen was shaking in my arms and I just held her, hoping that this wasn't as bad as her previous nightmare.

"You're shaking."

"I know damn well what I'm doing," she snapped.

I was slightly surprised by that and relaxed my hold on her. I hadn't fully let go, but her attitude surprised me.

"Sorry," she repented.

I didn't say anything, but just waited. I didn't change my slack grip. She knew I was there, but hopefully knew I wanted more than that. She must have, as after a few minutes she did continue.

"You must hate me."

Huh? What was Helen talking about? "I don't think so."

"I've forced you to still be Jayne."

I sighed. "Helen, we've been through this before. I'm doing this until you're ready for me to go back. You are getting better. I've not seen you flinch around Andy for a bit. It's really nice to see you happy around him."

She turned round to see me and my heart beat picked up as I saw her face. She looked puzzled.

"You are?"

"Duh! I'm happy that you're happy. You have enough worry and upset at the moment that it's nice you can find something to make you happy during those sessions."

"But-"

"But nothing. I love you so much and with that comes trust."

"Nothing's ever happened."

"I know. Like I said, I trust you."

Helen smiled for the first time. It was a sort of week smile, as her eyes were still watery, and she kept sniffing. "Stop it. When you get like that, you sound thirty and not thirteen."

"By the way, Happy Birthday." I leaned over and gave her a kiss.

"I'm going to be so tired in the morning," she complained.

"Then let's go to sleep."

Morning came and we didn't feel nearly as sleepy as we'd expected. Surprisingly, we were awake before our PDA's tried to rudely interrupt our sleep. The issues that Helen had suffered during the night no longer seemed evident.

"Will you grant me a birthday wish?" Helen asked, as I headed towards my bedroom for a morning shower.

"Which is?" I hated people asking me to commit to something before telling me what it was.

"I'd love you to dress as David."

That stopped me in my tracks. I turned around and looked into her lovely eyes. "Are you ready for this?"

"I think so. I won't really know until you try though, will I?"

"I suppose not. I'll do it if you promise you'll tell me if it gets too much for you. I don't want you suffering in silence."

I was quite nervous while getting ready. I almost decided to go for pretty androgynous clothing, but decided if I was going to do this for Helen, then I would do it properly. My hair was a totally different matter, and I struggled to get it to resemble a male looking shape. This layered style was very easy to maintain when I was being female all the time, but it wasn't great when I wanted it to look masculine. Eventually, I pulled it up and put on a baseball cap. It looked a bit strange, but it was the best I could do.

Helen came into my room, took one look at me and smiled. There was no flinching, no frown, no flood of tears and certainly no breakdown. I was still pretty pessimistic about the situation as Helen had only lasted a few hours when she proposed. Time had moved on, and she had got better, but I still doubted I would still be dressed in male clothes by afternoon orchestra practice.

When we entered our year-room, the Happy Birthday wishes quickly tailed off as they saw me dressed as David. Perhaps I was being a bit cruel to Helen, but I wanted to know for sure if she could cope, so I used all the skills I'd learnt in boy lessons. I think Martha and Erika had seen more of me as Jayne, so seeing me as David in full male mode was more of a shock for them. Actually it was a shock for me too. Besides the time I was outside in Russia, I hadn't made a conscious effort to be seen as male since the trip to London soon after Immigration Manor arrived.

"Why are you David today?" asked Paula.

"Helen's birthday wish," I responded as simply as I could.

I wasn't going to say any more than that, but Helen did. "I was upset last night, worried that David would never come back. I'm not reacting badly anymore to what happened, and I thought it was a good time to see if I can cope."

"And if you can't cope?" Anna asked Helen, looking a bit worried.

Before Helen could answer, I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Then I go change. I'm sure that Helen will be fine, so let's not worry and go and have breakfast."

It seemed strange me saying that as it was normally Lewis's phrase, but he wasn't here. He was keeping Brian company in the hospital wing.

Being David didn't go unnoticed as we walked into the dining room. Becky was the psychiatrist sat on our table today. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw how I was dressed. I wasn't sure what she had been told about why Helen was having issues with me being David, but Rachel or Mr Hobson must have said something to the other psychiatrists. She didn't say anything, but as breakfast progressed, I noticed she was keeping a careful watch on both of us.

The two empty seats at our table also didn't go unnoticed, and I'm sure many theories were being proposed by those on the other year tables. However, it wasn't unheard of for people to miss a meal for various reasons, so things didn't get too wild. I almost laughed at some of the ideas I heard. Everyone on our table kept Brian's privacy and nobody gave the truth away. I was sure by lunchtime that it would be known that Brian was having surgery.

As breakfast finished, I received a message from Lewis asking if I could visit. The first full day of lessons after the Christmas break and I was being called away. At least the first lesson was advanced computer studies, where I was well in advance of the others in the class.

I showed the message to Helen. "I hope not to be too long."

Helen nodded. "I'll tell Julia."

I snuck off before the year left the dining room, knowing Helen would take care of letting the others know why I'd disappeared. I know Helen was going to tell Julia, but I still felt a bit bad about missing the lesson, so once I was out of the dining room, I rang her. I didn't want to tell her too much, to protect Brian's privacy, so I just told her that Brian was in the hospital and was asking for me.

"And there goes my help!" She then turned more serious. "Student welfare comes first, as you've probably been told many times before. If you don't make the lesson then I'm sure you will catch up from Helen. Tell Brian that I wish him a speedy recovery."

"How much do you know?"

"Mr Hobson let Brian's teachers know that he would be out of action for at least a week. He didn't tell us what was wrong, and nobody asked. Now stop worrying and do what you need to."

I smiled as I trotted down the corridor. I hadn't thought about notifying the staff about Brian being away, but it made sense for Mr Hobson to tell them. As I approached the reception, I saw Sally coming out of one of the rooms. She was one of the nurses who'd worked with Mr Millard, the surgeon who operated on Stacy, so I presume he was doing the surgery on Brian.

"Hi Sally, is Brian in there?"

"Ah, David wasn't it? Are you a relative or have an appointment?"

"No, I'm not a relative, but I do have a message from Lewis asking me to visit." I showed her my PDA.

"Yes, Brian is in there. I'll be back in there myself in a few minutes."

I slipped into the room. There was no music like when Stacy occupied the room, but a worried silence.

"Hi Jay....David?"

"A birthday wish for Helen. Lewis, did you get any breakfast?"

"Yes, the nurse made sure I had something."

"Sally?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"So, you asked me to visit?" I enquired, deciding I needed to get things back on track.

"I asked Lewis to send the message," said Brian. "He said he was going to wait for me here, but then he will just be fretting all by himself. Will you stay with him?"

"Lewis, why don't you just come to class? A bit of Computer Studies and Geography will take your mind off things."

"But I won't be able to concentrate. I'll be so worried about what's happening. I want to be here when Brian comes back from surgery."

"It isn't that you will be miles away. If you're needed, you can be here in a few minutes. And I'm sure that Sally will ring you as soon as he is out of surgery."

As if on cue, Sally came into the room.

"Ah Sally, we were just mentioning you. Brian is fretting a bit about Lewis waiting here on his own. Would it be possible for you to ring him when you've finished?"

Sally gave a reassuring smile. "We always contact the study partners of someone undergoing surgery as soon as they are about to leave the recovery room. This operation isn't going to be as long as some we do, but it isn't going to be five minutes, either."

Brian looked at Lewis in a pointed way and Lewis reluctantly gave in. "Okay, I'll go to lessons when Brian goes in."

There was a knock on the door and in came Mr Millard. I thought I saw a glimpse of recognition, but he didn't say anything to me, which made me wonder if I'd really seen anything.

"Would you all mind waiting outside while I discuss the operation with Brian?"

"They both know what's going on," said Brian. "Is it okay if they stay?"

"Sure. I just want to make sure that you still want to go through with what was discussed?"

"Yes, remove female parts that need removing which we identified in our discussion. If anything new is found that didn't show up on the ultrasounds, then it should be left unless it would kill me and then only after you'd got permission from Becky."

"How long will it take?" asked Lewis.

"Barring complications, three hours." He turned back to Brian. "I will go through your post-operative recovery when you're awake." Mr Millard then turned to me. "David, are you the year leader?"

He did remember me. "One of them. Helen, my study partner is the other."

"Only one of you is needed, as I'm sure you will update each other. I just need you to keep an eye on Brian during his recovery to make sure that he doesn't rush things and that you don't expect too much of him."

"Will Becky have all the do's and don'ts?"

"Yes, though I'll send you an email too, so I know that you have them."

"Yes, Sir."

He turned back to Brian. "Do you have any other questions before we do this?"

"No."

"Excellent. A trolley will be here in about fifteen minutes to take you to theatre. David, you weren't here expecting to view me at work again, were you?"

"I was here because Brian and Lewis asked me to be."

"I thought you were teasing us when you said you were with Stacy when she had her op," gasped Brian.

Lewis looked slightly unwell. "I hate the sight of operations. My mum used to watch these reality programs set at hospitals and seeing an operation was horrid."

"I know Lewis," soothed Brian. "I wasn't going to ask if you could go with me. But, Mr Millard, would it be okay if David came along? I would feel much better if there was someone with me."

Mr Millard frowned and really didn't look happy. I think he was regretting joking with me. "This is really against all the rules." Before Brian could protest, he continued. "Let me go and speak with my team and see if they would mind."

Sally, who had disappeared while Mr Millard spoke to us, came back and started prepping Brian. "We had a student here last week who asked if she could wake up to some music. They seemed to have a much smoother wakeup, even though they'd just gone through a rather large operation. Would you like something like that?"

"That sounds really cool. I would normally listen to Pink, but perhaps something smoother would be better. Lewis, who was that composer that Anna put on the other week? You know the nice relaxing one."

"Not sure."

"You know, he composed the James Bond music."

"Oh, him."

I had my PDA out. "John Barry. The Beyondness of Things."

"I've never heard of that," apologised Sally.

I punched a few buttons on my PDA, and the first track starting to play.

"That's it," exclaimed Brian excitedly.

"Hey, you're supposed to be calming down," said Sally quite seriously. "If you have more excitement like that and I'll have to throw you all out."

We all uttered our apologies and Sally left us to ourselves.

"So how is Helen been with you back being David?"

"So far, quite well, but it probably will help her that I'm not sitting next to her in class."

"Why the cap?"

"I haven't had chance to see the hairdresser yet. Well, actually I don't want to get it restyled until I know I'm not going back to Jayne right away."

There was a knock and in walked Mr Millard. "David, as you were so well behaved last time, the team has agreed to give you another view. However, any interruptions and you will have to leave."

"Of course." I was slightly bewildered. It had been Brian who'd mentioned me being with him. I'd have been very happy going to lessons.

"Now, please come with me so you can start to scrub up."

"Lewis, can you let Helen know what's going on and will you also let Edith know, as I had a meeting with her."

When I was putting on the operating theatre garb it didn't seem as strange as last time. I did get a small smile from Mr Millard when I took of my cap to put on a theatre one, but he didn't say anything.

I met back up with Brian just before he was sedated. He looked relieved when he saw me all dolled up in surgical green. "Thanks for doing this."

"That's what friends are for, but don't expect me to do it again. I doubt this would ever be allowed outside school, and I'm not sure how it is being allowed here."

The anaesthetist was the same one that anesthetised Stacy. I wasn't told his name then and he didn't offer it now. However, he gave a small smile of recognition. "David, I take it you're missing lessons to be here?"

"Yes."

"You'll never get anywhere if you keep skipping classes like that. So come here, and let me show you in more detail why I'm the most skilled person in this team."

Mr Millard, who was hovering in the background, snorted. I tried my best to keep a straight face and concentrate on what I was being shown.

Obviously I wasn't able to touch any of the equipment, but the operation was an eye-opener. I'm not sure if Mr Millard was trying to compete, after hearing all the explanation by the anaesthetist, but he proceeded to explain every step of the surgery. I was told why he was doing what he was, why he was choosing the instrument or knife he did. His assistant even joined in and mentioned what organs they were looking at and the reason for removing the ones they did. This was certainly one of the most comprehensive biology lessons I'd ever had.

As they prepared to wheel Brian out, I thought I better say something. "Thank you for letting me glimpse you all in action."

"You were very attentive," smiled Mr Millard. "It is nice that our skills are appreciated. Though don't expect such treatment every time I'm doing an operation on someone you know."

"Yes, sir."

I turned on the music Brian had requested and waited. I wasn't sure how long he was going to be unconscious. Last time, I'd not been included in so much, and had assumed that they just left the patient until they woke up, and then wheeled them to their room. Instead, this time I saw there were frequent checks on his pulse, breathing, temperature, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and numerous other things. The anaesthetist was always there, just in case something went wrong.

When Brian was nearly ready to be moved back to his hospital room, Sally rang Lewis. There had been no point in ringing him earlier, as he'd just have been waiting and worrying. As it was, he was pacing when Brian was eventually wheeled in.

"Was everything okay?" Lewis asked me.

"I'm not the best one to ask, but things looked good and Mr Millard looked very pleased. Sally?"

"Everything went as expected. Now relax and wait for Brian to wake up again. The doctor will be in later to explain everything and I'm told that your Dr Sue will be here in a few minutes."

I felt a bit in the way. "I'd better get to Helen. When we're given the all clear, I know I'll be visiting."

The surgery had gone smoother than expected, so I made it to lunch just as the others were arriving. Helen looked a bit surprised when I appeared. I wasn't sure though if it was because I was David, or because she didn't expect me to be back in time.

"How's Brian?"

"His operation was a success. Lewis was with him when I left. How were lessons this morning?"

"You were missed, especially in Computer Studies, though neither of the teachers had any issues, since you were with Brian. However, since you weren't able to see Edith, they thought it would be nice if I had a chat with Rachel and Edith about how I felt about you being back as David."

"Oh," I uttered, feeling a bit small. I'd not thought of that happening. "Are you okay?"

"At the moment, yes. I've been warned though; 'not too much too soon', whatever that means."

"Are you okay with me being like this? Do you need me to change?"

"I'm okay for now. Oh, you've now got the joy of seeing Edith tomorrow at eleven."

After lunch, our first lesson was a new one for us. Life Facts. As we walked to the class, I wondered what this lesson was about. Strangely there was no information, and no teachers listed, just the class title and where it was to be held.

---

Readers, Please Remember to Leave a Comment

Want to comment but don't want to open an account?
Anyone can log in as Guest Reader -- password topshelf to leave a comment.