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Editor Note: The images used for this story were purchased and used under royalty-free license* from Istockphoto.com . ~Sephrena
Author Note: Please email me at AngelJediGirl (at) gmail (dot) com before posting this story to any other site. Posting to a pay site is prohibited.

Comments and suggestions are also welcome at the above email address.

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Sarah Carerra Book 2: Summer Medley

Chapter 2.06 - Hospital Blues

The constant hum of machinery and the intermittent beeping were the first things that I became aware of. The smell of antiseptic was next. I opened my eyes a moment later.

A hospital. I was in a hospital. Why was I here? I groaned.

"Are you awake?" I heard someone ask from nearby. I turned toward the voice to find my mom sitting beside the bed, a book in her lap.

"What happened?" I tried to ask, but my throat was dry, and I was not sure how well I was able to form the words. She smiled down at me, her grin slightly forced.

"If I tell you, will you remember it this time?" she asked in a tone that had a hint of humor in it. I didn't understand her question, and my brow furrowed.

"What do you mean?" I asked her. I was totally lost.

"Well, you do seem to be more alert today," she commented to herself.

"Mom!" I groaned. "What are you talking about?"

Mom's face lit up immediately. "You ARE awake!"

She reached for the call button and pressed it, then she picked up a cup that had been sitting on the table nearby. "Here, honey, drink this. It will help with your throat."

I nodded, and tried to pull myself into a sitting position. As I did, I was unnerved to find blonde waves fall in front of my face. Was I still wearing the wig?

I accepted the cup from my mom. I had so many questions, but I needed something to quench my throat if I was going to be able to ask them. I took a sip of the liquid inside. It was water.

Handing the cup back to my mom, I asked my question again. "What happened?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but we were interrupted by the door opening. As soon as it did, I heard many clicks and saw the flashes of cameras going off. That probably explained why I was still wearing the wig. Everybody here thought I was Sarah Carerra! I was still confused!

A nurse quickly rushed into the room, closing the door behind her with a click that I realized meant that the door was locked.

"Is she up again?" the nurse asked, posing the question to Mom instead of looking at me.

"Yes," Mom replied. "But she seems to be lucid this time."

"Oh!" the nurse said in surprise, looking at me for the first time. She had a curious look on her face, almost like she couldn't believe I was sitting there. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Sarah."

"Thank you, I guess?" I said, but it sounded more like a question. "Is someone going to tell me what happened?" I was becoming frustrated now.

The nurse looked over at my mother again, and I followed her gaze. Mom nodded, ready to start again. While she spoke, the nurse started checking the information on the machines that I was apparently connected to.

"You collapsed on stage while singing on the 'Wake Up!' show," Mom told me. "Do you remember that?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I had a horrible pain in my stomach. Am I okay?"

"You are now, sweety," the nurse interjected. Mom nodded.

"Apparently, you started your period earlier that morning," Mom continued to explain. "Dr. Mason believes that since the blood had nowhere for it to go, your body spasmed with pain, and you went into shock and became unconscious."

I sat there, stunned! I was supposed to have surgery to PREVENT this sort of thing from happening, but that wasn't scheduled until tomorrow!

"What about the surgery?" I asked, seeking clarification as to what would happen now. I really wanted to have that surgery, especially if I was having a period!

"Dr. Mason rushed you into surgery when you got here," she replied. "He was able to drop his other appointments and perform your surgery a day early."

"So, I have a...a..." I stammered, not able to complete the sentence.

"Yes, honey," Mom said. "Everything is as it should be now. You've been in and out of consciousness the last few days, but the doctors say everything is fine."

"The last few days? What day is it?" I asked immediately. How long had I been here? Wasn't it still Monday?

"You've been in the hospital for nearly four days, honey," Mom said. "It's Thursday."

"Are you serious?" I asked incredulously. How could I lose so many days?

"You had a bad reaction to the pain medication they gave you," Mom told me. "It made you really groggy, and you've been sleeping it off. You awakened a few other times, but you weren't really awake."

I stared at the door for several seconds. I could still hear many people outside, and I noticed that the blinds that looked out into the hallway were shut.

"Have they been here the whole time?" I asked, pointing toward the door. The anger that grew on Mom's face answered the question before she even opened her mouth.

"Unfortunately," Mom replied. She started to say something else, but glanced at the nurse for a second and then closed her mouth again. "Celebrity misfortunes are big news in the tabloid industry. Even some reputable papers are looking for more information about the teen heartthrob who collapsed. We haven't told them very much yet."

"Oh," I replied.

"Well, everything looks okay," the nurse interrupted us. "Would you like me to change your pad now, or come back in a few minutes?"

The question was directed at me, but I had no idea what she was talking about. I glanced over at my mom.

"You're still having your period, honey," she said. "There are some special precautions that need to be taken to help protect the surgical area while that is going on. Now should be fine, Catherine. I'll see if I can find Don."

"Okay," the nurse, Catherine, replied and set about removing things from a gurney in the corner of the room. Mom stood up.

"Will you be okay for a few minutes while I look for your dad?" she asked. I nodded. I was scared about what the nurse was preparing to do, but I really wanted to see my dad. Heck, I even wanted to see Austin. "Okay, I'll be right back then."

I watched as Mom stood up and headed for the door. She opened it, and looked back at me with love for a moment. Then she smiled and immediately closed the door behind her.

*  *  *

"In entertainment news, hospital spokesperson Jeffery Taggart stated that Sarah Carerra is now awake and is recovering well from the emergency surgery that she was rushed into after collapsing on the 'Wake Up!' show Monday morning."

The picture on the TV changed from the cute news anchor to a clip of me on stage at the concert.

"No official word has been released about the cause of the singer's collapse," she continued. "But a tentative press conference has been scheduled for Saturday morning, assuming that the teen has recovered well enough to attend. Taggart did add that the collapse was caused by a pre-existing medical condition that the singer was scheduled to undergo surgery for on Tuesday."

The picture cut away from my concert and back to the news anchor. "One of our correspondents caught up with Josh Holliday at his home in Salt Lake City earlier this morning for his reaction on Sarah's hospitalization. Sarah stated early Monday morning that the two of them were just friends, despite the rumor that the two have been dating. Derek, what do you have for us?"

The next cut showed a middle aged man standing in front of a nice home. "Thanks, Susan," the man said. "Whether they were dating or not, Josh Holliday’s and Sarah Carerra's names have been linked together a number of times over the last three weeks. I had the opportunity to sit down with Josh this morning and give him a chance to weigh in on the tragedy that befell his counterpart earlier this week."

I sat riveted on the bed, watching the television closely. The nurse had left 15 minutes earlier, and I was still waiting for Mom to come back. I wanted to see the results of the surgery, but the nurse had said that I was still bandaged up to the point where I wouldn’t be able to see anything. After the nurse left, I had turned on the TV to alleviate the boredom that had quickly set in and was surprised to see a news report about me.

The next thing I knew, Josh was on the television. He was sitting on an expensive looking couch in a well-appointed living room. I assumed that it was his house in Salt Lake City. My heart started beating faster just at the sight of him.

"What was your reaction when you found out about Sarah?" Derek, the correspondent asked.

Josh frowned, and I guessed that he was wishing he wasn't having this conversation in front of a camera. My heart went out to him for being put on the spot like this.

"I was really worried," he said. "I was watching the show at the time, and I was shocked to see her collapse like that."

I groaned. I had really hoped that Josh hadn't seen my interview. If he hadn't known my feelings for him beforehand, he knew now. But to actually have him see me collapse must have hurt him greatly. I promised myself that I would personally give him a call to ease his fears.

"Sarah and I have become close friends over the last few weeks. I'd hate to see anything bad happen to her."

I wanted to watch more of his interview, but the door to my hospital room opened at that moment, and Austin came barreling inside, running to my bedside. Dad and Mom slipped in behind him and quickly closed the door. I immediately turned the TV off to devote my attention to them.

Austin threw his arms around me, and I knew that he was crying. I felt tears start to well in my own eyes at his emotion.

"Don't ever do that again, Megan!" he sobbed at me. I wrapped my arms around him.

"I won't, Austin," I replied, holding him close. "I promise."

He let go of me and stepped back. Now he looked embarrassed at his emotional outburst. I smiled at him, and that seemed to put him at ease.

"How are you doing, Princess?" Dad pulled my attention away from Austin. I turned toward him and smiled through my tears.

"I'm okay, Daddy," I replied. "I'm sorry for all of this."

"Don't be sorry," he said. "This isn't your fault. We should have scheduled your surgery immediately to prevent this. It's our fault you had to go through this."

My tears weren't stopping, and I smiled through them to let him know that I didn't blame them. This was just bad timing.

"What happens now?" I asked him.

"Well, I think the doctors are going to want to keep you overnight for observation," he said. "But there haven't been any complications beyond your reaction to the pain medicine, and they believe you'll be released early tomorrow morning. We'll take you home and let you rest some more, but Saturday morning we have scheduled a press conference to talk about what happened." I nodded to let him know that I was okay with that. "We haven't told the press what happened yet and I think we'll try to call it 'womanly issues' or something like that. We don't have to go into detail. We just want you to be there to show them that you are doing okay."

I nodded again. Everything would be fine as long as I had my family with me.

*  *  *

I stared at the keypad of the phone in my hospital room a few hours later. I had picked it up with the intention of calling Josh, and I'd already entered all but the last digit of his phone number. But now I wasn't sure that it was a good idea. He must be worried, and heaven knew I wanted to hear his voice, but how much heartache would it cause by the time the call was finished?

With a soft sigh, I pressed the last number, and the phone started to ring. I hesitated once more, almost ending the call in the process. But in the end, I placed the phone to my ear and waited for him to answer.

Two rings later, I was ready to hang up. He obviously wasn't going to answer, and I was debating if I should stay on the line and leave him a message or not.

"Hello?" Josh's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Hi, Josh," I said.

"Sarah?" he asked. There was a hint of excitement in his voice behind the worry. "Is that you?"

"Yes," I replied meekly. Now that I had him on the line, I wasn't sure what I was going to tell him. I certainly couldn't tell him the truth.

"Are you okay?" he asked immediately. "What happened?"

"I'm fine," I quickly said to calm him down. I hadn't heard such worry in his voice before. "I just had some..." I grimaced. I really didn't want to talk to him about this. "I'm fine."

"But what happened?" he asked again, worry still in his voice. "I was so worried when you collapsed like that!"

"The doctors said my body went into shock," I told him. "I don't really remember much after that. But I'm fine now."

"Can it happen again?" he asked, the worry still evident. Perhaps he still had feelings for me?

"No," I replied. "The surgery fixed me. It won't happen again."

"It must have been some major surgery," he stated. "The news reports said you've been unconscious all week! Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Josh," I replied. "I haven't been completely unconscious. Apparently I had a bad reaction to some pain medication, and I've been in and out of consciousness the last few days. I would have had to stay in bed that long to heal anyway, but I'm fine now."

"That's good to hear," he said. For the first time since he had picked up the phone, I heard relief in his voice. "I'm glad you called. I've been so worried, and I couldn't get any information out of Don."

"He didn't even tell you I was okay?" I asked. That didn't sound like Dad at all.

"Well, he did say that," Josh replied. "But he wouldn't tell me anything else."

That made sense, and it totally sounded like my dad. Even if he had been willing to give that information out, I was certain he wouldn't want to discuss it with the boy he knew I had a crush on. It couldn't get any more awkward then that.

"Congratulations," Josh said next, which completely threw me for a loop.

"What?" I asked. I had no idea what he was talking about now.

"On your first #1 single," he explained further.

"Oh," I said, feeling embarrassed now. I was all too aware of how he must really feel about my number one single. "I'm sorry, Josh, I..." I didn't know what to tell him. I was happy to have a #1 hit, but I felt bad that it had to come at his expense.

"It's okay, Sarah," he replied. "It's a good song, and you're a good singer. You deserve this. I had my run at the top."

I heard the regret in his voice, but I could also hear the sincerity.

"Josh, I..." I started to console him, but was interrupted immediately.

"Sarah, don't," Josh said. "I'm okay with it. You don't need to feel sorry about your song, okay?"

"Okay," I said. I didn't know what else to do.

"I've got to go, but thank you for calling," Josh continued. "I'm glad that you're alright. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Josh," I sighed into the phone as I heard it click. I was further than ever at winning him back.

*  *  *

Early the next morning I was awakened by a knock on the door. I decided to ignore it because I was not sure if it was someone I wanted to come in or if it was one of the reporters camping outside of my room.

Then the door cracked open, and I saw Catherine poke her head inside.

"Are you awake?" she asked. I sighed, but nodded. "Good, because Dr. Mason is here and would like to see you. Is that okay?"

I chuckled to myself while nodding my assent. This was a hospital, and I was a patient. My doctor shouldn't be asking for my permission to be seen. Perhaps he was trying to show respect for the newfound fame that I was garnering.

Catherine opened the door further and stepped inside, followed by a man who appeared to be in his early 50's. He had dark hair that was graying on the sides of his head and a smile that looked genuine instead of forced, like the night nurse's smile had been. I felt at ease almost immediately, if not completely comfortable.

"Good morning, Sarah," he stated once the door had been closed and locked once more. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," I replied. I felt weird talking to this man whom I was meeting for the first time, but who had performed such an intimate surgery on me.

"I'm here to give you a final check before we release you. Isn't that exciting?" he said. I nodded. I was ready to get out of here. I missed my family. I missed Emily and Ethan, who hadn't had a chance to come visit me, at least while I was awake. I missed Madison and her family. But most of all, I missed being Megan. I should be recuperating, but instead I had to stay on alert to keep the secret...well, a secret.

"Once I'm finished here, Nurse Stevens will show you what you'll need to do to keep the area clean until your period is over, and show you what you need to do for the next few weeks, okay?" Dr. Mason continued. I nodded once again.

"This is the embarrassing part," he stated while stepping up to where Catherine had already started to pull up the bed sheets and my hospital gown. Then he began to carefully remove my bandages. Bit by bit my new anatomy was uncovered, and I watched with awe and wonder as he unveiled what had happened to me.

It looked gross. It was black and blue, it looked swollen, and it was bruised all over. But more importantly, it looked complete. For the first time in my life, I was physically a girl! I’d had all of the internal parts my whole life, but now I had the external ones to go with them. I continued to stare as the doctor started to check his handiwork, and tears began to form.

Eventually, he looked up at me, and I smiled down at him through my tears. There weren’t any words that could express all of the emotions that I was going through.

“What do you think?” he asked me. I didn’t know what to say.

“It may be bruised and ugly right now,” Catherine spoke up. “But I assure you that it will look like any other girl’s once it has healed.”

I continued to beam through my tears. I had only ever seen diagrams of what I now had between my legs in health classes at school. I never thought that the first time I would be seeing something like this, it would be on me. But I couldn’t ask for anything else.

He carefully began to bandage the area back up. When he was done, he stepped closer to the top of the bed, where he could talk to me more comfortably.

"It looks like your period has stopped," he stated. "It may be erratic for a while, but soon you'll start to understand what your body is doing. I recommend that you visit a gynecologist in a couple of weeks, but otherwise you appear to be in good shape. Everything seems to be healing well. You'll probably be tender down there for another week or so, and I'd stay away from anything too strenuous. No crazy choreography, okay?"

I laughed. He certainly was a nice guy and had a way of keeping me at ease while talking about such an intimate topic.

"I don't know how to thank you properly," I told him. "I mean, is there anything I can do for you? You've changed my life for the better, and I feel I should repay you somehow. Do you want an autograph?"

Dr. Mason smiled while shaking his head. "No thanks are necessary, Megan," he said. I had forgotten that he knew the truth. Either that or he had learned it in this fiasco. I was originally supposed to be seeing him as Megan. "I'm just honored that I could give you the life you were supposed to have."

"Thank you," I said again, not sure what else to say.

"You're welcome," he replied. "Catherine will have your release forms when your parents arrive. I'll see you later."

"Bye," I said. I had just met this kind man who had forever changed the way I would live, and he was already leaving my life. I would be forever grateful.

*  *  *

It was another hour before the next knock interrupted my boredom. But that was all changed when the door opened and Chloe's bright red hair came bounding inside and to my bed.

"M...Sarah!" she screamed, catching herself since the door was still opened behind her, where my mom was following her inside. "I'm so glad to see you awake! How are you doing?"

"I'm ready to go home," I told her, causing a smile to form on her lips. "Can you take me?"

"With pleasure," she said and then wrapped me in the hug I knew she was waiting to give me.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she said. "Why didn't you tell me something like this might happen? Do you know how scared I was when you dropped to the stage like that? I thought you were dead!"

"I'm sorry, Emily," I replied quietly. The door was now closed, and I didn't want Sarah's life intruding on this moment any longer. "I didn't think anything bad was going to happen. I mean, I was supposed to have surgery the next morning!"

"Well, don't do that again," she stated, causing me to laugh at her tone.

"Yes, Mom," I replied, making her laugh too.

I then turned toward my real mom, who had walked in with Emily and was smiling down on me. I looked up at her, and she could see the unasked question in my eyes.

“Megan,” she said lovingly and wrapped me in a hug. “I’ve told you before that you are my little girl. This doesn’t change anything. Now you are my little girl in every possible way.”

“Is this really happening?” I asked her, tears escaping my eyes. It still felt somewhat like a dream. Only the boredom and pain made me think it was real.

“Yes, honey,” she replied. “I saw the results when Catherine was changing the bandages the other day, and I must admit that the doctor did a very good job. Have you seen it yet?”

I nodded, but didn’t know what else to say.

“So you’re a girl now?” Emily broke into the conversation. I turned to her, and smiled with a nod.

“I’ve always been a girl, Emily,” I told her.

She laughed at me. “I know that, Megan. That wasn’t what I was asking.”

“Oh,” I said. “Well, the doctor showed me, and it at least looked like the diagrams from health class, but I don’t have anything else to compare it to.”

“Don’t worry, Megan,” Mom said. “It may be swollen and purple, but it looks normal for a girl your age. In time, nobody will be able to tell the difference.”

I couldn’t stop beaming my smile at the two of them at that pronouncement. I was finally complete! I was finally the person who I was meant to be! I only wished I would have learned who that person was earlier in my life.

"Are you ready to go home?" Mom asked. Those were the six most beautiful words I had heard since waking up the day before.

"Definitely," I replied.

"Let's get you dressed, then," she said while holding up a bag. I smiled again.

Fifteen minutes later I was dressed in a pale yellow sundress personally picked out by Julia. Obviously, I needed to look my best because there were so many reporters and photographers waiting for me to leave, but I also needed to be comfortable. There was no glam today. Julia felt that the simple look would be what people would expect from someone leaving the hospital.

I had also managed to get my makeup looking presentable, and I was steeling myself to meet the press. Dad said that we weren't going to be answering any questions because of the press conference tomorrow morning, but he wanted me to pose for a couple of pictures to help reiterate that I was alive and well.

"Are you ready?" Dad asked. He had come in a few minutes earlier with the release forms in hand. I was all set to go. I just needed to make it to the car. I was walking out of this hospital. Dad felt that being wheeled out in a wheelchair might give the wrong message, and he wanted everybody to see me walking. Most of the pain from the surgery had dissipated into a dull ache, and I felt that I could make it without any problems.

"I guess so," I said. "I just wish that we didn't have to do this."

"I know, Princess," he replied. "It was just bad luck that this happened at all, but even worse luck that it happened while you were dressed as Sarah. We'll be okay. The car is waiting downstairs, and we'll get you home in no time."

He walked to the door, and I followed behind him. I took a deep breath, and then plastered a smile on my face. He opened the door and stepped out to make sure the way was clear.

The area outside of my room contained a small lobby, and photographers were jumping to their feet as I stepped out of the hospital room.

"Sarah!" someone yelled, and then flashes started going off all around me. I was momentarily blinded by the bright lights, and I felt myself stumble. Dad was there to catch me, and once I was on my feet again, he let go.

"No questions today," Dad said to the gathered group. "But Sarah has agreed to pose for some pictures."

I did as he said, and posed to let the photographers take the pictures they wanted.

"Are you okay, Sarah?" someone yelled out. That question I did want to answer. As we started walking toward the nearby elevators, I answered.

"Yes," I replied. "I'm slightly sore, but I'm perfectly healthy now."

Other people started yelling questions now that I had answered one, but I didn't reply. I made my way to the elevator as fast as I could behind Dad. Once inside and the doors had closed, I sighed in relief.

*  *  *