(Jessica)

I ran back to daddy’s office and when I opened the door I said “Daddy, daddy come quick! Sam is not well.”

I didn’t even had to say that again, he was out the door in a flash and we run back to Sam. Things became a little hazy for me after that. I didn’t see much of what happened next. I saw my dad yelling something and a lot of other people running around and quickly taking Sam away.

Someone directed Sam’s mom and me to a waiting room and we stayed there hugging and crying for a long time. After the tears were gone we stayed there waiting in silence hoping that Sam would get better.

I don’t know how long we waited, but it seemed like ages when daddy came back. “Daddy!!!” I yelled and hugged him tightly. “How is he? Is he going to be okay?”

“How is my son, Dr?” His mother asked.

“He is going to be okay Mrs. Evans. He got a severe allergic reaction to the testosterone and went into an anaphylactic shock, but we were able to stabilize him.”

“So is he going to be fine?”

“Yes, Mrs. Evans, he is going to be just fine. But I’m still worried though.”

“Why? What’s wrong with my son?”

“For such a extreme allergic reaction to occur his body had to be already sensitive to the allergen, meaning that he was probably developing an allergy to his own testosterone and the shot just triggered it.”

“What does it mean?” She asked worriedly.

“It means we need to do some more tests to know for sure he is allergic to his own testosterone and if he is, we will need to remove his testicles.” He said dejectedly.

“My poor baby! Can I see him?” She asked trying to appear strong.

“He is in the recovery room unconscious, we don’t know yet when he will wake up, but you can see him for a few minutes.”

He then directed her to the recovery room. A few minutes later he came back alone, sat down beside me and hugged me. “How are you feeling princess?”

“I’m worried about him, daddy. Why did that had to happen to him?”

“I don’t know, but I suspect he will probably need a lot of support soon.”

“I will be there for him as long as he needs me to, daddy.”

“Don’t get me wrong princess, but you hardly know the boy. You just met him yesterday. Did he had that strong impression on you?”

“Yes, daddy. I don’t know why, but I liked him from the moment we bumped into each other. There is something special about him.”

“Are you in love with him?”

“I... well... I... think so.” I said blushing.

“Okay sweety, I won’t ask anything more right now, but you can always talk to me, you know that, don’t you?”

“Yes daddy, I know.” I said giving him a peck on the cheek.

“Is Sam really going to be okay, daddy?

“Physically yes, beyond that I don’t know.”

“Why?”

“If he is allergic to testosterone, he will never develop as a man and if he doesn’t start some sort of hormonal therapy he will have a lot of health problems.”

“You mean like female hormones?”

“Yes, sweety. And how do you feel about that?”

“Daddy, boy or girl Sam will still be Sam, for me there is no difference. And we were talking this afternoon about what if he needed to have to take female hormones.”

“And what did he say?”

“He said it wasn’t really a choice, become a healthy girl or a sick feminine boy. He is afraid though.”

“I would be too in his situation sweety.”

A few minutes later Sam’s mom came back and sat with us. “What do I do now?” She asked.

“There is nothing you can do right now, Mrs Evans. He will probably be sleeping for a long time yet. The best thing you can do is to go home, and sleep a little.”

“I don’t want to leave my baby’s side. He will need me when he wakes up.” She said crying.

“I don’t believe he will wake up soon, try to sleep at least a few hours and be back first thing in the morning.”

“I don’t want to be alone in that house tonight.” she said.

“Daddy, can she come to our house tonight? I don’t think she should be alone tonight either.” I said.

“What do you think, Mrs. Evans?”

“I don’t want to impose, Dr. Campbell.”

“You are not imposing, Mrs. Evans, and call me Richard.”

“Only if you call me Carla.”

“Come on Mrs. Evans, come with us tonight. Daddy can even bring you back here tomorrow morning. You won’t even need to drive.”

“Okay Jessica, but only because I really don’t want to be in that house alone tonight.”

“Daddy, can we go now?”

“Yes sweety, my shift ended a few hours ago.”

When we got home, mom was waiting for us in the living room.

“Hi Carla, how are you feeling?” She asked

“I’m so worried Cathy, he is all I have.” She said in tears.

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Evans. You heard my dad, he is going to be fine.”

“But how? He was just so happy when he got that shot thinking he would finally start to grow to be a man and that happens. How will he react when he learn the news?”

“I might have known him for a couple days, but I’m sure he will adapt, he is stronger than he appears.”

“I hope so, Jess. I really hope so.”

I woke up early the next day, still worried about Sam. It was a very hard night, It took me forever to sleep and I kept waking up all night long.

I went to the bathroom and had a nice bath trying to relax and it did help a little. After I left the bath I dried myself, changed and went downstairs to have breakfast. Everyone there already.

“Good morning.” I said.

“Good morning.” they all said back

Everyone seemed a bit down this morning, and we were all eating in silence when I said. “Daddy, can I go to the hospital with you and Mrs. Evans?”

“You should go to school, princess. There is nothing you can do at the hospital this morning.”

“But what if he wakes up? I want to be there when he does.”

“I don’t think he will wake up this morning.”

“Daddy? What are you not telling me?” I asked and noticed Mrs. Evans start to cry. “Is he okay? What happened?”

“I called the hospital a little while ago. Sam had a very difficult night.”

“What do you mean by that? What happened, daddy, please tell me.” I said crying.

“He had another shock during the night and went into cardiac arrest. The doctors were able to stabilize him again, but if we don’t operate him soon, It will probably happen again.”

“Operate? You mean take out his testicles?”

“Yes sweety, unfortunately there is nothing else we can do.”

“I still want to go to the hospital, daddy. I want to see him.”

“What if I pick you up at school as soon the classes are over and take you to the hospital?” Mom asked.

“I guess... but I don’t think I’ll be able to concentrate much today.”

I went to school and the morning went in a kind of blur, I couldn’t pay attention to what the teachers were saying. At lunch time Steph came to me and said. “Jess, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Why?” I asked not in the mood to deal with her right now.

“Please, It will only take a minute.” She pleaded

“Okay, what do you want?” I said coldly.

“I wanted to ask you if Sam is okay. It’s not like him to miss school.”

“And why do you care?” I spat

“Jesus girl, what is wrong with you. Why are you being like that?” she said.

“What’s wrong with me? I should ask you the same question.” I spat back

“What did I do to you for you to treat me like this?”

“To me, nothing, but Sam told me what YOU did to him. How could you do something like that?”

She then sat down and started to cry.

“Why are you crying? Feeling guilty?”

“You (sob) wouldn't understand.(sob)”

“I’m crying because I miss him so much, and that he never even gave me the chance to explain what actually happened.”

“What there is to explain? You dress him up one afternoon, take some pictures spread them around and the next day they are all over the school.”

“It wasn't me that did it, okay? It was my asshole brother. After Sam left that day, my mom called me to help her with dinner and I went downstairs to help her. I didn’t have the time that night to transfer the pictures to my computer. The next morning I met him and we walked together to the school like every other day, he is very funny and always made me laugh, and that day was no different. When we reached the school was when things got strange, people were pointing at him, laughing and calling names. We reached his locker and to my shock the pictures we took the previous day were glued all over it. I tried to talk to him, but he looked at me with the saddest eyes I ever seen and ran away from me. I found out later that my brother had picked up the camera and emailed the pictures to all his friends.”

“Why didn’t you try to talk to Sam and explain what happened then?”

“I tried, Jess. I tried for several weeks. Tried to talk to him at school, tried to phone him, email him and even tried going to his house, but he refused to talk to me.”

“And your brother?”

“He was a senior at the time and now he is away in college. I haven’t talked to him since he did that to Sam and ruined our friendship. Now that I told you what really happened, please tell me if you know if he is okay.”

“What makes you think I know anything?”

“Come on, I’m not blind. He didn’t came to school yesterday, but when the final bell rang, he was outside waiting for you. I saw how you hugged him. And the way you were acting today tells me it has something to do with Sam, am I right?”

“Yes, you are right, I know where he is.”

“Is he okay?”

“Not really, he is in the hospital, he almost died last night.” I said feeling the tears starting to flow.

“WHAT? Which hospital? I have to see him.” She said.

“My mother will pick me up after school, if you want you can come with us to the hospital.”

“Please, I need to see him.” she said pleadingly.

To Be Continued...