Last time...
I didn't give her a chance to use it as I lifted the chair up over my head and brought it down on hers as hard as I could. She dropped like a ton of bricks! I held the remains of the chair in my hand for a moment, unsure if she was conscious or not, then dropped it. I grabbed the glass of milk out of the dumbwaiter and ran into the bathroom. Dumping it out, I filled it with water and threw it into the fire. It took at least ten trips, but I finally put the fire out. Once that was done I ran for it!

Marcie just sat there staring at me for a while after I was finished. Then, shaking her head slowly, she said, "And how is that not impressive?! That's like something Michael Westen would do!"

"Yeah, right!" I snorted. "Michael Westen would have been out of there in ten minutes flat!"

Marcie started to say something and then stopped and stared at me oddly. I was just about to ask her what she was staring at when she said, "You used to take compliments a whole lot better than that."

---

"Huh?" was my confused reply. I might have said more, but a doctor walked in just then.

"I can understand why that might be." he said. "Hi John, I'm Dr. Sternlin, I performed your surgery yesterday. How are you feeling?"

"Uh, okay, I guess." I replied, trying to figure out his first comment.

"Good! I just wanted to come down and see how you were doing. Are either of your parents here?" he said.

I shook my head, "No. My Dad died a long time ago. I'm not sure where my Mom is right now."

He frowned and said, "Well, I'll need to talk to your mother soon, then. Please let her know I'm looking for her when you see her, okay?"

I nodded, "Okay."

After he left Marcie turned back to me and said, "I hope Mom was able to find out if your mom knew what was going on or not."

"Me too. I really hope she didn't!" I said, trying not to tear up at the thought.

Marcie hugged me, "I'm sure she didn't." I didn't think she was as confident as she sounded, but I appreciated it anyway.

We went back to talking about whatever until Mrs. Donner got back. When she did she had Mom with her. "Is it okay for us to come in John?" she asked. I nodded reluctantly and they walked in. Mom started towards me, but Mrs. Donner said something and touched her arm and she stopped. She looked kind of sad.

"So, we had a long talk and I'm convinced that your mother didn't know what your aunt had in mind." Mrs. Donner said. "So give her a chance to explain herself, okay?" I nodded again but I still wasn't sure what to think. Of course she'd deny it, right?

"Oh John, I'm so sorry about all this!" Mom said tearfully. "I swear I had no idea your aunt had anything planned but getting to know you and maybe become friends. That's what I wanted, not...this!" she gestured around us at the hospital room.

"But I heard her talking to you..." I said. I really hoped she had an explanation for that one!

Mom nodded, "I did call her, several times. But she never said anything about what she was doing to you! She always said you were out with friends when I asked to talk to you. I was starting to get worried and asked her why you were always away when she had been talking about spending so much time with you. She never really answered that question to my satisfaction, so I came home early. I was worried you two weren't getting along, but I never imagined she was trying to turn you into a girl!"

"But on the phone she talked about how well I was taking to her 'training' and stuff!" I said.

Mom shook her head helplessly, "She wasn't talking to me at those times. She never said a word. I'm very happy with you honey, you've always been such a good boy. You don't get in fights except when you're protecting someone else and you clean up after yourself. And you care so much for other people. I love you just as you are!"

"Really?" I said hopefully. She seemed sincere, and Mrs. Donner believed her. Could I?

"Really!" she said.

Before this my mom had never lied to me, that I knew of anyway, so I thought maybe I should trust her now. Besides, I really didn't want to believe she had anything to do with it anyway! I held my arms out and she ran to me, with a warning from Mrs. Donner to be careful of my broken ribs. She wrapped me up in her arms like I was made of glass, but it was still the best hug ever!

After that she wanted to know everything that had happened and I let Mrs. Donner and Marcie tell her what they knew while I spaced out. I didn't really want to think about it anymore.

I must have been more tired than I thought, 'cause the next thing I knew the room was empty. The only sound was the beeping of the machines I was still hooked up to. It was eerie, but there were other times it got this quiet during the night so I didn't think anything of it.

I was just thinking of going back to sleep when the door was suddenly slammed open. The light from the hall was so bright I couldn't see anything at first, but I heard a crazy sounding laugh.

"Did you really think you could get away from me that easily, Joan?" the figure at the door cackled. She sounded crazier than usual, but I'd recognize aunt Karen's voice anywhere. I looked around wildly for help but there was nobody there. I tried to yell but it hurt. "Tsk tsk tsk," she said, "no yelling now. Nobody is going to come in here. Your mother is seeing to that for me. Now, how am I going to deal with this rebellion, hmm?"

She tapped a fingernail against her teeth contemplatively, but her other hand was already extending that baton thingy with a metal scraping sound. I cringed when I heard it, I'd heard that sound more than I ever wanted to already! "Help!" I screamed. It hurt like hell, but I knew she was going to kill me this time.

She just laughed as she walked calmly towards me, spinning the baton like she didn't have a care in the world. When she got close enough, though, this insane light filled her eyes and she snarled as she raised it back to hit me as hard as she could. I screamed again and curled up as best I could when I felt hands on my arms.

"John, John, wake up!" someone was yelling at me. I kept screaming for a moment before what they were saying sunk in. A dream? I opened my eyes and everybody was there still; Mom, Mrs. Donner, and Marcie.

"Where is she?" I asked, still expecting to see aunt Karen somewhere in the room ready to strike.

"What's going on in here?" Phillip asked as he ran in.

"John just had a nightmare." Mrs. Donner said. I was still looking around the room, but the fact that it was all a dream was starting to sink in.

"Are you okay John?" Phillip asked.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. Aunt Karen really hasn't been here, right?" I said.

Sandra poked her head in then, "Nope, nobody's been here since you fell asleep." She smiled real quick and then pulled back around the corner. That made me feel better. If anyone had been here she would know, right?

Phillip took a moment to make sure I was okay, checked the machines, and then went back to whatever he was doing. I laid back with a wince, Mrs. Donner and Mom helped me get comfortable again. As soon as they were done Marcie butted back in and grabbed my hand, "Are you really okay John?"

I smiled weakly at her, trying to put on a brave face though I knew I probably wasn't doing a very good job of it, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Mom seemed to notice Marcie for the first time and looked curiously at her before turning to me, "John, I didn't know you had a girlfriend." She didn't say it but it was clear she expected me to introduce her.

Marcie and I both blushed and she pulled her hand back quickly, "Uh, Mom, this is Marcie. She's my best friend, she's been over lots of times. She just used to use a different name."

Mom was still stumped, which was kind of fun actually, but then Mrs. Donner explained, "Marcie is, or was, I guess, Mark. We just found out this year that she's transgender."

Mom was obviously shocked at that. After a moment of staring incredulously at Mrs. Donner she turned to examine Marcie. After a while she started nodding to herself, "Yes, I see now." Then she looked worried and asked, "Karen didn't have anything to do with this, did she?"

Marcie shook her head and laughed, "No way, I've always known I was a girl. I was just too scared to tell my parents until this year. You don't...have a problem with it, do you?" She was clearly worried, so I figured the major puppy dog eyes she was giving Mom were unintentional. Either that, or she's a better actress than I realized.

"Oh...no, of course not." Mom said. I think she was too stunned to really process it yet, really.

Marcie sagged in relief and Mom kind of did the same with the puppy dog eyes turned off. I was amazed at how cute she could be; how did I ever think this girl was a guy?!

Apparently they'd finished filling Mom in on everything while I was out, as she didn't have any more questions. She kept hugging me, carefully, every now and then and telling me she loved me. It was kind of embarrassing, but nice too.

We kind of stayed off the subject after that. Nobody asked what my dream was about, it was pretty obvious I guess. Mom hovered a lot, but then so did Marcie. Mrs. Donner was probably the calmest one in the room, besides Phillip when he came in to check up on me.

Eventually Mrs. Donner left, saying that Mr. Donner would be by later to pick up Marcie and say goodnight. She wanted to take Marcie with her at first, but Marcie turned those puppy dog eyes on her, too (intentionally this time, I think) and got her way.

I finally remembered to tell Mom that the doctor was looking for her, so she went to talk to him.

Although still sore, I was feeling a lot better now that I knew Mom was on my side. I noticed Marcie looking kind of uneasy and said, "Don't worry Marcie. I'll be out of here before you know it and I'll make sure nobody gives you any trouble at school."

She sighed, more of a put-upon sigh than a relieved one, "You don't need to protect me, John. You're not going to be in any shape to do it, anyway."

"Sure I will!" I protested.

She just rolled her eyes. She still looked uneasy about something, but she wouldn't look at me.

"Is there something wrong?" I finally asked.

She kind of shook herself off, "No, I'm fine." I didn't believe it, but decided to leave it alone. I was getting tired again.

"Is it okay if I take a nap?" I asked.

She smiled, "Of course, you must be tired what with your injuries and surgery and everything. Go ahead."

I smiled back and closed my eyes. I must have been out quickly because the next thing I knew Phillip was puttering around again. Nobody else was there. "Where did everybody go?" I asked.

"Hi John. Marcie told me to tell you that her father came and they had to go. Your mother just went out to get something to eat, she should be back in a little while." he said. I nodded and watched him work. When he was done he asked if I needed anything, I didn't, smiled and closed the door behind him. I saw a different person standing outside the door but he was in uniform so I figured he was Sandra's replacement.

I thanked Phillip and turned on the TV. I could tell that being in the hospital was going to be incredibly boring, but maybe I could catch up on our favorite show.

I didn't find anything interesting to watch until I stumbled on a news program. I was just about to switch the channel when they showed a picture of aunt Karen! I turned up the volume and listened as they talked about what she did. They didn't name me, but since they named aunt Karen and said I was her nephew I guessed everyone would know anyway. Although she has a different last name, so maybe not...

"Hi John, how are you feeling?" Mom asked as she walked in carrying a paper bag.

"Hi Mom, I'm okay. They were just talking about me on TV." I said. The news report was over, though, so they were talking about something else when Mom turned to look.

"What did they say?" she asked.

"They mostly talked about aunt Karen; they didn't mention me by name at all." I said.

She nodded, "They won't, because you're underage. I brought you something to eat." She held up the bag and pulled out some chicken nuggets and fries. It wasn't much, but it was better than the stuff Phillip brought by while I was eating it. I picked at the stuff he brought which, I think, was supposed to be mashed potatoes and ham but tasted more like cardboard.

I was a little surprised to realize it was already dinner time, which reminded me of the hearing, "Didn't Mr. Donner say that aunt Karen was going to court today?" I said, though almost immediately I remembered that she hadn't been there when he said it. Then again, I was asleep when he came for Marcie this time so he could have mentioned it then.

Mom shook her head, "Not yet, that's tomorrow."

"Oh, it seems like that was at least a day ago." I said, thinking of all the times I'd slept since then.

"No, but John..." Mom said, trailing off worriedly.

"What Mom?" I asked.

Mom bit her lip and said, "Well, Mr. Donner was telling me what the bail would probably be set at and...well, Karen can afford that. She'll probably be out after her hearing tomorrow."

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To Be Continued…