Sing a Healing Song, Chapter 2

For a while after that, I floated in lights.

I can’t really describe it, it was just ...

The woman who had changed me was there.

She smiled at me, and then said, “Time to return to the mortal plane ... daughter.”

And just like that I woke up.

I was laying on a cot in a first aid shack near the pool. I saw my dad by my bed, looking
concerned.

“Hi.” I managed.

My dad looked like he was going to cry. “Hi. Its ... really you, in there?”

“Uh huh. “

“And how do you feel? Health-wise, I mean?”

“I think ... I’m healthy. Maybe even more than healthy. But ...”

“You’re a woman. Which has to feel a little odd. But maybe that’s better than being crippled, maybe even dying?”

“Was I dying, Dad?”

“Dying enough for me to take the risk of coming here for a healing. Although I didn’t expect the sex change.”

I giggled, and said, “Me either. Help me up.”

My dad gave me his hand, and I struggled to my new feet.

Once I was standing, I took a deep breath and let go of my dad’s hands.

I felt ... amazing.

“Wow, Dad. This is ... awesome.”

My dad managed a smile.

Then something occurred to me. “Dad? How are we gonna get me home? I don’t look like what I did when I left.”

My dad looked thoughtful. “I dont know. Give me a while to think about it.”

I gave him a hug, which felt pretty strange.

Then I got the double image again - seeing all the damage he’d suffered playing football.

And somehow, I knew I could fix him.

I began to sing a song in a language I didn’t know, guided by instinct, while continuing to hold him tightly.

He glowed.

“What ... what...”

“I’m healing you, dad. Can’t you feel it?”

Then I knew he was totally healed, and I stopped singing.

“Whoa.” He said.

“You feel better?”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

“I think I healed you, Dad. Like your broken toe. How does it feel now?”

“Its ... its all better. How did you do that?”

“I ... I’m not sure. I just ... saw what was wrong with you, and fixed it.”

“So not only are you yourself healed, you can heal others?”

“Looks that way. And I didn’t even turn you into a girl in the process.”

“For which I’m grateful.” My dad said with a smile “I guess this makes you a superhero with super-healing as your power.”

“Except that I dont look like I did. I don’t know how I’m gonna be able to go home since I don’t resemble my passport.” I said.

Then a thought hit me. “Or ... do I?”

I went over to my wheelchair which was beside the bed and opened the backpack we’d hung on the back when we left the hotel this morning. Inside, my dad had put an underage passport, so I opened up the backpack and dug around until I found it.

I opened it up, and the thought that had crossed my mind was right.

My picture had changed to meet my new appearance.

Not only that, but I had a learner’s permit for driving a car that stated I was now seventeen years old, and pretty darn tall for a girl.

I also had a new name - Fiona Kathleen D’Arcy

I showed both ID’s to my dad. saying “Look! I can drive!”

My dad took the learner’s permit and shook his head “Not without me in the car, you cant ...Fiona. But it does look like whoever healed you thought of everything.”

I looked down at my swimsuit, which had changed with into a one-piece women’s swimsuit, and said, ‘Not everything. I need a new wardrobe.”

My dad grinned at me, and said “Not even an hour of being a woman, and you already want to go shopping.”

I giggled, and gave him a playful slap on the arm. “Dad!”

“Besides, I think your clothes changed too. Look at the outfit you were wearing before you changed into your bathing suit.”

He handed me my clothes, and, sure enough, even though they were still a t-shirt and jeans, they were made for my new frame, and slightly feminized.

As was the underwear, which now also included ...

A bra.

“I gotta wear this?”

“I think you’d better. Unless you want every man who sees you to know you aren’t wearing one.”

Suddenly, my dad looked almost shy.

“Look. I’ll ... step out and let you get changed. Then we can head back to the hotel.”

I realized he had a point. It was one thing for him to help me dress or undress when I was a) unable to do it without help, and b) a boy, but both those situations had now changed.

The panties were easy, as were the jeans, even though they were pretty tight. The bra was a little more problematic, as I had never even seen a girl in one, much less help her take it off, but eventually I hooked the hooks together, and put it on like a shirt before adjusting it until most of my breasts were inside the cups.

I slipped on the t-shirt, slipped my bare feet into a pair of ballet flats that had replaced my runners, and then went over to a small mirror in the corner.

Even without makeup, even with my hair going in every direction, and even though I wasn’t in a skirt or dress, I was stunning.

That was something I was gonna have to get used to.

I opened the door, and my dad smiled at me, but there was a hint of sadness in his voice as he said, “You look like your mother, a little. Taller than her, but still I can see the resemblance.”

“I guess that’s better than looking like a total stranger” I said.

“You’ve got a point. Lets go back to the hotel.”

We went to our car, and as we drove back to town, I started to try and think about my future.

What was I going to do about school? I couldn’t exactly go to a school for sick and disabled kids, so where was I going to go? What about the two years I’ve lost? And what the heck was I supposed to do with this healing gift?

I hadn’t made any conclusions by the time we made it back to the hotel. Dad ordered up some supper for us - an Irish stew for him, and shepherd's pie for me.

My dad was lost in thought throughout the meal, so I retired to our bedroom, and checked my suitcase. Sure enough, my dad had been right - my clothes had all changed to the closest female equivalents.

My dad came in, and grabbed his own suitcase, and said, “I’ll sleep on the couch. A girl at your age shouldn’t be sharing a room with her father.”

“You sure, Dad?”

“Its just for tonight, we leave after breakfast tomorrow.”

I wished him goodnight, put on a set of purple pjs, and crawled into the bed.

I suspected I was going to need all the energy I could get ...