Goddess, doing the dilation is soooo annoying! Why the hell would I want to stick something in there? Ewww!!!!!

If I hadn't been told rather firmly by the doctors after they'd done the unpacking the other day that it was needed, I'd have said bugger it!

I have to do this three to four times a day, for at least twenty minutes each time, and for what purpose? Not a chance in hell!

Although... the thought of Sammi using a two ended item to ravage both of us has me whining with need.

Oh, man, whoever decided to do the work down there did a rather excellent job of it. That darn stent is... No, I won't go there.

It took everything I had to keep myself from moaning out loud as I continued to plunge that darn stent into my new vagina.

Sammi showed up fifteen minutes after I finished the dilation this morning. Just seeing her made me feel good in interesting ways.

We talked for about an hour before the doctors showed up to do their daily examination of me, at which point Sammi left the room.

They had said that I might be released in a day or two if things went well. That was two days ago.

They took their time, each one squatting down a bit to get a closer look, then just the barest of touches to test physical sensitivity there.

Uh oh, I nearly jumped out of my skin when Dr. Philberts started that little bit of testing off between them. Holy crap, is it ever sensitive!

Let's just say it only got worse with each feather light touch. Male touch, female touch didn't seem to matter, they all set me on fire.

Between those darn stents and how sensitive I am becoming down there, when I actually have sex, it's going to be mind-blowing, I bet.

Once they had all checked it out rather thoroughly, Dr. Kinson nodded, then stated, "You're good to go, Will. Take care of yourself."

The other three doctors all said similar things, then they exited the room.

Sammi came in again about ten minutes later, mom was right behind her.

The paperwork was taking forever to be processed. I became tired and I guess I dozed off in the bed.

What happened at that point is something I cannot explain, as I am not sure if it was real or not.

I suppose I must tell you what happened in that odd dream / not dream.

As I've said before, more than once, likely, there are many, many hills surrounding the camp where we live.

One of those hills has been named for the tree which stands, leafless and barren, just like it has for fifty years and more.

Broken TwinOak Hill has been named that since the twin trunked white oak that stood there was ravaged and killed in a lightning storm.

I haven't the slightest idea as to how it could have happened, but I found myself standing in front of that great and broken tree.

Then, to my astonishment, a form appeared as if out of a fog, from within the split trunks of the tree, in the shape of a man.

The form eventually became clearer and soon showed itself to be dressed in the robes of a shaman, holding a ceremonial rattle?

I'm not really sure what the item was, but rattle would probably fit as well as anything else, I suppose.

The surprises were only beginning. The ghost shaman spoke, looking straight at me, "It appears the time of healing has come."

I just stared at him, the split oak, the hill on which I stood. This could not be real... could it?

I stared at him, he stared back at me. I guess he was waiting for me to acknowledge his presence.

I'm not sure how much time passed, or if any did, before I responded, "Greetings, respected one. Why are we here in this shattered place?"

I said shattered because it was quite true. Beyond the twin trunks, perhaps twenty feet out from the north one, was a deep gouge in the soil. Everyone who lived in the area knew that that gouge was where the lightning strike following the one that killed the tree hit the ground.

The gouge in the hill ran from the point of the strike deep into the ground below. Apparently, the lightning strike triggered a secondary explosion that blasted a large chunk of the hill outward, leaving it lying near that end of the hill in various piles of scattered rubble and earth.

The old ghost shaman spoke again, I could actually see him smile as he spoke, "To bring rebirth and new health to the land, young one."

"Rebirth? New health? I do not understand you, respected one," I replied.

His reply to me was odd, enigmatic even. "Touch the base of the tree, young one, and see what may happen."

I stood there thinking for a moment the old ghost shaman had lost his mind, then sighed, knelt where the trunks split and touched the tree.

I actually laid my whole left hand against the trunk just where the trunks began to split, and I swear I felt something deep within the tree.

When I pulled my hand away from it, I looked at the tree again. To my surprise, a new shoot was visible on each of the trunks.

As I stood there looking in shock at the reborn tree that had been dead for more than fifty years, more new shoots appeared.

Then the old ghost shaman spoke again, his smile even broader this time, "As I said, young one, rebirth and new health shall begin here."

I shook my head, this had to be a dream or a hallucination, it looked TOO real to my overwhelmed senses.

"You will seek me when the time comes, young one. For now, once you are at home, you will study under Simon Leapfoot the younger."

I gasped! Simon the younger was a middle-aged and powerful Ojibwa shaman who lived somewhere down by the lower lakes.

"Fear not, young one, Simon will be coming up to your camp some time soon, he knows of you from this dream or not dream."

That just confused me more. How can a dream not be a dream?

That was when I woke up to find myself lying in the hospital bed, with a single brand new shoot from a white oak tree lying in my left hand.

I was still staring at that impossible item in my hand when Sammi came blithely dancing into the room.

"The paperwork is done! We can get you out of here and on the way home as soon as you are properly dressed, Will," she giggled at me.

She noticed me staring at my hand at that point and asked me why I had the oak shoot in my hand.

I looked at her and sighed, saying, "I really don't know how to explain it, Sammi. It's... impossible, but it's here."

Mom and dad had thought ahead, bringing me some clean clothes for the trip home. I was soon dressed and ready to leave.

We left the hospital as a small group, dad took us up to the roof, then out to the pair of Bell 206's waiting for us.

We climbed into the two helicopters, Sammi, Wesley and I in one with Darren, mom and dad in the other one with Alec and Frank.

A moment later, the rotors began to whir overhead and we were soon airborne, heading for home.