Chapter 12 Buffy's POV

High Notes had just about finished their set when Trish came to us and asked us to follow her.

“What's wrong?” I asked her.

“Lisa has asked me to get you. Drew has disappeared.”

“What happened?”

“Lisa will tell you, I don't know.”

We rushed back to find a frantic Lisa, holding a crying Mia.

“What happened?” I repeated, this time to Lisa.

“I'm so sorry. We thought it would be alright, but then Aaron was an idiot and Drew ran away and I tried to follow, but he disappeared.”

“Slow down, Lisa. We need to know, what happened?” I said speaking slowly although my heart was racing.

“We thought it would be fun if you came back to a properly made up Drew, so we did hair, makeup and nails, and he looked great.”

“Then what?” I urged.

“Then Aaron came back and ruined everything. He said something about Drew's parents being proud and I could feel Drew's heart breaking. I tried to follow him, but he was too fast.”

“What about his phone?” I asked.

Lisa just pointed to where it was sitting on the table.

“Which direction did he go?” Sarah asked.

Lisa gestured in a direction and we all started searching. We split up when we weren't sure of the direction but we all had phones so we could communicate if need be. Our RV along with The Bleeding Heart Boys RV's were a little isolated from the other RV's but there were still lots of other vehicles relating to the tour, so I could see how he could duck out of sight very quickly. Once you got past all the trailers and cars there was a field with grass about knee high.

After we had searched for a couple of hours amongst all the different parked bits, we met back up at our RV. My conclusion was that he was likely in the grass somewhere, but it was a big field. Lisa spoke to some security guys who were reluctant to take it seriously. It was hard enough trying to explain that it was a guy, dressed as a woman, to then explain that he was fragile emotionally after losing all his family and that he had nothing on him. No phone, no wallet, nothing. Him not coming back, meant he was either lost, injured or curled up in a ball somewhere. It was dark now and Lisa managed to convince some security guys with torches to help search the field with us. Lisa was staying behind with Mia, trying to co-ordinate efforts and be available if Drew returned. Bonny and Chloe were searching with us. Aaron and the boys would be in the after party for another hour.

One of the security guys, Mike, organised us to stand in a row a couple of yards apart and start to slowly walk through the field, looking for clues. I was on the left hand side with Ellie and Sarah on my right, then there were three security guys, followed by Bonny and Chloe. Once the after party finished we would have access to more manpower.

We had probably moved about one hundred yards into the field when Chloe shouted that she could see something. As per Mike's instructions, none us moved while he went to check it out. Chloe told the rest of us that she could see an area of flattened grass on the edge of the torches reach. Mike followed the line she was indicating with her torch and then went a bit further still. He then called out the names of the two other securities guys, who rushed over.

I couldn't take it any more and followed in their wake with Ellie and Sarah. Mike told one of them to stop us coming closer and ask us to phone an ambulance. I tried to push past him.

“You'll ruin the evidence. You have to stand back. Everything that can be done is being done.”

“I need to see,” I cried.

“You need to phone the ambulance,” he asked me again.

I could hear Sarah on the phone to the emergency services and she started shouting questions that were being asked from her and Mike shouted back answers. So I knew that Drew was unconscious, but breathing on his own. Most of his clothes had been torn off him and he had both head and groin injuries. Mike asked whether he should put Drew in the recovery position with someone stabalising the head in case of a neck injury. The response was to not move him as long as his breathing was clear. Mike had the other security guy take pictures, which could only be seen as flashes.

I hugged Ellie and Sarah, who stayed on the phone. Both police and ambulance were on their way and would be there very shortly as they already had a presence at the venue. We saw them arriving with the flashing lights. The ambulance had priority and Drew was quickly loaded up and whisked away. Sarah got to go with him as her mother had legal guardianship which made her the equivalent of a stepsister. We wanted to go as well, but the police needed statements.

It seemed to take forever before the police were willing to let us go. Lisa had organised our transport and as soon as we could we went to the hospital. All of us, Lisa with Mia, Bonny, Chloe, Ellie, myself and The Bleeding Heart Boys. In the meantime we were in communication with Sarah but there wasn't much she could initially tell us.

She told us that they thought it was a rape gone wrong. When they realised Drew wasn't female, they beat him up, spread his legs and pulverised his groin. The priority was his head injury and concussion. Imaging was being done for both head and groin so they could try to work out how serious the head injury was and if they could save anything from the groin and what the options were if not. Sarah's mother, Sandra, was flying down and would be there in a couple of hours as she would have to sign off on any decisions.

Lisa was furious at Aaron and pretty much chased him out of the room whenever he showed his face. He seemed very apologetic, but he was largely responsible for causing Drew's meltdown, which put Drew at serious risk. I didn't blame Lisa, Bonny or Chloe. They explained what had happened after we had left him in their care. I suspect it was the thought of pleasing us that drove him to accept their help feminising him. When Drew left after Aaron's comment, he probably wasn't as aware as girls are pretty much taught from birth, to be wary of strange men. The idea of rape probably never occurred to him.

I didn't bother calling my parents, but Ellie called hers and we all had a mini session with her mother offering her words of wisdom. When we knew more, Ellie's father offered to translate any doctor speak regarding procedures. The problem was that none of us were related to Drew so information about his case was difficult to get. Sarah was given brief updates as the closest thing to a relative Drew had, but the hospital had to be careful that they didn't break confidentiality rules.

Once Sandra arrived, we obtained a much clearer picture. After having spoken to the doctor, she gathered Ellie, Sarah and I into a small room to talk to us directly.

“The story of how we got to this point is important, but is not the issue right now. The doctors have asked me to make some decisions on Drew's behalf and I need your input to help me make the best ones. Let me go over his injuries and the choices we have. The head injury has caused some swelling but not enough to produce significant pressure on the brain, so that is a monitor, but leave alone. It is the cause of the coma, but they believe that will naturally resolve itself although they couldn't tell me when. There is extensive bruising of the face, but only the nose is broken. It will require surgery, which can happen immediately or at a later date depending on how well he is doing.

“On to his groin. They have already removed his testicles and the imaging of the penis shows a crush injury or maybe I should say, multiple crush injuries. With surgery they may be able to save some of it, but it will never function again as anything other than a urethra. So essentially there are choices. Option one, give Drew prosthetic testicles and try and save the appearance of a penis, or option two, go for sexual reassignment surgery. In both cases he will be sterile. As a male he will be sexually impotent, but as a female he could be sexually active. Option three, repair what can be repaired and then give Drew the option of SRS. They have informed me that psychologically there is a higher risk of suicide for option one or option three and that he was found wearing women's clothes. Could one of you please explain why he was wearing those clothes?”

Sarah and Ellie both looked to me, so I knew it was up to me. “I will explain why, but I will say that I think that answer is less important than the question of Drew's true gender. I believe as do we all, that Drew is transgender, but hasn't realised it yet.”

“Explain both please.”

“When we first met Drew something just didn't seem right about him. He was obviously emotionally upset having just learnt about the fate of his family. He was nice, gentle, submissive and Sarah allowed him to hug her.” Sandra looked at Sarah in surprise. “Suddenly the thought popped in my head that if I ignored the outside packaging what I was seeing was female. I gave Drew a gender questionnaire, calling it a cosmo quiz and he tested as more female than Sarah and me. Ellie phoned her mum and asked what we should do, hypothetically speaking of course and she advised us to do nothing until Drew came out of the closet,” I continued.

“So it that why he was wearing girl clothes, he has come out of the closet?”

“No. In order for Sarah to feel comfortable at night, we asked Drew if he minded dressing female at night. He has been doing that ever since the first night and has admitted that he enjoyed feeling feminine. Yesterday Damon accidentally spilled his drink on Drew and the rest of Drew's clothes were already given to the laundry company employed by the tour, so Drew had nothing to wear. We offered Drew the opportunity to spend the day en femme.”

“I think I need to add something here,” Sarah said, interrupting me. “It also is very relevant to your options as well. Drew is still dealing with a lot of grief. He has willingly given himself over into our hands and is enjoying following our lead. He is submissive by nature and prefers that role. Forcing him to make difficult decisions was stressing him out and I realised when we gave him the opportunity to present as Gabi, that's what we call her when she is presenting as female, that opportunity was making him anxious. So I rephrased it. I asked him to let me decide for him. He knew what I would decide. I've told him my history and I am the reason he is dressing as a girl at night. So if he let me decide for him, he was essentially saying yes.”

“It worked. As soon as she suggested that, I could see him relax,” I confirmed.

“And that is why he was wearing female clothing?”

“No. We wanted to gently ease him in and see how he felt about it. We had a great time with Gabi, shopping, having lunch and generally having fun. When we arrived we expected to get the laundry and for Drew to return. We haven't worked out why yet, but our laundry did not include any of Drew's clothes and the clothes that were dirtied by Damon, they were supposed to be dry cleaned and ready by this morning, but they are missing as well,” I explained.

“That sounds a bit suspicious,” Sandra commented.

“I agree and intended to chase it up tomorrow, but right at that point we had to decide what to do. I suggested we scrap the concert for the night, but Drew was dead set against that. I'm not sure if we have mentioned this, but Drew is really good with babies, so when Lisa was having a crisis with Mia, Drew forgot that he was wearing a skirt and rushed to help. Lisa was grateful and promised to look after Drew while we went to the show. She also asked everyone to be sensitive towards Drew's feelings. She knows nothing about Drew becoming Gabi, she just knew about the clothing disaster and the loss of his family. That is the reason Drew was in those clothes.”

Sandra sighed. “Alright, of all the people who know Drew, you three know him best. Honest opinion, option one, two or three. You first Buffy.”

“SRS. He is going to be devastated when he knows he can't have children of his own. As a pseudo male I think his self-esteem would be zero and I don't think he will like the thought of his future. Besides all that, I am convinced that he is really a girl and it may take him some time, but he will eventually be a lot happier as a girl.”

“Ellie?”

“If it was me I would prefer to have the choice, but I don't think that would be good for Drew right now. SRS.”

“If you give Drew the choice it would stress him out and I think he would make a decision based on making other people happy, whether it is us or his dead family, not himself, it's just who he is. Definitely SRS and no choice about it,” Sarah said very firmly.

“Well, the choice is mine and the responsibility is mine also. Based on what you have all said I am going to chose SRS, now I have to find out how it is going to be paid for. His travel insurance won't cover all of that. That is not for you to worry about. Thank you for your help, I need to go and find the doctor,” Sandra concluded.