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Chapter 4
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Jude ached all over when he awoke. The room was different from what he remembered, whatever he was lying on was hard and flat, and there was only the one soft thing touching his arm. Most of what he could see at the moment was the ceiling with a light over him, though it wasn’t turned on. The room was a bit on the dark side, and he needed to figure out where he was.

Moving as much as his aching body would allow, Jude looked down to find that the soft thing touching him was actually a girl’s head. She flinched in reaction to his motion, and Denise looked up at his face with a gasp. Her eyes and cheeks looked as if she had been sobbing.

“I thought I lost you!” she said, hugging Jude.

Words escaped him, however, when he saw the metal tables and cabinets around the room. And he was on one such table.

Jude freaked out, arms flailing and wordless shouts sent flying across the room.

Denise grabbed him by the forearms and said, “It’s alright. It’s alright. Jude! It’s alright. You’re alive. You have no idea how worried I was.”

“Why is it so dark?” asked Jude.

“Something about the lights going crazy around the hospital. They shut down most of them along with anything they don’t need to keep people alive, and a lot of people are being turned to other clinics around the city.”

“How long have I been out?”

“Five hours, I think? My watch and phone stopped working when you . . . Oh, Jude. What happened?”

“You’re asking me.”

Just then, the door opened, and two men entered. One was Henry, and the other a doctor with a heavy apron. Both were arguing with one another.

“Look,” said Henry, “I told you twice already, and I’ll tell you again. We’re not cutting up that boy. And I know my daughter sure as Hell won’t let us try, either.”

The doctor in the apron said, “Your daughter was lucky she wasn’t caught in the blast like everyone else was in that office. Everyone else has barely come to, even the criminal who’s been arrested, but the boy is dead.”

“I am right here, you know,” said Jude.

“Caught in the middle of an electric storm with no apparent cause, and gone to the world.”

“Doctors found a pulse,” said Henry.

“Some did, and some did not. The gurney kept going back and forth as far as I can tell. Dead bodies do this from time to time. You know this. It’s a phenomenon we’re better off letting go. Sooner or later you have to accept that this boy is dead.”

“And it would be nice if someone actually explained to me what was going on,” said Jude.

“You know how it works, Henry. Once the phenomenon passes, one of us will have to do one of the worst parts about our job. How many kids have we had to biopsy? How many parents have we had to inform the cause of death, and more than half of them not even know their child was gone? In the meantime, I put a timer by him, which should go off by the time the phenomenon is over.”

Jude checked the table he was on, as did Denise. They both reached for the timer they found, but Denise got to it quicker. She handed it to him.

“You mean this timer?” Jude asked. Only then did he realize that the timer had stopped with an hour to go as if the batteries had died. There was neither motion nor sound anywhere within the device.

“Yes, that’s the one,” said the doctor. “Whoa shit! You, how are you sitting up?”

“Well, I put one leg next to the other and lift the rest of my—“

“Never mind! Just lie back down, you should be dead.”

“He clearly isn’t, you arrogant fool,” exclaimed Henry. “You’re only supposed to cut into corpses, and Jude sure doesn’t look like a corpse to me. Now get out of my morgue before I turn your face into a letter of resignation!”

The doctor fled, leaving Henry to let out a long, shallow exhalation rife with frustration. He then turned to Jude, his expression calmer than it was when he’d entered the room.

“Are you alright, Jude?” he asked.

Jude replied, “I’m a little achy, and confused.”

Henry flashed a small light in his eyes. “Confused, really?”

“One moment some big guy is running at me, and the next I’m in the morgue. But I’m alive. Can we leave now?”

“In a moment, Jude.”

“What even happened up there? Who was that guy?”

“Have you ever heard of a man named Leon Penne?”

“I think so. It sounds like a name of someone heroes were after.”

“Right, and it wasn’t a name to be taken lightly even when Captain Patriot was around. There were rumors that he was having trouble lately with staying on top of the criminal underground, but there was nothing substantial to prove that or locate him. Except for the wake of bodies I had to examine, of course.”

“Was that him that ran at me?” Jude asked.

“It was. But, by some miracle, there was an electric storm in that doctor’s office, which knocked him out, so he’s in police custody until his lawyers can dig him out, if they even can at this point. Now, I have a question for you two. I thought you had a doctor’s appointment. What were you doing in an endocrinologist’s office?”

“That was my doctor’s appointment. Aside from being attacked by a renowned criminal, I mean.”

“You’re fourteen. That’s a little young to be worrying about your hormones, don’t you think?”

Jude winced and looked to his friend for help. Denise looked about as speechless as he was. Jude knew that if he had any good friends, they would need to know sooner or later.

“I’m a transgender,” he said. “I was supposed to be getting my second dose of estrogen today.”

Even though they were already in the morgue, and Henry was pulling up a seat, the room managed to fall still and silent. At least Henry wasn’t retaliating or calling Jude a freak. That was something, right?

“Huh.”

Jude and Denise sat in the back seat of Henry’s car again. Henry had been silent for most of the trip with exception being at the beginning when he had to tell a receptionist that he needed to sign patient release papers. That went over well considering that he managed the morgue of Steel Canyon’s clinic, and Jude had gone in dead to the world but had come out of it as lively as ever. The look on the receptionist’s face had been a priceless one.

They rode toward Jude’s home amidst a looming sunset. It hadn’t quite hit the horizon yet, but the late afternoon light shined across the city with its hints of red and orange.

Before Denise could say anything, Henry finally spoke up. “Hey, Jude, listen. I just want you to know that you’re a brave kid, transitioning so early. Goodness knows I’ve seen too many transgenders of all ages on my table, most of them by murder or suicide. Be careful, and we’ll support your suggestion. I take it your mom knows? Of course she does.”

“She’s still adjusting to it, I think,” said Jude.

“That’s life. Anyone who says they’re done adjusting to anything in life is either lying or a boring idiot as far as I’m concerned. It’s your life to live the way you want, but promise me that you’ll be safe in the future.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Sir?”

“Henry,” Jude said, correcting himself.

“That’s a good kid. Well, it looks like we’re here.”

The car pulled up to the curb, and everyone was on the front porch in moments. Henry was the one to ring the doorbell even though Jude insisted that he had a key. The door opened slowly at first, and then it swung as fast as Jude’s mom moved.

“I thought I lost you!” she yelled while squeezing him tight.

Jude said, “Déjà vu. Air.”

“I’m sorry. I just . . . I called the hospital when you were late, and they said there was some sort of accident at your doctor’s office, and someone died. Oh, my baby girl, I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

“Did you just say baby girl?”

“Oh shit. Um, do they know?”

“They do now.”

“OK. Sorry.” Jude’s mom got up. “Thank you, Henry. Denise. Would you like to come in, or are you in a hurry?”

Henry said, “I think being outside for a few minutes longer will be fine, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Also, nobody died. There was a man looking to start trouble for everyone, but he’s not going to bother us any longer.”

“Good to know. By the way, what do you and Robin do, if you don't mind me asking?”

“I’m a lead mortician at Steel Canyon Hospital. Robin’s a funeral home director. It’s how we met, actually.”

Mai said, “Oh, that sounds respectable. I’m just a hostess at a Japanese steakhouse.”

“What about your husband?”

“I’m single. Have been since before Jude was born.”

Jude wasn’t sure if anyone caught the hint to her tone, but his mom continued to be sour about what had happened. He only knew the little that his mom had told him before, and Henry knew even less. The two of them continued talking while Denise pointed inside, and Jude nodded. They slipped past his mom, but not without a “Don’t go too far,” like the house was an endless labyrinth instead of a modest, two-story house with two bedrooms.

“So you’re not freaked out?” Denise asked.

“Freaked out?” echoed Jude.

“By what my father does. It scares most kids at school who know about it.”

“I’m not most kids at school, in case you haven’t noticed. Besides, if I turned someone away because of who or what their parents were, then what would that make me? We’re friends now; let’s keep it that way.”

“I’m glad. We shared something today that I’ll never trade for the world. Something tells me that things are only going to get better for us now.”

“Sure, you bet.”

“Well, it looks like our folks are getting done talking for now. It must be time for my dad to get home and make dinner.”

“I’m surprised my mom isn’t arranging for some sort of dinner party.”

Denise hugged Jude again. “I know you’ve been out for half the day, but get some rest. See you on Monday.”

She walked out then, and the visit, along with Jude’s crazy day, was over.

Jude sat down while waiting for dinner to finish being made—his mom insisted on taking care of the place settings this time—and noticed something different. It felt like he sat on something slim and flimsy, so Jude checked the couch. Then his pants. There was a folded note in one pocket.

He went to his room to read it.

“The electrical storm was no electrical storm. It was you.