Nineteen The last lap.

©Copyright to Beverly Guinevere Taff

List of Characters.

Terry Harrington. Fugitive boy marked for compulsory transitioning.
Samantha, (Sam) First transitioned kid Terry meets on the streets.
Theodora (Dora) leader of the transitioned kid gang.
Jessica. (Jessie) The only natal girl in Dora’s gang.
Charlie Member of the transitioned gang.
Jan Another member of the transitioned gang.
Ron Café owner who lost his daughter to egg-snatchers.
DoctorMcTavish. Female paediatrician
DoctorCummins Professorial Consultant Paediatrician
Sarah. Senior Midwife at the maternity unit
Dawn Very young trainee nurse.
Eleanor Jessica’s mother.
Diana Terri’s mother.

Part 12

As she struggled to assimilate the news, Doctor Aggie Mc Tavish lost all semblance of professional decorum. She stared briefly with mouth agape then finally recovered her composure.

“Jessica! Come here!”

Terri riposted softly, essentially to avoid upping the tension.

“Don’t shout at my companion like that Doctor McTavish. She’s not some sort of dog to be ordered around.

“I -! I’m sorry Mr Harrington, I lost it there. May I call you Terence?”

“I prefer Terri, with an ‘I’. As you see, I live as a girl.”

“Terri? Terri Harrington? So Jessica was right, you’re a transvestite.”

Terri nodded and smiled as Jessica and Dora emerged from the nursery.. Each was carrying one of the twins. Their entrance brought a shade of normality to the room and gave Doctor Mc Tavish breathing time.

Terri stepped across to her babies and fussed over them just as any mother would. She took one in each arm and demonstrated a dexterity that would surpass most mothers of twins. Aggie Mc Tavish was about to warn her not to drop them but quickly realised that somehow, Terri had as much confidence handling the babies as Jessica. This was another pointer towards the degree of Terri’s femininity.

“I take it you prefer living as a female; indeed I almost hope you do.”

“As opposed to transitioning as a transsexual?” Jessica observed sarcastically.

“God forbid!” Aggie almost whispered, “that doesn’t bear thinking about. Please tell me you’re not.”

Terri let out a soft chuckle as she dextrously lowered the twins into the large double crib while Jessica unfastened her nursing bra and prepared to feed her daughters.. Once Jessica was settled, Terri motioned to Doctor McTavish to take a seat while Dora prepared a pot of coffee and brought a tray of biscuits (cookies) in.

“Right,” sighed Terri, “time for a long serious chat.”

“I’m listening.” Aggie replied.

“Well firstly, I’ve put off masturbating for three days since last Friday morning. Your fertility technician said he would like a really fresh sample so after this chat, that’ll be about noonish, I’ll produce one, - in the clinic if necessary so that he can do what he will with it the instant it’s produced.”

“What in front of him?”

“And you also; if you wish. That will prove beyond all doubt that I’m Eleanor and Diana’s father when you check for DNA.”

“I’ve no reason to doubt you.”

“Happen; but a court of law might and knowing lawyers as I know them, they’ll want certainty. I’ve never met an honest lawyer, but that’s another story. I’ll produce the sperm in front of you and Doctor Cummins if he wishes; and don’t worry about needing to be ‘in-the-mood’, I’ve got a libido like a buck rabbit. I’ve only just turned fifteen!”

“Do I have to be there? Watching some teenager masturbating?”

“I’ve had my dignity stripped away by this bloody government and you are one of the governments agents. ‘Bout time you lot had to eat shit.”

The doctor pulled a face as she recognised Terri’s argument but did not necessarily agree with it.

“Very well. Now what else did you want to talk about?”

“My security. There have been some very disturbing developments over the weekend. I have probably blown my cover.”

“You’ll have done that the moment you go to the clinic if you’re going to give a sample the way you’ve just described.”

“Not necessarily. Only you and Doctor Cumming and that lab tech will witness it.”

“Okay, point taken so how might you have compromised your own anonymity?”

“This weekend; I learned that one of my friends from the street was seriously ill. Dora here, another old friend from the street, discovered that my friend Charlie was at Death’s door and about to be de-ventilated at the Nightingale.”

“Oh dear, I’m sorry to hear that. Has she gone?”

“No, that’s just it. On Saturday, I saw her on the ventilator just before they were going to remove it.. Well, I lost it a bit as she started to suffocate when they removed it. I pushed them out of the way and tried mouth-to-mouth.”

“Go on.” Aggie encouraged. ”That was brave bearing in mind we still aren’t sure about reinfections.”

“Well the upshot was, I panicked a bit and kept shoving breath into her. Suddenly she coughed up a huge gobbet of phlegm over my face and into my mouth, then she started breathing.”

“Didn’t the de-ventilator team stop you?”

“They just watched; I think they were curious because I was like a devil possessed. Anyway, when Charlie started breathing on her own, they could see she was not going to asphyxiate so they moved her to a side ward. I actually pushed the gurney with Dora because I was afraid they might euthanise her where I couldn’t see.

There was a sister there, a Sister Marjorie who had been very kind to Charlie during her seeming descent into death and when she saw me pushing the gurney with my face still covered in green phlegm, she stepped up to help. She cleaned me up and had the wit to take a sample of the muck.”

“And?”

“Well inadvertently, she got a sample of my DNA because my saliva mixed with the green stuff. She wanted me to come in on the Monday to give samples of my saliva, my blood and god knows what else.

When Dora and I put two and two together we realised that was exactly same thing that had happened when I resuscitated Jessie in our bash during the Snow last winter. We concluded there might be something going on with my spit, so we decided to try and cure Jan, - our other street-friend at the Nightingale. She was sick, but not as sick as Charlie.

“We went back on the Sunday and found Jan in the grounds just sitting under the big oak tree. Dora and I more or less forced her to accept my resuscitation and lo and behold. She coughed up a slime ball and started getting better. Once again, I accidentally swallowed some of that too. It's not a nice story.

What I’m trying to say is that there’s something going on with my body. It’s making antibodies or something; antibodies that resist or even destroy Covid 21 as well as 19.

I’ve revived three people now, but the trouble is the people at the nightingale know and they’ll have my DNA on their computers which – are – linked – to – the – national - police – computers! Now they want to see me and run tests.”

“How do you know?” Aggie asked.

“Dora phoned Jan on my alternative phone this morning. The Nightingale’s like a disturbed hornet’s nest at the moment. Doctors, virologists, epidemiologists, and coppers all over the bloody place. Jan and Charlie were in custody for a while, accused of withholding evidence because they genuinely don’t know where I’m staying. The whole thing’s a crock of shit!”

Doctor Mc Tavish rolled her eyes in frustrated anger.

“We’ll the first thing I can tell you is that your DNA records are safe on our computers..”

“Are you certain?” Terri begged. “Can you double check. It only takes one stupid mistake and we've been there before; haven't we?”

“Yes. That was a bad slip up on our part. It won’t happen again.”

“What happens, if the Nightingale somehow finds out; don’t all the hospitals on the same regional boards share information? Every patient in Britain has a unique NHS number and that sits somewhere on their central national computer, wherever that is, not to mention the regional ones.” If my number’s up, it only takes one stroke on some keyboard, somewhere in the UK.”

Aggie McTavish sat thinking for a moment then offered.

“What name did you use in the Nightingale?

“Terri. I only used Terri, I didn’t even give a sir-name or address. Jan and Charlie called me Terri, and Dora called me Terri.”

“Good! Well there is no Terri on our records, you’re down as Terence Harrington and your only address is your parent’s address when you were last in school. We’ve got no official records of a Terri by any name. We dug that out from your family doctor’s surgery records.”

“Is that the truth?”

“Yes. Terence Harington, from Gloucester, England; with 'boy' on his birth certificate.”

“Well hopefully that’ll cover it. Shall we go down to the labs?”

“Shall I come?” Jessica offered.

“What about the girls?”

“Dawn can take them; she usually comes in just after eleven.”

“Okay. Dora, are you going back to, you know - ?”

Dora nodded as Aggie McTavish raised a querying eyebrow.

“More secrets Terri.?”

“For now, yes. Give us a break Doc!”

“You hold all the aces Terri.”

“D’ you think so? Not from where we’re standing we don’t.” Terri countered as Dora nodded affirmation.

When Dawn arrived Jessica handed the twins over and they left for the labs while Dora returned to help Ron with the lunch-time rush. Doctor Cummins arrived as requested and expressed his disbelief.

“Are you serious? With people watching. Is he some sort of exhibitionist? “

“No, he wants legal witnesses in case anything goes pear-shaped further down the road.”

“He doesn’t trust the law or us; and frankly, I don’t blame him. Come on , let’s get this over with, I’m not too pleased about it either. For you it’s just boy’s locker-room capers. I’m a woman!”

“And a doctor, I might add.” The consultant added.

“Come. Unto the breach.”

Doctors McTavish and Cummins took seats beside the laboratory bench while the technician handed Terri a larger phyle than usual. Jessica grinned and elected to wait outside.

“You won’t be getting that much!” Terri chuckled.

“It’s so you don’t miss, I want it all.”

“Bloody hell, shades of Queen! ‘An’ you wann’it’ now!”

Boldly, Terri started vigorously massaging her small penis and very quickly, a substantial ejaculation was ejected into the larger than usual cup.
For the witnesses, it was something of a conjuring trick to watch this remarkably pretty young girl produced the very essence of masculinity. Nevertheless, they maintained a decent degree of professional medical decorum as the girl tugged her panties up while the technician took it to the microscopes.”

He did not bother preparing a clinical quality slide but just took a glass pipet and deposited a tiny drop on the plate. After inspecting the sample he nodded his head with satisfaction and offered the opportunity to Doctor Cummins.

“Take a look, professor. While I project it onto the big screen.”

Half a minute later, Aggie could see the big screen come into focus and she stared, stunned silent as she noted the sperm count.

“God! She gasped, that’s one of the highest sperm densities I’ve ever seen! And their motility is excellent.”

She turned to stare almost uncomprehendingly at the delightfully pretty Terri straightening out her dress as Professor Cummins finally detached his gaze from the microscope. He also turned to stare at Terri.

“I don’t know what to say young lady.”

Terri glanced up and answered somewhat acidly.

“Sorry might work!”

Brendan Cummins’s gaze fell briefly floorward as he grasped the full portent of Terri’s reply

Aggie McTavish at least had the humanity and understanding to realise that Terri was genuinely looking for sympathy, help and above all protection.

“We are sorry Terri. Nothing can remedy what you’ve had to endure but I’m afraid to admit, unless you work with us, there could be a lot more trouble to come.”

“Yeah, a hell of a lot. I suppose tech-boy here will now be expecting saliva, sperm, blood, sweat and tears. Will there be no end to it?”

“Bone marrow perhaps,” the Technician volunteered insensitively.

“Oh fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!!. Even Churchill didn’t have to offer that!” Terri wailed fearfully.

“George! For god’s sake, show a bit of thought man!” The professor censured him angrily.

“I’m only thinking ahead boss” If or when we find out what’s making Terri tick it might boil down to sampling her bone marrow and determining if that is the source.”

George the technician turned sympathetically to the frightened Terri and explained.

“The truth is love, at this stage Terri, we have absolutely no idea as to what’s seemingly in your saliva, or your blood, or your lymphatic fluids or any other part of you, but believe me girl! You’re going to need protection, and lots of it.

The big question is; are you prepared to trust us and work with us?”

“I’ve no bloody option, have I? It’s you or some foreign kidnap gang and then fuck knows!”

“Well first off, we have to get fluid samples and tissue samples from you, are you happy with that?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“If we are to help humanity, frankly no. It’s as plain and simple as that.”

Terri turned to Aggie.

“I knew this was coming. If you get a vaccine from this, what’s going to happen?”

“To you or the vaccine?” Aggie Mc Tavish replied.

“Well; both! – and who decides? - Yet another fertility committee or fucking vaccine committee or the united nations or bloody what!”

Professor Cummins weighed in with a clear reassurance.

“First off Terri, we protect you and your health and most of all your freedom!”

Terri visibly relaxed and Brendan Cummins knew he had touched the right nerve as he cautiously elaborated.

“It’s your freedom that most concerns you isn’t it. Freedom to walk about freely.. freedom to sit in the park without being mobbed. Freedom to go to a café and enjoy a simple cup of coffee with friends you know and can trust; freedom to -.”

“Freedom to go on holiday abroad and know I’m still safe.” Terri interrupted.

“I can’t promise you that Terri.” The professor intoned thoughtfully. “We would all be lying if we promised your that.”

“We might get by if Terry the boy or man is publicly declared to be the sperm donor but you continue to live as Terri the girl.” Aggie suggested.

Terri paused to consider then pointed out the flaw.

“If I’m identified as the vaccine source, the computer banks at the Nightingale hospital will have to be swept clean of all reference to Terri and Terry; - and that means the national police computers as well. Not much hope of that.”

“Well I think Terri, that you might have some leverage there.”

“How so?”

Professor Cummins harrumphed conspiratorially.

“As a professor of this particular fertility clinic, I do have a bit of clout at national level. We are, after all, the chief clinic for the South West. I think I can see my way to getting an interview with the Cabinet, especially as we are the clinic caring for Jessica and the twins.”

“Are you seriously thinking of getting the national computer memory banks swept clean of Jessica, me and the twins.”

“Well, you mainly. Jessica’s perfectly legal, so are the twins.”

“But she’s a direct lead in to me. Find Jessie and you’ll likely get very close to me, even within touching distance; - and that’s kidnapping distance.”

“Okay then. Yes, - at a push; Jessica as well.. Wiping a person completely off the electronic record is not an easy business. Think of all the lists anybody is on in the UK, and all of them vulnerable to hacking.”

“Okay professor, “ I’ll give you leave to try. Meanwhile I slip back underground where only you people know who Terri actually is.”

“What about regular sperm deposits?” The Lab technician begged.”

Three days each interval. That’ll give my body time to recover, especially if you’re taking blood as well.”
"That'll be every ninety days as per the rule for women. Other fluids will have to be determined." The Lab technician revealed.

“Yeah, like what? -Sweat and tears, knowing you vampires!” I’m wondering how long my body can stand it, I’m not the biggest person in the world. Nor the strongest!”

“Depends how much blood they take and how much vaccine, if any, we can manufacture from it.” The technician opined.

“We’ll certainly NOT endanger your life Terri,” Aggie McTavish reassured her. “You’ll understand that is an absolute given.”

“Well Terri,” Professor Cummins intoned gently. “All we’ve done so far is hypothesise. Unless we get samples of your blood, we’re just faffing around wasting breath.”

Terri nodded resignedly. It was pointless trying to drag things out. The sooner they got some blood, the sooner she, and they, would know what was facing her.

“Okay then. Blood! How much, how often?”

“Normally we allow twelve weeks between donations for men and sixteen weeks for women”

“Well there’s a wrinkle for starters. I’ll be on the men’s list.” Terri argued. “That put’s me on yet another gender specific list.”

“You won’t be on any list. You would be expected to donate your blood here at this clinic and it’s laboratories privately. You’re blood certainly won’t be going into the national blood bank. It's far too precious for that!”

“So,” Terri persisted remorselessly. “If you eventually derive some sort of vaccine, who gets first dibs?”

“Let’s get a vaccine first,” George the technician offered. “We’ve no idea if we can derive a vaccine or how many doses per centilitre of blood.”

“And how many centilitres per donation will I be expected to give?” Terri asked?

“We can’t take an adult volume, you’re still only a teen-ager. Normally, we expect people to be adults; that’s eighteen.”

“I’m fifteen.” Terri revealed.

“Yes, we know,” Professor Cummins replied, “so we’ll not be taking more than twenty centilitres per visit.”

“So. That’s sperm every three days and blood every ninety days.” Terri estimated. "If I'm to do girl intervals."

“We’ll have to keep tabs at first,” George the technician confirmed. “Health checks to make sure your normal development is not impaired.”

“I hope that doesn’t mean I have to live here all the time.”

“Don’t you want to live with Jessica? She’s the mother of your twins don’t forget.”

“Don’t try and blackmail me or coerce me,” Doctor McTavish. We initially agreed to have a baby only to protect ourselves from you lot, - the egg snatchers and transition gangs.”

“But surely, you must have had feelings for her. You said you were together before you found out about the pregnancy clause.”

“I think I do, but does Jessica still feel the same, it’s a two way street. In any event, I suspect you’ll want us living at the clinic for protection. We’ll see each other all the time.”

“We would be putting all of you in some sort of witness protection scheme.”

“So my daughters would have to live as boys, if they're to be invisible. How’s that going to work? It’s hard to hide twins at the best of times, twin girls would be impossible. We’d have to live in the desert to be invisible, or Antarctica.”

“It’s best you live here then,” Professor Cummins responded. “Live as a girl, in the same apartment block as Jessica and you get to see your daughters every day. If you want to live with Jessica, nothing could be simpler.”

Reluctantly, Terri was forced to agree and she nodded defeatedly. The first part of the deal was done. The professor’s demeanour indicated that he thought the problem was solved and he turned expecting to leave. Terri was not finished yet.

The other question had not even been touched let alone addressed.

ooo000ooo