Chapter 1 (Revised)   My name is Simon Jones but my exam results all said Eve L. S. Jones. Who was Eve? Why did I have her results?

 

 
Authors note: This series was first published in 2009 and has been revised prior to re-publication.
 
 
Eve Chapter 1

I was due back at school next week, at the beginning of September, to start year 12, also known as the 6th form. Right now, however, I was in my bedroom contemplating my future and very unsure what future that might have been. I knew, because of an email, that my GCSE exam results had all been good but my results slips, which were in amongst the waiting post, had the wrong name on them. My name is Simon Jones but my result slips all said Eve L. S. Jones. Who was Eve? Why did I have her results? Strangely, she had the same grades as me.

My mother and i had been on a camping holiday in France for the previous two weeks so I'd asked my school to email the grades to me and then to post the results slips. I'd made sure the camping site had an internet café!

When we sorted through the pile of mail that had arrived over the fortnight, the envelope was easy to spot but my mother had tried to take it quickly and said she'd look after them, after all I didn't need them straight away - did I?

I told her I just wanted to see them for myself before they went into a folder for safekeeping. But I'd already seen that the name was wrong. I wanted to call the school but it was too late now, I realised. I stormed off to my room saying I would look after them. I was tired and not very pleased with my school.

I was lying there when mum knocked on my door and walked in. She saw my face and asked why I'd walked out like that.

"Mum, we have to ring the school tomorrow, these are the wrong slips." She picked them up off the bed and said that they were correct.

"But, my name is Simon not Eve." Mum tried to explain, but I just couldn't grasp what she was saying. In the end, she went to her room and came back with my birth certificate.

"Simon, look here. Your full name is Eve Lynn Simon Jones but everyone knows you as Simon. Everyone except the school and the examination board. The school had to see your birth certificate when we enrolled you five years ago. The teachers were told to call you Simon but the bursar and the Head know your full name."

I was stunned. I was sixteen years old but my name was not my name. Yeah, that doesn't sound right.

"Mum, why am I called Eve? I'm not a girl!"

Mum put my birth cert down and looked straight at me.

"Simon, you never knew your father but he got things wrong a lot. He had a problem with his brain but they didn't realise it until he died suddenly at work. Everyone thought he was just eccentric."

"What has that got to do with me?" I asked.

"When you were born, I was reading a novel by Evelyn Waugh and I liked the name. Your dad wanted something simple and called you Simon."

"Thanks, Simple Simon. Is that it?"

My mum explained that when dad registered my birth, he made one of his usual mistakes and instead of Evelyn Simon told the registrar Eve Lynn Simon. The registrar apparently had questioned the name but my father had told her that it was mum's fault. So I'm stuck with Eve Lynn. I would get murdered at school if my classmates found out. Mum promised she'd ring the school tomorrow, although I now had doubts that anything could be done about it. I had my shower and fell onto my bed, wondering how we'd sort all this out before school started next week.

***

I'd been having weird dreams for a few months, all of them set in or around the school. Before the summer holidays I put it down to exam stress. Even so, I did not dare let anyone know about stress, it was an unspoken widespread problem amongst 16 year olds at exam time - hormones and stress don't work together too well aparently. The dreams hadn't stopped after the exams worryingly, not even after the results email. I also had a different reason not to say anything, in my dreams I was a girl. I was also having the odd headache, but they passed quickly and I didn't bother telling mum.

I dreamt again that night. I was in school when the PE teacher had called me Eve and sent me into the girl's changing room. I woke up as I was about to go through the changing room doorway. I laid in bed trying to work it out. This wasn't the first time I'd had this particular dream, but it was the first time I'd been called Eve. Usually I was called Simone.

I tried to get back to sleep but it was half past seven and my clock radio turned itself on. As usual the breakfast DJ made some barely witty remarks. Mum shouted something as she went out the door, heading for work.

My morning was fairly normal for the school holidays. After breakfast I got my bike out and went for a ride out of town and along the canal path. It was warm and dry but I was dripping with perspiration when I got back at ten. I headed in the shower and went to my drawers to dress. I pulled on a simple white pair of briefs.

As we'd been away none of my casual clothes were clean and there was a pile of dirty laundry in the utility room. It was a warm day so I wanted shorts and a T-shirt. In the end I went to mum's room and had a look. We shared each other's clothes from time to time. Mostly she borrowed mine as we were about the same size. We were both about 1.7m or 5ft 7inches tall, not bad for her but I was a shortie.

I found a pair of shorts that wasn't too, well, short and a printed, pink, T-shirt. It was a bit tight but I wasn't planning on going any further than the washing line out back. I headed down to the kitchen where I found a note next to the kettle, "Eve, can you make a salad for tonight and sort out the laundry. Thanks, Mum." Yeah, thanks mum.

I switched on my laptop and checked my emails. There were several from my classmates boasting about their grades. I had 8 A's and no-one had bettered that yet. The phone then rang, it was the Head's secretary. Mum had rung the school, could I go and see the Head straight away? This sounded ominous. I just jumped on my bike and ten minutes later stopped outside the entrance to St Peter's Comprehensive and Sixth Form College. A mouthful of a name, everyone just called it "St P's".

The secretary ushered me straight into the Head's office. He pointed me at the seats next to a coffee table and joined me there.

"Simon, your mother has explained the situation. Normally she would be here with you but she explained she trusts you to make decisions for yourself. We always thought that you knew about your names but chose to call yourself Simon. I'm sorry but we can't change your exam results unless you change your name. I told your mother that she should talk to a solicitor to change your name, but she said it was up to you. I have never expected to have this conversation with a pupil and am out of my depth. I have asked .."

I heard a knock behind me and the door opened, a lady walked in and sat down next to us. The head introduced her as Miss Everett from the Local Education Authority (LEA).

"Good morning Eve, sorry, Simon. I haven't had a chance to fully read your file yet." She said.

"My file? Why do I have a file?" I responded.

"Every pupil has a file at the school and another at the LEA. However, we have a problem with the LEA file. Your computer record says you are Eve Lynn Simone Jones and you are female. We think this happened when we paid an outside company for all the paper records to be transferred to computer. The school file was correct but it was closed when you finished year 11."

The head picked up where Miss Everett had finished.

"We opened a new file for the Sixth Form College. The College is separate from the school but I am the head of the college as well. Because the college takes pupils from other schools we always close your file after you get your GCSE results. The LEA sends us the personal details of all pupils starting year 12. All the staff have been told you are a girl called Eve. Simon Jones is not starting the Sixth Form, Eve Jones is."

I sat there and opened then closed my mouth several times. Then nothing. I woke in the back of an ambulance and heard the sirens.

"Eve, Eve, can you hear me?"

Err, what. are they talking to me? Oh shit, they are. I tried to say something but couldn't hear anything.

"Eve, don't say anything. We had to put you on oxygen after you passed out. You have a mask on. Can you squeeze my fingers. That's it. We'll be at the hospital in a minute. Your mum's meeting us there."

I must have passed out again. This time I was lying down and machines were beeping away. I could hear mum and a man.

"Mrs Jones, your daughter may have concussion where she hit the coffee table. We are sending her for a CT scan just in case there's any bleeding. We can't say any more than that until .."

The next time I was aware of anything there was a very loud mechanical noise right next to my head. A voice kept saying "keep still, keep still."

***

The next time I woke the sun was coming through a window. I was lying in bed and I turned my head to the side, seeing mum slouched in a chair. I tried to say something but no words came out, just a gasp. A nurse ran in, back out, and returned with a man in a dark suit.

"Good morning Eve, how are you today?" I blinked, the room was empty. I had passed out again. This wasn't on.

I was a bit more aware and saw I was in a hospital gown. I had several tubes in my arm and I was connected to a collection of boxes that went beep. I had a silly thought about a Monty Python sketch and tried to laugh. My throat was dry. By my left hand was a button. I pressed it and a nurse appeared within a few seconds.

"Welcome back to the world of the living Eve. Don't try to say anything, I'll get you some water".

She picked up a bottle that looked like one I had for my bike and squeezed some water into my mouth. She waited a few seconds and repeated it. Now I could speak but it sounded like I was rasping.

"What happened?"

She said they had operated on my brain. I had to wait for the neurologist to visit me again for any more details. Mum then appeared in the doorway. She looked like she'd been running.

"Oh Simon, you're awake." Yeah, obvious statements were her speciality. The nurse looked at her strangely and then left, closing the door behind her.

"Don't worry about the nurse, the school had to give the paramedics your full name and they assumed you were a girl, albeit a bit flat chested," she cupped her own breasts and giggled. I couldn't resist a laugh myself, but decided not to repeat it soon as my throat still hurt.

"You know it took them ages before they realised you were my son, not my daughter, but they still haven't changed the hospital records. I keep telling the nurses but I haven't seen the same one twice in the past week."

Week? I stared at her, not wanting to hurt my throat again. She must have realised what I was thinking, she was my mother after all.

"You were brought in a week ago on blue lights." I nodded, as best I could.

"I have let the school know that you'll be missing the start of term, although they worked that bit out for themselves. The head was sorry you couldn't make it there for today's photo call. You had the best grades and the local paper are running a story in this week's edition.”

"So the head's thinking about publicity for the school and not any concern for me?" I croaked, angrily.

“I wouldn't say it like that Simon. The head feels terribly responsible for the accident and the governors are investigating, as are the LEA. Your little collapse has caused everyone a lot of work. But, we're not worried about that. Our solicitor is handling it. Look, get some rest and I'll bring you fully up to speed a bit later."

With that she kissed me and walked out the door.

I must have dozed. It was now dark outside when I woke but the lighting was too bright for my liking. Mum was back by my bed and the suit was back.

"Good evening Eve," he said.

"My name is Steve Bishop and I operated on you. You hit your head quite hard when you passed out and we were concerned that you might have bled under your skull so we did an MRI. The A&E charge nurse had put you down for a CT scan but the radiographer phoned me as he was concerned about you and I changed it to an MRI. Bloody good job too."

I was nodding as he talked but didn't fancy speaking yet.

I pointed at the water next to me and mum poured me a cup and then helped me drink it, propping me up first. I looked at the suit and asked him what happened. He said that there hadn't been any bleeding but I had been severely concussed and they suspected brain damage as I'd stopped breathing while in the ambulance. The MRI showed a tumour in the back of my head, well away from where I'd hit.

They had operated straight away as it looked malignant.

"Your mum suggested we have a look at your father's post mortem report and we found he had a tumour there as well. There doesn't appear to be any problems after the operation but we are keeping you on a mild sedative for now so you'll sleep a lot."

With that he said he'd be back tomorrow and left. Mum stayed and helped me with a soup that a nurse brought. My first meal for a week. After that I must have gone back to sleep.

The following morning I was a lot more awake. A nurse changed the bedding and gave me a wash. I received a clean nightie. I tried to protest but she simply said that she "understood" and I wasn't to fuss.

I was given some toast and a cup of tea, I suggested coffee was a better idea but she didn't seem to want to listen. Mum returned a bit later carrying some flowers. I hadn't noticed there was already a few bunches in the room along with a few teddy bears. I'm sixteen for heaven's sake, not a little kid.

I asked mum what was the deal with the nightie. She explained that they now had me down as transgendered, the latest in many revisions to my fhospital file. I'd been brought in wearing her clothes and was named as Eve. They had put two and two together making 6 or 8 or 10. It didn't matter, they were wrong I told myself - and mum.

Mum went silent and then said "I know about your dreams."

"Oh" I muttered, then "what dreams?"

"You were sedated but not fully asleep a lot of the time. You were dreaming, we could see your eyes moving and you have been speaking in your sleep. It was difficult to understand at first as you were very dry. I've also heard you at home for several weeks. Now all the nurses here have heard you as well. Mr Bishop is sending you for another MRI later today just to be certain and has asked for a psychiatrist to speak to you this morning. She's already met you.”

"A shrink! What am I crazy?".

I glared at her initially in disbelief, then I started crying. I must have sobbed for ages. Between crying fits I told mum about the dreams, and that I didn't understand them. I hadn't noticed the lady sat near the door but when mum dried my eyes I looked up and she introduced herself.

"Hello Eve, I'm Dr Fox. Let's talk about your dreams".

Chapter 2 (Revised)   "It's strange, until last week I was Simon, now I'm Eve as well"

 

 
Authors note: This series was first published in 2009 and has been revised prior to re-publication.
 
 
Previously:
 
Simon Jones had just discovered that his birth name was Eve and, following a collapse at school, he was admitted to hospital as Eve Jones wearing mis mothers shorts & t-shirt. The hospital has assumed he is TG and his mother has not yet managed to correct them. He's now faced with talking to a psychiatrist about dreams he's been experiencing.
 

Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 2
 
 
I was not happy about talking to a shrink, but Dr. Fox seemed kind, and she took me slowly through my dreams, at least those I could recall. My mum was sat next to my hospital bed and had just been told much the same but Dr Fox went over each dream several times, trying to tease more memories from me each time. In the end, I was very relaxed, indeed tired, but this may have been down to the sedative I was on.

Dr Fox thanked me, "Eve, I'm so glad we could have this chat. I can see you're exhausted, so I'll be back in the morning, don't go anywhere will you?"

She left the room before I could think of a witty response. A nurse arrived and told me she would change my dressings and check my blood pressure. As the nurse left, mum kissed me and suggested I took a nap.

I woke to see an orderly pushing a wheelchair into the room, "Time for your MRI" he said, rather too joyfully.

Two nurses helped me into the wheelchair after putting a gown on me. That's when I finally noticed the catheter bag. Ughh!. They moved my IV onto a hook above the chair, "Off we go Eve," he said and we headed for the lift, then down two floors, along a long bright (too bright!) corridor, following the signs to the Diagnostic Imaging Suite.

The orderly handed a form to a guy in a lab coat, "Right Eve, you've been here once before but I don't reckon you remember too much of it. I'm Craig, by the way." My chair was pushed over to the drum with a table running through it. I didn't like the idea of the head wear.

I was carefully laid on the table and my head locked into the restraint, as were my hands and legs. Already I didn't like this one little bit. A pair of headphones was put over my ears, they were odd as they had tubes not wires. They also did something with my catheter that I tried not to pay any notice of. It wasn't comfortable, and that's the best I could say.

"Eve, you have to stay perfectly still. It will get very noisy but if you move we'll have to repeat the scan."

I was becoming strangely familiar with this new name, the one that I'd had from birth. Hmmm.

They played me some classical music through the cans; I think it was Spring from the Four Seasons, or maybe Summer. I'd heard it a few times as 'music on hold'.

He wasn't kidding about the noise. A robotic voice told me to 'keep still'. Even if I had really wanted to hear some Vivaldi, I couldn't have because the noise was deafening. I was so glad when ten minutes later when it was over, except Craig told me they'd repeat the scan 'just to be sure'. Thanks.

I wasn't back in my bed until over an hour later. The orderly who had taken me for the MRI couldn't be found until one of the technicians looked in the staff canteen along the same corridor. As it was now lunchtime I was given a potato and leak soup (at least that is what they said) and a crusty bread roll with instructions 'not to get any crumbs on the bed'. As the roll was past its' best, I gave it a miss anyway. Sleep came easy to me.

I smelt fresh coffee as I woke up. Someone must have heard my silent pleas. I was helped to sit up by mum and she held the cardboard cup to my lips until I was able to take it for myself. She was smiling as I drank it, I'm not certain why but it did concern me. Before I could ask, the door swung open and Mr. Bishop, the surgeon walked in, followed by a gaggle of people in white lab coats.

"Good morning Eve, I hope you don't mind but these are medical students. I've asked them not to ask you any questions. Are you OK with them here?"

I nodded but made an waful attempt to hide my nightie. He continued, "I've had a look at the MRI scans and it looks like we got all of the tumour. Also, there is no obvious damage where your head hit the table, only bruising. You did however suffer substantial concussion. You'll stay overnight for observations and I'll check you in the morning, you could go home at lunchtime if there are no more concerns."

I thanked him and he left, followed by the gaggle.

So far today, four different different people had called me 'Eve' and I hadn't corrected them. My name is Simon I told myself. I must keep reminding myself, otherwise would I lose my identity? Mum was still sat there and offered me a glass of water, which I took.

"Simon, I know you're confused. When we get out of the hospital we'll straighten everything up. I've asked our solicitor to prepare a statutory declaration to change your name, if that's what you want. I'm sorry how this started."

She started crying. I held her hand and started crying myself, I never normally did that.

After a cardboard meal I fell asleep again. I woke at 7 in the morning and pushed the call button. A nurse appeared and I asked her for a coffee. She returned with a coffee and some toast. The crumbs warning was repeated. The coffee was warm and tasteless, the toast was cold. No marmalade, or jam, either. Did I get a choice for my food and was there any decent food anyway?

I must have dozed some more until I smelt coffee again. This time it was hot and tasted wonderful. I figured mum was getting her supply from elsewhere. The duty vampire arrived and took some more blood, she then went to the IV and adjusted the valve. Finally she changed my dressings. Dr. Fox arrived just then. We talked some more and she asked me how I felt being called Eve. I tried to explain that this was very new to me but most of the time I didn't notice if I was called Eve or Simon.

"It's strange, until last week I was Simon, now I'm Eve as well," I said.

Dr. Fox latched onto that last comment and asked me to explain it. Of course I couldn't - not fully. Dr. Fox told mum she'd see me as an out-patient next week. She also asked me to keep a diary of my dreams and to take it to the appointment. I asked if it would mean a day off school and she just smiled before she turned and left.

"Mum, what just happened? What haven't you told me?"

"Simon, they are keeping you off school for the next week until they're sure there's no damage, physical or mental."

"Great, now I'm waiting for the men in white coats. Oh damn, I've already seen them."

Mr. Bishop arrived a while later and asked how I felt.

"That's a strange question, I've been knocked unconscious, been treated as transgendered, been operated on for a tumour and I'm now seeing a shrink."

"I can see you are recovering quite well by that statement. I had the sedative discontinued his morning but we left the IV there just in case. I'll have a nurse remove the canula before you leave. You will be home in a few hours, but now I need to speak to your mother briefly."

He signalled for mum to follow him and they walked out of the room together. I fell back off to sleep, due to the lack of anything else to do.

This time I dreamt I was playing netball, and I was dressed just like the other girls. I don't even remember doing any more than walking past the netball court previously.

The rest of the morning flew past, easy if you're asleep. A nurse came in and told me she was taking my blood pressure and removing the catheter. I gritted my teeth as it was withdrawn. Mum returned at midday and said I had been discharged. She'd brought some clothes, thankfully a set of sweats and clean underwear - all my own clothes. The underwear certainly felt odd.

I winced as I dressed but was too pleased to be getting out to worry about any temporary discomfort. My training shoes were by the bed already and, having put them on, I was helped into a wheelchair. I was pushed past the nurses station into the lift and down to the entrance. An ambulance was waiting for me, they weren't keen on me getting into mum's car and bumping my head.

***

Once home I was pushed into the kitchen and moved onto one of the chairs there. I didn't notice mum coming back in carrying the flowers that were still OK, as well as the teddy bears. The ambulance women left and then it was just mum and me.

Mum went first to the filter machine and put on a pot of proper coffee. I got the feeling we'd need the whole pot. She then went to the fridge and prepared some lunch for us. My appetite hadn't fully returned, hospital food does that to you, but a cheese roll was just what I needed. The coffee was poured and she finally sat down to talk with me.

From her bag she retrieved a small book. "Simon, Dr. Fox asked you to keep a diary, did you have a dream while you were asleep this morning?"

I nodded.

"I thought so, you didn't say anything but there was some REM."

"REM, isn't that a band from Georgia?" I asked.

"No, in this case it is Rapid Eve Movement and usually means that you're dreaming."

I took the diary and wrote a note of my dream. I found it strange that before mum had asked me about my dream I couldn't remember much of it but now I had the whole dream on paper.

After I put the diary down, mum reached back into her bag and pulled out some tablets and a letter. She first explained that one set of tablets was in case I couldn't sleep and the other was a mild sedative if I was in pain. OK, so far. Mum would look after the sleeping pills, and I would be allowed to keep a couple of the painkillers, just in case, while mum would keep the rest of the supply.

"Simon, I know you're normally sensible but I just want to be careful. I won't be far away for the next week, my office have given me time off to look after you."

She then picked up the letter and said it was my copy of the discharge letter to our GP, Dr. Kumar. In the letter, Mr. Bishop described the injury, the tumour, the surgery and the post-operative care. Nothing strange there, but I was referred to as Eve throughout. He next wanted to see me on Monday morning at 11.

It was then that I realised I didn't know what day it was. I asked mum, and she said it was Friday, September 11th. She asked me if I needed to know the year, then giggled and moved away before I could reach her with my hand. I'd missed nearly two weeks of my life.

I felt to the back of my head and touched the dressing gently. I had a horrible thought and asked mum about my hair.

"Yes Simon, they had to shave most of your hair off round the back before they operated. You had a very major operation and they are amazed at your speed of recovery but you have a wound there that won't completely heal for one or two months; it has to be kept covered and the dressing changed regularly. The district nurse will be here tomorrow morning and you'll be then seen at the surgery every Monday and Friday. You'll also be seeing one of Mr. Bishop's team on Wednesdays and Dr. Fox on Thursdays."

Right, that's two days a week in the doctors surgery and two at the hospital.

"When can I go back to school?"

"Not yet and maybe not back to that school."

I sat stunned, "Why not?"

Mum took a deep breath and looked straight at me, "Simon, I'm sorry that this started like it did. I should have been with you at the school that morning but I thought you bcould cope without me and maybe thought my work was more important. Can you forgive me?"

I reached out and took her hands, "Mum I forgave you as soon as I was conscious enough to think after the surgery. This wasn't your fault."

"But Simon, I should have already changed your name then none of this would have happened."

I looked at her and started crying. She came round to me and asked me what was wrong, I waved my hand at a box of tissues and she handed me one. I dried my eyes and told her nothing was wrong, I was just so happy to be home. I'm not sure she entirely believed me.

I then had an overbearing need for the toilet. She put me back in the wheelchair and we wheeled to the ground-floor toilet. I got out of the chair and sat to relieve myself. The catheter had been taken out shortly before we left the hospital and I was a little sore, make that very sore. Maybe one of those pills wasn't a bad idea.

After washing my hands and then my eyes I looked in the mirror. I couldn't remember there being a mirror anywhere in the hospital. There was a purple bruise above my left eye. Turning my head I could see the edge of the dressing, there was stubble around the dressing. The rest of my hair looked like I had been dragged through a hedge backwards. I was a mess. I forced myself to just accept this, just as I'd accepted everything else.

I exited the toilet and Mum went to put me back in the wheelchair but I stood up straight, albeit a bit shaky, and said I'd walk back to the kitchen. She held my arm as we headed back to my cold coffee. I asked for a refill but she shook her head, doctor's orders, no more than two cups a day. Damn! No Coke or Pepsi either and no alcohol, as if. I asked where this came from and she showed me the second page of Mr. Bishop's letter. I sighed, at least I could get my morning fix of coffee.

I then asked what Mum had meant about my school. She went to the lounge and came back with a bundle of letters. I recognised the school's letterhead and the county council's logo but not the rest.

"Simon, your incident caused a storm. The school and the Local Eduction Authority are under investigation. Your head has been suspended, as has Mrs. Everett from the LEA. Ofsted has asked another county's LEA to appoint a temporary head. Parents have been pulling their children from the school.

"The local newspapers and local TV stations want an interview, but I've told them to speak to Dixon Hill & Co, our solicitors. Mr. Dixon has waived his normal fee, apparently they are waiting for the school's and LEA's solicitors to respond to a claim for damages. Oh, and the Health & Safety Executive want a statement from you on Monday. Mr. Dixon will be here. They might charge the head with negligence. The word is that he'll be sacked next week after an emergency governors' meeting."

"All because of me?" I asked.

"No, several parents have told the Osfted inspectors that their children have been refused permission by the head to have their parents present for disciplinaries and other serious matters."

She continued, "You'll have a private tutor here, Monday for four hours each afternoon and all day on Tuesdays. All your other appointments are before lunchtime. I've arranged the tutor but the LEA is picking up the cost."

"So, I don't get off school completely?"

"No," she said.

I asked about the flowers from the hospital. She told me that some of my school friends had sent flowers, as had my relatives. Claire and Annie Johnson, twins who I had been through school with, had left two of the teddy bears. The school governors, LEA, and mum's employers had sent the rest.

I was starting to yawn and mum saw this, despite my attempts to hide it, "How about you get some sleep in the lounge?" She helped me into the lounge and I laid on the couch.

I woke just before six and could smell cooking in the kitchen, real home cooking. There was a glass of water on the table, I took a sip and then swallowed the whole glass. Looking around I saw the local paper on the table, last Friday's edition. It was open on page 3 - 'Girl beats St. P's GCSE record'. The byline read 'Sixteen year old Eve Jones has broken the 10 year record of grade A passes at GCSE level'. I wasn't impressed with that article. I turned to the front page, the headline read 'Schoolgirl Injured In St. P's Incident.' The article continued but didn't mention my name anywhere.

So the school and the LEA have me as a girl, the hospital have me as transgendered and now the local paper has made me a girl. Who next? Am I an alien?
 
(to be continued)

Chapter 3 (Revised)    Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:
 
Simon Jones aka Eve has returned home from hospital after an accident at school and subsequent surgery for a tumour. He has learned he can't go back to school at present and will have a tutor, together with plenty of medical appointments.
  
Now the story continues.
  
Eve Chapter 3
  
My mum called to say dinner was ready so I pulled myself up off the couch and went into the kitchen. Dinner was served and I did my best but my appetite was still lacking. We sat and talked a bit longer and I caught up with the local gossip. Mum said my friends would come round tomorrow if I was well enough and mum's family would visit on Sunday. I wanted to help but mum sent me back into the lounge while she loaded the dishwasher.

At 7pm the Channel 4 news showed the 9/11 ceremony in New York. It was the first real news I'd seen in two weeks and it was very moving; I'd been in primary school the day the atrocity happened but it was in secondary school when the scale of it became obvious when we prepared a school project on 9/11. In my delicate state I was in tears very soon so mum helped me upstairs.

I was putting my PJ's on when I yelped. Mum came into my room and asked, "What's wrong?"

I blushed several shades of crimson then said, "I'm sore, the PJ's were rubbing me."

Mum asked, "Where?'

I had to point at my penis. Mum disappeared and came back with one of her t-shirt nighties. I looked at her as if she was mad but she insisted, "This will not rub you as much and you'll be able to have a good sleep. If you're better tomorrow you can put your PJ's back on. I'll get you a glass of water and you can take a painkiller." She added a sleeping pill without telling me, but I can count. Mind you, I wasn't going to argue.

***

I slept soundly and wasn't aware of any dreams. I must admit that I barely noticed that, when I awoke, I was still wearing the nightie until I'd reached the toilet shortly after 7am. After washing my hands I headed, carefully, down to the kitchen and directly to the coffee pot. Ten minutes later I had a mug of coffee and some toast, with marmalade.

Mum obviously smelt the coffee and walked into the kitchen in her nightie, covered by a gown. She looked at me, grinned, and disappeared back upstairs to find my dressing gown. It was white towelling and I'd had it a few years, I was now a little big for it and it didn't wrap round very well. After I put it on mum shook her head and went back up to find her spare gown, I was red silk with Chinese print. She helped me into it and then grabbed some coffee and toast for herself. We chatted a bit over our second cups.

At 8am the bell rang and mum went to the door, letting district nurse in. She came into the kitchen and put her case down, "it's Eve isn't it?" in a broad Glaswegian accent.

Mum nodded so I opened my mouth to correct her and was cut off before I could start, "I understand wee lass. I understand." Did she?

She pulled on a pair of disposable gloves and told me to lean forward. She took hold of one side of the top layer of the dressing and pulled it off, putting it in a plastic bag. She took the padding off and then wetted the area with a spray. Finally she carefully peeled the gauze off my scalp.

I jumped and would have left the chair if she hadn't had one hand on my shoulder holding me down, "That's the worse part out the way." She sprayed my wound some more and wiped the back of my head,.

"The stitches look very clean, no infection."

She redressed making sure that mum could see how to do it. "I'll leave a dressing pack in case you need to redress her wound. Have you spoken to your doctor's surgery?" Mum nodded, took the pack and again failed to correct her.

The nurse put her gloves in the plastic bag, along with my used dressings. She sealed the bag and placed it into another bag which she also sealed. She looked at me , "You are a very brave lass. Your hair will grow back before too long and that bruise will disappear. You'll be a lovely lass again."

She left and I was about to go upstairs when the doorbell rang. Mum was in the loo and shouted for me to get it. I reluctantly opened the door and found a Tesco van outside and a stack of crates by the door, the driver was returning with two more crates, "Morning Miss, sorry I'm a bit early but better that than late."

He pulled bags of groceries out of the crates and put them on the kitchen table. I went to help but he told me not to be silly. I plopped onto a chair feeling pretty useless. Mum returned and checked the printed list quickly against what was there before signing the driver's handheld PC. He wished us a good morning and went back to his van.

Once again I been identified as a girl, that's twice this morning already. I was sat in a nightie and silk robe so that might confuse some. I also realised belatedly that the nightie was longer than the gown and was very obviously female nightwear. I put this to the back of my mind, alongside the other strange issues that I had accepted. Maybe I should keep a list of everything I just keep accepting.

I asked mum when she returned why she had arranged a delivery instead of us going to the store. She looked at me and laughed, then apologised.

"Sorry, Simon, Mr. Bishop told me that you should stay in as much as possible this week, apart from medical appointments. Walking around Tescos or any other store like that is only going to get you stares. I meant to tell you I'd done an internet order. By the way dear, your gown has started to untie itself and your nightie is very visible through that gap. Now, are you going to have a shower before you get dressed?"

I agreed this was a very good idea and walked into the bathroom, looked in the mirror, then thought about my wound. I was about to call mum when she appeared with a shower cap, "Wear this, we'll work out a way to wash your hair, what's left of it!"

Even I had to laugh with her. Mum thought for a second "Hang on!" she continued, "If we shave the rest off I'll only need to wash it with a damp cloth and can keep the dressing dry. Wait there." The last words were said as an instruction, not a request.

Mum went to her room and came back with a small electric shaver, "This was your father's when he had a beard" she said then put my head over the hand basin and started shaving my remaining hairs. She then picked up one of her pink razors. How I agreed to this I do not know; no, I haven't agreed! By the time I said something mum was finished."That's better, now it is easier to keep clean and it will all grow at the same rate."

I stood and looked in the mirror. She'd made me look like .. like .. someone who was definitely not me, I was more like the Borg Queen, on a bad day. Mum carefully put the shower cap on me, covering the dressing and switched the shower on, "Come on, get that gown and nightie off. Don't think I'm going anywhere Simon, doctor's orders. Get undressed and into that shower!"

I'm not a prude but I did not normally undress in front my mum, I was 16! I reluctantly hung the gown up and dropped the nightie into the laundry hamper. As soon as I was bare I hurridly went to get into the shower when mum stopped me. She looked me in the eye then down at my penis and asked how sore it was.

"Quite sore," was my reply, unsure where this conversation was heading.

Nowhere, was the answer as mum then shooed me into the shower and I washed several days of hospital off me. Once out of the shower she held a towel open and wrapped it around me, something she'd not down for many years. She then took me to the basin and removed the shower cap. Using a soft flannel she cleaned my head and dried it gently.

I went to my room where I automatically went to get a pair of briefs but mum stopped me and suggested I should not get dressed, I'd stay in a nightie as everything else would rub badly; since we weren't going out this wasn't necessarily a problem. She went back to her room and came back with a clean nightie and the silk gown I thought was still in the bathroom. This nightie was different, very light with spaghetti straps. It was also alot shorter. She dropped it over my head then helped me into the gown, wrapping the belt tightly, "That's better, you can't see the nightie now," she said, not entirely convincingly.

My glass of water from last night was still on my bedside cabinet, as were two painkillers. She gave me both and told me to swallow them. Some ten minutes later the disomfort was reduced but it was clear that I wasn't 100%. A little light-headedness didn't help.

"I'll call the doctor," she stated.

Despite everything, I was not happy about anyone else examining me or the idea that I might end up back in that hospital after less than a day at home. I shook my head, "No, I'm sure it's nothing."

Mum had a quick shower then dressed simply. I'd dozed off on my bed so she shook me gently and we walked downstairs. I'd also gained a pair of soft open-backed slippers that matched the gown.

We sat in the kitchen again and I pleaded for another coffee to no avail, fresh OJ was the next best thing. The postman had been and a bundle of post was on the floor behind the front door. There were several get well cards addressed to Simon and some for Eve. There was also one large envelope with the County Council logo addressed to mum. She opened it and read it carefully before saying anything.

"Simon, this letter is from the LEA. I think they have realised they were a little heavy handed. Personally I think they're trying to avoid litigation. They go on to say that whilst they can't change your name, unless you choose to, they have fixed your gender on their records and have marked your file with 'known as Simon Jones' so that there shouldn't be a repeat of these errors. They have also offered to meet to discuss your future education. I'll talk to Mr. Dixon about that."

Just then the doorbell rang and I could hear Claire and Annie outside. I wanted to hide but mum let them straight in, telling them I was in the kitchen,. "Hi Simon," they said together then they gasped, easily spotting the strappy nightie under the feminine gown.

"Simon, how ...." started Claire.

"... are you?" finished Annie.

Mum suggested we go into the lounge while she fixed some drinks.

Claire and Annie looked at me, then at each-other and were trying to work out what to say; they were not often speechless. I didn't wait for them, but how was I to explain myself? "You know about the accident at school?"

They nodded and Claire was silently elected to respond to Simon, "yes, but that was a girl called Eve, the same one who had the fantastic grades. We don't know anyone by that name in our year."

Chapter 4 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
Previously:
 
Simon Jones aka Eve has returned home from hospital after surgery for a tumour. Life is just getting complicated, especially as school friends have just arrived.

Now the story continues.

Eve Chapter 4

Mum suggested we moved into the lounge, Claire & Annie sat opposite me & mum and waited patienty until I was comfortable and ready to answer their many questions.

I told them about the exam results, my name, the accident, tumour, surgery and (blushing) about why I was wearing mum's nightie and gown. Mum supported me while I said all this. I added, "You are my best friends, but please, do not repeat anything I've told you. This could end up in court and we need to keep it quiet. Can I trust you?"

They said I could.

Annie asked about my bald head, apparently I hadn't mentioned it. I turned so she could see the dressing and told them about mum shaving it off. They suggested I looked like the singer Annie Lennox but I failed to see the joke. Claire asked if I would be staying indoors.

"No, I have doctors and hospital appointments all week. So I will have to go out. I'm not looking forward to that." I patted my head gently.

Claire and Annie looked at each other, turned to me and smiled. Confused, I asked Annie what was going on as not a word had been spoken between them. I'd known the twins since we were 11 years old but still hadn't got used to their unspoken communications, "Wait and see, I think we can help you."

I was getting uncomfortable sat in the same position for so long but did not want to display any more than Claire had already seen. I shuffled slightly and felt a stab of pain in my crotch. I inhaled audibly and both mum and Claire looked at me. I tried not to look towards them as this could become embarrassing, well , at least more embarrassing than it already was.

"What's wrong?" asked Claire.

I stammered and started to sob. Mum whispered to Claire and dashed into the kitchen, returning with a glass of water and two tablets. She helped me to wash the tablets down with the water. Claire moved next to me and held me. My head slipped onto her lap and I dozed off.

I woke an hour later, my head still on her lap. I eased myself up, but not before Claire gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"For being so brave."

I started sobbing again but it was short-lived. Mum handed me a tissue and I dried my eyes. I needed the toilet and tried to get up, but was finding it difficult to stand. Mum brought the wheelchair across and they helped me into it, pushing me to the toilet door. I managed, by holding onto the walls, get to the toilet and sit down. That was all I could recall, I was later told that I screamed before I passed out.

I could hear voices but was unsure of where I was. Mum then said, "Lie still dear, let them do their job". Who?

I tried to open my eyes and saw two people in green uniforms in front of me. I was lying on the lounge carpet. My eyes focused slowly and I could now understand the other voices. The first uniform then spoke, "Relax Eve. My name is Dave and I'm a paramedic. My colleague is Julie. You have collapsed and we are checking your vitals. Please stay still."

I tried to speak but gave up. Mum wiped my head with a flannel, I decided I was not well, but perhaps that was already obvious to those others present. I became more aware of my circumstances and saw that my gown and short nightie were up past my waist. I couldn't feel anything, however. I tried to move my hand to check my crotch when the paramedic stopped me.

"Eve, please let us get you fixed up. I have given you a local sedative in the base of your penis and I'm now going to give you a shot of antibiotics. Your mum says you are not allergic to penicillin."

I shook my head and he continued.

"I understand that you've just been discharged from hospital and you appear to have an infection that may have been caused by the catheter. It's not dangerous but you do have a slight fever. That's why you fainted."

I nodded.

Having taken some blood, the paramedics lifted me onto the couch. Mum told me that they had thought about taking me back to the hospital, but as it was a mild infection, ('mild'?) they'd let me stay at home. Mum handed me a sleeping pill and a glass of water and I quickly fell into a dream-less sleep.

I woke about 4:P.M. I still felt rough. I shifted slightly and managed to kick the coffee table, knocking a glass of water over. Mum dashed from the kitchen with a cloth to clean up the table. She then went to get me a fresh glass as my mouth was dry. She had a digital thermometer in her hand and stuck it in my ear.

"37.8 C, that's better. Simon, the doctor has phoned. He is coming here later to check you over. Don't try and do anything."

I dozed off again, waking when the telly made a noise. Why did mum have to watch these stupid shows? It was obviously still Saturday and I haven't lost another day, yet. The doorbell went and mum went to open it. A man came in and introduced himself as Dr Kumar. He'd met me before, but I looked a bit different now. I hadn't been to see since a round of jabs at 11 years old, all the following jabs were done at school.

"So, are you Eve?"

Mum spoke for me, "Doctor, this is Simon but his full name is Eve Lynn Simon Jones. Your surgery has him as Simon on your files."

"Mrs Jones, we didn't have a Simon on our records, only you and Eve for this address. Our paper files were transferred to the computer 3 years ago."

Another computer!

The doctor put on a pair of disposable gloves and lifted my nightie to have a look at the offending organ. as I was lying down I couldn't see what he was doing, only feel it. He seemed satisfied and pulled my nightie down. He then took my temperature.

"You have a slight fever still but the infection is reducing. You will remain sore for several more days. You must do your best not to rub or uneccessarily handle your penis. I strongly suggest that you sit to use the toilet. You must also not wear any underpants or trousers for a few days, do you understand?" I nodded, not quite realising the implications.

"I am leaving some antibiotics with your mum, two tablets three times a day until I see you on Monday morning. Your mum told me you already have an appointment."

Mum thanked the doctor as he left then helped me take two of the tablets. I laid back down. I was in no state to check if my offending organ was on show.

***

I woke at 8 on Sunday morning, still lying on the couch, there was now a duvet over me. I swung my legs onto the floor and pushed the duvet to the side. I was a little wobbly but stood and made my way into the kitchen.

"Good morning Simon," mum said as I reached the table. She went to the coffee pot and poured one for me, handing me four pills.

"What are these for?"

"Simon, do you remember the doctor last night?" I nodded my head, but couldn't recall much.

"Doctor Kumar came to see you and left some antibiotics, you have to take two of them. The other two are the painkillers." I accepted this, took all four pills and swallowed them with my coffee.

Mum pushed the digital thermometer into my ear and decided that I was getting better. "Almost normal, we just need to know what is normal now."

Groan.

My bladder decided to give me an alarm call. I tried to get up but needed mum's help. She suggested to went to the main bathroom upstairs so I could have a shower as well.

An hour later, I was sat in my room, clean and refreshed, but still sleepy. I had another of mum's nighties on. I felt some discomfort in my stomach then remembered I hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday. I was now a little steadier on my feet and, wearing a pair of slippers, made my way back to the kitchen. Mum was putting a bacon buttie together for me. Normally I'd have managed two of them but today was not normal.

Mum had the Sunday paper open. Apparently the recession was over, if you believed the headline. I asked mum where the paper had come from, seeing as she wouldn't have left me on my own at the moment.

"The girls came round earlier and asked if we needed anything."

I asked about Claire and Annie, I vaguely remembered them from yesterday morning. She said they'd stayed until the paramedics had arrived then gone home for lunch. They'd be back later this morning.

I was starting to feel brighter now and sat to read the newspaper once mum had finished with it. Mum made a fresh pot of coffee and produced a cake from somewhere. We were sat there when Claire and Annie walked in through the kitchen door. Claire was carrying a bag.

We chatted for a while and the girls told me a few of the stories from school, and the gossip that was circulating. I'd always been close to them but now had a huge soft spot for the girls.

I asked Claire what was in the bag.

She answered that with a question, "Have you worried about how you look?"

I shook my head, after all I hadn't gone out since I left hospital on Friday. Yes I was sat in a nightie but only mum, the girls, district nurse, delivery man, two paramedics and the doctor had seen me like this, and no-one had laughed, at least not to my face. Then I remembered, tomorrow I had to go to the surgery and later to the hospital. Claire saw my face change.

"We think we can help you." Claire opened the bag and pulled out a blonde wig.

Chapter 5 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:
 
Simon Jones aka Eve has returned home from hospital but gained an infection. His best friends are there to help him adapt.
 
Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 5
 
I stared at the blonde wig that Claire was holding, "Let's see how it looks on you."

"Whoa!" I exclaimed.

"Simon, let Claire check it," said mum, who was plainly in on this.

"I would like some say in this, I won't be bullied!" I said as strongly as I could, regretting the exertion and sagging back into the chair.

"Simon, we know you'll be upset tomorrow if anyone laughs at your head. The girls have been kind enough to try and help you."

I knew when I was beaten. Claire lifted the wig onto my head and brushed it out. It was shoulder length and a dirty blonde. Claire held my hand and walked me into the hallway to look in the big mirror there.

"Simon, have a look at yourself now. That looks better, doesn't it?"

I looked in the mirror then we walked back into the kitchen where I fell onto a chair. The image in the mirror was not me, but then I hadn't seen the original, genuine, me for over two weeks. I must admit however that the image was not comical or otherwise awful, it just wasn't me. It was however much better than my impersonation of the Borg Queen. My smile must have been seen.

"Told you she'd like it," Annie said.

"She?" I asked.

"Oh, sorry Simon, but you should call yourself Eve with that wig, it suits you."

"But Annie, I now know my name is Eve but I am Simon, that's how everyone else knows me."

Mum answered for her, "Simon, you are Eve and Simon, but you have limited options here. This wig will hide your head and the dressing but you won't look like Simon. So we have to use Eve or choose another girl's name. After all, you could hardly be a boy like this. Without the wig you've been mistaken as a girl already. What's the alternative?"

I heard what she said but was having trouble coming to terms with it. I wanted to be strong but just couldn't manage it. My head dropped and I started to cry. I felt hands around me, my head was pressed against something. When I opened my eyes I could see Claire's bust, I then closed my eyes again. I could smell her perfume, and it was lovely. I just wish I could tell her everything that I was thinking right now. Maybe she could guess.

As I lifted my head I could see I'd soaked Claire's thin top. I pulled her towards me and gave her a kiss. I was so pleased she was there for me. I looked into her eyes and not her bust.

"Put her down," mum said, not really meaning it. I couldn't tell which of us she was talking to. She handed me a tissue from her everlasting supply so I could dry my eyes, again. Claire, now released, sat back, Annie was wearing a look of fake disgust but then burst into laughter, "Just like two lesbians!"

Claire burst into laughter, as did mum. I was the puzzled one but then I was still in shock. I had wanted to be close to Claire since puberty hit us but I never had the nerve. Trouble was we had been friends, and neighbours, since we were eleven years old. But now, wearing a blonde wig and I suddenly had enough confidence to kiss her. I was delirious and confused. What an interesting state.

Mum put a pizza in the oven and asked the girls if they would stay for lunch. They made a quick phone call and said they'd love to. When the pizza came out of the oven there was some garlic bread there as well. I didn't see that going into the oven. We ate noisily, with lots of chatter. Norrmaly mum insisted on quiet while we ate but not today. Mum handed me two antibiotic tablets.

We went into the lounge and Claire sat with me, hugging me whenever it looked like I needed to.

Mum got some papers out and asked if I was OK to go through them. I asked what they were.

"This one is from the Chairman of the school governors. He wants to meet you and to get your statement before they make a decision about the Head. Our solicitor is not content for you to do this, and frankly, neither am I."

"Can I leave that for now?" I suggested. She put that letter down.

The next one she picked up made me laugh, "To Eve Jones for first class exam results. The Beauty Spot Salon has awarded a pamper day. Valid for three months."

We all laughed at that one, would I ever use it? Would they have made the same offer if they knew I was a boy?

The phone rang and mum answered it. "Yes, he's here. Yes, awake, no, OK. Yes, if you want to," Mum handed me the phone, "it's your cousin," warning me not to be too long. she also asked Annie and Claire to keep quiet for a minute, not an easy task.

"Hi Jenny?" I enquired.

"You're alive?" asked my cousin.

"No, of course I'm not."

"Is that meant to me a joke, shall I send you to Stovokor for that?"

"I'm the one who's been in hospital, take it easy on me."

"Maybe if you'd had some Ghaarg for breakfast you'd feel better."

"Hey, I can't take Klingon jokes right now."

"I thought you were a Star Trek nerd?"

I started sobbing and refused to say another word to my cousin. Mum grabbed the phone from me and had a few sharp words with Jenny followed by a swift chat with my aunt.

"Your aunt says hi and Jenny says she's sorry," she reported.

I wasn't impressed, Jenny was a year older than me and always acted like she was the boss. Every time I tried to get the upper hand she swiped me down. Life wasn't fair.

"They were coming to visit this afternoon but I told your aunt that you're not well enough to receive visitors. I don't think you would appreciate Jenny here, right now."

I regained my composure, thanked mum and took advantage of the glass of OJ that was in front of me. It was obvious to those present that I had got used to the wig. I had been sweeping it away when it fell over my eyes, even whilst on the phone. The wig was comfortable and I couldn't feel if it was rubbing my dressing. I wasn't sweating either. By 3pm I'd been wearing it for over 4 hours, mum felt it best for me to take it off, to see if it had caused any problems to my bare head or the dressing.

The girls had to get home so mum left me to doze on the couch. I woke to the smell of lamb laced with rosemary and garlic. Dinner was, as ever, lovely, although again my appetite was not fully back. I did keep awake at the table though. Mum sometimes allowed herself a glass of red wine with Sunday dinner but out of deference to me just had water.

I slid back to the lounge and sat in front of the Simon Callow Show, or is it the XY Factor? I was more interested in the dancing show that the Beeb showed, but it wouldn't start for another week.

Mum went upstairs and came back down twenty minutes later with a satisfied look on her face. She said nothing however and I didn't enquire. She settled down to watch the remainder of the talentless victims perform. At 9pm she handed me two antibiotics, two painkillers and a sleeping pill. At this rate I would be rattling within a few days.

I made it upstairs on my own and spent some time in the bathroom. I was no longer sore and the discomfort below my waist was now minimal.

My forehead bruise, which was still a visible purple, looked slightly better after I washed it and splashed it several times with cold water, as I did to the rest of my face. I had a thought; I normally only shaved every three or four days but my face was still smooth, smoother than normal even. I'd last shaved my face the day before the accident and that was over two weeks ago. Had they shaved me in the hospital? No-one had said anything.

I can't have worried too much about that as I fell asleep just after my head hit the pillow.

Chapter 6 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:
 
Simon Jones aka Eve has returned home from hospital after surgery. He now has to face the outside world.
 
Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 6
 
The alarm went off at seven on Monday morning. I couldn't remember setting it but nonetheless staggered to the bathroom in my nightie, after hitting the clock radio to shut it up. Returning, I sat on the bed, I sipped my water. Several thoughts swamped me.

I hadn't even considered that it was a nightie that I was wearing, although of course it was really mum's. Or that I had automatically swung round and sat on the seat in the bathroom again. Or that I wasn't in pain now, just a little uncomfortable. It all felt rather 'ordinary', not strange at all.

While washing my hands afterwards I didn't like the look in the mirror that had greeted me, but at least I was alive. I had a thought about my cousin Jenny as a Klingon, the attitude suited her very well. Perhaps I should nickname her B'Lana, one of my favourite Star Trek Voyager characters, after Seven of Nine of course.

I could have dozed when I got back to my room but mum chose that moment to come in. She insisted I head down to the kitchen for breakfast. One coffee later, plus some toast, I felt more awake. I wasn't human yet but one coffee later would push me firmly back into the world of the living. A bigger breakfast was still not a good idea, I'd probably waste most of it.

Mum pushed me into the shower, after fitting the shower cap on my head. After saturday's shower I was not concerned about her seeing me naked. I let the water cascade for a while, enjoying the massage, before a shout came from downstairs about the waste of water.

I was sat, wearing a towel and little else, when the phone rang. Mum answered it but I couldn't hear anything as she'd shut the kitchen door. I glanced at the clock, it was 8am. I switched the radio back on and, after the news headlines, listened to Sir Terry who reminded me it was Monday.

When she came up to my room, I was still sat there in my towel not knowing what to do.

Mum stood in front of me. "That was the surgery. The doctor has decided that you should not go to the surgery today and a district nurse will visit you. Put your nightie and gown back on. Come downstairs when you're done. Annie dropped a newspaper in for you, I'll take it into the lounge for you."

I went through the newspaper in no time at all. We'd done media studies the previous year in school and it had counted for one of my A grades. I recognized that we were still in 'silly season' when there were few political stories and lots of stories that wouldn't be seen the at any other time of the year. Why did the politicians have to take so long off? They were the best comedians around.

It being Monday there was the first part of a series that would run until Friday, no doubt to persuade you to buy the paper all week. This time it was about British birds. As I was continuing media studies into my A levels, with ideas about working in the media, I was keen to keep up with the news. Of course, I'd missed a fortnight so there was come catching up to do.

The post had brought nothing except bills. At least mum didn't have to pay anything for the hospital stay, I even got the prescriptions free whilst I was still at school. That was the wonder of the National Health Service; when it worked it was brilliant. I must have been in a world of my own when the doorbell suddenly chimed.

"Yes, please come through" said mum to a gentleman.

"Good morning, you are Eve aren't you. I'm John Dixon of Dixon Hill. I'm representing you in your damages claims." He sat down and pulled out a bundle of papers.

"I'd like to go through the events of two weeks ago in as much detail as you can manage. We can expect the Health & Safety Inspector in 30 minutes so we don't have too long."

We went through my statement several times before Mr Dixon was satisfied with the detail. He said he would need to print this off for signing but he'd be back tomorrow evening to do that and to talk about anything else we needed help with.

Our next visitor was let in by mum and coffees were brought through. I got an OJ, I'd already had my two coffees that Mr Bishop, my surgeon, had allowed. The man introduced himself as Tim Bates. Mr Bates asked me to describe the events that led to my hospitalisation. Because I'd just run through the story with Mr Dixon this was easy. Mr Dixon had briefed me on how to handle certain questions.

Mr Bates made notes and said he had or would need to interview the headmaster and Mrs Everett of the Local Education Authority. Given the time since the accident I figured I was probably the last one to be interviewed.

Mr Bates left, promising to send a copy of his report in due course, followed quickly by Mr Dixon.

Mum came off the phone a few minutes later. "I just spoke to the hospital to see if you could cancel today's appointment with your surgeon but they insist you have to attend. They want to do some tests and an ambulance has been booked."

"But I can't go out like this," I said pointing first at the gown and then my head.

"I know, but I've planned for this eventuality just in case, although I'm not sure if you'll like it."

"What do you mean?"

"Come up to my room, we've only got twenty minutes before the ambulance arrives."

I followed mum upstairs. She pointed at a lavender dress hanging on the wardrobe door. "You're right, I don't like it. You're pulling my leg?"

"No, I'm deadly serious. Get out of that nightie and spare the blushes. Dr Kumar told you yesterday that you couldn't wear underpants or trousers for the next few days."

"But this can't be what he intended!"

"Maybe not, but he probably forgot about your appointments at the hospital. As you have to go there, and there's no choice in that, we have limited options. Name me something of your own that won't rub you there."

I couldn't of course, how many kilts, skirts or dresses did I own?

Reluctantly I answered her, "I can't."

"Right, that's settled then. Because it's still warm out, I chose this summer dress, it's light and won't rub you. It's also long enough not to ride up and accidently embarass you. You'll wear that half slip under it for modesty and a chemise as well. Your legs look pretty good and the dress will mostly cover them anyway to your knees."

"But I'll still just look like a lad in a frock. They'll all laugh at me."

"No they won't. Look, if we do this properly no-one will pay much attention to you."

I shrugged and put the clothes on. You don't cross mum when she's single minded.

She told me to sit on her bed then picked up the wig and brushed it out. She placed it on my head and looked at the pale bruise on my forehead. Taking the wig back off she squeezed a little liquid foundation onto her finger and worked it across the bruise until she was satisfied.

She moved me to the stool in front of the dressing table mirror. She placed the wig back on then grabbed a tube of lipstick. This was when I objected, again.

"Look, we don't want anyone to say you're a boy in a frock, do we? Watch how I do this, you need to know in case you have to do it yourself while we're out."

I relented and let her put a light pink covering on my lips, followed by a little eye shadow. I'd said yesterday that with the wig alone I didn't look like me but this was amazing. With mum tapping her feet I didn't try to argue, I'd accepted my fate. I stood and started walking towards the door. I was determined not to let her do any more to me, but she stopped me and had me sit again.

"You can't go out without shoes, silly! Try these mules on."

I did as she asked and found they fitted. She then took a purple jacket out of her wardrobe and had me put it on.

There was a chime from downstairs and mum grabbed me, dragging me to the front door. I didn't have a chance to say anything before we were sat in the ambulance, more like a minibus, on our way to the hospital.

I held my hands on my lap, my knees together and kept my mouth shut. I was very aware that I could give a free show if I wasn't careful, I also believed that anything I said could give me away.

Thankfully, after fifteen minutes, we pulled up outside the main entrance and walked inside. The aircon unit just inside the doorway caused my dress to flutter up and I froze, my hands by my sides.

"Come on Eve, otherwise we'll be late," Mum was seemingly unconcerned.

She pulled me from where my feet were stuck and headed into the entrance foyer. She looked at the boards then found the sign for Neurology at third attempt. I was being propelled down corridors I'd not seen before. We then went back out of the building by a side exit, along a covered walkway and into an adjacent building. I could easily get lost here.

I didn't have any time to worry about how I looked, but kept my head down regardless and relied on mum to get me to the right place.

Mum checked me in at the reception and we found a seat. I went to cross my legs like I always did and mum quickly whispered an instruction. I crossed my ankles instead, keeping my knees together and my feet flat to the floor.

A nurse came over and asked if I was Eve. I nodded and we were led to a side room where my blood was taken for tests and then my blood pressure, height and weight noted. Afterwards she opened another door and we saw Mr Bishop behind a desk.

"Come in Eve, Mrs Jones, please take a seat. Eve, you do look lovely today. Is this is your true self?"

Chapter 7 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
Previously:

Eve Jones, formerly Simon, has arrived at the hospital to see her surgeon. This is her first time outside en femme but it was not her idea.

Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 7
 
My surgeon, Mr Bishop, shuffled some papers on his desk and scanned a report briefly.

"Eve, I had some disturbing information from Dr Fox, the psychiatrist, and I need to know if you were feeling unwell at all before you were brought into hospital?"

"I think so."

"Like what?"

"I was getting headaches."

"What?" gasped mum but Mr Bishop asked her to keep quiet.

"I was getting them every other day, sometimes more often."

"For how long?"

"Since Easter. I thought it was because of the GCSE exams."

"So you didn't tell your mother?"

"No, like I said I thought it was exam pressure but I didn't like to say. Why?"

"It could have been a symptom of the tumour."

"Oh."

"Have you had a headache since the surgery?"

"Not quite the same."

"What were the earlier ones like?"

"They would start near my neck and work up. I'd feel woozy for a few minutes, unable to focus then it would clear."

"And in the last week?"

I pointed to the front of my head.

"Frontal lobe or temporal lobe? Hmmm. Do you get them often?"

"No, and not for a few days."

"That will have been a normal reaction to the drugs you were on. Please tell your mother and your GP if you get another headache. It could be important."

"Yes sir."

"OK, Eve, we took several biopsies during the surgery and have sent these and the tumour for testing. We'll know more after we get the results back from the lab. I must warn you that we may need to use Chemo for a while."

He emphasised the word 'may' but that was cold comfort. He plainly saw my and mum's faces drop. We'd thought the surgery, however sudden, was the end of the problem.

"Eve, Mrs Jones, until the lab returns the results I can't tell you either way. I have told them the results have to be in by Wednesday morning."

I wasn't reassured but knew it would only be two days.

"Eve, there is one more thing. We checked your blood when you were admitted and several times while you were here. The initial results showed a low testosterone level and a raised estrogen level. Two weeks after your operation your testosterone level has dropped slightly more and your estrogen has risen. We will need to investigate this change and I have scheduled a CT scan for Wednesday morning at 9am. You were due to see one of my team at 10am but I will see now you personally. Do you understand? You may also be referred onto a blood specialist."

I looked at mum and then nodded. "How could this have happened?" I asked.

"Until we have the biopsies and the CT scan we can't be certain. It could have been an existing underlying problem, caused by the tumour or caused by the surgery. But, the blood taken before the surgery shows the same imbalance so we don't believe the surgery is responsible. We'll know more after the CT scan and when we've checked the blood we've just taken. You must not eat or drink anything after 8pm on Tuesday night, water only. OK?"

Mum replied for me "Yes Mr Bishop, I'll make sure she only has water."

Mr Bishop then stood and asked me over the the examination table where I sat. He called a nurse into the room and explained to me this was normal for female patients, or those presenting female. At his behest I took off the wig and dipped my head. The nurse took off the dressing and cleaned the wound.

"Very nice, it is healing faster than I expected. OK nurse you can redress her wound."

I was acutely aware of the female pronoun and wanted to challenge it but kept my mouth shut as I put the wig back on. I really didn't want to complicate matters any further.

"Right, I'll see you on Wednesday morning. Goodbye." The nurse ushered us back to the waiting area and we spoke to the receptionist briefly. We then headed back to the main out-patients entrance and found our ambulance crew talking to an orderly. I thought I recognised him as the same one who had taken me to my MRI a few days earlier. After a short delay we boarded and had an incident free ride home.

It was now almost 1pm and we were both hungry. I took off the jacket, hanging it on the back of a kitchen chair. Mum glared at me for that but I was already at the fridge door pulling a cold bottle of water out. I was about to swig it from the bottle when mum stopped me.

"Eve Jones, young ladies do not swig from the bottle. Take a glass off the shelf and use that. Take your antibiotics as well." She microwaved a couple of cheesy jackets and we ate quietly.

She looked at me sternly and reminded me that I must tell her of any future headaches. I then started to clear the table.

"Put them in the dishwasher, I'll put it on after dinner. When you're done, take the jacket upstairs and hang it in your wardrobe. You will not leave clothes lying around any more."

Confused, I pulled an unused hanger from my wardrobe and hung the jacket up. I could understand being called Eve while at the hospital, after all that's what my hospital file said and they had recorded me as transgendered; I was still waiting for mum to fix that problem as no-one at the hospital had listened to me. The doorbell rang and mum let someone in.

"Eve, come down here. Keep your hair on!"

I walked gingerly downstairs into the lounge to see who the visitor was and found a young lady in the kitchen. Mum was making her a cup of tea and told me to sit down. The lady introduced herself as Miss Scott, my private tutor.

"Eve, we'll cover your personal details first. I had these papers sent from the LEA. Can you look over them please."

I looked over the form, name and address were fine. My gender however was shown as Female. I hovered my finger over the errant box but mum shooed me away and said that everything was correct. Am I being pushed into a corner by mum?

"Great, that bit is over. Your school told me that your subjects were Media Studies, English and History. Is that correct?" I said it was.

"How we're going to do this is partly with me, partly from your text books and partly using online learning. Do you have broadband here?". Mum confirmed we did. She asked for my email address and said I would receive a web link and login for an educational site. I was to commit to an hour Monday to Friday online with my coursework set remotely. The rest of the time I was to work on coursework set by Miss Scott and hand it into her every Friday.

"That's good. I'll bring your text books here tomorrow morning. In the meantime I want you to write a review of the main stories in the most recent local paper and a look at the style of presentation on tonight's BBC 6 o'clock news. I'll expect those completed by 11 am tomorrow when I'll see you next. Make sure it's all typed. Here's a memory stick you should save it to."

She handed me a memory stick and got up to leave. after shaking my hand she left. This first assignment could be interesting, I was the main story on the local paper the previous week. We still hadn't seen the edition from last Friday though.

"What do you think of her?" mum asked.

"You mean apart from my sex being wrong again!"

"Your record must have been taken from the LEA files before they said they'd fixed it. There's no point telling her that it's wrong as it's not her fault and she wouldn't believe you anyway."

I put my head in my hands and started to sob. My hair, I mean my wig, fell in front of my face. Mum came round behind me and put her hands round me.

"This just feels so wrong." I eventually said. "Mum, a few weeks ago I was looking forward to going back to school. Now, on top of the surgery I might have to have chemotherapy. Life's not fair."

"Come into the lounge and we'll talk about it." She led me gently to the couch and sat next to me as I tried to dry my eyes.

"Honey, can you just accept that this is happening for a reason. On Wednesday we'll have the test results. Until then try not to worry, it could be over nothing. On Friday we'll ask Dr Kumar if you can wear underpants and trousers again. Until then, if we need to go out you have to be decent, I explained all that this morning. We have to do this properly so that there's no way you could look anything but a young lady, the alternative will get you ridiculed, or worse. Remember, it is only temporary and and you can wear trousers or leggings in a few days. Then we'll ask Mr Dixon to get your name changed. I promise."

I had to accept what she said and added that to my growing list of acceptances. I noticed the reference to leggings however, and she hadn't said anything about the wig covering my dressing and bald head.

I sat there on my own thinking for a while, wondering where this was going, when I heard a noise in the kitchen. Claire came into the lounge and sat with me, Annie followed. Annie said mum had asked her to empty my locker at school. Mum gave her my locker key and a note giving permission. Claire gave me a kiss and a hug. Annie put a copy of the local paper on the coffee table, apparently mum had asked her to get it.

"Simon, they've worked out at school that you and Eve are the same person.There were a couple of a rumours, one was that you were having a sex change." Annie suddenly said.

I stared at Claire and burst into tears again. She hugged me tight then pulled my face to hers and kissed me on the lips. My tears forgotten I kissed her back and was lost in her arms. I never paid attention to the eyes that were observing us, until mum coughed.

"What was the other rumour?" asked mum.

"Oh, that the sex change idea was a joke but that Eve had been pretending to be a boy called Simon."

"Annie, what else did you hear?" asked mum.

"This is all second hand, so I really don't know how true it is."

"That's ok, just tell me what you know."

"One of the boys, Joey Brown, said he'd overheard one of the office staff talking about how Simon was really Eve and that she'd been seen at the hospital this morning. He also heard them say that Eve was too pretty to have been a real boy."

"Did either of you say anything?"

"No," both Annie and Claire replied firmly. Mum was satisfied with their response but continued.

"Thanks, please remember you can't say anything about Eve because of the legal case."

They both agreed, having done the same on Saturday morning. Claire turned back to me and kissed me again. No-one interrupted us, apart from a quiet comment about 'getting a room' that went unacknowledged.

I was alot calmer when we came up for air. I made a dash for the upstairs bathroom and, having had a pee, looked in the mirror. My eyes were red and my lipstick smudged. I grabbed a flannel and wiped my face clean, including my forehead. The flannel was streaked with foundation and lipstick and would need washing. I took off the wig and placed it on my bed before returning downstairs.

"Why did you take off your wig?" asked Claire.

"I was getting hot."

"Eve, you need to keep it on in case we have another visitor. If you're hot go back to the bathroom and use a baby wipe, but be careful with the dressing. You should then put the wig back on. Your makeup also needs sorting, you smudged your lipstick. Leave off the foundation this time but redo the eye shadow. Go upstairs and try to do it now, like I showed you. I'll be up in a minute to help you, we really must get you your own set. Claire, before you go home I suggest you have a look in the mirror, you don't want any questions do you?"

I got up carefully. As I left the room Claire was returning from the mirror, with a tissue in her hand. She was no longer wearing 'my' shade of lipstick on her cheeks or lips. She didn't wear makeup to school usually so it would have been a dead giveaway to her mum.

"Girls, hadn't you get home?" suggested mum. Annie and Claire reluctantly grabbed their school bags and said goodbye, not before Claire had one more peck at me.

I was more confused. As a boy, Claire and I had been good friends, but nothing more. Now, after one day in a frock I was being eaten alive. I knew now that I was falling in love with her, I just hadn't told her yet. Did I have to stay as Eve to keep Claire?

A few minutes later my makeup had been restored, again, but I'd taken three attempts to get it right. Having done that we returned to the kitchen. Mum had me put on an apron to protect 'my' dress. I'd always helped in the kitchen before but this was the first time she'd put an apron on me. She told me she was baking a quiche and could I prepare a salad.

By six thirty we were fed and had cleared the table. The dishwasher was making the right sort of noise. I had just settled onto the couch when the phone rang. Mum answered it and quickly walked into kitchen, closing the door. I heard her getting angry but couldn't work out what was being said.

"I think that was a parent of one of your fellow sixth formers. They have accused you of being a fraud and getting into the boy's changing rooms to get your thrills. I told him where he could put his allegation and said he'd be hearing from my solicitor. He didn't believe me so I hung up. The number had been withheld so I couldn't get it."

I was stunned. This was turning nasty and was out of my hands. I still couldn't say anything to anyone, except Claire and Annie. What was stranger was that we weren't in the phonebook and I never gave my home number out to anyone at school, only my mobile. Of course the school office, my doctor and the hospital had to know the home number.

"I'll speak to Mr Dixon when he comes here tomorrow evening. I promise I won't do anything in haste. I will speak to Claire and Annie's mum as well, they may be able to add to what we know." She was still angry but sat down with me and gave me a hug. "We'll get through this."

I"d missed the six o'clock news so watched the 7pm news on the BBC News channel instead, they wwere usually the same. I tried to make notes for my coursework but couldn't think straight. I left the local paper where it had fallen, the headline read "School Head Suspended."

By 8pm I was falling asleep so mum suggested I get to bed. Apart from two more antibiotics I needed no pills and quickly fell asleep.

I dreamt again that night. I was walking up the aisle with my bride Claire, and we were in matching wedding dresses. We kissed at the alter. The vicar was asking which of us was the bride. It didn't make sense to me but the vision was wonderful, until someone pulled my veil off and my hair fell out.

Chapter 8 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:

Eve Jones, formerly Simon, has been outed at her school, for the wrong reasons. She faces a wait before finding out if chemotherapy is needed because pf the tumour.

Now the story continues.

 
 
Eve Chapter 8
 

I woke on Tuesday at 7am as usual and lingered long enough to hear the radio news before dashing to the bathroom. Somewhat refreshed I walked downstairs where mum was filling the coffee pot.

"Good morning, how did you sleep?"

After a giving mum a kiss, I mentioned I'd had a dream but otherwise it was a good night. She picked up my dream diary and handed it to me, "now write about the dream" she said, emphasising the words, as if it was an order.

I wrote quickly and in as much detail as I could manage. Again I was surprised how much I had written, including the nasty ending. Mum took the diary back but said nothing after scanning my writing.

We had some breakfast, cereal and yoghurt today; I was still on a healthy diet, apparently. Mum said she'd make an internet grocery order for delivery tomorrow afternoon or thursday to restock then I was sent up to the shower. First I checked in the mirror, I still didn't need a shave. I was also only a little sore when I had a pee, obviously the antibiotics were working. After my shower I walked into my bedroom wearing a towel round my waist, as I'd always done.

"Eve, thats not the way to wear a towel."

She pulled it off me and then wrapped it again, covering my chest as well. Once again I felt my chest itch against the towel, but didn't mention it. Why should I?

"That's better. Remember that for next time. Now take the towel off and get dressed.

On my bed was a long skirt and long-sleeved blouse.

"Mum, do I have to? I'm not sore now, Can't I put some underwear on?"

"Eve, you are to follow doctor's orders. No underwear before Friday."

Resigned to my fate I put on a half-slip, chemise and then the blouse and skirt she'd selected. I wondered silently why she hadn't included a bra, given all the other female clothing. She put a little makeup on me, my bruise was clearing up now. The wig went on last, then a spray of perfume. I couldn't remember any doctor or hospital appointments today and asked mum why this was all necessary.

"Your tutor will be here in two hours and you have to finish your assignments. Mr Dixon will be here after dinner and we can expect to see the girls again."

I sat at the PC in my room, smoothing my skirt, before I first wrote my summary of the news presentation and then read the local newspaper. As I'd guessed the day before, I was one of the main topics. This time I had been named as Eve without reference to Simon. The journalist had tried to get a quote from the school or LEA without success and only managed to quote an 'unamed source' who got it mostly wrong. Question was, they shouldn't have named me at all.

I wrote my report as best I could and by 11am I had printed the two pieces, also saved to the memory stick.

I made myself a coffee, only my second of the day. Mum had a packet of oat cookies out and I wanted to pig myself but was told to only have two as I'd have to watch my figure. Figure?

Miss Scott arrived shortly after and took two more trips to her car to get my text books. She also had my coursework folders that had been submitted in June for the GCSE examinations. We sat down and she read through my assignments.

"What do you think of the way this newspaper story is written?"

"I didn't like it. The journalism was poor. The so-called facts were mostly lies or heresay."

"How do you know this?"

"IT WAS ABOUT ME!"

My tutor rose from her chair.

"Don't get angry with me young lady, otherwise I'm leaving. Now, I'm not sure I would accept your opinion without evidence."

Mum intervened. "I'm sorry, Miss Scott, but these stories are about my daughter and are subject to ongoing legal action. You can either take Eve's report as it stands or allocate something different. Either way, anything you learn here regarding Eve's personal circumstances remains confidential. I can provide my solicitor's name and number."

"I'm sorry Eve, Mrs Jones, I hadn't realised. Mrs Jones, all I was told was that your daughter was recuperating after a stay in hospital but no other details. There was a strange look on the faces of the office staff at the school however when I collected Eve's folders yesterday. The head of sixth form wouldn't see me and the bursar was unavailable."

Mum shook her head, Miss Bates continued.

"I finally spoke to the Parent & Teacher Liaison Officer who had no access to Eve's academic records and simply handed me these folders, sealed in an envelope, and a book list. I even had to go to Waterstones to get your text books, I'll add them to my bill. I haven't even been able to get copies of Eve's GCSE exam results. The LEA won't give me any further information, citing a new policy. This is most unusual."

I looked at the coursework folders. Where my name had been originally printed was a new sticker marked Eve L.S. Jones. Any trace of Simon had been covered. My former life was being erased one little bit at a time.

I walked upstairs and retrieved my exam results from a folder, the ones that had started this whole problem. Using my scanner I duplicated the clips, saving them onto the memory stick, and took the copies back down. She filed them after noting the grades.

Miss Scott then got back to business and we talked about how we would structure my work. As my access to the online learning would take a week to organise I was to start reading the text books and complete chapter one in the first book for each subject by Friday, when there would be a Q&A session. In the meantime I was to write a short story, 1500-2000 words. I considered using my life over the past few weeks as the basis but there was nothing short about it, or believable for that matter.

She gathered up my file and heading out the door, leaving me to start my work, although I put my pen down straight away as lunch was slightly more important. Mum, in the meantime, had been onto the Tesco website and booked a delivery for tomorrow afternoon.

After lunch I worked for three hours before checking my emails. I'd forgotten to check them for a few days. The email address was still down as Simon Jones of course and several friends had emailed me asking when I'd be back at school. One however, from a [email protected] threatened to out me to the local and national newspapers unless I put a video on Youtube and confessed all, outing myself. I wasn't entirely sure what I was supposed to confess, but I wouldn't have done it anyway. I didn't have a webcam.

I printed off the email twice and took it downstairs. Mum and I weren't surprised about this, it seemed to tie into the anonymous phone call and the rumours the girls had heard at school. Couldn't prove it though, not yet. I suppose this wouldn't be the last silly comment.

We didn't see the girls before we ate but at 7pm the girls, their mum Sharon and came to the kitchen door just after Mr Dixon arrived. Claire was carrying a carrier bag.

Mr Dixon queried why the others were present and I explained they had information he should hear. I also was happy for them to hear the legal stuff as they knew most of it already. He wasn't convinced but I was the client.

He went back through my statement that I'd given the previous lunchtime and asked me and mum to sign it. He tucked that away and then queried what had been said at school and what had happened at the hospital.

Mum and I recounted the events the previous morning at the hospital and included the fact that I needed a CT scan, and the possiblility of chemotherapy. We explained quickly that I was in a skirt because of doctor's advice and that with the wig covering my wound it was safer to dress completely female than to appear as a male in a frock. I added that the hospital had recorded me incorrectly as transgendered when I'd been admitted so the sight of me as a female would not cause any problems, in fact, the reverse, appearing as a male, would no doubt create questions. This was, I emphasised, a temporary situation.

My shrink and I would have an interesting chat on Thursday, I thought.

Of course while I said all of this I was dressed perfectly in a skirt and blouse, sat with my knees together and my hands on my lap. Very natural, for a girl.

Mr Dixon then asked Annie and Claire to describe what they had heard, and to name names. He promised that as they were minors their identities would be protected. He then asked their mum, Sharon, if he could visit her and the twins after school tomorrow to sign the printed statements.

He then discussed with mum and me how we'd proceed. First step was to wait for the outcome of the governors meeting when it was fully expected that the head would be dismissed. That would admit the required guilt, he claimed. He would then write once again to the school governors and the Local Education Authority to explain how they had failed me, both before the accident and since.

However, he did caution one thing. All of the legal letters had been issued under my full name. Any financial agreement would also be in favour of me as Eve, not Simon. I would therefore have to open a bank account as Eve. I had to remain as Eve for now, changing my name to remove Eve Lynn was simply not possible until the legal side was finished, however long that took. Mum confirmed that she would accept this, it wasn't my decision.

Life just became even more difficult. Every time I thought we were sorting things out, some other complication got in the way.

He also talked about how the school had permitted my character to be damaged by allowing the release of confidential information to the press and other third parties. He was somewhat concerned about the email, my tutor's comments and the anonymous phone call. There could be a link. Mum gave him one copy of the email and Miss Scott's contact details. After some pleasantries, he left.

Claire, who had been sat quietly, now bounced across the room to where I was sat, told me how brave I was and kissed me full on the lips, her tongue teasing me. When she let me go, I could see Sharon sat there not knowing what to think. Annie just giggled, as did my mum. Obviously Sharon hadn't been told we might be lovers or that Claire could possibly be a lesbian.

Claire reached down the side of the couch and picked up the carrier bag, she pulled out the few bits that I'd left in my locker at the end of the previous year. I was supposed to have emptied it, but was in too much of a hurry to worry, knowing I'd be back in September.

Mum asked Claire if she'd had any problems.

"No, I went to the bursar, Ms Holts, and she came with me to open the locker. I had the key you'd given me but did as you asked."

"Did she have any questions?"

"Only if I was a good friend of Eve."

"Not Simon?"

"No, Eve. Definitely."

Mum then took Sharon into the kitchen, poured them both a glass of wine (medicinal) and started explaining some of the background. Obviously the girls had been good to their word and hadn't told their mum a great deal.

In the meantime I finally worked up the courage to tell Claire I loved her.

"I know."

"I think we need to be careful."

"No argument there girlfriend'

All three of us girls collapsed into giggles. Hang on, us girls? What am I thinking.

Mum and Sharon eventually took nearly 45 minutes to finish whatever they were discussing and by the time the door opened at half-eight the wine bottle was also finished. Claire's face and neck, by now, were covered in lipstick marks, she didn't care.

"Come on girls, let's get home and have a chat."

Sharon took her daughters and gave me a kiss as she left. Claire walked away then turned quickly and sneaked another kiss, or two, from me.

Mum and I sat there quietly before she spoke.

"I think you've fallen in love with Claire. Have you told her?"

"Yes."

"Who does she love? Simon or Eve?"

"Eve." I said without pausing.

"I thought so."

With that, the subject was dropped.

Chapter 9 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:

Eve Jones has declared her love for Claire, as Eve.

Now the story continues.

 
 
Eve Chapter 9
 

I had a restless night and was not on good form on Wednesday morning. I could feel the stress getting to me. Things were heading out of control.

I had to have a CT scan this morning and I couldn't have any breakfast. Or coffee.

No point going down to the kitchen then. I went to the bathroom and stripped. After putting on the shower cap I looked down, I was fine. I'd felt nothing either when I'd had a pee either. The antibiotics had done their trick.

After my shower I wrapped a towel around me, like mum had told me yesterday. I gave my head a wipe with a flannel, avoiding the dressing.

I walked back to my room. Mum was laying a skirt, chemise and a plain top on my bed.

"Mum, I'm not sore anymore. Please can I wear some underwear?"

"Are you fibbing?"

"No."

"OK, Dr Kumar did give me a little latitude but you can't wear trousers. And if there's any sign of discomfort they will have to come off."

"I understand."

I went to me drawers to get a pair of my briefs but mum stopped me and told me to wait. She went to her room and came back with a pair of her knickers.

"No!"

"Eve Jones. You have much to learn. These are a light polycotton mix and will keep things smooth under that skirt. Your briefs would create an obvious outline with those heavy seams. A sign of VPL. Very noticeable to other women."

"VPL?"

"Visible panty line."

"Visible, what? Oh never mind."

I put on the knickers and finished dressing. This time I apparently didn't need a slip, I didn't ask why.

I put on some lipstick, eye shadow and covered the fading bruise on my forehead while mum dressed herself. She inspected my efforts and had me redo my lipstick.

I was downstairs ready by eight thirty. Mum was finishing her coffee. She was allowed one and I wasn't. Mum had found a small shoulder bag and handed it to me.

"What's this for, I didn't need one on Monday?"

"We didn't have much time on Monday and I forgot. You don't have any pockets right? Where are you to put your mobile, keys, tissues, hairbrush and a few other bits no girl should be wihout?"

Once again I took it and put it over my shoulder like I'd seen her do it. There was no ambulance this time and mum drove. She cursed the carpark prices.

"It's not like I have a choice of parking elsewhere."

Ten minutes later we were in the Diagnostic Imaging waiting area. We'd been handed a form when we checked in and mum was reading it before she reached into her bag for a pen.

"I don't have a pen on me Eve, there's one in the side of your bag dear, can you get it for me?"

I had a look in the side pocket of my bag and found the biro.

"This is authorisation for the CT scan. It's also a questionnaire on your medical history. Since you're under 18 I have to sign it. I had to do the same when you were first admitted."

A nurse asked us to go to a treatment room. She checked the form and noted my vitals, she then fitted me with a canula; I wasn't expecting that. She first took three phials of blood and then produced a syringe containing a coloured liquid.

"This is a dye that helps us see the images more clearly. You shouldn't get a reaction but if you do tell someone straight away."

Without a further word, she injected it into the canula my hand felt cold for a few seconds. With that we were asked to wait outside the CT and MRI suite for 15 minutes before being taken in.

I'd been here before apparently, but couldn't remember. The technician managed the scan in one quick pass.

We now had to go to the main Out Patients waiting room it would at least another forty-five minutes before the appointment with Mr Bishop. Why do waiting rooms rarely have clocks on the walls?

I needed the toilet and mentioned this quietly to mum.

"I'll come with you, don't forget your bag. You'll need it."

I walked hesitantly with her to the alien world of a ladies loo. It wasn't too strange, in the end, and after I exited a stall mum was waiting at one of the sinks.

"Don't forget to tidy your make-up dear."

I reached into the depths of my bag and the first thing I found was a pair of knickers. Under those was some lipstick, mascara, eye shadow and the compact. Another woman came in so I kept my mouth shut and copied mum as she tidied up her face, although I didn't think it was necessary. We were being called as we walked back into the waiting area.

"Good morning Eve, Mrs Jones. I have reviewed the CT images and I think we have a clearer idea what is going on with your head. Firstly, the CT shows your bones have melded well. Secondly, when we took a biopsy of the tumour it was found to be benign. Thankfully it was also rather small but we had to take an area around the tumour to be certain."

"So am I clear?"

"We took some biopsies of the surrounding tissue and they came back clear, so yes, as far as we can tell at this stage."

"So will Eve need Chemo?"

"Not at this stage but we will keep her under review for three years."

"What can you tell us about the tumour?" Asked mum.

"The tumour was pressing on several glands and blood vessels in the back of your head, restricting blood supply. We had to remove a part of the pituitary gland as that area had been necrotised."

"Necrotised?"

"Died, usually because of lack of blood supply."

"What does that mean?" asked mum.

"In the short term, not alot. Eve's recovery from the surgery itself will continue and the pituatary might recover."

"And if it doesn't?"

"That's a good question and I'm not qualified to give you an expert answer but a hormone imbalance could be the result of damage to the pituitary gland. If that is the case there could be some temporary side effects."

"Like what" I asked.

"As I said this is not my area of expertise, but another member of my team will liaise with your GP, who will arrange monitoring. I'll write to your GP. Hop onto the couch for me."

Mum and I both noticed the way the surgeon had tried to skip the question. It would have to be brought up again but now was not the right time. A nurse had been hovering at the back of the room and walked across then took the dressing off and cleaned the wound area.

"Very good. You are coming along nicely. We'll consider taking the stitches out next Wednesday. Nurse?"

My wound was dressed again and I replaced my wig. We were shown out of the room, the consultation was over.

Mum and I were walking through the hospital grounds when Dr Fox spotted us.

"Good morning Eve. Don't forget our appointment tomorrow."

With that she walked off and we were left to find our car in the hospital carpark.

Back at home we'd taken off our shoes and mum made me a coffee. We had an early lunch, I was hungry! The day's post was uninteresting apart from a letter from the HSE. Apparently there was insufficient grounds to proceed with the investigation surrounding the accident at the school and the file had been closed.

The Tesco van arrived at midday. It was the same driver as a few days earlier.

Good morning Miss. If you don't mind me saying you look wonderful today, you didn't look too well last time."

I know he meant well but the comment was more than a little unprofessional. He saw that I wasn't overjoyed and quietly finished bringing the few bags into the kitchen. Mum signed his pad and he left without another word, suitably chastised. Mum and I collapsed in a fit of giggles when we heard the van door slam shut.

"Eve, you're learning. Good girl."

I had worked on my short story the night before and had it finished by the time my tutor, Miss Bates, arrived. She asked me to copy the short story and yesterday's two reports to a second memory stick that she pulled out of her bag.

Today's assignment was to look at the long term implications of the Irish potato famine, right up to the current day. She wanted 2500 words by tomorrow. Then she left.

I'd studied some Irish history at GCSE level so I knew the basics but that simple request had me running for my books, a look at Wikipedia and finally some papers from University College Dublin.

I'd managed 2000 words by dinner time. The delivery had included two salmon steaks so we enjoyed those with a simple salad and new potatoes. No butter on the spuds. I also wanted a dessert and mum offered a simple sorbet.

"How about some ice-cream and chocolate sauce?"

"Eve, that lovely slim figure you had when we came back from holiday has wasted a little. A little diet and some exercise will help get you back into shape. We'll have to get you some sweats and get you back on your bike soon."

Mum has a sharp eye for this sort of thing and I guess she'd been looking at the scales when I was weighed at the hospital this morning.

I went back up to my PC after dinner to deal with my coursework, mum had let me off the washing up. By nine I had it finished. I then checked my emails, once again there was one from [email protected] .

"Didn't you look nice at the hospital today? I'm still waiting for your show on Youtube."

I printed it off and took it to mum. She folded it into her bag and told me to print a second copy.

I got ready for bed and cleaned the make-up off my face. Mum had left a clean pair of knickers on my bed. Without thinking I had put them on as well as a shorter nightie.

I laid on my bed and tried to fall asleep but couldn't. I didn't want to wake mum so didn't put the radio on, my headphones were somewhere in my room but I couldn't go searching in the dark. As for putting on the light, I wouldn't. So I just laid there.

The problem was everything that had happened so far. The list of issues was getting longer by the day. Who was I now? Did Simon exist any more? Did Claire really love me, and was it Eve or Simon she loved?

First I was an ordinary boy, then I was accidentaly recorded as transgendered, the whole school reckons I'm really female and I've found out my hormones are all messed up, maybe because of that tumour. Why do some hate me? Do I hate myself?

I finally fell asleep but have no idea when.

Chapter 10 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:
 
Some good news from the surgeon but still questions for Eve/Simon. Who sent the hate email and how did they know Eve was at the hospital?
 
 
Now the story continues.

 
 
Eve Chapter 10
 

I woke tired with a dream filling my mind, but couldn't work it out, and then couldn't remember it at all. Now partially awake I made my way to the loo then downstairs where I filled the coffee pot. Mum followed about ten minutes later, rubbing her eyes. I wondered if she'd been up all night but poured a coffee and waited for her to tell me. It was obvious to her I was grumpy, very grumpy.

I was gripping the mug of coffee with both hands, protecting it. She reached over and gently held both of my hands and then looked at me.

"I'm sorry" was all she said.

"What for mum?"

"Eve, I dragged you into this mess. I'm the one to blame, but I didn't know how to fix it. It's all gone mad. I didn't sleep last night because of worry and I don't think you did either."

I walked round the table, knelt down and let her sob on my shoulder, usually of late it was the other way round.

"Mum, things may work out how they were deemed to be, we just don't know yet. Whether it's because of fate or a someone's grand plan does it really matter? The reason is irrelevant."

"Eve, that is very profound. I'm very proud of you, as my daughter or as my son."

"Mum, if you want, I'll be your daughter."

I don't know which of us was the more surprised by my statement. Both of us were pretty stunned. Once again I'd opened my mouth and said things I had no prior intention of saying, but I did not now regret anything I had said, not that I understood.

"Eve, I love you. Regardless. But you don't have to do this for me. I'm the one who put you in a dress. I'm the one who didn't stop the hospital saying you were a girl in a boy's body. I could have done that easily."

"Mum, I have forgiven you for everything. I accept who I am and I am accepting what I am. I am becoming more comfortable as a female in order to avoid having everyone point at me. But it is as a female I have found love. So do I throw that away? I'm seeing Dr Fox in ninety minutes, how about we just try and get ready in time?"

We forgot about the issues we needed to air and, after breakfast, both dashed through the shower. I put the lavender dress back on, as well as the jacket and lightly applied some make-up, just as camoflage of course.

Mum came in and said it was time to improve my image. I didn't know what she meant, how could it be improved?

"Come into my room."

She sat me at her dressing table and held my hands. While I'd been in hospital my nails, which normally were very short, had grown to a mid length and were nicely rounded. Mum used some cleaner first then applied some clear varnish to both hands then went back to apply some light lavender polish, to match the dress. I asked about my nails.

"While you were in hospital I asked if there was a beautician who could keep your nails tidy. She charged ten quid and it was well worth it. I just had her put clear varnish on your nails, that strengthened them. I wasn't sure about using colour there, in case you cxhipped them. I also rubbed moisturising cream into your hands to keep them soft, that must have helped your nails too."

"While I was there, did someone give me a shave?"

"No, why?"

"Because I haven't had to shave once since I came out of hospital."

"I see, but it's only been five days. Also there's only a little hair on your legs but a wax at some point wouldn't go amiss."

I thought this was one of her wind-ups so let it pass. While my nails were drying, mum took my feet and applied some purple varnish to my toes. She selected a pair of open toe sandals for me.

By nine forty we were finally out of the door, bags on shoulders, and headed for the hospital again. Mum was parked some distance away from the psychiatry unit but we found it easily. Mum checked us in and we sat in a small waiting area. A water cooler provided refreshment, I found my mouth to be very dry.

"Come in. Please take a seat."

I swept my dress aside as I sat. I must have seen mum or someone else do it, so I'd know what to do.

"Eve, firstly I must say you look wonderful today. If there's anything you want to say to me in confidence then we can ask your mother to step out for a moment at any time. Do you understand?"

"Yes Dr Fox, but I want mum to be here for me."

"OK, how has your week been?"

"I've been incorrectly outed at school, someone there thinks I've been pretending to be a boy for the last five years."

Mum pulled the two emails from her bag and gave it to Dr Fox.

"That is the second email. Our solicitor also has the first. It obviously upset Eve," said mum.

Mum went on to repeat what the tutor and the girls had said, as well as the phone call.

"I can understand why that is distressing but it will help to talk about it. Eve, what else has happened this week?"

"I fell in love."

"Oh. Please tell."

"She is Claire, my friend. We are, were, at school together. When I was Simon we were close friends. As Eve, we are lovers."

"How do you consider the relationship?"

"If you mean is it lesbian then yes."

"Did this come as a surprise to you?"

"It was unexpected as we had known each other for so long. She had only known Simon until last Saturday. Now she knows Eve as well."

"OK, how do you feel about being Eve?"

"I'm comfortable, after all Eve is just a name. Just as Simon is."

"Yes, but how about your gender?"

"Umm. As I said to you last week, before I came into hospital I was having dreams but I felt nothing more. I was a boy called Simon and I had never been anything else. I didn't know until that fateful afternoon that I was legally named Eve and it was only circumstances that had caused me to find and don some of mum's shorts and a top. We'd just arrived back from holiday and I hadn't any clean summer clothing.." I explained. She'd probably been told all this before.

"I had arrived at the hospital unconcious so I obviously couldn't explain for myself. The hospital had my full name, someone obviously gave it to them. The assumption was made that I was transgendered. Mum did nothing to change that view. That's where this started."

"So, you'd never dressed as a female before?"

"No, if you ignore borrowing mum's t-shirts sometimes. She borrows my stuff."

"So when was the first time you went out as Eve?"

"Monday."

"Monday?"

"Yes, isn't is obvious?"

"No it isn't. You look and act as a young woman. Why Monday?"

Mum and I explained the infection and Dr Kumar's instruction. I said it was Annie's idea to get the wig to cover my head but mum's idea to shave it. I talked about how comfortable I felt and how I was treated as a young lady, not a scrawny nerdy kid.

And how I loved Claire.

And how someone was trying to bully me.

I broke down.

After what seemed a long time, mum dried my eyes. Dr Fox asked if I wanted to carry on. I said I could but I needed some water and a few more minutes. I calmed down but was still upset, but I tried not to show it.

She asked mum for my dream diary. Mum handed it over and asked if I had forgotten to write in last night's dream.

I wanted to say that I couldn't remember it but found myself instead recounting a story of walking into school holding Claire's hand and finding all the students looking at me. Then they all started shouting 'dyke', but it wasn't aimed at me. They were taunting Claire.

How did I remember that? They must have done something.

"Dr Fox, I'm not stupid. I came here not being able to remember one bit of last night's dream and yet I seem to have perfect recall. What have you done?"

"I just used some simple suggestion. Your mother authorised it if it was necessary."

I felt violated.

I stood and kicked my chair away.

"I can't believe you could do this. You messed with my mind. You had NO RIGHT!"

I fled from that room before they could move and headed out of the building as fast as I could in a frock and sandals. I reached a grassed, wooded area with seating a short way from the main entrance and sat, still angry, and sobbed uncontrollably.

I was found there a few minutes later and helped back into the psychiatry unit.

"Mrs Jones, she's coming around. Eve, can you squeeze my fingers. That's good. We're going to try to raise you up, ok? Mrs Jones, could you step out for a minute."

I opened my eyes and saw two nurses. As I focused I saw Dr Fox at the end of the bed. The nurses brought the head of the bed up so I could see more. Dr Fox spoke first.

"Eve, what day is it?"

"Unless I've lost any days it's Thursday. The 18th I think."

"OK Eve, that's correct. Just one more thing, how do you feel?"

"I need a leak. Now."

"Yes Eve. We'll help you to the toilet, you may be a little weak. You're in a private room, the toilet is to your left, can you see it?"

I could and was helped off the bed and across the short distance to the loo. Suitably relieved I went to return to the bed but was directed to a chair instead.

They helped me and I sat down. I was helped to drink some water, I don't think they trusted me to hold a cup.

"Eve, we had to give you a mild sedative so you might feel a little light headed. How are you now?""

"Hmmm. Violated."

"That's understandable."

I looked away.

"Eve, look at me, I'm not some alien creature."

"That's just as well, you look nothing like a Cardassian."

That got one laugh from a nurse, everyone else had a blank face. Dr Fox spoke again.

"Now, tell me what is bothering you. Your mum's not here right now, I asked her to get a coffee, so please don't worry about saying anything she wouldn't like to hear."

It all poured out. I had been violated, yes, but now they knew that I wanted to be a girl. I just hadn't understood my own dreams but now I did. They knew before I did. That hurt me.

"Eve, we were worried. Yes we knew but it was bottled up inside you. You have taken an important step. Sit here and I'll fetch your mum."

Dr Fox spoke to a nurse who then left the room. I just stared at the wall. They knew before I did. Before I did. My deepest secret was out but I hadn't known what it was. How could I know?

I was sobbing gently when mum came into the room with Dr Fox. Mum tried to rush towards me but Dr Fox held her back and whispered something.

"Eve, I'm proud of you but I'm also sorry. I pushed you. I pushed you too quickly."

Mum started sobbing herself as she finished speaking. She came towards me and got onto her knees. She wrapped her arms around me and whispered in my ear. I couldn't hear what it was but I was safe.

I was safe. I think.

Chapter 11 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:
 
Eve Jones has accepted who she is, she has now realised that she always knew, she just hadn't told anyone.
 
Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 11
 
 
I walked from the hospital with mum after yet another session with Dr Fox. We went first to the grassed area where I'd had my breakdown, where they'd discovered me after searching the entire hospital. I was found curled on the grass calling for my mummy. That was one week ago.

"Eve, I know Dr Fox suggested you came back here as part of your therapy but if you feel uncomfortable tell me and we'll leave."

"Yes mum, but I'm ok. Simon had the breakdown, not me."

I stood there for a minute, looking at the trees. The leaves were now turning brown and there was a carpet of leaves on the ground. The seat was still there, exactly where it had been a week earlier.

I stood there for a minute, so so. "I'm ready to go now, mum."

Back at home we sat in the kitchen and had a coffee. My stitches still hadn't been taken out, there'd been some discharge and Mr Bishop had also deferred it owing to my breakdown. I still needed the wig, to hide the dressing, but then as Eve I needed the wig anyway.

By now there was stubble on my head; mum had suggested shaving it again but I wanted it to grow.

Of course I'd already decided that Eve would stay, but Dr Fox had told me to reconsider my position and not to rush. She'd also said that this must be my decision not my mum's. After all I'd been in skirts for less than two weeks, and that was because of circumstances and not by design, apparently.

My most recent session had been without mum but I'd asked for a nurse to stay in the room, as a witness. I didn't completely trust Dr Fox but didn't know if I could ask to see someone else, I certainly hadn't been offered the choice. I had also been promised that she'd be completely open with me. That was cold comfort given that she seemed to have an agenda, but how much blame fell to mum? I felt uncomfortable explaining this dilemma, so didn't.

Dr Fox had queried my way of referring to Simon in the third person. Was it evidence of a split identity? I told her that it was easier to concentrate on being Eve, and not both Simon and Eve. She'd accepted this but told me to remember that Simon was as much me as Eve was, in fact Simon was the greater part and I shouldn't forget that.

Today I had a conservative cotton skirt and a long sleeved top, over a cami. Anyway, today was a little cooler than the past few days. I'd been bare-legged up until now but mum wasn't happy about that this morning. Tights were still not an option. In the end she suggested I put on a pair of hold-ups, stockings without suspenders. They felt a little strange gripping my thighs tightly, at least that's the only place they gripped.

We'd spent the past few days working on make-up lessons. Mum had simply said it was part of my training but I suspect Dr Fox had suggested that it would keep me from thinking about other subjects.

My tutor had been told to stay away for a few days and would be back tomorrow. Mum had also asked Sharon to keep Claire and Annie at bay. Especially Claire. I missed her.

"We need some bits and pieces for you, and some food. We're running a bit low."

"Where do we need to go?"

"There's the retail park on the other side of town, we can use the Asda there. They do clothes as well, wait a minute."

Mum came back with a tape measure.

"I need to get exact measurements. Take off your top and drop your skirt."

She wrapped the tape round my hips, waist and twice around my chest, marking the numbers on a notepad.

"Hmm."

By the time we walked out of the store two hours later we had a few days supply of fresh food and plenty for the freezer. I had gained a selection of mostly what mum called separates in size 12. I deliberately hadn't used the changing rooms at the store so we'd check the sizes when we got back.

She also included some strappy vests, knickers and bras. The latter item I wasn't sure about. I waited until we got home to ask, I didn't want to let everyone hear in the store.

"Girls your age are all wearing bras, you need to blend in. This is a training bra and will give the impression of an A cup."

"But it'll look strange, I've nothing there at all."

"Have you looked at yourself recently? You have budding breasts. I've watched them develop since you came out of hospital. I'm also pretty sure they were starting while we were on holiday. Have you felt anything?"

"They've itched a bit."

"That's part of their development. I noticed you scratching when you got out of the shower last week. Your size is 34AA at the moment but it looks like they'll keep growing.

"Why are they growing? Why haven't you mentioned anything before?"

"Let me answer those questions back to front. I told Dr Fox about your breasts but she didn't want me to tell you until she felt you were comfortable as Eve. Of course, if you noticed them yourself then we'd simply have to deal with it."

"Ok, but why do I have them?"

"Do you remember Mr Bishop saying about a hormone imbalance? If you have sufficient female hormones then your body will outwardly change. Your breasts were not the only indicator, remember how you told me about your face? We need to speak to Dr Kumar to see what they've found out though, that's tomorrow. We'll hit the town centre on Saturday for some serious shopping. Now, how about you show me everything?"

I modelled all the tops and skirts. but left my original underwear and hold-ups on. I was upstairs about to change out of the last item, a jersey dress, when I heard the kitchen door. The next noise was Claire bouncing up the stairs.

"You've been shopping! Great! I want to see everything."

"But I've just done that for mum."

"So you can do it again. Girls do this all the time."

Claire was a little more critical than mum. Whilst mum and I had rejected one skirt and two tops on account of their sizes, Claire rejected another two skirts and two tops. I argued her down to one and one but that left five rejects. I was wondering how to deal with it when Claire guessed.

"Don't worry, you'll take them back and get some more. We do that all the time, you've got alot to learn girlfriend. Wait 'til we hit the shops!"

Claire then noticed the underwear that had been hidden on the bed until I hung up all the clothes I would keep.

"You've got bras at last! I want to see how they look."

I reluctantly took off my cami.

"Wow girl! You've got real tits."

She reached over to touch but I wouldn't let her and I turned away, holding my hands to my breasts.

"Sorry Eve, I wasn't thinking. You've only been a girl for two weeks and I forgot you're still learning how we do things. Here, I'll help you put this one on. You haven't done this before, have you?"

I shook my head and let her help me but I wouldn't turn around until she'd finished adjusting the straps. It didn't stop her hands brushing past my nipples though.

"That's better. A little padding works wonders. I remember I needed some padding when I was fourteen, but not any more."

With that she whipped off her sweater exposing her bra, just as mum walked into the room.

"Girls!"

"Sorry Mrs Jones." Claire quickly put her sweater back on. "I was just showing Eve how a bra fits, as she can't see her own back. She didn't know how to adjust the straps."

"OK, I accept that. But please, I don't want any bras or knickers to come off. Understand?"

"Yes mum." "Yes Mrs Jones."

I didn't challenge Claire, although she'd let mum think I'd put my own bra on. It was simpler this way. Mum had looked pleased that I'd worn it without being prompted.

I put the jersey dress back on and immediately saw how much better it fitted with the bra. Claire noticed the same and came close to hug me, breasts to breasts, her arms around my neck, her lips on mine.

"Hmmmm."

"Mmmmm."

"Hmmmm."

We retreated to the bathroom to repair our make-up as that was the nearest mirror. Whilst at Asda mum had noticed the Christmas display, even though it was still mid September. The stand was almost right in the entrance so you couldn't possibly miss it, amongst the items was a starter make-up kit for teenagers. Mum had added it to the trolley and now it was mine.

We went downstairs and mum had a quiet word with Claire before we were on our own again.

"Eve, I know you think of yourself as a girl and I know that Claire is your girlfriend but there are limits."

"Yes mum. Claire and I had promised each-other last week that we'd be careful. Perhaps we just got carried away a little."

"I accept that it was all very innocent this afternoon but you cannot afford to compromise yourself, even with Claire. That means you will both keep bras and knickers on at all times, and the bedroom door open. No exceptions. I have told the same to Claire and I will speak to Sharon too, in case she wants further restrictions. Understand?"

"Yes mum."

"It also looks like you could do with a long mirror in your room, and a dressing table."

We got on with dinner. Having picked up a prepared meal at the store we only needed to throw it in the oven then add new potatoes and some fresh veg for a complete meal. Total time 25 minutes. Neither of us had the energy for anything more complicated.

My nightly tablets followed our hot chocolate a few hours later.

Chapter 12 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:

Eve Jones survived her breakdown, and another visit to Dr Fox. She had been re-united with Claire and received some retail therapy.

Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 12
 
 
Friday morning came quickly and Mr Wogan was in his usual Irish humourous mode on the radio. I then remembered that it was two weeks since I'd left hospital, and so much had changed since then.

After breakfast it was a delight to go through my new, albeit limited, wardrobe and choose something fresh for the day. Of course I hadn't had time yesterday to organise it properly so would do that later, there were some older clothes to dispose of first. Mum could now have complete custody of her own clothes, until us girls need to borrow of course.

I had several appointments today, it was almost at the point that I wouldn't have time to go to work, if I really had a job. Although hadn't I best finish school first?

First stop was Dr Kumar's surgery. We went into the treatment room first where another armful of blood was taken. Was there a Dracula in the building? My blood pressure and weight were taken, I was used to this physical abuse by now.

We had been back in the waiting room for ten minutes when we were called to Dr Kumar's room.

"Good morning Eve, Mrs Jones. Eve, could I first take a look at your wound?"

I took my wig off and he removed the dressing. Satisfied he went back to his desk and I replaced the wig, assuming correctly that he wouldn't redress it, at least he didn't say we needed to. I pulled a hairbrush and compact out of my bag and brushed it back into shape. Dr Kumar waited for me to finish.

"Eve, I've been looking over the last few blood tests to see what has been changing. You have good indicators overall but there are a few anomolies. Your testosterone has now dropped to the minimum that is safe. On the other hand your estrogen has stabilised and is now appropriate for a girl your age going through puberty. Normally I would suspect drug misuse but your blood has been monitored closely over the past month and was changing even while you were unconscious."

"Is there a cause?" asked mum.

"We believe so. There is a strong suspicion that your pituatary gland was affected by the tumour. I believe Mr Bishop mentioned this last week. I would normally refer you to a specialist, with the usual NHS delay, but Mr Bishop has agreed to keep you on his list, although another one of his team will normally see you, this is conditional on there being a possible link to the surgery. If this is not proven we may need to refer to a different specialist after all."

"Right."

"Eve, have you noticed any physical changes recently?"

"Yes, some changes to my breasts and I haven't needed to shave for over a month."

The doctor pushed a buzzer and asked for a nurse to come in. "Eve, please can you strip off your top and bra."

Dr Kumar put on a pair of gloves and felt around my breasts. I jumped a little.

"There is definitely some growth there. We'll monitor it fortnightly for now. Thankyou."

We took that as a cue that our ten minutes was up.

We headed into the pedestrian precinct in the middle of town and sat at a pavement cafe, I didn't recall stopping here before. The owner, an Italian barista, came and took our orders for two skinny lattes. Mum was still trying to keep me from gaining weight.

We watched the world go by for half an hour before settling our bill and bidding the barista farewell.

Next stop was the offices of Dixon Hill, our solicitors.

We were welcomed by Mr Dixon who was sat behind a huge oak and leather desk. Have you ever heard of a poor solicitor?

"Good morning, please take a seat."

There was a bundle of papers on his desk, bound by a red ribbon.

"I've been investigating the phone call and the emails. British Telecom are insisting on a court order before releasing the phone records, so we'll leave that for now. Google were surprisingly a little more helpful, whilst they couldn't be exact they did say that the email originated from an IP address within the county's schools network. I have asked the IT department at County Hall for some information to pinpoint the computer but I'm not expecting any help. Again it might take a court order."

"And if the abuse doesn't stop?"

"Then we will go to court, when we can identify the protagonist."

"What about the hospital connection?"

"I've asked the Hospital Trust to investigate a potential breach of patient confidentiality. We should receive a reply in the next week."

That all seemed very much as if something was happening. Mum and I both nodded acknowledgement.

"Right, the Chair of Governors at your school tells me there will be a meeting on Thursday when the future of the head teacher will be discussed. he can say nothing more until then. He has, however, at my request, provided me with a complete staff list for your school. I have also made a request to the LEA for your file but have hit the same problem as your tutor, whose statement I now have."

We nodded again, as ever we were waiting for things to happen.

"Onto the next matter. Eve, I understand you still want to change your name."

"Yes, but I want to remove Simon from my name and keep Eve Lynn."

"Is your mother aware of this change?"

"Not as such."

"Mrs Jones, how do you feel about this?"

"If this is what my daughter wants, I'm happy for her. But hadn't you said she couldn't?"

"Whilst I have advised against a name change, I hadn't expected this particular change so I foresee no problems."

He took out a flountain pen and wrote on a sheet in flowery handwriting, before turning it to me for signature. It was headed Statutory Declaration. Mum had to countersign. He then turned it back and took out a wax seal which he put on the document and signed it himself. Once the seal was dry, an assistant made several copies, which he authenticated.

"I'll keep the original for now, please take these copies. I think you'll need them."

We left there with six copies in a strong envelope, then headed home.

We had a simple tuna salad. The tuna was from sustainable stocks, of course.

At two my tutor arrived, this was her first visit for over a week and only the fourth visit since I came out of hospital. When this was added to the week I missed while I was in hospital, I was now well behind. She echoed my thoughts.

"We need to catch up."

By the time she left at five I was exhausted. I'd also been left with a pile of work for the weekend which would be checked on Monday. The phone rang.

"Eve, it's Annie. Get over here quickly."

I dashed across to their house, Annie was waiting at the door. Claire rushed to me as soon as I was inside, crying and shaking.

I coaxed Claire to the couch but she clung to me, crying on my shoulder. It was ten minutes before I could calm Claire down. I waited for her to tell me what was wrong.

"Annie?"

She asked her sister to tell the story while she sobbed quietly.

"When we got to school this morning the caretaker was finishing cleaning Claire's locker but wouldn't say what had happened. In the common room after lunch there was alot of whispering but nothing was said. Then, as we left school David Stevens was waiting for us."

I knew David Stevens, he'd been a problem to me and anyone else he considered as weak, throughout school. He'd been warned several times but strangely nothing had been done about him.

"He called Claire a slag and a dyke and kept shouting it. Then he said he knew all about Eve. He also if she'd liked the welcome message this morning."

I made the links straight away.

I muttered "The bastard, oh sorry."

I'd noticed the girls' mum, Sharon, stood in the kitchen doorway. My mum was there as well.

"Joey Brown was there and was joining in with the name calling. I could see the caretaker around the corner on the phone, then the sixth form head arrived. He suspended them on the spot, sent them home and said he'd speak to their parents."

"Oh, I wonder?"

"Eve, Claire and I wondered the same. I called mum and asked to collect us, we had to give a statement to the head of sixth form. Claire was in a terrible state and needed you."

I thought out loud, "how could he know about Claire and me?"

"We'll find out, but right now we can't do anything," said Sharon. She was right, it was Friday evening and nothing could happen before Monday morning.

I sat hugging Claire before we kissed. It was a deeply emotional kiss. No-one interrupted us. When I came up for air I told her, again, that I loved her.

"I know. I love you too. No-one can change that."

Nothing more had to be said, so we resumed our hugging session. Sometime after six Sharon announced that that dinner was ready. I assumed that I should leave.

"No Eve, you and your mum are staying for dinner."

Claire and I spent some more time after dinner locked in our embrace but eventually were forced apart, both very tired. We promised to see each other in the morning.

I slept, after my pills, wondering how this fitted together.

Chapter 13 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 

Eve has now officially removed Simon from her name. The troubles continue.

Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 13
 
 

Saturday morning my alarm didn't go off but that didn't matter as mum laid in as well. After a quick shower I pulled on a denim skirt and a pink top then headed down to breakfast. Mum had a frying pan out and suggested we had a cooked breakfast. I figured that, as I had no idea how the day would go, it was a good suggestion, although I wondered if my diet was out of the window.

Claire came into the kitchen and I looked puzzled.

"Your mum suggested I had breakfast with you before we went out."

"Oh, that sounds like a good idea but I still don't have any ideas for today."

"Don't worry, I have enough ideas for both of us. You need some training in girlhood."

We were both giggling when the plates of hot food arrived.

After a wash, and then doing my make-up, we all headed for the town in mum's car. Claire and I wanted to hold hands but weren't certain how that might be interpreted so we played safe. We discussed what had happened to us yesterday and tried to work out who knew about us.

"Claire, we haven't been seen together by anyone, have we?"

"I'm not sure. We did make out on the doorstep once, didn't we? I mean, did someone see us then?"

"I don't know either. I was too busy with you, my love."

Mum was some way ahead of us when we arrived in the pedestrian zone in the middle of town, heading for the small Marks & Spencer.There was a shout behind us.

"Hey, there's the dykes!"

We didn't need to look round to see who it was, the voice told us it was Dave Stevens. He repeated the shouting. We kept walking and tried to look like we weren't bothered but I was reaching for my mobile just in case. I started to panic a little, I had lost sight of mum and the toad was gaining on us.

We were just inside the door of the store when one of the staff stopped us and gestured to move us behind a window display, out of sight of the door.

"Ladies, Was he bothering you?"

"Yes."

"Do you know him?"

"He's Dave Stevens. We know he has just been suspended from school for harassment." said Claire. "Of us," I added.

"I know him, we've had problems with Mr Stevens previously. I've asked shopping centre security to have him removed."

Mum found us with the duty manager, as his badge identified him.

"What's up girls?"

"It was that Dave Stevens again."

"Where is he now?"

"Security have just taken him out of the precinct," answered the duty manager, looking out of the window. "If he comes back today we'll inform the Police. I hope you're alright now."

"Thank you. Mum, can we get moving?"

We walked first to the lingerie section. Mum picked up some more 34A bras but also a few sets in 34B. I looked confused but both Claire and mum just smiled. I gained a few more packs of knickers, in various colours and styles. The thongs looked as if they might be positively painful. We also picked up some simple nighties.

We then went through the sales racks looking, mum said, for some formal wear. Most of it was simply frumpy, designed for the over 30's - I couldn't imagine myself as old as that.

After M&S we dropped into a specialist lingerie shop. Mum asked the sales girl a question while Claire and I were looking at baby doll nighties and gowns, giggling as we discussed our first sleepover. I took the ones we'd selected to mum while the assistant produced a box from under the counter.

"These will help your daughter madam."

Mum paid and we left. I was beginning to wonder where the money came from. Mum was usually quite frugal. Claire was still giggling, she obviously knew more about that last store than I did.

"So, tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"What that was all about."

"Don't you know?"

"No."

"Oh dear, you really do need some girly training," she whispered.

We visited several more stores, mostly discount clothing, before landing on a chair at the Italian coffee house. Our bags hitting the floor.

"Good morning ladies, what would you like today?"

Mum answered. "Three skinny lattes, please."

"Straight away."

We had all had a cooked breakfast so however good the paninis looked, there was no way we'd be able to manage one. The coffee however was wonderful.

We took the bags to the car and locked them away before heading back into the stores, the better ones this time. Everything we picked up had to be tried on. When we eventually returned to M&S, for a second look, the duty manager saw us and came across.

"Ladies, I'm so please that nastiness this morning hasn't affected your shopping. Here's some vouchers for our coffee shop valid for a month."

I thanked him, saying it wasn't necessary but put the vouchers in my bag anyway. We were just about done in town and headed back to the car-park with the latest set of bags. I was just ahead of the others as we rounded the last corner.

Stood there was David Stevens, spray can in hand. Some of his artwork was on mum's car. My phone was very handy and I quickly photographed him before mum shouted at him. He darted off, leaving the spray can where it fell.

A few seconds later we heard a grunt and some swearing. A police officer was walking back with the prat in an armlock.

"Ladies, I have reason to believe this miscreant is responsible for the damage to your car. Does anyone know him?"

"David Stevens" we chorused.

"One at a time please ladies."

"Oy, it weren't me. Let me go you ..."

The officer was attaching cuffs and may have unfortunately overtightened them. He called for a vehicle and then waited until the miscreant, as he'd been called, was loaded into the van that had arrived amazingly quickly. He finally turned to speak to us.

"Did any of you witness the damage?"

We all nodded, I then showed the officer the mobile phone picture I'd taken.

"Is this car in your name, madam?"

Mum answered it was. He made a note of names and addresses.

"Right, I'll get him booked in and I'll se you at home for your statements later, around 4 o'clock?"

He left, taking the spray can with him in an evidence bag. Mum just stood there stunned. I took a few more pictures of the damage before we got in the car and drove home, in complete silence.

We unloaded the car and put the bags indoors but no attempt was made to unpack. We were too shocked. Sharon and Annie came running over as soon as they saw the car.

"What, what happened?"

Claire explained to her mum what had happened during the day, so far.

Everyone looked as if they were going to say something to me, but nothing was said. I went to the kitchen and made some coffee. I no longer had a daily coffee limit, just as well.

Mum phoned a few garages about the car but only found answering machines. It was Saturday afternoon, after all. I went to my PC and downloaded the photos from my phone. I then burnt then to a CD.

Just before 4pm we were all still there when two police officers arrived. One went back outside to photograph the artwork while the other established the names of everyone present, plus mine and Claire's dates of birth.

We each gave our statements, then signed them and I had to hand over my mobile. The officer promised I could have it back on Monday.

"We'll charge him with criminal damage and affray, but we'll have to wait for his parents to arrive at the station. He'll probably be bailed to report to the youth court on Monday morning at 11am."

"We have a solicitor, Mr Dixon of Dixon Hill, who would like to be informed."

"I'll make a note of that."

We didn't take that last comment as very positive but he left shortly after, taking his colleague with him. Mum went straight to the phone and called the number for Dixon Hill. She got the answerphone message and wrote down a mobile number which she then dialled.

"Mr Dixon, Janet Jones. There's been an incident, several in fact. Hold on."

Sharon was waving at mum and then whispered in her ear.

"Ah, Mr Dixon, Sharon Johnson, who you've already met, would also like you to represent her and her daughters as well as they are suffering the same harassment. Yes, seven? Yes. OK."

"Mr Dixon will be here at seven. How about a takeaway? I don't feel like cooking."

We rang for a Chinese meal for all five of us and had just finished it when Mr Dixon arrived.

We each went through the happenings of the past 24 hours. He listened intently and wrote notes as we each spoke. After a few questions he was satisfied with the information and the sequence of events. Excusing himself for a moment he went outside and photographed the car for himself. I rushed upstairs and came down with my CD of pictures from my phone and handed these to Mr Dixon.

He asked Sharon to sign some papers then left, promising to call later. Mum went outside and moved the car.

By now it was gone eight and I needed something to wind down. Sharon and Annie went home, Claire cuddled with me on the couch watching Strictly Come Dancing (note: known as Dancing With The Stars elsewhere). It was the second week of the competition. By the end we were laughing at the awful jokes that the host, Brucie, was telling. There were lots of goodnight kisses before Claire went home.

Mum and I passed on our hot chocolate so I took my pills with water and dressed for bed. My new nighties were still in the bags in the lounge, where we'd dropped them.

Chapter 14 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:

Yesterday's shopping trip turned into a disaster.

Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 14
 
 
The last Sunday in September started quietly, I just hoped the day would stay that way. Of course, after the stress of yesterday I hadn't got around to any coursework so should really do some today. I rose just after eight and couldn't hear mum yet.

I remembered to take my morning tablets this time, as usually mum had to remind me. I'd be glad when I could cut them back down. As I felt there was no soreness, I'd now stopped the painkillers. The sleeping pills weren't needed very often and I was keen not to overuse them, weren't they addictive?

This morning it was just one antibiotic and one anti-depressant. I'd see Dr Fox on Thursday about stopping those as well.

I went to the shower. It was lovely, now the dressing was off, to let the water flow over my head. My hair was starting to grow again and was over an inch long already. I wondered how long it would be before I didn't need the wig.

Once back in my bedroom, I got my new make-up kit out to redo my nails and toes. Today, I used a simple, natural, look on my face. Mind you, so far I had never worn loud make-up, at least not for the two weeks since I'd started having to wear make-up. Once done, I looked at myself in my little mirror and smiled, I felt alot happier just by making myself look better. As we weren't going anywhere today I hadn't really needed to wear any but mum had suggested I wear it every day for the practice. Today, I'd have worn it regardless just for that positive feeling.

I dressed simply. The weather was unseasonably mild again today, the high 60s, 20C, so I wore a light skirt and a long sleeved blouse. I felt a strange calm as I dressed, as if this was meant to be, not something that had been forced on me.

Finally I was ready to head downstairs for breakfast. Today was a simple croissant and fruit brekkie, trying not to get the pastry flakes or the jam on my skirt, or blouse, was challenging indeed. Mum appeared shortly afterwards, having had a shower soon after me. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, I had a feeling the gardening needed doing, despite the recent lack of rain.

I was just heading upstairs to work on my coursework when the phone rang. Mum was still in the kitchen so answered, spoke a few words and rang off.

"Eve, that was Mr Dixon. Apparently Dave Stevens has got himself a solicitor and they have deferred the court hearing for a week. The initial word is that he's claiming you harassed him and did the damage to the car yourself. They are calling you, Claire and me as witnesses, we'll get a summons in the post in a few days."

Any thoughts of my coursework just vanished. If it weren't for the anti-depressants I was still on, I could have broken down there and then. As it was, I slumped on the stairs and banged my fist on the wall. Mum came over to hug me. Claire then came running in through the kitchen door with a sour look on her face.

"How dare he!"

I made a quick assumption as to what she was talking about.

"I don't know, what does he hope to achieve?"

"I don't know either."

She sat next to me, mum having moved out of the way, and we hugged each-other. Mum, in the meantime, was talking to Sharon who had followed Claire. Sharon said she'd received the same phone call as us, as if we hadn't guessed.

We were at a loss as what to do. I told Claire I was supposed to do some coursework and she asked what I was doing.

"I've three assignments. There's a comparison of the approaches to international news on the Guardian and Telegraph websites, an essay on the treatment of Jane Austin novels by television and film over the past ten years and a review of the first one hundred days of Obama's presidency, and what it means for the UK."

"I've got an essay on President Obama as well, why don't we work together?"

Claire dashed home and returned with her laptop and books. We headed upstairs without a word to either mum but left the bedroom door open. The bags containing my new clothes had now arrived in my room but remained to be sorted and put away.

We worked for three hours to complete both essays then worked together on my Jane Austin. I hadn't seen any of the recent films but had read the original novels. Claire was an Austin nut so an invaluable source of trivia. The rest of the info we got from imdb.com . That left one assignment to complete after lunch.

Claire reluctantly went home. Sharon always insisted their Sunday dinner should be at lunchtime, whereas we kept the dinner in the evening, the same as the rest of the week.

Mum and I had a light lunch. I hadn't realised but whilst Claire & I were studying, mum had gone shopping on foot for some fresh bread and soft cheese. The French have a saying, although I suspect it's an advertising slogan:

"Du pain, du vin et du Boursin."

I'd get the bread and the cheese, but not the wine. Situation normal for a sixteen year old in the UK. It had been a little different in France for those two weeks at the camping site as I had been allowed watered-down wine with the main meal of the day. Anyway, today's lunch was filling but light on the calories.

An hour later, Claire returned. She'd only had the one bit of homework so wanted to help me again. We used my computer and Claire's laptop to go through both newspaper websites at the same time and managed a three thousand word essay. Once that was saved, we decided on a mutually pleasing kiss and cuddle session.

Mum shouted at five for me to get down and Claire to go home. Of course, both of us needed the bathroom first to repair our make-up. Claire hadn't been wearing any today, until our kissing session.

Mum was preparing the Sunday roast and was putting a chicken in the oven. I had to grab an apron to finish preparing the potatoes and the rest of the veg. Just ninety minutes later we sat down to a substantial dinner. Mum had been careful to control my diet for the past week but over this weekend had thrown the diet book away, it seemed.

"A diet isn't won or lost on the basis of one day," offered mum.

I didn't have an answer to that. Mum wanted to sit in front of the box to watch more X Factor but I wanted to achieve something more meaningful. I phoned Claire.

"Of course I can, try stopping me!"

Claire and I went straight upstairs and finally attacked the bags of shopping. Before we started there was plenty of space in my wardrobe and drawers, but by the time we'd finished I reckoned I'd need a lot more space, a girl cannot have too many clothes.

Of course, another fashion show was demanded. This time we both promised to keep our bras on, Claire particularly didn't want to have to explain herself again. Before our shopping trip had been ruined, we'd picked up some sandals and shoes for me. The end-of-summer sales had proved useful, but I had also needed shoes and boots for every autumn and winter occasion.

I had never realised previously that eight handbags and shoulder bags were needed, to match shoes, coats, and jackets. But we had bought eight bags of differing sizes, colours and styles. Now all I had to do was find somewhere to keep the bags, plus work out what I had to put in them, including my new purse.

Then I found the strange box from the lingerie store. Claire started to giggle straight away. When I opened the box I saw two flesh coloured jelly like mounds. I was confused.

"Where are your new bras?" asked Claire.

"Hang on! I'm not changing my bra, not after last time."

"No, just find one of those 34B bras."

I found one easily, they hadn't been put away yet. Claire picked up one of the mounds and placed it inside one of the cups. She repeated with the other cup.

"They are breast enhancers. They'll change your A cup to a B cup."

"But I'm 34AA, apparently."

"You'll be 34A soon enough, but sometimes you'll want, or need, to be 34B. You'll see."

Fortunately, I wasn't asked to wear that bra and was able to put the enhancers back in their box. Claire helped me stow the new lingerie. I did a quick tally of what had been spent over the past few days. It was substantial. We went downstairs and Claire went home.

I went into the kitchen and poured a glass of water for my bedside cabinet, ready for when I finally went to bed. I took it up and changed into a negligée at the same time, before returning to the lounge. I sat down next to mum, Mum looked as if she was having a serious conversation with herself, then she spoke to me.

"Eve, we spent alot of money yesterday and I guessed you wondered where it came from."

"I did, particularly as you haven't been at work."

"I was made redundant."

"When, why?"

"When you first went into hospital I knew the company was in trouble and I'd heard there was an imminent takeover brewing. When it finally happened, my job was one of those to go. It was easy for them to choose as I wasn't in the office at the time, however because I had been there for eleven years I got a good package, much better than the minimum. The money came through on Thursday."

"What will you do now?"

"I don't know, but you are more important right now. We have enough money to last out for a few months, even if I invest some of the redundancy money."

I was pleased that mum didn't have to worry and swept myself upstairs in my new negligée, forgetting all my worries.

The hot chocolate could keep for a night, again.

Chapter 15 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:

Eve, Claire and Eve's mum have had several run-ins with Dave Stevens, another student, leading to damage to Eve's mum's car. Now Claire is being dragged into the troubles and her mum has asked Mr Dixon, solicitor, to intervene.

Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 15
 
 
I woke with a sore head, but at least I'd slept solidly. I was a tad grumpy when I arrived in the kitchen and was reaching for the headache tablets when mum walked in.

"You're supposed to tell me."

"I know mum, but I need to, just let me take one then I was going to tell you."

"No sarcasm young lady, it doesn't suit you."

The phone rang.

"Yes Sharon, ok. See you there at two."

"Eve, Sharon has an appointment with Mr Dixon at two this afternoon; she wants us to be there as well. Claire will finish school at lunchtime as Sharon also wants her to give an account of what happened."

"Okay, mum."

"When you've had some cereal go and get showered and dressed, your tutor will be here in an hour."

My headache cleared quickly after my first coffee of the day and I dashed into the shower. My own hair was growing well now, about an inch long, but not enough to scream 'girl'. My natural colour was mousey brown, that would have to be dealt with when it was long enough, seeing as the wig is blonde.

I dressed simply in a pair of jeans and a strappy top. It was mild out and today was not a dress up day.

By the time I was back down mum was on the phone to the insurance company. They wanted the crime number before they'd process the claim and we hadn't yet been given the reference number. Typical.

My tutor arrived shortly after 10am. As my medical appointments had reduced, so my tutor was now able to see me more often in the mornings. I was still behind with my overall work but reckoned I was catching up.

I handed in my completed weekend work on a memory stick. This time she brought a mini laptop, a netbook she called it, and copied the files directly onto it then handed the stick back to me. She made no effort to mark the work this time and I wondered if she would pass it to someone else.

I had no time to ponder this when we entered into a massive Q&A session that seemed to last an hour and covered a wide area of my chosen subjects. Much of it I knew from my GCSE coursework, most of the remainder I had picked up from my reading over the past few weeks. The rest I had to guess, educated guesses of course.

She was marking the Q&A on the netbook, and whilst she didn't give me my score did smile at the end.

"Your media studies and english are on track but you need to work on your history. We'll concentrate on that this week."

"That's fair enough but why did I have to do such a long Q&A?"

"Your school asked me specifically to assess you in case remedial work was needed."

"What?"

"They sent me a message late on Friday. Apparently a tutor at your school had queried your progress, they are marking this work."

"I didn't know that and I can't say I'm happy with it. Mum?!"

My mum came into the kitchen that was my temporary classroom. I repeated to her what Miss Scott had just told me.

"Eve, I understand your concerns but someone has to mark your work and your 6th form tutors are best placed to do it, for now. Eventually you might have to go back there."

"But you said..."

"Later, dear."

Mum left me and Miss Scott to continue working. We did a different Q&A solely on history and she was a bit more pleased with this one, then hit me with a biggie."

"Eve, I need 5,000 words from you by Friday on Post War Europe, from 1952 to 1989."

Great. 1989 was the fall of the Berlin Wall but alot happened in between.

"You are to concentrate on international economics in Europe, particuarly EFTA, Comecon and the EU."

"Surely you meant the EEC? The EU was later."

"I'm just reading this, sorry that's what it says here."

"OK, by Friday?"

"Yes. Also, you are to start using the internet tutor from tomorrow. I won't be here for the next two days but I suspect you'll have plenty to keep you occupied."

With that she left and I started gathering information for my essay. The problem was that there was just too much information available. All the major news providers had archives that covered the cold war and the formation of the European Economic Community. Information about EFTA, the European Free Trade Association and Comecon, the Eastern Bloc's Trade Association, was available but took a bit more digging. By midday I had my sources mapped but my brain was frazzled.

Claire and Sharon arrived just before one to join us before we headed down town.

I told Claire about the tutor's test and the suggestion of remedial work.

"That's strange. I was asked by Mrs Abbot to speak to her after the first period today. She asked how you were getting on and if I knew if you were doing your schoolwork."

"what did you say?"

"That I knew you had a tutor but I knew no more."

"And?"

"I'm not sure that she bought it."

Claire went home to change and I went upstairs to put a hooded top on.

Sharon was waiting outside for us with her car and the four of us rode into town, avoiding the carpark we'd used on Saturday. We arrived at the offices of Dixon Hill with minutes to spare.

"Good morning Mrs Johnson, Mrs Jones, Miss Johnson, Miss Jones. I wasn't expecting all of you."

"Mr Dixon, as this matter impacts on all of us I only felt it fair that Debbie, Mrs Jones, and Eve were here with the two of us."

"That is understandable. I have had a fax this morning from the school, it concerns the incident on Friday afternoon. The deputy head has spoken to both sets of parents with differing degrees of success. Mr Brown and his parents have admitted his role in the harrassment and said that he was in turn bullied by Mr Stevens to join in with him."

"That is no excuse," said Sharon.

"Indeed, but in turn for providing certain information, the school is apparently prepared to be lenient, subject to the governors' approval. Quite what that means I do not know at this stage. I have a meeting with the chair of Governors and the acting head later this afternoon when I hope some more information will be available. So far as Mr Stevens is concerned, his parents are claiming provocation and say they will defend their son. They suggest that Miss Johnson should be excluded."

"How dare they!"

Claire was not prepared to sit quietly, obviously.

"Miss Johnson, please. The chair of Governors however is casting serious doubt on this accusation as the school has CCTV of Friday's incident. They have passed a copy to the police following a request and again the Governors are still to make a formal decision, although permanent exclusion is likely."

"Good."

"Thank you Miss Jones. But this is not the end of the matter as you should well know."

Mum, who had been quiet until this point finally spoke.

"Mr Dixon, we are all keen to see the end of this matter. However, you're aware of my concerns about Eve's medical records?"

"Yes, I've written again to the Hospital Trust asking them to investigate."

"Thank you. Now, what about my car?"

"Yes, I have Mr Steven's statement here. His father was unavailable so his aunt, an Anne Holts was present during the interview."

"Holts?" We all asked.

"Yes, why?"

Sharon looked at mum then answered for all of us.

"She's the school bursar, unless there are two Anne Holts in this town."

Chapter 16 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:

Eve has just discovered that her tormentor's aunt is the school bursar.

Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 16
 
 

"Ah, that is interesting."

Understatement from a solicitor, whatever next? Mum glared at him.

"Too true it is, Mr Dixon, this may explain certain questions I've had from the beginning."

"I'll raise this with the Acting Head and Chair of Governors this afternoon. If that's all?"

"Not quite, I need the crime number for my insurance company."

"Certainly, MET/2009/09/26/0216"

With that the four of us left, with more questions than when we had arrived. By mutual consent we headed for the Italian coffee shop for a well needed Mocha.

We were back home by four and mum was straight on the phone to the insurance company, never a quick call. Claire suggested I went over to her house so we headed straight up to her room, Annie was in her own room but left us alone.

I'd last been in Claire's room about four years ago when we'd shared some homework but Sharon, Claire's mum, wasn't happy about two inquisitive twelve year olds being out of sight. For me, I'd been very embarrassed back then with the extremely girly atmosphere in the room, now it felt different.

As we'd both had an essay on Obama over the weekend we compared other history work that we'd done. Of course I was missing some of the coursework but the essay work I had done matched Claire's. But what was Mrs Abbot's reason for speaking to Claire? If she was marking my work, as well as Claire's, then it could make sense, but was that all?. Before this morning I hadn't even considered who was marking my work.

As it was, With the latest news, we could speculate all day. As such we couldn't concentrate on anything to do with schoolwork, and made no more effort in trying. Claire decided it would be a good idea to continue my lesson in girlhood. This time we didn't try any clothes on, in case of a complaint by Sharon or my mum.

"Look, make sure your colours don't clash, unless you want to make a statement."

This was harder than it looked.

"Plus, make sure you wear the right bra. See this dress, you need a strapless bra with it. Has your mum got you any yet?"

"I don't think so."

"OK girlfriend, we'll sort that on Saturday."

We chatted for a little while longer until we were both called to eat over at my place. Mum, who by now was finally off the phone, had managed to whistle up some salmon steaks and a salad. How she'd managed that in the time available I don't know. We all sat to eat just after six.

After dinner Claire and I went back to her room but neither of us was interested in studying. Sharon found us both asleep on Claire's bed, wrapped around each-other, a few hours later.

I went home close to nine pm after Claire's mum came to check on us, Sharon looked like she was going to speak to Claire after I'd left. Mum was waiting for me.

"Eve, we need to talk about something. Quickly go and change into your nightie and join me in the lounge."

I was back down ten minutes later, wrapped in a gown. I hoped this was a chat about the school, but I was mistaken. At least I had some hot chocolate waiting for me.

"Eve, I should have had this chat a few years ago but couldn't work myself up."

"What mum?"

"Sex."

"Oh, that."

"Look, Eve, I don't know what you were expecting me to say. I know you've had sex education classes so I don't need to cover the basics. It's just that things have changed."

"Oh, do you mean Claire and me?"

"Yes."

"So what are you worried about?"

"Eve, there are several questions you need to be able to answer. Firstly, how much do you love Claire?"

"Very much."

"So how far can you see this going?"

"Mum, I'm only sixteen but I want to spend the rest of my life with Claire."

"Have you...?"

I finished the question, "had sex?"

"Yes, Eve"

"No mum. Firstly we're taking this slow. We both have to be ready, and sixteen years old is not old enough. Secondly, I want to make love as a girl, not as a boy."

"That sounds fine but you could get carried away."

"Mum, I know you're worried but Claire and I aren't. We love each other deeply but we promised we'd be careful. There's no way I'd go against that promise, after all, it was sealed with a kiss."

Mum had a laugh at that one.

"Now Eve, this is the difficult one. Would you like to have children with Claire?"

Wow, that is a biggie. Talk about unexpected.

"Mum, please?"

"Eve, seriously, you need to consider this. If this hormone imbalance doesn't change then your doctors are worried that you won't be able to produce any sperm. Dr Fox needs to know how you feel."

"Mum, I don't know. I need to speak to Claire."

"OK, you can do that tomorrow. Now, about today?"

"Yes, I'll keep quiet."

"I know you will, that's not what I was going to say."

"Oh."

"It's going to get difficult from now."

"More difficult than it's already been mum?"

"Yes Eve. If I'm not mistaken, this will end up in court. We need to tell Dr Fox about this as well."

"Right."

"Okay, that's enough for tonight. We both have had a long day."

With that we both headed upstairs, after I'd taken my pills.

That night I had a very strange dream indeed. Claire and I were in Mr Abbot's history class but Ms Holts was teaching it. She was shouting 'Simon' at me and I was shouting 'Eve' back at her. Then I noticed I was pregnant. The rest of the sixth form then appeared and were all moving towards us.

I woke up, screaming. Mum came into my room.

"What's up dear?"

"Bad dream. The school. Scary." I missed out the bit about being pregnant.

"It's ok now, back to sleep."

Mum sat on my bed and held me. I must have drifted back off to sleep.

Chapter 17 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:

 

Eve now suspects who at her school had been stirring up the trouble.

 

Now the story continues.
 
 
 
Eve Chapter 17
 
 
 

I made it through the rest of the night and was very awake when I arrived in the kitchen shortly after seven. Mum was already there, somehow looking worse than me. I thought it best not to say anything, just in case.

We both grabbed a coffee before working out the first major decision of the day, breakfast.

"That dream I had?"

"Yes, Eve?"

"Do I need to write it down?"

"No. Dr Fox doesn't want to write them down any more, just mention them to her, if you can remember them."

"Right."

We were seeing Dr Fox in two days. I doubted I'd have any memory of it by lunchtime.

By eight thirty we were back in the kitchen, washed, dressed and made up. The doorbell ding-donged.

Mum spoke with the young man who had just rung the bell, he'd been sent by the insurance company to assess the car. He took some photos of the damaged paintwork and confirmed the details briefly with mum.

I asked when she returned to the kitchen, "what's the verdict mum?"

"He'll speak to his office and they could be back this afternoon to collect the car. He's confirmed that my policy covers this damage, they'll try to recover the costs from David Stevens."

"So we can't use the car today? I thought you needed to do some shopping?"

"That was the idea. I'll quickly do an internet order for this afternoon, if there's a delivery slot left."

Mum grabbed her laptop and sat at the kitchen table. She was able to complete the transaction in about ten minutes, that's almost an hour quicker than actually visiting the store.

She then went back to her room and I heard her going through drawers. I retreated to my room to start work on the internet tuition. As it was mostly multiple choice work, it really wasn't too difficult, but it was against the clock. When mum appeared in my doorway I was just finishing one test and had to wave her away to finish within the time allowed.

"Sorry mum, I had to finish that otherwise I lost points."

"Thats alright, I just hoped you weren't upset with me."

"Why would I be?"

"Just checking!"

I logged off the website and closed my PC down. A laptop would be useful.

I joined mum in the kitchen, she had an old biscuit tin open on the table.

"This is where I keep all the important documents. I needed this."

She held up a white card, about the size of a postcard.

"What's that?"

"It's your medical card. It's about the only official document you have that has your full name and address on it."

"Why do I need that?"

"We're going to the bank today. The recent money laundering laws mean that you have to have certain documents if you're going to open an account."

"Let me see it."

Of course the name printed on it was Eve Lynn Simon Jones.

I wanted to ask mum a question but it escaped me.

We left after lunch and caught the bus into town. Mum had left the car keys with Sharon and put a note under a wiper blade.

The bank was in the old marketplace, on the edge of the pedestrian precinct. We walked in and were accosted by a young man. His name badge said he was a customer Advisor.

"Good afternoon ladies. Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'd like to open an account for my daughter."

He pointed to a vacant service position, away from the tellers.

The next advisor, another man, rose to greet us from behind his desk.

"Good afternoon."

Time to repeat herself, "hello. I'd like to open an account for my daughter."

"A savings account?"

"No, a current account."

"Right, let me get the right form. Do you have some ID?"

Mum produced my statutory declaration, passport and medical card.

"He paid scant regard to the documents except to comment how nice my hair was, compared to my passport photo. He queried the stat dec as it didn't appear to change anything.

"My daughter didn't like the name Simon so removed it."

"Oh, I suppose it should have been Simone."

He said this as a statement not as a question so we let it go. I wondered if he would notice the M on the passport but he completely missed it.

Mum filled in the form and had to countersign it as I was under eighteen. I wasn't allowed an overdraft he said, nor a cheque book yet. He went away to copy the documents and handed them back. I had a question for mum, later.

"Thank you Miss Jones. You can expect a letter from us next week to confirm your bank details. Your debit card will take about ten days." That's ten working days, why don't they just say two weeks?

"Thank you."

We left and walked around the shops, ending up back into Marks and Spencers to look at the lingerie. I'd earlier mentioned to mum about a strapless bra, she agreed and we picked up a couple in white and black. We then looked at the lacy sets and I picked up a set in red, white and black, complete with suspender belts. I wasn't entirely sure what these were for until mum whispered in my ear. That meant we had to pick up some tights and, of course, stockings.

We were getting thirsty when mum remembered the coffee vouchers. We reached the checkout and presented the vouchers.

"This entitles you to a cake or pastry as well."

So back to the cold shelf to look at the delights. Of course, we had to consider our diets, briefly. We'd just finished when the manager we'd met on Saturday approached us.

"Ladies? I'm so pleased we managed to return here after that nasty episode."

"Thank you. We always intended to be back, my daughter needed some more lingerie."

Without showing any embarrassment he said he hoped our coffees were good. We thanked him and were about to leave.

"I heard there was a problem in the car park after you left here on Saturday. I hope it wasn't you?"

"I'm afraid it was."

"I'm sorry Mrs?"

"Jones."

"Mrs Jones. I'm sorry that happened. I'm the current chair of the precinct users group and we had our weekly meeting this morning. We will be applying through the council for an ASBO* against Mr Stevens. Many of the stores have had problems but until now we hadn't a name for him."

"So what happens now?"

"We will eject him from the precinct if he's seen but once the ASBO is granted we'd be able to have him arrested if he came near here, including the car park next door." That was encouraging news, unfortunately many youths treated an ASBO as a badge of honour and for many it was the only 'qualification' they ever received.

We just made a bus and were home fifteen minutes later. Mum's car was gone and there was a receipt in the letterbox. The rest of the afternoon and evening were quiet, although there was no sign of Claire. After dinner we sat in the lounge.

"Mum?"

"Yes dear?"

"I've been thinking."

"Yes?"

"Did Dad really get my name wrong?"

"No."

 
 

* Anti Social Behavior Order http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbo

Chapter 18 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:

 
Eve's mum has revealed that her late husband did not register Eve's birth

 
Now the story continues.
 
 
 
Eve Chapter 18
 
 
 

I'd really wanted to ask mum more questions about my birth certificate but her one answer had floored me. What had really happened? I tried to put it to the back of my mind until I could ask the right questions; I didn't want to get stressed so I'd gone to my room to do some work on my essay as a distraction. Finally I fell asleep.

Wednesday's breakfast was quiet and today's diary seemed simple, I had an appointment at the hospital at ten with Dr Bishop. We had to get out by nine fifteen and take two buses. Not having the car was a bind, but we got there a few minutes early, mum went to check me in.

"I'm sorry but you're not on today's list."

"But this is a regular appointment for my daughter."

"I'll check."

Mum stood there, trying to be calm, and failing.

"Ah, it says here that your husband called yesterday afternoon to cancel. I took the call myself."

"Well, I want to see a manager. No, make that Mr Bishop."

"But you don't have an appointment."

"Neither do I have a husband. He died sixteen years ago."

"Oh."

"So get me Mr Bishop, this is his clinic, isn't it?"

She went red and vanished into the back room.

A few minutes later mum was becoming very impatient and a manager appeared.

"Mrs Jones, there appears to be a misunderstanding."

"No, there appears to be someone impersonating my late husband and fraudulently cancelling my daughter's appointment. I want to see Mr Bishop now."

"Mrs Jones, Mr Bishop is in theatre. You were actually to see Dr Bennett from Mr Bishop's team. However the Deputy Chief Exec needs to see you and I've been asked to escort you. We are re-arranging your daughter's appointment."

"Today?"

"If we can. Please follow me."

We arrived in the administration block and were taken to the fifth floor. To our surprise Mr Dixon, our solicitor, was waiting there.

"Ladies, I was just about to see the Deputy Chief Executive about the confidential information issue when there was a call from the out-patients clinic. Shall we go in?"

Mr Dixon outlined the earlier problems we'd had and the possible leak of my medical records. Mum was then asked to describe what had happened this morning. It appeared the senior manager already knew most of it.

"Ladies, Mr Dixon. I've overseen an investigation into these allegations and until now was not prepared to accept that anything malicious had happened. However, following this morning's incident I have asked the IT department to urgently investigate the phone call. While we wait for that, would you like something to drink?"

Mum was still uptight but we settled for a coffee to calm us down. Some ginger nut biscuits appeared as well. I resisted the urge to dunk the biccies. We had just finished the coffee when a woman was let into the room.

"Ladies, Mr Dixon, this is my IT Director Susan Yates. Susan, what can you tell us?"

"As you may know all external phone calls, are digitally recorded along with the call information. We have isolated the call concerned."

She turned to her boss, "I've emailed you the call."

The call was played. It was a clumsy call, I was called Simon twice, but I thought I knew the voice.

"We've identified that the call was made from the porters rest room at 1655 yesterday. It was made as an external call but the system is setup to trap those and present them as internal calls, as well as to record them anyway. It was designed to save money and to identify who was dialling internal numbers externally. We don't advertise this feature to staff."

The porters, now I knew the voice.

"I know who it is."

All their heads turned to me.

"I don't know his name but I've met this person. He took me for my second MRI and he was outside when I came for my first outpatients appointment. I'm sure of it."

Mum had recognised the voice as well supplying the relevant dates, "and he made an anonymous call to me. Mr Dixon, you're already aware of that call."

The Deputy Chief Executive realised that the issue was growing and spoke to his PA, "Can you get the relevant department head up here immediately."

She nodded, left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Mrs Jones, we do indeed appear to have a problem amongst our staff. Believe me, we are treating this very seriously."

Mr Dixon asked if mum and I could speak to him privately. The Deputy Chief Exec suggested the adjoining meeting room.

"Miss Jones, Mrs Jones, things are moving very quickly. The school told me yesterday that they will exclude David Stevens permanently and have suspended the bursar with immediate effect for alleged disclosure of your school records and for misuse of the school computer system."

"The emails?"

"Yes Eve."

We were called back into the office. The facilities manager was waiting there.

"Right, George can you tell me what you have found?"

"I've compared the staff lists for yesterday afternoon and the dates you gave me. The only name that is common to those times is Derek Stevens."

I bit my tongue and looked straight at mum who also desperately wanted to say something. The Deputy Chief Exec was speaking.

"Where is he now?"

"Off duty, a 'domestic emergency' he called it."

"Get him here at two this afternoon. Get his union rep here as well, I want the Hospital Trust's solicitor in on this."

He waited until George had left the room and then turned to us.

"Ladies, Mr Dixon, I can assure you that we will deal with this appropriately. I do not like fraud or harassment in any capacity. Can I call you later this afternoon?"

We agreed and left with our solicitor, but at his suggestion we went first to the café in the main building.

"I don't know what's going on here but it looks like harassment on several fronts."

"Yes Mr Dixon. What can we do?" Asked mum.

"Firstly we have the criminal damage case against the boy. That will be next Monday."

"Plus the ASBO." I suggested.

"ASBO?"

"The precinct will be applying to magistrates for an anti-social behaviour order against him."

"I'll speak to the precinct manager, I may be able to help them. Now, regarding Anne Holts, the school bursar. The school has identified that her terminal was used to access Gmail to send those emails. While the LEA IT department wouldn't tell me themselves, it appears they did tell the Acting Head."

He paused for breath, "they have also identified several, unspecified, administrative and disciplinary anomalies that Ms Holts is unwilling to explain. One other thing, they have re-interviewed the Head and have accepted that he has made some errors but not enough to constitute dismissal. He'll be back at the school next week."

"Oh."

"The Chairman of the school's Governing Body wants to meet you and your mother next Tuesday afternoon at my offices."

"Right."

We went home, again there was no sign of Claire. I was getting very worried.

Mum found a message from the hospital on the answerphone saying there were no free slots before next Wednesday. That did not help our situation..

After dinner I walked across to the Johnson's house. Annie opened the door.

"Claire doesn't want to see you."

"Why?"

"Mum had a talk with her on Monday evening and she flipped. She hasn't been to school and mum can't coax her out of her room."

"Can you ask your mum to speak to mine?"

"Will do."

"Thanks Annie."

I walked the short distance home and told mum what Annie had said. I flopped in the lounge.

"Eve, I know this is difficult for you. I did warn you."

"Yes, but you never said this would affect me and Claire like this."

"Eve, I know I couldn't predict this, but don't worry, Claire will sort herself out."

"That's fine for you to say!"

I stormed upstairs and slammed my bedroom door. I thought I could hear mum on the phone but anger and fatigue got to me.

Chapter 19 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:

 
A cancelled hospital appointment, a meeting with the hospital bigwig and news from the school. Claire is a different problem.

Now the story continues.
 
 
 
Eve Chapter 19
 
 
 
Mum and I were barely on speaking terms on Thursday morning. We even forgot the usual 'first of the month' joke. If October was starting as frosty as this in the house, what would it be like in the fresh air outside?

While mum was busy downstairs I dived into her room and found the biscuit tin. I needed something.

The car wasn't back yet so I grabbed my bag at nine fifteen and made for the door.

Mum was stood in the kitchen with no shoes, "where do you think you're going?"

"To see Dr Fox."

"Not without me!"

I didn't answer but slammed the door behind me; I did not want mum in the room with me today. I grabbed a passing bus and was at the hospital twenty five minutes later. There was no sign of mum.

"Good morning Eve."

"Mornin'."

"Take a seat. Now, I can tell that something is wrong so why don't you tell me."

"I was lied to."

"Who?"

"Mum. She told me dad made the mistake with my name. Now I know it was mum all along, and it wasn't a mistake."

"How can you be sure?"

I produced my birth certificate, showing mum as the informant.

"I see."

"I want to know what other lies have been told."

"Eve, I can only go by what you and your mum have told me, so I don't know if there are any more lies, but I really think you need to talk to mum about this."

"I know I must, and I want to, eventually, but I know I'm going to get upset very quickly."

"Then let's talk to her here?"

"No!"

"Oh?"

"You told me at my first appointment that if I wanted to exclude her, I could."

"Yes."

"So, right now, I don't want her in here. Just us."

"Alright Eve, I respect your wishes but you will need to talk to her at some point. Why don't you tell me how your week has gone?"

I went over the precinct incidents, the school connection, the hospital problem and my change of name.

"I'm not so sure any more?"

"About what?"

"About this!"

I pointed at my skirt then at my developing breasts.

"And?"

"This just feels strange. I'm comfortable like this, but I shouldn't be. My head's been played with, physically and mentally. I'm messed up."

I could see Dr Fox was ready to hit the alarm but I stayed sat, and physically calm.

"So, are you Simon or Eve?"

"I'm Eve. The question is not who, but why?"

"I think I see. So, you accept that you're Eve but you can't see how you got to this point?"

"Yes."

"Ah, let's go back to the beginning."

We spent another hour going through everything that had happened, and why. I still couldn't work out why mum and lied to me, though. Lastly I talked about Claire and how I had to decide about children.

"So, do you?"

"I'm nearly seventeen but it's too early for me to think about that. Until a few weeks ago I didn't even have a girlfriend. Now I have a girlfriend who thinks she's a lesbian and that must mean I must be too, however strange that sounds. If Claire doesn't want children then neither do I. But one thing is clear I do not want to, err"

"Have intercourse?"

I was going red. "Yes."

"There are other ways."

I'd had several good cries while sat with Dr Fox and my hanky was stained with mascara. Dr Fox suggested I used her private bathroom to tidy myself up before I left.

As I left her room I spied mum sitting in the waiting area. She had her back to me so I could have just left without her knowing but Dr Fox had calmed me.

"Mum, I'm done. Can we go outside?"

"Yes dear."

I led mum to the same spot we'd gone to the week before and sat on the bench with her.

"Mum, I want the truth."

"Yes, I'm sorry. Do you remember how I said this was my fault?"

"Yes?"

"Well, your dad died the day after you were born. He was going to register your birth that afternoon so in the end I had to do it."

"During the pregnancy the ultrasounds had shown a girl. Just before I went into labour I had been reading an Evelyn Waugh novel and I really liked the idea of Eve Lynn. I really wanted a daughter but got a son. I loved you regardless but after not getting the girl I craved, and losing your husband, I was so very depressed. They call it post-natal depression."

"Yes, I've heard of it."

"So I was both a new mum and a widow, within 24 hours. I thought I would flip and they'd keep me here but somehow they let me go home the following day. The hospital had promised counselling but of course it never happened. I decided I was keeping the names I'd chosen and was going to call you Eve Lynn Simone but the registrar persuaded me to change Simone to Simon. I refused to change the rest. I now know I wasn't thinking straight."

"So why couldn't you tell me?"

"Guilt."

"So what about when I was brought into hospital six week ago?"

"You were in my clothes and unable to explain for yourself. The school gave the paramedics a quick explanation of the male/female confusion. The hospital compounded that mistake and I thought I'd finally get the daughter I wanted, even for just a short while."

"That explains why you didn't tell the hospital they were wrong."

"I was going to, then the staff heard you talking in your sleep and they contacted Dr Fox."

"Did you tell anyone, after I was born, what you'd done?"

"No, they might have taken you away from me."

"You sure?"

"No, but I couldn't take the chance."

I relaxed a little. I was getting to the bottom of it now. I looked up and saw Dr Fox stood a little behind mum. She signed to me to keep talking.

"So who knew my name was Eve?"

"I was so ashamed what I'd done but couldn't tell anyone, not even a solicitor to change your name. So I told no-one until you had to start primary school and then again when you started secondary school. Even then they were told that Simon was the name you used so Eve wouldn't show up on their normal records. Before they connected all their computers together it was easy to do that. Then you needed a passport for this holiday. When your certificates arrived addressed to Eve it all came back and I wanted my Eve. Can you forgive me?"

"Mum, I told you weeks ago that I forgave you, but why couldn't you tell me?"

"I, I, I was frightened."

Now mum was crying. I pulled some tissues out of my bag and dried her eyes.

"Eve, Mrs Jones, do you mind if I join you?"

I just nodded. Mum looked quizzical.

"How long have you been there?"

"Since you left the clinic. Eve wouldn't have you in the room but was very uptight. I wanted to make sure neither of you did anything stupid. You need each other."

Mum cried on my shoulder.

"Eve, you have an appointment here eight thirty on Tuesday to see Dr Preston, a Gender Identity specialist. I'll be there as well. I should have told you sooner but I forgot, shrinks are human too."

"Thanks, I'll remember that you're human, in case it comes in useful later."

She handed me an appointment letter, no doubt they'd post one to me as well. Given the current postal disputes it might turn up before the appointment. She also handed me another prescription, two more weeks of anti-depressants.

"Sorry, I forgot to give you these. I think they'll help."

We took the bus into town and went to the pharmacy to get my pills and some shopping. Without the car it really was a bind.

Back indoors, mum and I sat down with a coffee and cried on each-other's shoulders.

Mum had got the daughter she wanted but I still felt betrayed, she could have told me and let me make my own mind up. No, that was silly. Would a teenage boy willingly become a girl to please his mum?

Yes, I'd been having dreams but mum didn't know and I wasn't telling. I didn't even know what the dreams meant. I thought I was screwed before I found out the truth, but now I still had a ton of questions - but didn't know what to ask or even if there were any answers.

"I love you mum."

"I love you Eve."

The rest of the day was a blur.

Chapter 20 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:

Eve now understands why her mum pushed her to become a girl. Claire is still not talking.

Now the story continues.
 
 
 
Eve Chapter 20
 
 
 
Friday was going to be a much better day, even though I had an assignment to hand in, and hadn't written it yet.

I was up just before seven and had a quick shower so I could quickly be back in my room to work. I dashed through the kitchen for a mug of coffee. At half eight mum came to me to remind me that I hadn't had any breakfast, and that I had to see the Doctor at nine. She made a suggestion that had me stripping and redressing.

I saved my work and reluctantly followed mum downstairs. After a bowl of cereal we headed out of the door to catch the bus to the surgery. As I closed the front door, mum's car was driven onto the driveway. A mechanic got out.

"Mrs Jones?"

"Yes."

"We wanted to bring your car back yesterday lunchtime but no-one was here to sign for it."

"That's alright."

"Can you sign here, and there. Thanks, here's your keys."

Mum and I took a walk around the car. Not only was the graffiti now history but a few scratches and one minor dent had also gone. We stared at one spot so long the mechanic laughed.

"As the insurance company was paying we thought we'd treat you to a little extra."

"Thanks!"

"Don't mention it. By the way, we know who's handywork this was, we have CCTV of him doing the same graffiti tag on our workshop wall."

"Can you speak to my solicitor, Mr Dixon of Dixon Hill, and let him know. He may be able to help you."

"Will do, I'll have a word with the boss, my dad."

We went to jump into the car but first had to pull off the clear plastic seat covers that garages use. Mum had to adjust the driver's seat, then check her make-up in the mirror, before we could set off.

We arrived at the surgery with a few minutes to spare. Mum asked for the practice manager and took her aside for a few minutes, handing her one of the Deed Poll copies. Mum then returned to the waiting area.

"I've told her you need a new medical card. She'll get the local NHS Trust to issue you a new card in your new name. Strange was, she said she was going to ask me for some identification anyway."

We were called in to see Dr Kumar.

"Welcome back ladies, please take a seat. I've cleared my diary for an hour as there's plenty we need to discuss. How would you like your coffees?"

We weren't in his usual room, this was more of a small conference room.

"Just a splash of milk for both of us please."

"Mrs Jones, I have been receiving some strange messages from the hospital. I am at a loss to understand what is going on. Could you help me?"

"Doctor, unfortunately we have had problems this week. Someone cancelled my daughter's Wednesday out-patient appointment by impersonating my deceased husband. The Trust's Deputy Chief Exec has promised to contact us about that but we haven't heard from him yet. My solicitor was also at that meeting so that may explain why they have been speaking to you more than normal. Also, I was told yesterday that Eve has been referred to a Gender Identity specialist."

"I see, that also explains the message asking me to confirm the identity of anyone claiming to be you or your daughter."

Mum nodded.

"Right, let me tell you what I know. Because the hospital were telling me very little until this week, I asked the St Barts & St Thomas' Medical School to do a detailed investigation of Eve's blood test results over the past few weeks, using the samples taken by this surgery. They did not know Eve's name nor gender and were told nothing else about you, other than your age. Their report shows that Eve's hormone levels have stabilised and are largely unchanged over the last three blood tests. The report states that the blood test results are appropriate for a girl entering late puberty."

I thought I should say something, since the conversation was about me.

"Thank you Doctor. So where does that leave me?"

"I was hoping that Mr Bishop or his team would supply that information. I'll speak to him later."

"Thank you."

"Could you both come this way? I think it's time those stitches came out."

I followed the doctor into a treatment room where he had me remove my wig before sitting. A nurse joined us and swabbed the wound whilst the doctor washed and put on gloves. He spent ten minutes removing the stitches before asking the nurse to swab it again. She then put a dressing over the wound.

"That's only in case the stitching holes weep. You can remove the pad this evening."

Dr Kumar checked with mum to see what tablets I still needed and if I required another prescription. He then got a different pad out.

"Eve, your school insisted on a sick certificate from the start of this term, your current one finished yesterday. This is a new one until the end of the month, make sure they get it."

"I will. Thank you."

"Eve, while the nurse is here please can you take your top and bra off."

I was prodded for a minute before being allowed to put my clothes back on. I lost another armful of blood in the process.

"Eve, your breasts are developing as expected for late-onset puberty. Now, as I said, all we have to work out is why."

The nurse gave Dr Kumar a strange look. Obviously she was not fully aware of the facts.

We finally left there at eleven, after a second coffee in the meeting room. Dr Kumar wanted to fill some gaps in his records, apparently, despite the recent flurry of communications, the hospital had not been regularly updating the wonderful new NHS Patient database. We left, having made a follow-up appointment for the following Friday.

Mum drove us into town and parked in a small car-park a short walk from the precinct. We engaged in a little retail therapy on foot, this time mum also spent some money on herself. One of the stores had a dress sale on, we paused outside it.

"Eve, your birthday's approaching."

True, my birthday is the first of November. This year I'd be seventeen and could start driving lessons.

"How would you like to go to the theatre with Claire?"

"So long as we're talking."

"Don't speak like that, of course she'll be there for you."

I bit my tongue rather than start another argument, "okay, What's going to be showing?"

"There's a production of Romeo and Juliet by the English National Opera. I believe that's part of your English syllabus this year."

"It is. I'd love to see the ENO. I'm sure Claire would too."

We finished window shopping outside the emporium and walked into Dress Heaven, the name was very appropriate. I must have tried on at least a dozen dresses, the easy choice was something for the theatre. The difficult choice was the right ball gown for Christmas. As there was a sale on, mum bought me two gowns. She said it was something about not being seen twice in the same dress. I picked up three other formal dresses at the same time, the bill was certainly adding up to a few hundred pounds.

I'd wondered why mum had suggested I change my bra that morning for one of the new 34B ones and that I wear my breast enhancers, but now it was obvious - in more than one way!

"By Christmas you could well be a natural B cup. Your dresses have to still fit you in three months, preferably longer. There's no point buying a ball gown for this Christmas and not being able to get into it!"

Mum took advantage of the sale and picked up a frock for herself to wear at the theatre.

"Eve, I forgot. Your birthday is on a Sunday this year so I'll book tickets for the Saturday performance instead."

"That's Halloween, isn't it?"

"Oh, I hadn't realised," in false alarm, then a giggle.

We took the frocks back to the car and mum phoned the tutor to give an excuse about being stuck somewhere. That gave us the rest of the afternoon. Lunch beckoned to we went to a town centre pub.

This one used to be a furniture store and was huge inside, despite the number of middle aged men inside the air smelt amazingly clean. I doubt we would ever have been in here before the smoking ban. We found a quiet corner, not that it was noisy inside, and concentrated on the menu. Mum went to the bar to order and came back with some bottles of spring water. The food followed by ten minutes and was simple but excellent. We left suitably refreshed.

Back at home we stowed the dresses in the little remaining closet space I had. The evening meal was a simple egg salad, we were still feeling the effects of lunch.

Once we'd eaten I went to my room and tried to phone Claire. Annie answered the phone and passed it straight away to Sharon, her mum.

"Hi Eve."

"Hi Mrs J. What's up with Claire?"

"She's frightened. Your mum asked me to have a chat with her a few days ago and it scared her."

"Was this a chat about our relationship and children?"

"Yes. What did you tell your mum?"

"That I didn't know. I wanted to tell Claire that I won't do anything without talking to her first. I love her as I am, not as Simon."

"Eve, I'll try to speak to her. I tried to yesterday but she might take it better if it comes from you.""

I hung up and walked back downstairs to mum. We were both tired and settled own in front of the telly. Then the doorbell sounded.

Mum found Claire on the doorstep. She ran straight in and wrapped herself around me, sobbing.

"I've been so silly."

"Claire, it's nothing."

"Eve, I love you so much but I was scared."

Mum spoke, "Claire, sorry but it was my fault."

Claire didn't seem to hear mum and continued to sob quietly on my shoulder. We went upstairs and hugged each-other until mum suggested it was time for Claire to go home, it was gone ten o'clock.

Chapter 21 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:

 
Eve and Claire have made up.

 
Now the story continues.
 
 
 
Eve Chapter 21
 
 
 

I was emotionally drained on Saturday morning after the events of the last few days but had woken at seven and couldn't get back to sleep. Rather than just laying there I used the time to continue work on my essay about European history, unfortunately it was supposed to have been handed in yesterday. Breakfast was a ten minute interruption, as was my shower.

Claire walked into my room just after nine. I'd managed about two thousand words by now and was well into the flow, with the rest of the report mapped out - in my mind at least.

"Want a break? I think we both need some time out."

"Claire, you know I won't argue about that. I don't think I can stare at this screen too much longer this morning."

"How about we go see a film?"

"That sounds ok, but what do I wear?"

"Come on girl, you should have an idea by now. Let's have a look."

She threw open my wardrobe and started pulling out clothes. In the end we settled for jeans and a long-sleeved top, but there were quite a few giggles while trying to make our minds up. Of course I wasn't wearing my enhancers up until now and had to change my bra to accommodate them. Claire promised not to mention this transgression if I didn't, but teased me mercilessly while I was changing.

It took another ten minutes to get my make-up done, so it looked like I wasn't wearing any. One day all this will make sense to me.

We walked downstairs and spoke to mum while she checked my clothing choices. Claire had apparently already mentioned her plan, I was just a little surprised they were on talking terms. Of course I didn't know the whole plan yet, nothing new there,

"Be back by six." She handed me some cash, muttering that I wasn't to spend it all.

That was easy enough. We left, hand in hand, and walked to the bus stop. Saturday services were similar to weekdays and we didn't have to wait too long, just over ten minutes later we were pulling into the town centre bus station. Traffic had been light, but then we were still seven weeks from Christmas, another three weeks and the Saturday morning roads would be awful.

There was a multiplex cinema on one of the out of town retail parks but bus services there were lousy so we used the three screen cinema in town. The show didn't start for nearly two hours so Claire pulled me into the nearest clothes shop whilst I was otherwise staring at the film posters. We spent the next hour going through the various shops in the centre of town, trying on everything. My artificially increased bust was needed to properly wear some of the tops. We giggled throughout.

In the end we had one bag each, my cash supply hadn't suffered too much. As it was now half-past eleven, and my feet ached, Claire suggested lunch.

Mum's never been keen on fast food but I wasn't too bothered. We went in, ordered and took our buns and shakes upstairs to the seating area there. Once we'd finished Claire reached for my hands.

"Eve, I need to say this again. I'm sorry I hurt you. I should have spoken to you instead of making assumptions."

"Claire, I'm sorry that my mum interfered and then involved your mum, it wasn't her right to do that. We have to be in control of this relationship, not them. I promise I will talk to you first if I think this sort of thing is happening again, I'm not always sure that mum has my best interests at heart, but I have to trust her, for now."

"Eve, I promise the same." She mouthed 'I love you'.

I wanted to grab her there and then but a family of four had sat a few tables away. I had another idea.

"Lets go for a walk?"

We walked out, holding hands, and walked to the middle of the precinct sitting in full view of the Saturday shoppers. I reached over and pulled her lips to mine. All was forgiven, whether or not it needed to be.

When we broke for air, not one person was looking, not that I was concerned about such a public show of affection, not any more. Claire reached into her pocket and pulled out a letter.

"This was given out to us at school yesterday. Have a read."

The letter was from the Acting Head and explained that the original head would return on Monday. He went onto state that intolerance and bullying would not be tolerated and that David Stevens had been excluded permanently. He also said that one other student had been given a two week suspension and was under suspended exclusion. Most this I knew, or had worked out. Some of the words were rhétorique, the Acting Head could hardly say they supported bullying, could they?

What was also mentioned was that the Bursar had resigned for personal reasons and that a new code of practice for staff and students was being drawn up. Ofsted had made an unexpected inspection of the school this week and had expressed concern so a repeat inspection would happen before Christmas. In the meantime, he said, the Governing Body had taken measures to address Ofsted's report and no further disruption was expected. It was odd that the school hadn't posted a copy to me at home.

I handed the letter back to Claire and gave her a peck on the cheek then walked across to the cinema and chose a soppy film that was starting at one.

We walked in with bottles of spring water, after the chicken burgers and shakes we did not need any popcorn or fizzy drinks. As we sat down we heard some shouting behind us in the lobby, I ignored it,as did Claire, and waited for the film to start.

It really was a weepy with a little comedy thrown in, at least that's what the poster in the foyer had claimed, only thing was I only got a few glances at the screen over the next two hours. Claire and I had found a double seat so spent the duration in each-others arms. The only times I did that a few look at the screen was when I wasn't looking into Claire's eyes. We didn't dare speak, so as not to annoy the other film-goers, but who needs words when you're in love?

We left arm in arm and walked to the bus station, finally reaching our homes by half three. We went into Claire's house and up to her room, Sharon and Annie were out. We forgot the rule about the bedroom door, even so. I reckoned Her tonsils needed another check over.

There was a soft knock on the bedroom door and Annie walked in.

"Did you hear what happened in town today?"

"No."

"David Stevens went to the cinema but they wouldn't let him in. Security put him outside but he made threats so the police were called."

Claire and I looked at each-other.

"We were in the cinema when we heard some shouting but didn't see anything." I said.

Annie left us. I wondered briefly if the trouble had anything to do with us, but was soon caught up in Claire's lips again.

I walked indoors at five to six and put my shopping bag by the stairs, I was cutting it fine but was technically within mum's deadline.

"Good film?"

"Yes."

"So how much did you actually see?"

"Hmmm."

"Eve, I was young once, believe it or not. By the way, your lipstick told me everything I needed to know."

Our meal was simple. Just as well as I could still feel that chicken burger and wondered if I had a touch of indigestion.

We sat and watched some telly after dinner. Strictly Come Dancing was the main show for the Beeb on Saturdays and would be until almost Christmas. We were starting to doze just after ten so I reluctantly took myself upstairs to wash and change. The hot chocolate was again forgotten for the night and I fell asleep quickly.

I dreamed of Claire and I dancing in ball gowns on a huge dance floor. The glitter ball was spinning and the band was playing. Just for us.

Chapter 22 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:

 
David Stevens has been ejected from the cinema

Now the story continues.
 
 
 
Eve Chapter 22
 
 
 

The following morning I decided I would get the Sunday paper. I put on a set of sweats and a pair of trainers with pink stripes, and went for my bike in the shed. I still don't know how it got back here from the school after all this trouble started. It was still before eight and mum wasn't yet up.

Anyway, the tyres on my bike needed some air so I picked up my pump and started working. I'd never had trouble before but I could feel my upper arm muscle like I'd never felt it before, maybe it was just lack of exercise? Once the tyres were right I mounted the bike and went to push off. That's when I stopped and thought. This is a boy's bike, very obviously a boy's bike.

I put it back, checked the tyres on mum's bike and took that out instead.

Rather than go direct to the newsagents I went on a ten mile ride, collecting the paper on the return. I only saw a couple of people and even fewer cars.

It was hard work on the uphill stretches, Mum's bike was geared but not the same ratios as mine. I was sweating when I got back home an hour later.

I walked into the kitchen to an immediate tongue lashing from mum.

"Where do you think you went? You tell me before you go. If I hadn't have heard you get the bike out of the shed I'd be ringing the police by now."

"Mum, I never needed to tell you before."

"It's different now you're a girl. Different. You tell me first, right?"

"Yes mum, " reluctantly.

I was enjoying life as a girl, particularly with Claire, and was getting into clothes, make-up and the rest of the girly scene. Why then did I suddenly have restrictions I didn't have before? I mean 'before', when I was a boy.

I wanted to have a sulk but knew my coursework took priority, unfortunately. I went upstairs and had a shower before dressing. I put on some leggings and a vest top, grabbed a coffee and went up to my PC. A laptop would be really useful. By twelve I'd finished the report and did half an hour on the online tutor site.

I shut the PC down and went down to see if there was any lunch. Claire's mother was in the kitchen with mum, by the look of the coffee cups they'd been talking for a while.

"Sit down Eve. We'd like to say something."

"Okay mum, out with it."

"Young lady, less of that attitude. It's about you returning to school."

"Oh."

"Don't worry Eve. It's just how we'll handle any reaction you get at school and how much of that affects Claire. Even now, in 2009, some have problems with same sex relationships, more so where one is transgendered."

"Don't worry? Of course I'm worried about it, but I love Claire too much not to be there for her. We'll get through it together. But, mum, Mrs Johnson, it's not been decided that I'm going back, is it?"

"Eve, please call me Sharon."

"Okay Sharon."

"Eve, I think there is a real chance on Tuesday that the Governors will ask you to go back. I think it's best that you do this willingly and not wait for them to try and force you."

"Whoa, what did you just say?"

"Sorry, what I meant was that if they ask you to go back, then I think you should. If there are problems we'll deal with them, even if that means switching to another school. If you stay at home, the Local Education Authority could become difficult. Dr Kumar has signed you as unfit for school but the LEA could have another doctor examine you."

"Right, I understand that, but hadn't we wait until Tuesday's meeting?"

"I suppose you're right." Mum shrugged.

She'd tried to push this extra worry onto me and it hadn't worked. She probably thinks it's for the best, but I'm just taking things one day at a time. Trying to analyse everything would just confuse me even more, it had been difficult enough getting to the bottom of mum's deception, but I was stronger now, maybe because of that.

The doorbell rang and my aunt walked in, followed by my cousin Jenny. Mum hadn't said anything about their visit, again, I'd try to have a word with her later; I wanted to take a harder attitude with mum, but it never seemed to be the right moment.

"Hi Simon."

"Hi Jenny, It's Eve now."

"You changed your name and ..."

"No, Eve has always been my name." I decided not to make a fight out of it and simply suggested to Jenny that she and I went into the lounge.

My aunt went into the kitchen to see mum and meet Sharon. Jenny and I sat on the couch. Over the years we'd always tried to out do the other but Jenny was one year older, now almost 18, and physically stronger, I tended to lose in every aspect.

"So you're gay?" Nothing like a direct question from her.

"I'm a lesbian."

"Huh? But you're a boy."

"No, I'm a girl with the wrong parts."

"Prove it."

Her mum was standing behind us, "Jenny, stop that and apologise. Eve is a girl now. Period."

"Period? Do you mean ..."

"You know exactly what I mean young lady. Now apologise."

"Yes mum, sorry Eve. If I hadn't have seen you I wouldn't have believed it."

I went to the kitchen and pulled a couple of drinks out of the fridge. Claire walked in the kitchen door.

"Thanks, I could do with a drink."

"I'll get another one."

"So who's this one for?" Asked Claire, who'd just walked in.

Jenny, who'd followed me, decided to answer, "for me, who are you?"

"Jenny, this is Claire, my girlfriend."

"You weren't kidding then?"

"Look, let's go back into the lounge." I suggested again, mostly to change the question and answer session with Jenny.

Mum, Sharon and my aunt had gone outside, my aunt smokes so had stepped outside as mum does not allow smoking in the house. Mum and Sharon went out as well, taking their coffees with them. They'd have their own group conference, about me no doubt.

Claire joined me on the couch, relegating Jenny to one of the chairs. I knew my cousin was desperate to say something but assumed she'd wait until Claire and I had finished our current kissing session. I was wrong, she was too impatient, as ever.

"Cut it out guys."

I did my best to explain to Jenny what was going on. Claire explained the bits I missed out. I'm not sure if she was totally convinced but it was too weird a story to be made up, that's what I told myself.

"So what happens next?" She asked.

"In what regard?"

"The boy to girl thing."

"I'm seeing a specialist on Tuesday."

"And does he cut your bits off?"

"No! At least not yet."

"I want Eve as a whole girl, all mine," said Claire. This stunned Jenny into silence for a few seconds. The longest so far today.

I looked at the clock, it was gone three and we'd not had lunch. Mum had clearly been thinking the same thing and put her head into the lounge, suggesting everyone stay for Sunday dinner. She pulled a large piece of beef from the fridge as if she had been expecting visitors all along. I must have a word with her, she has kept enough from me. I really should start writing a list, or would that be the start of paranoia?

The collective was told dinner would be at five. Us girls, including Annie, were sent to the nearest shops to collect some additional ingredients. Jenny mellowed and stopped trying to better me, I got the feeling she had accepted me as a girl so had stopped trying to prove she was better than any boy, if that makes sense?

We got back a bit later than expected and helped set the large table in the dining room. We never normally used this room, in fact it wasn't even a separate room, more an area at the back of the lounge. I'd never understood why we had a table that could seat eight when there was just the two of us. Today seven of us would eat here.

It was somehow odd, there wouldn't be a single male at the table. All of the woman, and girls, were single. Sharon's husband had run off shortly after the twins were born. Jenny's dad had been divorced by my aunt, I'd never been told why. All of this had happened years ago and wasn't a dinner table topic.

I was asked to select two bottles of red wine from the rack, I found a pair of bottles of Merlot that would go well with the beef. Today the four girls would all be allowed half a glass of wine, topped with lemonade, Jenny however just wanted lemonade. The adults all had one glass each, although I suppose it could have been more.

The dinner was a lovely end to a peaceful weekend after a hectic week. It turned out that Jenny was driving her mum home and that she was due to take her driving test the following week. No point in losing your licence before you've qualified, is there?

Sharon and Annie left shortly afterwards, Claire cuddled up to me.

"I'm not at school tomorrow."

"Why not?"

"We're in court, my dear, remember?"

Chapter 23 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:

Cousin Jenny has now accepted Eve as a girl. Claire and Eve have fully repaired their relationship.

Now the story continues.
 
 
 
Eve Chapter 23
 
 
 

Mum had me up before seven and into the shower. Today we'd face the Stevens family in court, mum was upbeat but I wondered if that was a facade.

She insisted that I dress appropriately and told me to wear a suit. Amongst my recent purchases was a bright pink one with a knee length skirt. Make a statement! My blouse needed pressing so I had found myself in the kitchen wearing a bathrobe with the iron in my hand before eight o'clock. I had ironed before, mum had insisted I learn since there was just the two of us, but I had never previously pressed anything so delicate.

The blouse was going to show my bra so I selected my prettiest white one with a B cup. The enhancers went in, although I wasn't convinced I'd need them much longer. Mum didn't quite agree.

"You're only an A cup right now, quite full though, but don't expect a B cup overnight."

I did my makeup carefully then made my way downstairs.

Back in the kitchen I put on an apron before starting breakfast. Neither of us knew how the day would start so we had a boiled egg, toast and OJ. The court summons had told us to be at there at ten so we had just over an hour.

The post arrived and I dropped it on the kitchen table, the top one was from the bank, addressed to me. I was about to open it when the phone rang.

"That was the Deputy Chief Exec from the hospital calling with an update. Apparently David Stevens senior couldn't be contacted on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. I told them that his son is due at court this morning so they will send someone there to wait in case either of them shows."

At nine thirty mum and I checked our makeup and met Sharon and Claire outside, then all jumped into Sharon's car for the ride into town. We walked into the court building, eight heels clicking in unison. Mr Dixon met us there.

"He was supposed to report from bail fifteen minutes ago."

"The hospital's deputy chief exec has told us that his father hasn't been contacted yet," said mum.

"But the accused," a giggle from Claire, "was seen in town on Saturday."

Mr Dixon acknowledged what was said but was waiting to speak to the tall suited man who had just walked in. Our solicitor greeted him, "good morning Gerald. I take it you're here for the father?"

"Yes, I've just been told he might be here."

"Gerald, I'm representing Mrs Jones and her daughter, Mrs Johnson and her daughters."

"Ah, Eve Jones I presume. I'm acting for the hospital trust, please believe me, we are dealing with your problem."

"Thank you."

The court usher walked into the lobby.

"Calling David Stevens to court one."

No-one moved. In fact none of us saw him or his family. Mr Dixon waited a few minutes then asked to speak to the Magistrates. He returned a minute later.

"They have decided to extend bail for a further week. As he is under eighteen they cannot issue a bench warrant yet. They are however considering the ASBO request right now."

"Great," my understatement was clear to all, this was not how I had expected it to finish.

The four of us girls looked at each other and, as if synchronised, spun on our heels heading for the door.

It was barely gone ten and the main event of the day hasn't happened. What do four girls do? Claire had already decided she wouldn't be going into school today, even though the day was still young. We held a meeting at the Italian Coffee shop.

The barista welcomed us, "good morning ladies. What can I get you today?"

Two coffees and a slice of cake later we had calmed down. We breezed through the shopping centre. Being a Monday morning it was quiet and mostly we had the shops to ourselves, plus the full attention of the staff.

We arrived home at one. The day's post had included the one from the bank I'd seen this morning. Their computer confirmed that my account had been opened and I could expect my card in a week to ten days. I made a note to let Mr Dixon know.

We had a quick simple lunch and were just relaxing when the doorbell rang. Miss Scott, my tutor, walked in. She was very abrupt.

"You were supposed to hand in your work at the end of last week. Of course you were unavailable all day Friday and you weren't here this morning. I won't accept excuses."

I drew myself to my full height and smoothed my skirt, unfortunately I'd already taken my heels off. "Then don't. I've done the work but if you'd rather have an argument feel free. I fully expected a fight in a magistrates court today and that, unfortunately, didn't happen so I'm ready for one right now. Don't treat me like a little kid."

"I want it if you've finished it."

"Don't bother. I'll hand it into the school myself tomorrow and save you the trouble. Goodbye."

Mum stood there quietly the whole time. Miss Scott hadn't got as far as sitting down.

"I won't take attitudes like that."

"I've already suggested you leave. Goodbye."

Mum followed her to the door then came back into the kitchen.

"That was a bit strong. You didn't mean to upset her, did you?"

"Sorry but her attitude was wrong the moment she walked in, besides I've decided to go back to school as soon as I can."

"Good girl. You're learning fast."

Claire came over and found me still in my suit, she pushed me upstairs and had me strip to my undies. Fifteen minutes later, after alot of giggling, I was in shorts, a sports bra and a hoodied top. She also told me not to wear any make-up, except a little lipstick.

"What's this in aid of?"

"We're going for a ride. You need to chill out."

"Oh."

I got mum's bike out and met Claire outside with her bike. She now had a backpack with her.

"Eve, you need to get a new bike."

"I know, but I can't ask mum. She's already spent too much on me. I'll wait until I've got some money of my own. I want a laptop as well."

We cycled out of town and several miles along the canal towpath. Claire found a picnic site a few feet away from the canal but behind a line of trees. A car park, some fifty yards away, was empty.

Claire pulled a blanket out of the bag and we sat, confident that we couldn't be overlooked. She also had a thermos of hot coffee. After the ride I was a little warm and, having checked the immediate area again, took off my top. Not wishing to be left out, Claire did likewise. I'd like to say we just sat and talked, but I can't.

I made a mental note to get a bikini, but it was the wrong time of year to find one in the shops.

We returned home a few hours later with grins on our red faces, which we explained was due to the fast sprint on the way home.

I was fed and watered by seven and retired to use my PC. There was an email from Claire that just made me giggle.

"virtually a B cup."

I replied,
"but virtue all intact."

Chapter 24 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:
 

Eve and Claire didn't get their day in court. Eve sent her tutor away.
 

Now the story continues.
 
 
 
 
Eve Chapter 24
 
 
 

We arrived at the hospital a few minutes early for my appointment with the Gender Identity specialist. Dr Fox met us in reception and introduced us to Dr Preston but did not go into the room with us, closing the door behind her.

"Good morning ladies. Eve I presume."

"Yes."

After a few minutes he asked mum to leave the room. I wasn't sure about some of the questions but he was making notes even when I gave silly answers to silly questions. He then asked mum to come in and I was to wait outside, Dr Fox was waiting there.

"So Eve, how did it go?"

"It was alright. No worse than your interrogations."

"Fair enough."

I was called back in, this time Dr Fox came in as well.

"Eve, from the moment I met you I saw a confident young lady, I still do. I know you have been under Dr Fox for a month and I also know you have made your mind up, but it has only been a month. I'd like to see you again on Friday afternoon, just you, okay?"

"Dr Preston, I'm not happy with my daughter being here unescorted."

Dr Fox interjected, "Mrs Jones, I will be here with Eve. You come here if you wish but we'll only need Eve for the session."

We left an hour after we'd arrived. There was plenty of time before our appointment downtown. Mum had an idea as we reached the car.

"How about we go to that furniture store on the retail park?"

"The huge one?"

"Yep."

We pulled into the carpark twenty minutes later and walked into the warehouse, staring at the signs until a young man with a name badge arrived.

"Can I help you, ladies?"

"Yes, bedroom furniture please."

"Up the stairs and left at the top."

"Thank you."

Half an hour later we'd identified a small dressing table and long mirror that would suit my room. We accosted another member of staff and arranged for payment and delivery as Mum's little car was not up to the job. We walked across to the curtains and bedding, picking up a new set of each for my room. Those we did take with us.

We called into the mega Tesco store and intended to pick up just a few things but ended up with a trolley full of food and other bits. Since this was one of the larger stores they did a good clothes range as well. I gained some school style skirts and trousers, a body warmer and a winter coat. We also bought some hot chicken and fresh rolls for lunch.

We'd finished lunch by one and mum sent me up to change, ready for the afternoon's meeting. "Wash first and take all your make-up off."

Mum had told me that if I was to make a good impression as a school girl, I should appear as one, including not overdoing my make-up. I figured that as I was in the sixth form, where there was no school uniform, I could wear what I wanted to, but apparently I was wrong. Where was Claire when I needed her?

We parked up in town just before two and walked round to Mr Dixon's office.

"Please come in. I've asked Mr Davis, Chair of the Governors, to join us in fifteen minutes, in the meantime I'd like to talk about the main issues."

"So we get the story straight?" I offered.

"Quite Miss Jones, but I wouldn't normally put it like that."

"So what approach will we take?" Asked Mum.

"I believe the accident at the school is just that, an accident. We could argue that the stress of being told Eve was female, according to their records, was relevant but they would contest that the tumour caused her collapse. In any case, Eve has decided to become female since then."

"That is reasonable."

"Now, the other aspects concerning the school are more serious. Firstly it has been accepted that student records for both Eve and Miss Johnson were accessed then distributed without appropriate authority. One member of staff, who has since resigned, was identified as being responsible. The second issue with the school is the campaign of harassment that involved the bursar plus several students. The school has a duty of care to protect the students, and it failed to do so in yours and Miss Johnson's cases."

Mum and I nodded.

"I've received an update from the hospital. It seems that David Stevens Snr has missed several shifts and they are preparing dismissal papers. The Chief Executive has taken over this case and is reportedly angry. He wishes to apologise for the distress caused and has offered to send a cheque for £5,000 in compensation. We could argue but I believe it is a fair and reasonable settlement."

Mum wanted to appear calm, at first, I just had a broad smile on my face.

"I'm not satisfied, Mr Dixon. My daughter has suffered harassment over several weeks by this man, using confidential hospital records. The out-patients appointment cancellation was just the last straw. If they've made an offer before any formal request has been submitted then they plainly want to see the back of it. I believe they will offer more, otherwise could take this complaint further, and out of their hands."

"I'll put your view back to the hospital trust but I can't promise anything."

"Okay."

There was a knock on the door. Two gentlemen walked in.

"Good morning Frances, Harold."

"Mrs Jones, Miss Jones, may I introduce Frances Davis, Chairman of the Governing Body and Harold Spinner the Head Teacher, who I believe you both know."

We acknowledged the two. I thought I saw a wink from the Head.

I quickly got the impression that our solicitor and Mr Davis knew each other well.

"Frances, how are we going to sort out these problems?"

The school governor addressed Mr Dixon, "John, we reviewed the accident report and saw that the school was not culpable and we hope you see that the same way."

"My clients have accepted that they do not blame the school for the accident."

"Thank you. Regarding the release of confidential information and the misuse of the school computer system we interviewed Ms Anne Holts. Without waiting for the outcome of our investigations she has resigned. We will leave it to the LEA how they follow up any remaining employment issues."

"So does the school accept responsibility for these actions?"

"We do, regrettably. We are in the process of implementing safeguards to prevent this from happening in the future, it seems that other schools in the district have already made the necessary changes. It appears we were not directly informed of the need. That is a related issue, one which is not directly relevant to this meeting."

"So this could have been prevented?"

"I wouldn't say that as such, but we should have been able to identify any problems earlier and for that we must apologise."

"Now, what about the harassment at the school, both to my clients present and my clients who cannot be here?"

"Again, we believe that we could have dealt with Mr Stevens sooner if the right information had been available. I'm afraid I can't elaborate further but please let me assure you that the revised anti-harassment policy is strict. Future attitudes, such as the one that Ms Johnson encountered, will not be tolerated. To that end we have permanently excluded Mr Stevens."

"There was another boy involved in the incident with Ms Johnson."

"Indeed and we have reviewed his case carefully. Certain undertakings have been sought and received and whilst he is under threat of exclusion he has returned to school following suspension. He has no more chances. Please forgive me if I don't mention his name, under our confidentiality rules."

"Thank you Frances. Harold, would you like to say anything?"

"Thank you John. Firstly I'd like to say that I am looking forward to seeing Eve back at school. Whilst I must accept that the school is partly responsible for the some problems you have encountered I'd hope that you can return soon."

"Mr Spinner, I am looking forward to returning, but I believe we have some issues to discuss before then?"

Mum spoke, "Mr Spinner, I'd agree with Eve. Can we meet with you when we're finished here?"

"Certainly, I'm not due back at the school today."

"All, thank you. I believe we have dealt with all bar one issue. The question of compensation."

"John, do you feel this is necessary?"

"Frances, my client has had her character dissected across the school as a result of lax policies that have only been changed because of her problems. If my clients insisted, this could become a criminal matter too."

"John, obviously I need to discuss this with the relevant governors. Can I get back to you?"

"Certainly. If that's all?"

We all thanked Mr Dixon and left his office with my headteacher in tow.
 

Chapter 25 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:
 

Eve has had her meeting with the school but needs to talk to the Head.

 

Now the story continues.
 
 
 
Eve Chapter 25
 
 
 

Apparently school governors have real jobs and don't devote their whole day to the school so Mr Davis went off to his place of work, leaving me, mum and the headteacher. Mum, as usual, suggested a coffee and the head readily accepted. As it was the end of the school day he was okay about spending an hour with us.

We sat at the back of the coffee shop, away from the counter. After all, we didn't want my problems announced to all the customers, did we?

"How are you Si, err, Eve?"

"I'm mostly fine Sir, but I'm still under my surgeon and other doctors." I didn't want to say I was seeing a shrink and was still on anti-depressants, obviously.

"I understand. I had a letter from Dr Fox explaining that you might need some time."

Great. Now he knows I'm seeing a shrink.

"Did she say any more?"

"No."

At least she hadn't said anything embarrasing. "I have been thinking, Sir, about coming back to school, but I don't want to create more problems."

Mum was unusually quiet.

"Eve, ultimately your welfare is more important than your school work, but we can work around any problems. I hope that the remaining staff and pupils will understand and will welcome you. As a sixth-former you won't see much of the lower years, and of course this year's intake won't know you at all."

That limits those in regular contact to about a hundred students and thirty staff then.

"Sir, before we go any further, I think I need to explain a few things."

"I'm listening, but I am not here to judge you. Explain as much as you need to."

I started with my mum's problems when I was born, and told him that until my exam certs arrived I had no idea of my full name. Then I explained how medical circumstances forced me into skirts, but I missed out the bit about how Mum manipulated me. Then I said how I was comfortable with this and it was no longer a disguise, especially now I was developing breasts.

I then told him I was seeing a gender identity specialist again on Friday.

"How often will your appointments be? We'll need to know so you won't be disciplined for repeated absences."

"I'm not sure at the moment. Can I get back to you?"

"Of course."

I asked for his direct email address, I still wasn't happy about dealing with the office staff because of the problems at the school even though the bursar was now history. He gave me a business card but asked that none of the other students are told.

"Now, what my return?" See, I've made my mind up.

"I can't see there being a problem but I will need a letter from your psychiatrist explaining why you are returning as a female. I have now been told that we have a transgender policy, in fact it covers the GLBT spectrum. Apparently the rest of the County adopted the policy a few years ago but myself and the governors weren't informed. Our former bursar was also the clerk to the governors and as such was responsible for distributing policies and information from the county LEA or central government."

"Ah, that explains a few things. I'll talk to the shrink about that letter."

"Right, I'll talk to your tutors. As you're not changing your name, so far as the records are concerned, we won't need any deed poll or statutory declaration."

Mum decided to speak, "Mr Spinner, in fact Eve has changed her name." She handed him one of the copies.

"Thank you, although I must admit I wasn't expecting this. I'm sure the new bursar will be able to handle it."

"I have told my home tutor that I want to deal directly from the school for my schoolwork until I return. I have a memory stick with my latest work."

He accepted the memory stick. "I had heard that your home tutor wasn't needed any more. I'll talk to your sixth form tutors and arrange things. Mrs Abbott however has asked that she doesn't mark your work any longer, I don't know what that's about because it happened while I was off but I'll deal with it. In the meantime can Claire Johnson act as a go-between?"

"If that's alright with her. I take it you know about us?"

"Eve, relationships between students are none of my business so long as the school isn't being disrupted."

"Right."

Mum spoke, "Thank you Mr Spinner. Can I suggest we meet again once we have some more information from Eve's doctors and aim for Eve returning to school after half-term? She has a medical certificate valid until the 31st and the break is in three weeks."

"That's a reasonable timescale, subject to Eve's doctors. Please let the office know when you want to meet me."

"Thank you."

We all rose and said farewell to the head. I'd never had a real problem with him previously and it didn't look like I would now.

Mum suggested we get back to the car before the rain hit us. We have had a prolonged dry spell, but the darkening sky was very threatening. We made it indoors just as the first drops fell. Within seconds the path outside the house was awash. Looks like we're staying in for the rest of the day. Then the doorbell rang!

I found two drenched delivery men on the doorstep with some boxes. They put then in the hall then asked mum to sign for them.

"That's your dresser."

"But it's flat pack."

"Yes, leave it there for now, you can put it together tomorrow."

The rain was continuous, it really was the first meaningful rain since August. The garden sorely needed it, but, hey, it really put a dampener on the day, pun intended.

Mum and I prepared a curry for dinner. I found my letter from the bank on the table. They welcomed me and included some student style offers, like a new credit card. Of course, as I was only 16 they shouldn't offer me such things. Another envelope, this time unmarked, contained my debit card. No PIN yet though.

By now, the smell of the curry could be found throughout the house, mum had me closing our bedroom doors as she didn't fancy clothes smelling of that indian dish. Mum described the cooking method for curry as a slow affair, looking at the pot some Shakespeare came to mind "Hubble bubble, toil & trouble", from some Scottish play I think.

When I checked my emails Claire had sent me a soppy one complaining about the weather. She added that she wasn't getting any strange looks or comments now. Apart from David Stevens and Joey Brown I wasn't aware of any one having a go at her, I must ask Annie what the score is.

I'd stopped checking my old Simon mailbox a few days ago so only read emails to Eve. Apart from Claire and Annie, only Jenny had my new email address. She'd let me know about arranging to meet in town on Saturday while her and my mums were doing something unspecified. Mum hadn't mentioned any of this to me, as usual. I forwarded that email to Claire, so she could join us if she was free.

Then I logged into the online tutor website. There were a couple of multi-choice Q&A quizzes so I worked on one for an hour until mum shouted for dinner.

The curry was superb, and very filling. We put everything in the dishwasher and set it going. The breakfast bits were in there already. I suppose we were just lazy, but neither had any energy. The telly was awful so I went upstairs to listen to the radio, changing into a nightie. I fell asleep on the bed with the radio on as it was still playing in the morning. Not done that for a long time.

Chapter 26 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
Previously:

Eve met the head but now has more questions about her school.

Now the story continues.
 
 
 
Eve Chapter 26
 
 
 
It was still raining in the morning and the roads were awash, so it was a blessing that mum had the car back on the road. I had an appointment at the hospital, yeah it's Wednesday again, so we parked there just after nine and grabbed our brollies for the dash across the carpark to the out-patients department.

We checked in and were told our appointment had been moved to ten o'clock. Mum looked fit to burst when the usual receptionist added, reluctantly, that the Chief Exec wanted to see us first. I don't think she was impressed, she ended up spitting the words out. I guess she wasn't our favourite member of staff at the hospital, unfortunately her immediate manager was stood behind her.

"Good morning Mrs Jones, Miss Jones. Please come this way." He turned to the receptionist, "arrange someone to cover for you. I want you in my office in ten minutes."

He walked round to where we were stood and headed off with us in tow.

"I'm sorry about that. I'll be having a word with my team member about her attitude problem."

"Thank you." Mum was becoming less impressed with the hospital every time we came here, it may have been evident from her voice.

The Chief Exec was waiting for us and arranged for his personal assistant to get some coffee.

"Good morning, please take a seat. I'm sorry I took the liberty of moving your appointment so I could talk to you. Your solicitor Mr Dixon can't be here but says if you feel uncomfortable then I can call him and put him on the conference phone."

The coffee arrived and the PA sat with a notepad. I looked at the Chief Exec, scanning the security badge around his neck.

"Mr Allen, please excuse me, but why is your PA taking notes?"

"Sorry Miss Jones, I should have explained. Miss Smith will take notes and will send you, and your solicitor, a copy. If you have a problem with the minutes, let me know. That way we have a true record of this meeting, this is our normal practice."

"Right." I wasn't convinced but mum seemed to accept it.

He continued, "given the seriousness of the issue I have taken personal charge. As you will know, we have positively identified one member of staff as having made the phone call cancelling your appointment last Wednesday. We have interviewed other staff who were on duty on the days you said you encountered him and we found he was making enquiries about you, Miss Jones. I understand he also made some disparaging comments about you, we are obtaining written testimony from several staff."

"That confirms my original suspicions." Mum was quite serious, and Mr Allen could see it.

"Having read my deputy's report, I'd have to agree that this is more than circumstantial. As you may be aware, we have had difficulty persuading him to report here for interview. We eventually found Mr Stevens last night in his local pub and served a dismissal notice on him. I can't say that he was impressed, according to our solicitor. Whilst I can't go into any detail, he has had two previous warnings, so our options were limited. He has the right to an employment tribunal but we have sufficient evidence to take him to court for fraud if necessary so we expect him to go quietly."

"I'd like to protect my daughter from further court action if possible. We have already had to deal with his son through legal recourse."

"Believe me, we will use every sensible legal approach to deal with this quietly, I obviously do not want to have the good name of the hospital ruined my one man." Mum coughed as he said 'good name'."Jill?" he looked at the PA, "scratch that last sentence."

"Now, Mrs Jones, Miss Jones, I would like to make amends for the hurt that has happened here. My deputy has made an offer which I believe you have turned down. I'd like to make an alternative offer. We will write a cheque for £7,500 plus I will give you a written guarantee that will mean that any further surgery or hospitalisation in the next ten years will be fully funded if you choose to have it done here privately, instead of on the NHS. That includes any plastic surgery or even surgery to correct your little problem." He looked straight at me, making me blush.

"Could my daughter and I have a few moments alone?"

"Certainly, would you like to use the side room?"

We went into the room, which turned out to be the boardroom, and sat at the large table.

"Eve, do you know what this means?"

"I think I do. I've done some research on the net about people like me, that's if there is anyone else exactly like me."

"So what do you think?"

"I'll have to talk to the shrink on Friday but I don't reckon they'll do anything before my 18th birthday and there's a wait on the NHS."

"That's ok dear. You don't need to worry yet, but your 18th is only just over a year, remember? Now, let's think. What he's offered is a reasonable sum plus ten years of free medical insurance, queue jumping it used to be called. It won't affect the normal stuff of course, the NHS covers that."

"So do we take it?"

"I'll give a tentative yes, then we have a few days to think it over. Wait until after your appointment on Friday."

"That's reasonable."

We walked back in, Mr Allen was just coming off the phone.

"Ladies, have you come to a decision?"

"Mr Allen, my daughter and I feel that the private surgery guarantee is very generous. But I'm afraid that if your former employee, Mr Stevens, continues harassing my daughter as a result of his dismissal, my legal bills will be high. Our distress could continue for some time."

"Mrs Jones, I fully understand, I sometimes balk at what the Trust's solicitor charges." He laughed, "how about I give you £10,000 and cover all your current or related legal costs in the immediate future?"

"That is reasonable."

Mr Allen stood and mum shook hands with him, then it was my turn.

"I'll write to you and I'll send the cheque to Mr Dixon."

"Thank you."

Mum and I walked down to the cafe, I was now half an hour late for my delayed appointment but needed to talk to mum, urgently. We didn't even bother going to the counter to get a drink.

I asked an open question, guessing that mum would work out what I meant, "why?"

"Sorry dear, as we walked back into his office I just had an idea and I didn't have time to discuss it."

"That's not good enough."

"Not even for two and a half thousand reasons?"

That stumped me, temporarily. "That's irrelevant. This is my character that was being assassinated. You could have taken me back into that boardroom."

"Eve, I'm your mum and you're under eighteen. That means I get to make all the decisions for you, regardless."

Mum has never spoken to me like that before.

"That's not true and you know it! I'm not a little girl any more!" I got up and stormed out.

I was stood outside, staring into space, when Mum found me a while later.

"Eve, let's have this discussion later. I've been to see Doctor Roberts and he is now waiting for us. Did you know he's a genitourinary specialist? He's barely tolerated the Chief Exec's disruption to your appointment and wants to get moving, he says it's important."

Mum led me back inside and to an examination room marked obstetrics. I recognised the word, but couldn't remember its meaning.

"Good morning Eve. I'm glad you made it. Please sit down. I'd like to have a word before I examine you."

He was smiling through white teeth that slightly unsettled me. Mum however was smiling back. Did she fancy him? Oh, he wasn't wearing a wedding ring.

"Eve, I've read your file and understand that your body is awash with female hormones. We have suspected until now that it was down to the pituitary gland but I can't believe that's the whole story here."

He waited a few seconds before continuing, "now, was it ever your intention to have children?"

What a question.

"I hadn't considered it. I'm only sixteen, nearly seventeen, and haven't discussed that with my girlfriend."

"That's alright, I didn't need a full answer now in any case. What I do have to say however is that you may not be able to have children after all. It is entirely possible that your sperm have died, or are dying, because your testes may be permanently damaged. That is one of the things I hope to establish today."

Despite his ominous words, somehow I was reassured, perhaps it was his bedside manner?

Dr Roberts asked me to move across to the table and had me lay down, because of the weather I'd worn a pair of jeans today. He then asked me to drop my jeans and remove my knickers, all whilst laying on my back.

He put on a pair of gloves and picked up a pot, spreading a cold gel across my abdomen. I jumped, he could have warned me. Mum obviously knew what was going on and a smile was starting. Next he picked up something I didn't recognise.

"Eve, this is an ultrasound scanner. It will let me see under your skin. Normally we'd use this on pregnant ladies, promise me you're not pregnant."

Mum laughed at the poor joke, she really was smitten.

He moved the scanner's head around my abdomen, stopping at various times and pressed a button, he was obviously looking at a screen but it was turned away from me. He started going back over areas he'd already covered, then asked me to roll onto my front so he could scan from my rear.

His humour had gone and a very business-like approach took over. He obviously decided that he'd finished so gave me some paper towels to wipe myself. I was now desperate for a wee and took myself into a small loo just off the examination room. I tidied myself up as best I could and fixed my make-up, I'd probably need a shower when we got home.

Chapter 27 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
Previously:

Eve has made peace with the hospital but now wants to find out what is wrong.

Now the story continues.
 
 
 
Eve Chapter 27
 
 
 

Apparently mum and Dr Roberts had been talking whilst I was in the loo and neither was smiling.

"Sit down Eve."

No please or thank you then.

"I had hoped we'd get a better idea if there are any problems there," he pointed towards at my crotch, "but the scans are inconclusive. I'm going to have to organise an MRI but there's a waiting list of several weeks as you're an out-patient."

We left for the car. We'd been in there so long that the parking ticket had run out and we had a notice on the car charging us an extra fifty quid for thirty minutes excess parking. Mum looked about to blow a fuse. I took the notice and walked back to the out-patients reception. The lady from earlier this morning was back on the desk.

"Hello, oh it's you."

"Yes, we have a parking ticket thanks to the hospital."

"What do you expect me to do? Pay it?"

"No, you are to contact the Chief Exec's office and tell them to cancel it."

"You're kidding?"

"No, Brenda." Her ID card was hiding in her blouse, apparently she didn't want her name known. It had however chosen that moment to dislodge itself. She shoved it back quickly.

By now there was a queue behind me so I tried again.

"Be a dear Brenda and sort this out for me. I'll see you tomorrow, you can let me know then how you've done." My next appointment was Friday, but she wouldn't know.

I walked away with a smile on my face, I reached the car just before it started raining again. Thankfully the rain had cleared when we got to the supermarket.

Mum was slowly pushing a trolley down an aisle when her mobile rang.

"Yes, er, yes we were. You have, right. Two? Okay. Bye."

"That was Mr Dixon, he has received a bankers draft from the Chief Exec by courier and wants to see us later today."

We finished off the shopping and headed home for lunch. We'd picked up some hot chicken again, it was a regular favourite, and had that before we put most of the food away. There was also a selection of toiletries plus some new packs of knickers and tights for both of us.

At one thirty we drove into town and walked to the solicitor's office, Mr Dixon looked quite pleased.

"I don't know how you did it."

"Did what?" Mum was teasing him.

"Screwed the Trust for ten grand and settled my bill without worrying what it was. Even getting private treatment too."

"Practice, I had been negotiating contracts for ten years until they laid me off."

He continued, "then, this morning, the school sent over a cheque for £8250. Don't ask me how they came up with that figure. I'd suggest you accept it and draw a line under the issue."

"The money is fine, but what about the court case?"

"That depends on the magistrates. In any case the £18,250 is yours to use as you wish." He turned to me, "do you know which bank account to pay it into?"

I could see mum reaching into her bag searching for her purse, but as Mr Dixon had addressed me I quickly rattled off my new account number. I'd made a point of remembering the number on Monday when the card arrived.

Mr Dixon typed the number in as I said it and hit the enter key with some force.

"It's done, I've authorised overnight clearance so you'll get it tomorrow."

Mum finally finished fishing around in her bag. "I have that account number for you."

"Your daughter has already supplied me with an account."

"She did?"

"Yes, I transferred the funds a minute ago."

"I see." I saw her reluctantly put a card back in her purse.

"I'll keep in touch about the court, if that's all?"

So we were shown out the building and I was slightly richer than when I went into his office, but I couldn't spend it yet.

"Eve, why did you give him your account number?"

"Because he asked me for it. Is there a problem?"

"Err, no, but you can't tell anyone about the money, right?"

"Even Claire?"

"Not yet. I hope you're not making a shopping list?"

"Oh, new bike, laptop, go away at half term? That sort of thing."

"A few days away sounds like an idea."

"I want Claire there. "

"We'll see."

On the ride home I thought about what was happening. I'm going back to school, soon. I've settled with the school and the hospital and all three of my personal problems, Ms Holts and both David Stevens are out of the way already, or at least very soon?

That leaves me, I think mum has meant well but this has taken on a life off its own. I thought I'd accepted my fate but was I doing this simply to keep Claire? Am I thinking straight? The sudden stop outside the front door jolted me, my self-questioning ended for now. The rain was coming down hard, it looked like a storm had taken up residence over the town.

I headed upstairs and took my damp jeans off, intending to change into a skirt. I then felt where some of the hospital's gell was still on my belly and in my knickers, a shower was definitely needed. While washing I considered that no-one still knew for sure why these changes were happening to me, but, even allowing for mum's interference, I felt these changes were so natural. The question remained however, why?

Once clean I dressed very simply in some sweats, after all I wasn't planning on going out in that rain. I almost put on some sports socks but it wasn't cold indoors so left them off. Using the power of the internet I decided that some retail therapy was in order. Whilst I didn't yet have a PIN to use my new card in an ATM or a shop, I could at least use it online.

I looked first for a laptop, realising that they came in different colours now, was that more important than performance? The online prices weren't that much different from the major stores so I held back. Bikes were a different story, I found a snazzy all terrain bike in lurid pink for £200, half the price in the local bike specialist store, and ordered it before I could change my mind. Unfortunately the transaction failed, then I remembered that the money wouldn't be in my account until tomorrow. Damn.

I checked my emails, cousin Jenny had a little information and said that our mums were going to look for paint, wallpaper - it looked like someone was getting a room makeover. Claire had now replied, she was busy on Saturday so wouldn't be able to join us in town. I'd always previously avoided going shopping with Jenny so this would be a new experience. She had a slight dark edge to her fashion sense, maybe she was a part-time goth? Is that the right description?

I went downstairs, mum was in the lounge talking with her sister on the phone, she went very quiet the moment I appeared. I went into the kitchen, closed the door behind me and made certain that no cooking was already in progress. A quick check of the fridge revealed enough ingredients for a homemade chilli. Although it was only four, a good chilli takes longer than 20 minutes so I started straight away. By the time mum came off the phone there was a lovely smell in the kitchen.

"Eve, you've tempted me, could we have this now?"

"No, you can wait until after six. By the way, do we have a bottle of red?"

"Yes, why?"

"Remember when we were in France? That chef showed me how to use wine in cooking. I believe a Cabernet Shiraz would be good for this."

"But, opening a bottle of wine just for the cooking pot is wasteful."

"I think we can find a second use for the bottle? Especially as we have had a mostly productive day."

"Remember Miss, you're only sixteen."

"Virtually seventeen, and you let me drink when we were in France, also I just got given eighteen thousand quid because of everyone else's damn hassle with me so we can forget your holier than thou attitude for tonight." I don't know where that came from.

"Eve! How dare you!"

"Mum, first calm down. Second I've accepted most things you've said until now but I've grown alot stronger this past month. Third, yes it came out a bit strong so I'll apologise for the words but not the sentiment. As I said to you and the tutor this week, I'm not a little kid any more."

"Eve, I will not take that attitude from you! Also, you had no right to that money!"

"Attitude? You deliberately withheld information from me, including my real name. You lied to me about my father and then manipulated me to suit your needs. What did you expect to achieve? Who gave you those rights? Maybe I'm not the one who needs a shrink? As for the money, it was my character that's been destroyed, not yours!"

"You bitch! You bitch! You bitch!"

I think she was about to slap me but I turned and walked, in bare feet, straight out of the kitchen door and into the heavy rain, slamming the door behind me. There might have been a thud behind me, or was it a door closing somewhere?

Chapter 28 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 

Previously:

Eve and her mum have argued and Eve has walked out.

Now the story continues.
 
 
 
Eve Chapter 28
 
 
 
I was shaking from anger as I slammed the door behind me. I didn't look back, I didn't look forward either, just down at my feet as they were being covered by the rainwater, my sweats were soaked within seconds as well. I stood crying for what must have been ten minutes before the door opened at the next house and Sharon was stood there.

"Eve, what's happened? Come in. Get in here now!"

Through the tears I said I'd had a bust up with mum.

"Eve, you're soaked. Get those off and drop them on the kitchen floor. Claire, can you help Eve?"

I dropped my outer clothes on the kitchen floor. I was stood only in my damp underwear when I was helped upstairs, my feet squelching on the carpet. Claire pushed me into the shower room, she then locked the door behind her.

Claire deftly removed my bra and knickers before turning the water on. She then stepped out of all of her clothes, and joined me, holding a bottle of shampoo.

Without saying a word she both washed my matted hair and held on to me, how I don't know. She finished the washing with some shower gell and should have turned the water off but reached for me instead.

We became intimate over the next few minutes, but the electric feeling was shattered by Sharon banging on the door.

Claire helped me out, dried me and held a pink gown up for me, apparently it was Annie's. She then did the same for herself, taking a lemon gown. I was delirious as she walked me to her room, I'd never felt like this before and the recent events with my mother were pushed to one side. I fell on her bed and passed out. I don't know how long I was lying there but Sharon was shaking me as I opened my eyes.

"Eve, I know there's some explaining to do, but I need you to listen to me. I went to speak to your mum, to let her know where you were but she was lying on the floor, I think she's had a siezure. I called an ambulance and she's been taken to the District Hospital, you're her next of kin right now so you need to get there too."

I nodded then tried to sit up, my borrowed gown falling open exposing my growing bust. I fumbled then gave up trying to correct this wardrobe malfunction. I saw Claire stood there, holding some of my clothes.

Sharon left the room, muttering, and closed the door. I suppose the horse really has bolted, will any household rules remain after this afternoon's happenings? Claire helped me up, I tried to stand but fell back onto the bed pulling Claire on top of me. We both giggled, my mind temporarily distracted from the evening's fraught events.

Ten minutes later I was finally decent and went to the bathroom to brush my hair. Annie had apparently fetched my clean clothes and bag, which held a little of my make-up, leaving it all with Claire. I dressed and joined them downstairs a short while; there was a strange silence with glances from Sharon to Claire and me. Annie sat there avoiding everyone's eyes, she had a wry smile though.

Sharon drove us to the hospital in complete silence. Once parked, I ran into the A&E department and went straight to the information desk.

"You've brought my mum, Debbie Jones, here. Can I see her?"

"Your name please?"

"Eve Jones."

"I'll let the team know you're here, please take a seat."

I love that warm feeling you don't get from hospitals and today was no different to any other time in Accident & Emergency. Claire sat next to me and wrapped her arms around me.

"Eve, I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Claire, don't be," I whispered back.

"But I took advantage of you."

"Did I object?"

"No, but mum is wild with us, but she won't have a go at you right now, given the circumstances."

We barely noticed the white coat approaching.

"Miss Jones?"

"Yes, er, Doctor Majowski" I read the Doctor's ID card.

"Would you like to come with me. Do you have anyone with you?"

"My girlfriend and her mum."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Can you bring your girlfriend's mum then?"

Sharon and Annie had seen our conversation and were heading towards us anyway. We were led to a small room off the A&E waiting area.

Sharon spoke first, "Doctor how is she?"

"Firstly, it's good that she had been found quickly. She had a burst blood vessel in her cranium, we had to operate to release the pressure. She's recovering but we have her under heavy sedation."

"That's good, can we see her?" I decided I should speak.

"Not yet, you should know that we found bruising on her forehead, do you know how that happened?"

"No, she was fine when I walked out, just very upset."

"Upset?"

"Yes, we'd had an argument. I suggest she needed to see a shrink."

"Why?"

"I suggest you ask Dr Fox, the psychiatrist, that question."

"Are you seeing Dr Fox?"

"Yes, and now Dr Preston in the Gender Identity Clinic."

"Who found Mrs Jones?"

Sharon answered, "I did, Doctor."

"And how did she look?"

"She was fitting on the floor and there was blood on her temple. I took her pulse and found it was weak; her breathing was shallow."

"Are you a nurse?"

"I was, until these two came along," she looked at her twin daughters.

He took my contact information, as well as Sharon's and then asked if there was an adult family member who should be informed, I gave him my aunt's telephone number, he suggested we came back in the morning. I got the feeling it would be a long day tomorrow.

By the time we got back home it was gone nine. None of us were hungry but Sharon had stopped for some pizza which we valiantly tried to finish off.

I phoned my aunt and told her what I knew, of course she wanted to visit straight away but I suggested we meet there at ten in the morning, the hospital would call both of us if there were any changes.

Once washed, I wondered what I should do. My home was next door, but was empty. I sat, clothed, in the lounge with Sharon, the girls were upstairs.

"Eve, I know now is not a good time and I know you weren't yourself, but I'm not impressed with what happened here earlier."

"Sharon, Claire was actually trying to help me. You know we would never take risks but you also knew there would be a physical side to our relationship eventually. I just wasn't expecting it any time soon."

"Yes, but I wasn't prepared for it either. I'd like to think I could just ask that it never happens again, but that would be stupid and futile. I just want to know one thing."

"What's that?"

"That you won't do anything to hurt Claire, and that includes doing anything against her will or doing something now that she or you will regret later."

"Like pregnancy?"

"Like pregnancy."

"Sharon, there's no way I can get aroused now, not at all. I couldn't manage intercourse even if I wanted to, and I most definitely don't. Also, earlier today, a doctor told me that I may not have any sperm left. Please don't have a go at Claire for simply wanting to get closer to me, hormones took her over, I might not have been expecting it and I was hardly capable of disapproving. I love Claire dearly and I promise you I won't hurt her."

"If I can have your word?"

"You have it."

"Right, what about tonight's sleeping arrangements?"

"I was thinking of going across to my house."

"No way. Borrow some of Claire's PJ's and stay here. We only have the three rooms but I don't want to leave you on your own so you can sleep with Claire, if you want to, as she has a double bed, but no sex, understand? I'll sort this out with your mum later but right now you need support and Claire is the best one to give that, regardless of the implications."

"Yes, thank you Sharon."

I went up and told Claire the deal, she instantly found some PJ's and insisted in helping me strip before dressing me in her nightwear. Since the afternoon, and Monday's bike ride, we had little need for embarrassment.

The two of us slid back downstairs to collect some hot chocolate, which we took back up to Claire's room. Ten minutes later, after a shared expedition to the loo, we were cuddled up together. Of course the 'no sex' rule did not exactly rule out exploring each others' bodies, did it?

We fell asleep contented, despite the night's events.

Chapter 29 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
Previously:

 
Mum has been found unconscious after an argument with Eve. She's in hospital and Eve has had to stay with Claire, with Sharon's blessing.

 
Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 29
 
 

There had been no calls during the night so we were refreshed when we all rose at seven. Claire and Annie had school and Sharon insisted they both went. I showered then walked the short distance across to my house in a borrowed gown and grabbed some clothes for the day. I had no idea how long the day would be and did not fancy being anything other than fresh, at least to start with.

We got to the hospital carpark just before ten and found my Aunt Sue inside the entrance at the main enquiry desk. We were then told mum was on a general ward on the third floor, I'd have happily used the stairs but Sharon and aunt Sue both wanted to ride in comfort, so we took the lift.

Having met the ward sister we were directed to mum's bed, which was actually in the High Dependency Unit next door, so much for the front desk's information.

Mum was still unconscious and had a massive purple bruise on her forehead. We had been there for about a minute when a doctor approached, accompanied by a police officer.

"Miss Jones? Mrs Johnson? This police officer would like a word with you."

Aunt Sue spoke before Sharon could, "is this necessary, my niece is only sixteen and her mother is lying unconscious in a bed?"

"Madam, I'm Detective Constable Barnaby and I'm following standard procedure regarding this type of domestic incident. I believe your niece was the last person to see Mrs Jones before the incident," he turned to Sharon, "I'll like to speak to you as well, apparently you found Mrs Jones." Sharon nodded.

My aunt insisted on accompanying me to a side room with the copper.

"Ladies, I'm trying to do is to establish what happened, I'm not here to attribute blame, just to ensure that no crime was committed."

I looked at my aunt and nodded.

"DC Barnaby, my niece has a solicitor, I'm considering calling him."

"Madam, that is your right but I'm not recording this meeting and it's not under caution, it's simply a fact-finding exercise at the moment."

My aunt suggested he started; the DC first asked about the argument and what had happened before I went out through the door. He then asked me to recount the rest of that day. Of course my aunt was not already aware of the money or that morning's appointment with the consultant.

One thing that concerned me was that the DC repeated several of the questions in subtly different ways, as if he was trying to trip me up. Finally he was finished and we left the room, Sharon was his next victim.

At the bedside we now had a chance to speak to the doctor. His ID card was missing so I didn't get his name.

"Why is she still not awake?"

"We are keeping her under so we can keep the painkillers to a minimum. Once she's gone for an MRI later this morning we should get an idea if there's any permanent damage. We have an EEG scheduled for this afternoon to check her brain activity."

Aunt Sue spoke, "is that necessary?"

"I believe so, there appears to be several issues here. From what your niece and Mrs Johnson told Dr Majowski last night, we are fairly certain that she suffered a fall as a result of a seizure. There's no evidence of a stroke although at first sight this was suspected. We conducted a CT scan last night to establish that. Why she had a seizure however is another question entirely, we hope that these tests will give us a clearer view."

"What about the head injury?"

"That would be consistent with her hitting her head when she fell."

"So how long will she be here?"

"To be honest, even when the physical aspects have been dealt with, we need a better idea about the suspected seizure. The duty neurologist needs to see her and a psychiatrist has indicated he would like one of his team to talk to her."

"So, as I asked, how long?"

"I don't know. Perhaps a couple of days, maybe longer."

"When will you allow her to wake?"

"Once we've conducted the EEG this afternoon we'll wake her gradually. We will want to do another EEG tomorrow when she's fully awake."

The doctor left us at the bed as he went to speak to the duty nurse. Mum hadn't moved when Sharon returned from her interrogation, DC Barnaby followed her.

"Thank you ladies, I'm satisfied that this was an accident," then he left, was that all?

We stood there for a minute not knowing what to say, and no-one being willing to say it. In the end, my phone rang.

"Miss Jones?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"Oh, sorry, This is John Dixon. I've just been informed by the hospital that your mother is there."

"Yes Mr Dixon, but how did they know? I was about to call you myself to let you know."

"They have my contact information on file, given the recent events, and thought I should be called, especially as you are still technically a minor."

"I understand. Now, is there something that we need to do?"

"Not as yet, do you have somewhere safe to stay?"

"Yes, Mrs Johnson insisted I stayed with her last night but my aunt is also here. She lives across town."

"Right, I think we need to be careful. Although you're sixteen you shouldn't stay at home on your own, Social Services would take a dim view of that and might intervene even if we can see no issues. I'd like you to make appropriate arrangements and let me know, that way we can prevent any abrupt action by Social Services."

"Would they have to become involved?"

"I would hope not as they might try to blame you even if there's no other legal problem, therefore we need to cover our bases."

"Right."

"Now, there's the question of finances."

"I've got money, remember?"

"Yes, but that's not what I'm referring to. If your mother remains in hospital for a week or more then I may have to review your care arrangements, although your aunt would seem to be the best placed person but I'd have to speak to her. I'll call you early next week unless there are any changes in the meantime."

"Okay, my aunt is here if you want to speak to her now."

I handed the phone over and was about to sit down next to mum when I heard a familiar voice. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Dr Fox approaching.

"Hello Eve. I understand you mentioned my name in A&E last night."

"Yes, it seemed appropriate."

"Thank you for telling Dr Majowski that you were my patient as that meant I was told straight away. I won't however be speaking to your mum, I'll pass that responsibility to a colleague, Dr Masters."

"Is it necessary? I mean I told her she needed to see a shrink but I was angry."

"Eve, it's alright. Look, can we talk somewhere more private?"

I spoke to my aunt who had just finished talking to Mr Dixon. I retrieved my phone from her and made certain her phone was switched on before I followed Dr Fox to her familiar office a few floors down. She organised a coffee for us before sitting down. I got the feeling this was not going to be a five minute chat.

"Eve, firstly how do you feel?"

"I don't know. I mean we had an argument and I said some harsh things but I didn't mean for her to get hurt. I don't know if it was my fault."

"Don't feel that, the doctors don't believe it was your fault, although the stress of the current circumstances and argument might have contributed. It was probably simply a matter of time before this happened."

"I suppose so."

"How do you think your mum's doing?" I think Dr Fox was trying to see if I felt any antipathy.

"They are still doing tests and she's being kept unconscious."

"Thanks, I'll find out the results of those tests when you do. Now, can you tell me exactly what caused the argument."

I repeated what I'd told the police officer but in a more detailed way. Of course Dr Fox knew alot of the background and didn't seem too surprised at the accusations I'd thrown at mum last night.

"That's to be expected, Eve. You have come a long way in a very short time and at some point your fuse was going to blow, you have alot of resentment despite your calm exterior."

"So what are you going to do with me?"

"I'll monitor you but you should keep your appointments, particularly Dr Preston tomorrow. I understand you are also due an MRI."

"Yes, but I have no date as yet, I even don't have a time for Dr Preston tomorrow though."

"That's at 2pm, didn't he tell you?"

"No, he simply said it was Friday afternoon. He might have told mum, but she never told me."

"Never mind, at least you know. You have a busy day tomorrow, come and see me on Monday if your mum's still here; how about 1pm in the cafeteria? I lunch there every Monday and unfortunately I have a full schedule most days."

"I suppose so."

"Eve, I'm only concerned for your safety, despite what you might think."

"But what about mum?"

"That's for Dr Masters to determine, although obviously he'll want to talk to you and access your medical records."

"Do I have to give permission?"

"No."

"Oh."

"Don't worry Eve, it's all quite legal."

"If you say so."

"I do, look hadn't you best call your aunt and check where they are?"

I looked at my phone, there was a text from Sharon saying that they'd all left the hospital. I left Dr Fox and caught a bus home, via the town.

Once indoors we ate and I slumbered with Claire again. My life had taken a new twist and once again I wasn't in control and driving my life forward, I was just a passenger.

Chapter 30 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
 
Previously:

Eve's mum has been admitted to hospital after a suspected siezure.

Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 30
 
 
Dr Fox had said I would have a busy Friday, but I hadn't realised just how busy.

Just before eleven I was at the GP surgery having another armful of blood taken, plus the usual checks. He had asked if my mother was in the waiting room as he wanted to give me a complete physical.

Of course I had to tell him about her collapse and suspected siezure, although I left out the probable cause. The physical could wait for now unless there was another adult who could give authority and be present. He made a note to contact the hospital later, he was also mum's GP.

I grabbed a bus to the hospital as it seemed pointless heading home and arrived there close to midday. I had some time to kill before my appointment with Dr Fox so I decided to follow up something from Wednesday and made my way to the Out Patients reception. Brenda wasn't there but her manager spotted me and asked for a quiet word.

"I understand you were quite abrupt with my staff member on Wednesday."

"It depends from which side you look at it. I was here for an appointment and it was the hospital's fault that we were alot longer than we should have been. Also, did you know that Brenda was hiding her staff ID, in contravention of the hospital rules?"

"How do you know the rules?"

"I don't, I just made an educated guess. I'm right though?"

"Yes, that is a rule for the staff. Now, onto this parking ticket."

"Yes, what are you going to do?"

"I've passed it to security saying you're refusing to pay."

"So you haven't spoken to the Chief Exec's office?"

"No, it's not their responsibility."

"If that's your answer then fine. As my solicitor was aware of our meeting upstairs on Wednesday and the Chief Exec changed the time of our out-patient appointment without prior warning you will find a letter from my solicitor very shortly unless you see sense in the next five minutes."

"Is that a threat? I will not tolerate that and will have you removed from the hospital premises young lady."

"Fine, if you want to do that. I would however like to inform you that my mother is lying unconscious in a bed on the third floor."

I spun around and pulled my mobile out, calling Mr Dixon and giving him the 30 second summary. He promised a fax would be sent within minutes. Next I called Dr Fox and explained what was happening, she'd given me her mobile number the previous week. It didn't take long for something to happen. Out of the corner of my eye I saw security approaching. I stood my ground, in the middle of the public area.

"Miss Jones, we're here to escort you off the premises for harassing a member of staff."

"Lay one finger on me and I'll have you prosecuted for assault. As I'm a minor that would be a spell in the clink no doubt."

"You will have to leave, regardless."

"I won't." I raised my voice for this statement, although shouting was not necessary. I folded my arms as a crowd gathered. A couple of familiar voices were heard over the murmers.

"Eve, can you come over here?"

Dr Fox was there and the deputy Chief Exec was stood next to her. The executive sent the security goons away and dismissed the original antagonist.

I was obviously wound up but had to give a summary to both of them, starting with the appointment and parking problem on Wednesday, adding that mum had suffered a suspected seizure not long afterwards, I added that it might have been caused by stress related, although no-one had actually suggested this.

The senior manager shook his head and walked towards the reception manager's office. Dr Fox grabbed my hand and walked me to the cafeteria. She took me to the self-service counter and we picked up a couple of toasted sandwiches plus a coffee. I went to pay but was told to put my money away, we took a table in a far corner.

"Eve, why didn't you go up to see your mum instead of creating a fuss?"

"I'd been told they were doing tests on her today, but they knew I'd see her later this afternoon as they were supposed to be waking mum up."

"Right, now what's this about the parking and the Chief Exec's office?"

I went through Wednesday's meeting, without mentioning how much money was involved, followed by the unresolved scan later that morning. I then explained my conversation with Brenda, finishing with a full re-run of the previous half-hour.

"No wonder you were annoyed, but couldn't it be done quietly?"

"I tried, but he wouldn't listen so I decided that a fuss in public would at least get attention."

"Too true, but risky."

"You know, at every turn I've had problems at this hospital, and you were the first."

"You see it that way, but it is tainted with resentment, as I said yesterday? The thing is, how are you going to deal with this?"

"If the hospital idiots back off I'll be fine. We'll know more about mum's condition soon, then perhaps we can both go home. I'd be happier not having to come here for any more appointments, if that's possible?"

"I can't speak for the surgical teams but Dr Preston has a private practice at St Saviour's Hospital across town, ask if you can see him there? I can see you at your GP surgery if that helps?"

"That sounds better, how soon?"

"I'll look at my schedule and phone your surgery, I'll call you later today or tomorrow morning."

"Thanks."

We finally tucked into our lunch and didn't see the Deputy Chief Exec approaching.

"Doctor, Miss Jones, could I have a word?"

We nodded, with mouths full.

"I've reviewed this situation with witnesses and CCTV and acknowledge that the hospital is at fault. Whilst security didn't know who you were when the penalty was imposed, it should have been cancelled as soon as it was brought to our attention. It appears one member of staff passed it to her manager saying you were adamantly refusing to pay, omitting to mention your complaint."

"So that accounts for Brenda, who didn't want me or anyone else to know her name."

"Yes, she has been suspended pending an investigation."

"What about her manager?"

"He had an opportunity to deal with this on Wednesday and then missed it today. He's now been sent home and will see me on Monday."

"Right, now the ticket?"

"That's been cancelled, of course, and your solicitor has been informed. He has suggested a free parking permit."

"That would help, but as my mother is lying in a bed right now, it would be pretty useless for just her car, we'd need it for any car."

"In that case we'll issue a permit to you and your mother, valid for any car for twelve months."

"That's acceptable, but why are we still having these problems?"

Dr Fox intervened. "I'd agree, Eve and her mother have not received a fully professional reception here, obviously the hospital has already admitted responsibility more than once but by now should have learnt the lesson. Eve is currently under my care and her mother is now a patient. This is not a good advert for the hospital."

"I accept what you're saying and I will re-issue our professional standards advice to all support services. Certain individuals will also get personal inspections."

I answered this one. "That might help, but some people are so ingrained in their approach, any changes may be short-lived."

"I understand. I'll investigate setting up a mystery customer approach for out-patients department and I'd like you to report all your visits, good or bad."

"Dr Fox and myself have discussed this and I hope most of my appointments will be elsewhere for now."

"I'm sorry if it has come to that."

"So am I."

The deputy Chief Exec walked away to leave just myself and the doctor. Interestingly Dr Fox was defending me against the hospital's bureaucracy, indeed she was the only one defending me right now.

"Eve, did you want to see your mum before your appointment with Dr Preston?"

"That sounds like a good idea, I've got 45 minutes."

I walked up to the ward where mum was. Her bed was empty so I wandered over to the nurses station.

"Excuse me, my mother Debbie Jones was here?"

"I've just come on shift, can you give me a moment?"

I waited for five minutes while she looked, went away, looked again and finally said, "she's gone to neurology."

More tests then, should I be worried?

Chapter 31 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
 
 
Previously:

 
Another incident in the hospital and Eve's not yet finished there for the day.

 

Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 31
 
 
I sent my aunt a text to confirm I was at the hospital and to remind her of my appointment time then followed the signs to Neurology. Although I'd been there several weeks earlier, the only time I'd seen the route was when I was taken home, in a wheelchair.

I checked with the nurse's station and Mum was indeed now in the unit but was in the EEG suite and couldn't be interrupted, she'd be taken back to the ward after the tests. My next appointment was back in the Psychiatry unit so I reluctantly walked back downstairs and along the connecting corridor. I grabbed a cup of barely acceptable coffee from a machine as I arrived in the empty waiting room, ready for my appointment at the Gender Identity clinic.

"Eve Jones, please go to room 4."

Why do they have to use the tannoy when I'm the only one there?

"Good afternoon Eve. I don't need my years of training to tell that something is bothering you."

"You could say that, Dr Preston. It's just that the hospital has managed to screw up again, and that's without what is happening to my Mum."

"Can you give me the short version, we need to concentrate on you?"

"Mum's had a fall after we had an argument, she's now in Neurology as they suspect a seizure. Out Patients needs new management and I created a scene there."

"When did this all happen?"

"Most of that was in the past 4 hours."

"You do work fast, but how are you?"

"I'm angry but I'll get through this. With Mum, it's not knowing that's the worst part."

"What about you, have you thought about going back to school?"

"Yes, we had a meeting on Monday with the head and the plan is that I go back after half term, that'll be November 2nd."

"That's good news, do you think there'll be any problems?"

"I don't know for definite. We need to meet the head again to work out the details, he said they have also now implemented a new LGBT policy. One member of staff has left because of issues with me and one other student has been excluded for harassment, criminal damage and public order offences. That should at least make things easier."

We talked more about my changing relationship with Claire, which was when I blushed profusely, then about my hormonal changes, the cause of which I still didn't know.

"Doctor, is it possible to see you elsewhere? I have real problems with this place."

"I have a private surgery at St Saviour's on a Thursday afternoon. If the Primary Care Trust will fund you, I'll arrange an appointment. It won't be for a few weeks though, and I'd like to see you monthly after that, I'll write to you."

"Thank you."

Guessing that Mum could be back from Neurology, I walked up to the third floor and into the main female ward nurses station where I met my aunt. We were led to Mum's bed, she was sat up, reading a magazine. She had a black eye and her forehead was clearly very bruised.

"Hi Mum."

"Hello Eve, Sue. I look a picture, don't I?"

"Sure, but how do you feel?"

"I get the impression it's a bit like when you woke up in this unit a few weeks back."

"Have they said when you can go home?"

"You'd best ask this man."

The same Doctor we'd seen yesterday was coming through the doorway, This time I saw his name was Dr De'ath. I didn't know whether to laugh or be worried.

"Good afternoon Miss Jones. I take it that you want to take your Mum home?"

"Yes, when?"

"How does tomorrow morning sound?"

"That would be good. What have you found out?"

"The latest EEG showed some transients but not enough for a condition such as epilepsy. We woke your mum yesterday late afternoon so we could monitor her while she was conscious. We've now done three EEGs and I don't think we'll achieve anything by doing more. The MRI showed no physical problems."

"Transients?"

"Spikes in brain activity where there shouldn't be any, especially in the temporal lobe."

"Oh. So why can't she come home now?"

"We need to keep her for observation another night as she was unconscious when she was brought in. If all goes well you can collect her at ten."

We spent another fifteen minutes with mum and Aunt Sue drove me back home. I made a mental note to have her parking ticket refunded.

Of course, I didn't go indoors, I went first to Sharon's house. The girls had not long arrived back from school, it took seconds for Claire to wrap herself around me like a limpet. I was finally able to tell Sharon and the girls what had happened during my busy day, the last item was, of course, the most important.

I told Sharon I needed to clean the house ready for the morning and Claire offered to help. We started in the kitchen, where my pot of chilli was still sat, cold, on the hob. Having disposed of that, what a waste, all the surfaces were cleaned and the floor wiped. The lounge and diner were next, plus the hallway, before we moved upstairs.

The moment we went into my room I knew the cleaning job had finished. I was pushed onto my bed and subjected to one of the heaviest petting sessions I could remember. At some point I gained a hickey, was there a vampire loose in here? The house phone rang , interrupting our fun, we were being summoned across the path to where dinner was waiting. Sharon sent us to wash our hands and clean off our merged lipsticks.

"Eve, the hospital rang whilst you two were supposed to be cleaning. Can you give Dr Masters a call? Here's his direct number."

I said I'd make the call from my house, the unsaid reason was for the privacy given I was to talk to a psychiatrist. I went to the kitchen and made a black coffee before sitting in the lounge with the cordless phone. I made a mental note to get some fresh milk.

"Dr Masters?"

"Hello, is that Eve Jones?"

"Yes, I understand you wanted to talk to me?"

"I did, thank you for getting back to me. I have spoken to Dr Fox so I'm now aware of your circumstances but can you explain how you feel about your Mum?"

"If you've read my file then you know how angry I've been at times as I was forced to accept changes to my lifestyle. I'm not saying that I won't have made them of my own accord, but as I was being driven along I'll never know. I was violated and Dr Fox shares some of the blame for that. As you may know, I spent almost seventeen years of my life not knowing my true name or the circumstances around my birth and my father's death. These are fundamentals in my life that should not have been hidden or falsified."

"Do you have respect for your mother?"

"Yes, but we need to clear the air and perhaps start again in some aspects. Respect has to be mutual and not one-sided."

"What do you believe about your mother's state of mind?"

"She said she had post-natal depression and has been in denial but anything else would be conjecture in my opinion."

"That helps me understand, thank you."

"So, what has she said to you?"

"Patient confidentially applies here, so I can't give you any details but as I've only had one short session with your mother to assess her I'll be going to see her again tomorrow morning."

"We're supposed to collect her at ten."

"I wouldn't be too certain of that."

"Why?"

"Until I've spoken to her in the morning I can't recommend her discharge."

"I think you need to speak to my aunt."

"I'll make that call next. I'll keep you informed."

"Right, thanks."

I hung up and wondered back to my last words with mum before I slammed that door. She had now seen a shrink, I suddenly felt very afraid for her, wondering what I'd started?

I was sobbing when I made it back to Sharon's kitchen. Sharon had me explain the conversation, at least the parts I was prepared to tell her. It was the thought that the shrink might keep her there that was the most troubling. Did she really deserve this?

She sent me to the bathroom to tidy myself up before returning to the table for dinner. I wasn't really hungry and just pushed my meal around the plate, taking few bites of what should have been appetising. Sharon left me to myself, although she handed me a banana after I'd retreated to the lounge leaving half of my plate.

I wasn't one for conversation tonight and climbed alone into Claire's bed just after eight, I have no idea what time she joined me.

Chapter 32 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
Previously:

Mum's being seen by a shrink and there's no guarantee she'll be released from hospital soon.

Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 32
 
 
I woke up with an arm around me, locking me to Claire. Having a full bladder at that moment meant that something had to give. I tried to ease Claire from me but she wasn't the one to do the giving right now. In the end I had to unwrap my girlfriend from me with the risk that I'd wake her.

I made it back to the bedroom then looked at the clock, it was half seven, and a Saturday, no wonder Claire was still asleep. She needed an alarm to get her moving for school, without that alarm she could sleep for Britain.

It was very tempting to slide back in beside her but I'm a morning person and knew I wouldn't get back off to sleep. I put on a gown, Claire's mum had brought my own nightwear over, and slipped down the stairs intending to put the kettle on. Sharon had beaten me to it, she must have got up while I was in the loo. A minute later we were sat at the table with our steaming mugs.

"Now, I think you are worrying too much and it's not good for you."

"I know, but look at it from my side: I've had surgery for a tumour, I have an unknown hormonal condition, I've been treated unfairly by the hospital and certain people at my school, subjected to personal attacks, Claire included, and now mum's in hospital, seeing a shrink."

"It sounds worse than it is. You're still healthy, if there was something seriously wrong with you don't you think you would've been hauled back into that hospital?"

"I suppose so."

"You have been mistreated, I'll accept that, but it's mostly dealt with. You should be back at school in a few weeks and you've settled with the hospital. I don't know what you got from that settlement but I'd guess you can afford that laptop you've been after?"

"Yes, I can afford a laptop and I'd like to buy it this weekend, if I can."

"So, what's left? Your mum is in the hospital but, apart from banging her head, has no other identified injuries. She should be out today, although I guess you doubt that."

"She's seeing the shrink this morning, he might not let her out."

"Unless they're planning to section(*) her, she can discharge herself at any time. Remember, I was a nurse once and I know they'll have trouble persuading a second psychiatrist that she's a threat to herself or others."

"Se'll be home today?"

"I would say so, unless there's a new medical issue."

"Is that all? Does my life get simpler now?"

"Of course, but not straight away. We might finally get that court hearing on Monday, but we could be denied justice again. Either it happens, or it doesn't. There's no point fretting."

"Okay, what should I be worried about?"

"Not alot right now, get yourself in that shower. What housework do you need to do in your house?"

"Hoover upstairs, change the bedding and clean the bathroom. I need fresh milk and bread, and tons more."

"I'll get the girls to help you in the house once they're up, we'll worry about the shopping a bit later. Get moving!"

I ran upstairs and just beat a sleepy Annie into the shower. Ten minutes later I was back out, I hadn't yet put my wig on, but my hair was long enough to need conditioning regularly. I wondered if I should leave the wig off. Today was not the day for decisions like this.

Dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt I headed out the door and into my house. I firstly went into my and mum's bedrooms and stripped the beds, carrying the bedding to the washing machine. There was at least one wash load ready to go, from Wednesday, these two beds plus the bathroom towels would mean at least two more loads. Hmmm, I was not used to doing this.

I'd finished getting the first load running when Annie appeared with a glass of OJ and a plate of toast, apparently I'd forgotten breakfast. I downed the offerings and the two of us went upstairs, Annie started with the vacuum cleaner while I tackled the bathroom. Afterwards I retrieved a clean set of clothes for mum from her room, as well as some makeup. I placed them in a bag on the kitchen table.

Claire joined us as Annie and I finished our respective tasks. I found some clean bedding and asked the two girls to sort out the beds while I went to phone to my aunt.

"Hi Eve."

"Morning. Did Dr Masters call?"

"Yes, he didn't say much though. Are you going to be there at ten?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure if she is being released, although Sharon doesn't think they can keep her there unless they section her."

"I'd have to agree with Sharon on that point. I think we'd best get moving as it's gone half nine."

Where had the time gone? I hung up and checked on the two girls, they were just finishing my bed but told me to leave them there, Claire asked about food.

"I need to get some fresh milk, bread and salad."

"We'll do that, do you need anything else?"

"I'm just thinking about lunch right now. Here's a tenner, will that do?"

"It shouldn't be that much, you'd best get moving."

I gave Claire a kiss, although Annie tried to look disgusted. I then headed out the door, collecting mum's change of clothes on the way. Sharon was waiting for me, she seemed to know what the girls were doing and didn't need to interfere. It didn't take long to get to the carpark, of course I still didn't have that permit so had to feed the machine with coins. We walked past the main reception desk and up to the main female ward.

Mum was sat up in bed with Dr Masters at her bedside. I don't think she was very happy but brightened a bit when she saw the bag I was carrying. I figured I would take the initiative. "Dr Masters, I'm sorry for interrupting but I'm here to collect my mother."

"I'm done here anyway. I was ready to discharge her half an hour ago but she has been waiting for clean clothes."

He was obviously trying either to tell a bad joke or wind me up; I didn't bite, regardless. The shrink walked away so I suggested to Mum that the sooner she was dressed, the quicker we could be out of here. I put the bag on her bed while my aunt started drawing the curtain; she still wasn't comfortable with her new daughter seeing her without wearing at least some underwear. My aunt stayed to help her. Of course I'd managed to forget a hairbrush but my aunt had one.

Sharon and I waited patiently at the nurses station. We didn't see any nurses or doctors, was this normal for the weekend? Mum and Aunt Sue appeared after a few minutes with mum in a knee length tartan skirt. Mum didn't wear skirts often so I'd decided I'd put her in one for the day, partly as a joke of my own. She hadn't realised it was me who'd chosen her clothes so all I got was a kiss and we headed to Sharon's car. The ride home was in silence, neither Sharon or myself could find anything sensible to say to her.

My aunt had followed us in her own car and parked on our drive. The rest of us disembarked from Sharon's car and walked across, Annie opened the front door having heard the card pull up, but retreated immediately to the kitchen. Mum still hadn't said anything yet but looked around the lounge as she sat down.

"I see you have done some cleaning."

"Yes, Annie and Claire helped me."

That seemed to be the end of the conversation as Annie brought a tray of cups into the lounge. Claire followed with some biscuits, chocolate cookies by the look. We sipped the tea that had been poured, waiting for the first comments. My aunt was first, addressing her sister.

"How are you Debbie?"

"If you mean physically, then I'm fine."

"You know what I mean."

Mum looked around the room, as if looking for inspiration. Instead, Sharon decided to speak.

"Eve, could you and the girls go to the kichen?"

I guessed mum wasn't comfortable discussing her conversations with the psychiatrist in front of me, Claire and Annie. We picked up our cups and retreated, closing the door behind us. I put the radio on in the kitchen to show mum that we weren't listening.

I saw the carton of fresh milk on the worktop and went to the fridge to put it away. I found almost a full fridge, including some minced beef and fresh plum tomatoes. On the worktop were kidney beans and a bag of rice. Have you ever had the feeling you'd been stitched up?

"Eve, we figured you'd want to do something to help your mum. I thought a chilli would be good, to replace the one you didn't get on Wednesday."

I grabbed Annie and gave her a hug, Claire looked upset so she got a hug as well. My eyes welled up and Claire offered me a tissue.

"Thank you. That was a touching idea, but I only left you ten pounds. You must have spent twenty or thirty?"

"Don't worry about that, how about we help you get the chilli started for dinner, then we can organise lunch?"

I took the hint and started working on the evening meal. The girls helped me chop the onion, garlic and two red jalapenos. By the time the door was opened from the lounge we had a bubbling pot and lunch started. I had found a wholemeal loaf on the side, a cooked gammon joint and some strong cheddar in the fridge, plus a ready supply of salad. We started putting a ploughman's lunch together.

"Eve, could you join us?"

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sectioning#United_Kingdom

Chapter 33 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
Previously:

 
Eve's mum is back out of hospital and now it's serious talking time, but will everything come out?
 
Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 33
 
 

I followed my aunt into the lounge, closing the kitchen door behind me then sat opposite Mum. I knew from the length of time I'd been in the kitchen that there must have been plenty of talking, or at least listening, in here. I wasn't certain what would happen so I folded my hands on my lap and waited. Aunt Sue spoke first.

"Eve, as you'll have gathered we have all had a chance to air our views. I asked Sharon to stay as she has known both you and your Mum for many years and is better placed than me to give an independent view on each of you. I have not asked her at anytime to spy or divulge anything that might be deeply personal, only to give an overview of how you reacted to things happening around you.

"As you know, we've been concerned about you, but not just since you were taken into hospital six weeks ago. We all knew something had been wrong since you were born but couldn't place it until very recently. We told your mum our concerns but that is where the next problem began. Debbie, can you take over?"

"Eve, believe me, I never wanted to harm you. Sharon and Sue told me that something was wrong, they saw issues and changes in you that I couldn't, or wouldn't, accept were abnormal. I thought that, finally, my wishes might have been coming true."

Mum stopped at that point and hung her head, I stabbed a guess at what her wishes were. Sue, who was next to her, handed Mum a tissue from a half empty box. I was feeling parched so put my head through the kitchen door and asked for some glasses of water. I sat back down, Mum had composed herself and grasped that tissue as if it was a life or death situation.

"Eve, I should be angry for what happened the other afternoon but it took that much for me to realise what you went through in hospital, the tests, the uncertainty. I now know that life's too short for grudges and secrets. I promise we will work through this together."

Claire brought four glasses and a jug of iced water into the lounge then returned quickly to the kitchen. I poured the water and waited for each of the adults to take a sip.

"Mum, I was scared. I am scared what is happening to me, but I am more scared what is happening to you. I know we said some nasty things to each other on Wednesday, but it was because I wanted you to get the help you needed. I didn't expect you to end up on a hospital trolley though."

I was reaching for my water again but my hand was shaking. Sharon came over to me and gave me a hug, before returning to her own chair. I walked over to Mum and held her hands. We sat there for another minute, oblivious to Sharon and aunt Sue's presence. I didn't know what to say next so I just held Mum's hands.

"Eve?"

"Yes Mum?"

"Dr Masters wants to see me again, he says he wants to help me, I know I need help." She burst into tears. I wrapped my arms around Mum and hugged her. My aunt brought a few more tissues over and we dried our eyes.

"Mum, if you need help then we'll work through this together, right? We have friends who'll support us, but what's done is done, we can't undo the past. Even if I wanted to be Simon again, I don't think I could, not now. We need to move forward."

"Eve, my daughter, that is very profound, but you're right. I'm sorry for what I've done, and I promise you and me will work together. No more unilateral decisions?"

"Agreed."

I gave mum a kiss and sat down again, sipping my water.

"Debbie, that wasn't difficult, was it?"

"Sue, thank you for being here, you too Sharon."

"Ladies, if you're hungry, lunch is served." I opened the kitchen door. The smell of the chilli con carne hit everyone, a glance at the hob told me that it was now off the heat.

"Chilli?"

"Not yet, a good chilli takes more than half an hour!" Mum smiled recognising the words from a few days ago, the others looked at us blankly. "We've put a ploughman's lunch together for now, please serve yourselves."

It was Mum's turn to pick at her food, but at least she was back home. I waited until we had finished with our plates before I gave Mum the next important bit of news. I was not sure at all what she would react; I needed Claire and Sharon with me so I wasn't trying to explain on my own.

"Mum, we said there would be no secrets."

"Yes?"

"Claire and I have been sleeping together for the last three nights." I pulled Claire closer to me.

"I know."

"Oh."

"Sharon told me yesterday morning. She came to see me while you were at the doctor's surgery. I was wondering when you'd tell me, but I can't say I'm happy, or surprised."

Aunt Sue had sat open mouthed. She knew I loved Claire deeply but this was obviously news to her,

Annie excused herself during this conversation and headed to the kitchen. A few minutes later she returned with a tray of tea cups and a steaming teapot.

"So, what do you intend to do?"

"What, how?"

"Sleeping arrangements?"

"We haven't discussed it. The last three nights just happened, because of circumstances. If it's alright I'd like Claire to stay here with me tonight and maybe we can talk about it later?"

"Sharon, is that okay with you?"

"If that's what the girls want, and they keep their promises."

Eventually everyone left, leaving just the two of us. Mum showed me her discharge letter, the main issue was her continuing appointments with Dr Masters. The seizure was diagnosed as being connected to severe sudden stress, our argument was just the trigger. Mum had been given a two week supply of anti-depressants and ordered not to get wound up, but to talk - and listen.

I sent Mum up to the shower. She hadn't moaned about her skirt and put it back on when she returned. I looked at her as she came down the stairs, her only comment was that it was "comfortable." She'd put some better make-up on and now looked good on the outside, I hoped the inside matched.

I went upstairs to also have a shower. When I returned to the kitchen, having put a skirt on myself to replace my jeans, I found Mum leaning on the sink sobbing.

"Mum, it's alright."

"Eve, I'm scared."

"Mum, I'm here for you, just promise that you'll be here for me." I reached out to hug her then I started crying as well. Where's a box of tissues when you need one?

Mum stripped off her rubber gloves and left them on the drainer, I now had two damp patches on the back of my top. We walked back into the lounge, sat next to each other and found the tissues. I figured it was my turn to say something profound again.

"Mum, we're not the same people we were six weeks ago. That doesn't just mean that Simon has gone but I've grown, I've developed, physically and mentally. I'm stronger now, but I'm also fragile, if that makes any sense? My life has been turned upside down and so has your's, we have both suffered medical trauma, abuse, legal intervention and, in my case, unexpected love. Is it any surprise that we both ran a little off the rails? But don't expect those men in white coats just yet."

Mum had to laugh at that one. We just sat and talked, I made mum tell me everything that had happened after she woke up in the hospital. Just by reliving the experience I could see that she had been petrified.

"I kept wondering what would happen to me, that's the worst part. No-one tells you anything."

"Yeah, I know that one."

"So, what about your adventures?"

It was now my turn to explain the past few days. She smiled when I told her how I'd stood up to the security goons but questioned my wisdom in starting the argument in the first place on Wednesday morning.

"Mum, it's done, please don't try and analyse the past as we can't change it, only learn from it."

For no good reason I suddenly remembered the washing machine. I'd last seen it at nine this morning so I got up and dashed to the utility room. There was one load spinning, one load ironed and, looking out the window, I could see a third load blowing in the wind. There was nothing waiting to be washed. The girls!

On the way back I picked up the calendar from the kitchen and suggested mum put her appointments on it.

"Eve, have you forgotten something?"

"Hmmm, like what?"

"It's the girls' birthday on Friday."

"Oh damn."

"We'll sort something out. Now, what about dinner?"

"Can I get Claire over, and I'd like to open that bottle of red?"

"I don't see why not. That letter says nothing about not drinking and one glass wouldn't hurt anyway. Go and get Claire, I'll warm the chilli and get some rice started."

The rest of the evening was warm and very comfortable. Claire, mum and I made small talk, Mum had evidently fully accepted that Claire was now very much a part of me. Claire and I changed into our nightwear, cuddled and watched the dancing on BBC1 before heading upstairs for some serious cuddling.

Chapter 34 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
Previously:

Eve's mum, Debbie, is home from hospital, promises have been made about being open with each other. Debbie now knows Eve and Claire have been sleeping together, and she finally got her chilli three days late.

Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 34
 
 
Sunday 11th October

I woke at eight and rolled over, coming face to face with a wide smile.

"Are you happy, Claire, or is that just wind?"

I hopped quickly out of bed, but a little too slow as the slap caught my rear end. I dashed to the bathroom, that extra hour in bed had filled my bladder, which now needed urgent attention. Claire walked in as I was washing my hands. I held my hands up.

"I withdraw my last remark."

"Not likely, you've been a naughty girl, Eve."

She finished her own business then pulled me back to my bedroom, closing the door. I can't say what we did, but it was fun. We finally appeared in the kitchen just before nine. Claire's hair was a mess, mine was a little ragged.

"Hey girl, look at that growth up there. I'd say it's due for a tidy up."

"Claire, I think you're right. I'll take Eve to the salon next week, if we can fit it into our busy schedule!"

We had a low fat yoghurt and a banana with our OJ, way too healthy if you ask me. Claire and I headed up to the shower and worked out we could just fit in it together, but washing was not easy. By ten we were finally decent and back downstairs.

"Girls, it's a good job the shops don't open before ten on a Sunday or you'd have missed a few hours of essential retail therapy; grab your bags as we're leaving!"

We flew outside and climbed into mum's car. Our first stop was the huge retail park fifteen miles away, we hadn't been here for months and new stores seemed to open all the time. Mum said she wanted to go and look at some carpets, Claire and I weren't impressed so headed to the electrical warehouse on the far side of the park, hand in hand. The walk would do us good, I thought.

Of course, when you're supposed to only use the marked walkways that means that you can't take a direct route and it took longer than expected. The sun had come out and the day was warming nicely, I regretted putting on a heavy jacket, it should have been left in the car. Too late now to worry about it.

We were looking at the range of netbooks when a spotty faced salesman walked up to us, ending up virtually touching me.

"Hello girls, there's a wide choice, I think you could do with some assistance."

"No thank you. We can manage this by ourselves."

"I'm quite happy to help two lovely girls, do you live near here? If I can have your details we will add your to the mailing list for future offers."

Claire was not happy, "I think my girlfriend and I have had enough of you already, goodbye." She grabbed my hand again and we walked straight past him then out of the store. We stopped outside not knowing where to head next as Plan A had failed; then a woman walked out of the store and straight to us, her badge identified her as the duty manager.

"Ladies, I'm sorry, there seems to have been a problem?"

"Yes, I'm afraid your member of staff was intent on getting into our knickers."

"I suspected something similar and I believe this wasn't the first time, I've sent him to my office to wait for me. Could I tempt you back with a discount by way of an apology?"

Knowing that there wasn't another laptop retailer on this site, Claire looked at me and we silently accepted the apology. We linked arms and walked back inside, the blast of cool from the AC unit was lovely after that spell outside. She led us back to the display and asked what we wanted to use the laptop for.

"School work mainly but I want something that won't be out of date next week."

She pointed at a range of netbooks that were priced over £300. I settled on a model with decent memory and a quad core processor for just under £400. Not one of the cheapest by a long way, but it looked like good value.

"Did you know that was available in four colours?"

"No, do you have pink?"

"Sorry, no, but will raspberry do?"

"Yes please."

"I'll bring it to you at the cash desk. Do you need a printer?"

"I have one already, why?"

"I'll throw in a colour all-in-one if you like, for free."

My old mono printer needed a new ink cartridge soon and the scanner had recently developed a fault so this was an offer I couldn't refuse. She went away to the storeroom and returned a couple of minutes later carrying a box. Another member of staff was carrying a bigger box that had 'HP' emblazoned on the side. The manager scanned the boxes and took my details for the warranties. I proudly handed over my debit card and punched my PIN into the keypad. This was the first time I'd ever used it.

"Would you like a hand with these to your car?"

"We're parked right over the other side by the carpet store. Can we collect them in an while?"

"Certainly."

We walked out, holding hands. I felt empowered by the simple act of buying a laptop, had I behaved in an adult fashion? We were walking towards the car but I spotted some signs in the windows of a jewelry store, they had a sale on. I stopped outside and asked Claire a simple four word question. The staff were brilliant, within fifteen minutes both Claire and I were both wearing engagement rings.

My phone rang, breaking up a wonderful moment in the sunshine. Today had a special feel to it, I hoped that it stayed that way.

"Eve, where are you?"

"Mum, I'm in heaven."

"I don't know a shop called Heaven here, is it a new one?"

"No Mum, not a shop, I just proposed to Claire."

I heard a scream and looked that direction, Mum was stood by the car with other shoppers staring at her. I grabbed Claire and we ran towards her. She left her shopping on the ground and ran to meet us. We simply held up our hands, letting her see the single diamonds. I got a look that questioned my sanity, but nothing was said, she hugged us then some sense took over.

"Girls, can you help me get this stuff into the car. Are you both done?"

"We still have to collect my laptop."

"Just how much have you spent young lady? No, don't answer that, I've had one shock already and it's not lunchtime yet."

Mum thought we were finished, but I wasn't quite done. I pulled Claire towards a clothing store and headed for the frock section. We chose some little black dresses, then moved to the lingerie department. I asked if I could be measured.

Five minutes later the saleswoman told me I was a perfect B cup, Claire grabbed me and gave me a soppy kiss, the saleswoman showed no surprise. She then saw the matching rings.

"Engaged?"

"Today."

"That's lovely. What do you need in here?"

"Something sexy to wear under our LBD's."

We went around the racks and chose a few bras and matching knickers, we definitely had separate tastes. Mum caught up as we reached the cash desk, I handed over my card.

"No you don't young lady. This is my treat."

Mum paid for the undies, the receipt showed a discount of 15%. We finally returned to the car then drove across the park to retrieve my computer and printer. There was now an envelope taped to the computer box, it contained a discount voucher valid until the end of the year worth 10% off anything. This was a brilliant day, spotty-faced salesmen aside.

We stopped at the hypermarket and walked up to the mezzanine coffee shop, where we had a bite of lunch. Mum wanted to know what had been said, by whom. She then asked the burning question.

"Why?"

"It felt right."

"But you're both sixteen."

"Not for long."

She sighed defeat on that argument point. "I suppose you'll want a party?"

"Just having Claire here is enough." She pulled me close and whispered something in my ear before giving me a little kiss on the cheek. The moment was perfect, I dared anyone to ruin that.

We had finished our lunch when there was a noise below us, near the store entrance. I looked around and down to see David Stevens Senior hitting a security guard, his son was on the floor, trying to crawl away.

Chapter 35 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
Previously:

Eve and Claire are now engaged but David Stevens, Senior and Junior, have been involved in an altercation in a store.

Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 35
 
 

More security guards arrived and David Stevens senior was bound using plastic cuffs. His son had got up and tried to pull one of the guards off his father, the spectacle was causing a crowd to form and I stood up to get a better view, my phone was now in my hand.

Outside I saw blue lights and four police officers came running in. One put his hand on the son and received a punch. The lad was pulled back onto the floor immediately, I thought I heard him hit the tiling as there was a cracking sound. Within seconds he was cuffed, with the metal variety. The Police Officer who'd been punched now fell backwards, clutching his stomach. His colleagues were calling urgently for an ambulance as one of the store staff grabbed a med kit.

Enough staff had now gathered to clear the area, blocking my view of the action, although I could still hear swearing coming from the store entrance. After a few more minutes, and more flashing blue lights, the swearing stopped and the store entrance was clear again.

I had taken a few pictures with my mobile phone while this was going on and now used it to make a call.

"Mr Dixon? Eve Jones. We're at the Apex Retail Park. The two David Stevens have just been arrested, it looks like it's shoplifting and assaulting a police officer."

"Thank you Miss Jones. I'll speak to the police and see what can be done."

He rang off and mum glared at me.

"Eve, I should have made that decision to call our solicitor."

"Mum, calm down. It needed doing and I had my phone out already. Look, we need to get something for dinner, we're not going to achieve anything sat here."

My fiancée offered a word or two. "Little miss bossy boots, eh?"

Claire then poked her tongue at me, Mum shrugged and looked like she'd lost this battle of the wills, it wasn't even the first battle of the day she'd lost. We scooted round the store and picked up a joint of beef for tonight. We raided the clothes section for a few t-shirts and everyday knickers. They had some cheap everyday moulded bras that I needed for school, I didn't need those chicken fillet enhancers any more, but it did no harm to help what I now had naturally.

We drove back home and unloaded the car into the kitchen. It was late enough to start cooking the Sunday roast so Mum took that job. Claire and I walked over to their house and into the kitchen there, Claire decided to make the announcement.

"Mum, we've got something to tell you."

There was a squeal and Annie pointed at our hands, "rings! Does that mean....?" We nodded.

"Claire, Eve, I hope you know what you're doing. You are both under seventeen for at least a few more days. I'll have to speak to your Mum when we come over for dinner."

"Sharon, we know exactly what we're doing and we know it's right. I want Claire as my bride, but not until we've finished school. Please speak to my mum, she's probably still in shock." I didn't know about the dinner arrangement, not that I'd object!

Annie pulled us both into the lounge and wanted to the highlights about my proposal and the shopping trip. I'd clean forgotten about the laptop and the spotty faced shop assistant. Claire decided to fill in with other important information.

"We've bought some LBDs for Friday's party."

"What party young lady?" asked Sharon from the doorway.

"Sharon, we thought we could celebrate our engagement at the same time as Claire's birthday."

"Perhaps, but I've arranged nothing."

"Mum, can we go for a Chinese? I''d love to invite some of the girls from school as well."

"Woah, I'm not made of money."

I intervened, "Sharon, I'll pay for the meal. Claire, which friends?"

"Suzie and Andrea. They just transferred from the other High School so they've not met you."

"Oh."

"Don't worry, they're really brill."

"If you say so!"

"Girls, I'll book a table for a maximum of eight. Annie, get me the phone book please."

That was easy, I thought. Just one small change needed.

"Sharon can that be ten please? I'd like Jenny and my aunt there."

"So long as you're paying!"

I gave Claire a sloppy kiss and headed back. Mum was peeling potatoes as I entered but had a glass of fruit juice waiting for me. After a quick sip I picked up my dress, Claire's was there as well, and headed upstairs. A few more trips meant that everything was up and laying on my bed or put away.

I really wanted to use my new laptop straight away but resolved to plugging it in to charge the battery first. I opened the printer box and made room for it, moving my existing printer onto the floor. It could go the the garage later just in case I needed it again.

When I had cleared everything and could now sit on my bed, I had a sad thought. Claire had school tomorrow so would best sleep in her own bed. I'd be alone for the first time since last Wednesday night. I wondered if I'd be able to cope with it?

I changed my mind and picked up the laptop, guessing that it might distract me from my sleeping arrangement. Once I switched it on I was faced with a long winded set-up and compulsory registration that I'd never encountered before. One day they'll realise that this is a ridiculous routine.

I was finally onto the web and managed to access my facebook account. There was a message from cousin Jenny.

"Just been told, you naughty girl."

How did she know so quick, I'd meant to phone her but had got so wrapped up with everything that I'd forgotten. Then the phone rang. Mum shouted for me, I dropped the laptop on my bed and ran downstairs to grab the handset.

"You little vixen."

"Jenny, how did you know?"

"Someone told my mum, and I waited until you read my message on your new laptop. I knew it wouldn't take long, you are going to send me a photo of that ring."

"Woah, slow down. I should have realised that the family gossip network would have been running at full steam." Mum was stood in the kitchen doorway wearing the face of the guilty party. "How would you like to go for a Chinese on Friday, your mum too?"

"Try stopping me, which one?"

"I think Sharon is calling the Peking Palace. I'll get the details to you when I know them. It's Claire and Annie's birthday too."

"That's three presents, are you trying to bankrupt me? It's a shame we don't have Chapter 11 in this country."

"Chapter what? Never mind. I'll get the camera out and mail a photo later. Bye."

I rang off and went to help mum, the food smelled wonderful. The phone rang again, this time it was our solicitor.

"Miss Jones, just to let you know we will need you at court tomorrow, and Miss Claire Johnson please. Both David Stevens have been remanded in custody, they'll be in court at ten o'clock. The charges look interesting but may change before the morning from what I hear."

"Thank you, I'll pass that on."

I walked back across and went upstairs to see Claire in her room to give her the news. We then went to find Sharon who, as yet, knew nothing of the incident at the hypermarket.

"Claire will be needed in court."

"I'll send a note into school with Annie, I hope they'll understand."

I suggested we all headed to my house, Annie of course wanted the gory details of the day's main events. I repeated my description of the proposal.

"So you got down on one knee?"

"Hmmm, yes."

"Did anyone see you?"

"Just the staff in the jewellers."

"Oh, you could have let me know in advance, I would've liked to have been there."

"Annie, If I'd have known ...."

We all giggled, mum and Sharon had bemused looks as she'd missed the conversation.

"Girls, when you've finished can you sort out the table."

"Mum, wine?"

"Not tonight, I don't want to set a bad example, plus we've got to be bright for tomorrow morning's appointment at the court."

In the end mum produced a non-alcoholic fruit punch which went quite nicely with the dinner. Of course it was served in wine goblets so a toast could be made to us, the happy couple, those words have a lovely ring to them. Mum insisted on taking a few photos of us, and our diamonds.

"Claire, my dear?"

"Yes my love?"

"Your place or mine tonight?"

Chapter 36 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
Previously:

 
Eve and her mum saw the two David Stevens being arrested after Eve proposed to Claire.

 
Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 36
 
 
Monday 12th Oct
 
We were at the court by nine thirty so we could speak to Mr Dixon. Also waiting there was the former school bursar Ms Holts, and Mr Davis, the Chair of the school governing body. He walked over to us.

"Good morning all, I had a call last night suggesting I should be here."

There was a hiss from across the room and the former school employee was pointing her finger at our group. A suited man, the court usher, spoke to her abruptly and she put her arm down but continued to stare. We moved to a corner, leaving Mr Davis to become the subject of Ms Holts' seething as he'd plainly had an involvement in her sacking, even if it was called resignation. Our solicitor, Mr Dixon, started his briefing.

"Ladies, the charges for the father are going to be theft, handling stolen property, assault and resisting arrest. The son has attempted murder, assault on a police officer, affray, theft, criminal damage, and breaching an ASBO. Apparently the ASBO was granted last Monday after a request by the shopping precinct management and the local council. I only found out this morning."

Mum picked up on this, "Attempted murder? Which charges relate to which incidents?"

"I believe the criminal damage is your car, the affray covers incidents in the town centre, theft is for shoplifting and then there's yesterday's alleged assault on a police officer which seems to have involved a knife. The father's charges are connected to the son's shoplifting and yesterday's incident. It is possible you may be called as a witness, but you do realise, as this is an initial hearing, nothing of substance may actually happen today."

"Why?"

"The magistrates have various options including passing it all up to a higher court, we'll have to see what happens first."

"Oh."

The court lobby was starting to fill up so we stopped discussing the case, concentrating our gossiping to clothes and TV, mostly. Mr Davis wandered back and saw the ring on my finger, then on Claire's. He was obviously thinking for a moment before he spoke.

"Miss Jones, Miss Johnson, are I to believe that you have some news?"

"Yes Mr Davis, as of yesterday we are engaged."

"This should prove interesting at the school, if you have no objections I'll inform the headmaster."

"He'll find out by tomorrow no doubt, so we don't mind, do we Claire?

Claire shook her head and Mr Davis walked away. Mr Dixon now took interest in the rings but said nothing. We held hands, unafraid of anyone's opinions.

The Court Usher called for all parties in the case of Stevens and Stevens to proceed to the court room. In the end it was a distinct anti-climax and we left rather bemused with little achieved. It would have made good telly though.

The father was processed first and pleaded not guilty to all charges, the magistrates simply committed him for trial at the Crown Court. He was then bailed, albeit with a severe curfew and a ban from every pub and store in the district.

For the son, the charge of assault on a police officer had overnight become attempted murder and was sufficient for committal to the Crown Court, he was remanded to a Young Offenders Institute fifty miles away. His solicitor had attempted to argue that, due to his age, he should be tried in a youth court but was almost laughed at by the lead Magistrate who questioned if the solicitor was aware of the severity of the main charge. No application for bail was made so he was taken down to the cells.

At that point Ms Holts, aunt of the son, screamed and swore at the magistrates. She was told to be quiet but refused. She was threatened with thirty days for this outburst but continued, in the end she was also sent to the cells. She was added to the day's list, probably to be dealt with after three o'clock.

We gathered outside and spoke to our solicitor. It was my turn to do the questioning. "So what happens next?"

"Oh, the father won't now be in court for three months unless he changes his plea. The boy will be in court again in two weeks and could apply for bail, but it's unlikely given the charges. There'll also be a social services enquiry into the family circumstances. If the son is found guilty he could be looking at a long sentence, or there could be some bargaining over the lesser charges, or they could be dropped entirely."

"Great." It wasn't an upbeat comment.

"Look, he's in the system now and you have to let the system deal with him. I'll make sure you get your moment in court, if you still want it. If you don't mind I need to get back to my office, I'll let you know later what happens to Ms Holts."

We said goodbye to Mr Dixon, Mr Davis had already disappeared. It was midday now, the whole proceedings had been very slow, considering how little was achieved.

As we walked out of the building the sun shone brightly, someone's bad joke perhaps? We walked the short distance into town and sat outside a newly opened cafe. A young Italian man came out for our orders, he smiled at me and Claire then saw us holding hands. The smile became a little forced as he reached for his order pad.

We each had a panini and a fruit juice, somehow coffee wasn't on any of our minds today. We ate in silence then took a stroll into the shopping precinct. Outside M&S we bumped into the assistant manager who we'd met weeks earlier, he saw our hands, I don't think we'll be letting go of each other too soon. Mum told him about the court case.

"I was at the court last week applying for the ASBO as we'd run out of options with his anti-social behaviour. We had the council's and the police's support so the magistrates granted it in a few minutes. We had to eject him from the precinct a few days later but haven't seen him since, thankfully."

"That must be why he was out of town?" I thought out loud.

The four of us wandered around a few shops but left the town centre empty handed. We had parked out of the way, in case of retaliation, but, as it's turned out, that's difficult when the lad is inside a lock-up. We drove home and headed with Sharon into her house, establishing a war cabinet in the kitchen, Claire provided the coffee that everyone finally needed.

Ultimately, we weren't at all happy with the day's proceedings but there was nothing we could do about it, at least one of them was off the streets. That's where Annie found us when she arrived back from school.

"They want to see your rings!"

"Who?"

"All the girls, the boys are just upset that you're off the market, sis."

"They'll get over it, eventually. How do they know?"

"Not sure, but news like this goes round the school in minutes. I gave Andrea and Suzie the news about Friday, they want to finally meet you Eve."

"That could be interesting." I was the master of understatement today.

"Eve, they never met Simon, and they don't believe everything they're told. You'll meet them on Friday, we'll deal with the rest of the sixth form when you get back in a few weeks."

"I need to see the head before then."

"Yes, oh did Claire give you the message?"

"What message?"

"The one from last week? A few teachers were asking."

"What message?"

"About the homework. It's overdue."

"Claire, what was the message?"

"They gave me some coursework for you last Wednesday, it was due back today. Didn't I tell you?"

"Claire!"

"Look, you were otherwise occupied last week."

Sharon joined in the discussion, "Claire do you still have the coursework?"

"I don't know."

"Right, if you can't find it tonight then you will apologise to each of Eve's teachers tomorrow morning."

"Yes mum."

"Then you'll ask them to give anything else to Annie, as of right now."

We had pizza together and I wouldn't have left if we weren't forced apart. As it was we were all shattered and I was in bed by nine. Neither of us checked the answerphone.

It really felt odd to be in bed on my own.

Chapter 37 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
Previously:

Yesterday, at court, they'd seen Eve's nemesis sent to a Young Offenders Institute on a charge of attempted murder. His father was bailed pending trial, his aunt sent to the cells for dissent.

Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 37
 
 
I was up at seven, unable to sleep any more. When I walked downstairs in my dressing gown I saw a few items of post on the mat inside the front door. We'd come back in through the kitchen door last night and had missed it, there were two envelopes for me.

Both were marked NHS but were from different addresses, the first was a new medical card with my revised name. The second was a staff parking permit for the hospital, I suppose that was easier than using the busy public parking area. There was also an envelope for the refund of any recent parking receipts. I decided to deal with that later.

Mum had wandered down while I was sorting the post, she went towards a small flashing red light that I'd not seen. Mum pressed the play button:

"Hello Eve, this is Dr Fox. I have agreement in principle to see you at your GP surgery but the surgery wants to establish appointment dates in advance and we don't currently have any slots booked. I hope this helps."

Some help indeed, I'm no better off but at least they know I was justified in being angry. I picked up a mug of coffee mum had just made after putting the radio on to fill the silence then made some toast to satisfy a growling stomach, I'd not been too heavy on the pizza last night, my appetite having taken a day off.

After showering I just managed to grab a kiss and a cuddle with Claire as she and Annie headed to school. It felt like an empty day, mum had an appointment after lunch with her shrink, otherwise it was clear. She retreated to the utility room to do some laundry and I picked up on the housework. I then spent half an hour checking emails and installing Skype on my new laptop. I found Claire in the directory and sent her a request.

Mum and I reconvened at lunch, after taking only one coffee break. The morning's post was sitting on the kitchen table, mum was looking at a bank statement.

"Eve, I'm going to have to go back to work sooner than I thought. we've spent too much money recently and I don't want to cash in my investments, but if I don't have income soon then that's exactly what I'll have to do."

"Mum, you know I'll help."

"I know, but I want to support us, that is my responsibility, not your's. Can you get last week's local paper, so I can check the vacancies?"

I walked into the lounge and picked it up, but I wasn't really sure who'd bought it. Mum opened it at the jobs page, the recession was definitely affecting the number of available jobs, but one advert stood out.

School Bursar required
Must have financial amd management experience.
Will be responsible for a small support team.
Application form & details from St Peter's Comprehensive and Sixth Form College
Applicants will be subject to police checks.

Mum stared at the advert for a minute, cogs turning in her head. I was very unsure, the previous occupant of that job was the aunt of a pupil. I was not keen on my mum being on the premises every day. That was quite apart from her current mental state.

The phone rang and I reached for it.

"Miss Jones?"

"Yes."

"It's the headteacher's secretary, Mr Spinner would like to see you before the end of the week if possible."

"Has he said why?"

"Only that it's to do with your return to school. He'd also like your mother present, how about Thursday morning?"

"I think that's ok. What time?"

"Ten?"

"Right."

I turned to mum and shrugged, it was an odd co-incidence that the school should ring but I don't believe in co-incidences, I wrote the appointment on the calendar, the week was starting to fill up.

We used frozen bread to make some sarnies for lunch, after defrosting it of course. I was beginning to think that a bread maker might be a good idea as we were indoors much of the time, then I remembered that I was back at school at the start of November, under three weeks from now.

Mum and I drove to the hospital to see Dr Masters after clearing lunch away. It was strange to use the staff carpark but it was closer to the buildings so no argument there. Of course, it was my turn to sit in the waiting room while mum saw her shrink. I was in a world of my own when my name was called.

"Err, yeah?"

"Could you join us, Eve?"

I walked in and sat next to mum, placing my hands on my lap.

"I understand you have had an eventful couple of days, including quite a shock for your mum?"

"I suppose so, but things just happen, they're not planned."

"That's okay, your mum doesn't appear to have any lasting effects. Congratulations by the way."

"Thanks. Is that all?"

"No, I'd ask that you support your mum and try not to stress her. Can you be back here next Tuesday?"

"I'll do what I can, Tuesday is fine."

"Thank you, I'll see you both then."

We walked back to the car and drove home. Mum told me that he'd simply asked for an account of the time since she left hospital, in particular any talks with her family and close friends.

Once indoors mum asked me about learning to drive.

"Of course, what do we have to do?"

"We'll go into town tomorrow and pick up an application form for a provisional licence, in fact we'll pick up a couple more in case Sharon doesn't have any for the girls."

"But, what do I put down for gender? I'm still legally male despite everything."

"We'll work that one out dear."

"But what do we have to do?" I was crying by now.

"Eve, dear, I don't know. We'll have to talk to Dr Preston. What did he say last week?"

"That he'd be writing to me."

"Nothing more?"

"I asked to be seen at St Saviour's instead of there." I waved my arm in the general direction of the hospital.

Mum sat next to me and I started sobbing again, what was happening to me? I felt so vulnerable. Claire must have crept in and she took mum's place. I laid against her and fell asleep.

I was woke around four, Claire took me to the bathroom to tidy up my face, of course I need the loo as well, but neither of us had any reason for privacy when it was just us. When we got back to the lounge Claire handed me an thick A4 envelope, I opened it to find at least a week's worth of coursework. Annie was supposed to handle this for now, but it wasn't a good time to argue; I decided that killing the messenger would normally be easier but I simply couldn't manage that, not this time.

"Who's joke is this?"

"Come on Eve. I managed to persuade them that last week's work wasn't done because of problems ...."

"But did you say you forgot to give it to me?"

"No, they never asked that."

"So they've given me double?"

"They did say something about catching up. It's got to be in by Monday morning, sooner if possible. They also said there could be more on Friday."

"Thanks, just don't expect to see too much of me before it's finished." I tried to use some dry humour but it wasn't received that way.

"Do you mean that?"

"Claire, if I want to get back to school then I have to do it, no choice. It's Tuesday now so I've got to get cracking straight away."

"Well, if that's how you feel!"

Claire got up and walked out. I burst into tears, I'd blown it two days into our engagement. At least she hadn't returned the ring, yet. Mum had heard the kitchen door slam and came into the lounge to see me crying. She got the story from me and said she'd speak to Sharon.

"No, don't."

"Look, Claire needs to be talked to."

"Maybe, but let me handle it. Regardless what was said, I really do have to do this work. There'll be a few words said over there as Annie was supposed to collect the coursework and Claire didn't apologise, the school will think it's my fault. But it still doesn't matter, the work is there to be done."

"I still think someone should talk."

"I will, later. She'll have calmed down by then."

"If you're sure?"

"I am."

I took the envelope and went upstairs. There was a mixed bag of work from each subject area, although there was some obvious overlaps. Much of the work so far had been a rehash of the work we'd done just before the exams in May. With students joining the sixth form from other schools, there had to be some levelling up to account for differing teaching methods, that's what we'd heard anyway.

I worked for two hours before my eyes were starting the stream. The light had started to go after half five so I was working using my spot lamp, never a good idea for prolonged work. It's not that I really had a choice.

Mum called me for dinner just after six and we ate quietly. I watched the national and local news while we ate so I had an idea of the current major stories. I headed back upstairs and worked until nine, I was just about to switch off my laptop when Claire called me via Skype.

"Sorry."

"Claire, I'm sorry too."

"What do yo have to be sorry about, I'm the one who messed up."

"Look, I was a bit abrupt with you."

"I got into all sorts of trouble when mum found out, and I'm not talking to Annie right now."

"Claire, get over it. We all make mistakes. Why don't we go for a ride when you get back from school tomorrow. Ill have spent all day on my school work so I'll need a break by four."

"That's asound good, but I'm out at two-thirty as last lesson is just a study period, so we'll say three!"

We declared our undying love for each other, several times, before cutting the connection. I went downstairs having finally shut down my laptop and joined mum. She'd had enough of the night's telly so we made some hot choocolate. I was tired but happier.

Chapter 38 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
Previously:
 
Claire has delivered school work to Eve, but hasn't apologised for forgetting last week's bundle of work. Eve told her she needed to spend more time on the work than on Claire who then walked out.
 
Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 38
 
 

The following morning I was up just after seven again and started work on my laptop straight away. Mum made some comments about a shower, breakfast and something else so I reluctantly closed it down again. I was getting out the shower when the phone rang, mum answered it and I went to get dressed.

"Eve?"

"Yes mum?"

"That was Mr Dixon. Ms Holts got one night in the cells and a £200 fine."

"That all?"

"Apparently she claimed it was all down to stress."

"Yeah, and pigs can fly?"

"Never mind the sarcasm, we're needed in half an hour."

"What for?"

"There's a detective constable who wants to interview us, at Mr Dixon's office."

I finished dressing quickly and grabbed two slices of toast, this was becoming a habit. As it was we made it to our solicitor's office a few minutes late, due to the traffic. We were introduced to DC Barnaby by Mr Dixon, of course we'd met before.

"Good morning Miss Jones, Mrs Jones."

"Mornin'"

We all sat and the officer explained he wanted to go back through our involvement with the father and son, the Davids Stevens. Making certain which one we were talking about was difficult at times, but the DC managed to be certain about what he was writing before committing his pen to the statement.

We were on page nine before the incident at the retail park came up.

"I took some photos."

"Did you? Could I see them?"

I showed the photos, which included images of DVD's on the floor, as well as the son hitting the uniformed copper in the stomach. DC Barnaby was very excited at this image.

"Could I take your phone please? That picture could be very useful."

"Certainly, but can I have it back today?"

"I'll see what I can do. Have you copied these images off the phone or shown them to anyone?"

"No."

"Good, I'll need that included in the statement."

We finished off the statement then read back through it, with Mr Dixon making the odd observation. Finally at eleven the statement was finished. DC Barnaby had popped my phone in an evidence bag and left. We sat for a minute longer, Mr Dixon spoke to us.

"I'm afraid, Eve, you won't be seeing your phone for a while, as it's now evidence in an attempted murder case so it has to be preserved for the court. I'd suggest you get a replacement and let me have the receipt, it will go down as legal costs. You should buy the equivalent handset if the exact model's not available."

"I wish I hadn't mentioned it now, but if it helps to put him away ..."

"It will indeed help judging from what I have seen. If that's all?"

We left the offices and stopped at the Asda for a few essentials before heading home. While we'd been out the post had arrived, two were from the hospital. The first was from Dr Preston, his letter told me that, as far as he and Dr Fox were concerned, I was a month into my Real Life Test and he included to 'to whom it may concern' letter. I made a note to check on the 'net what it meant.

The second letter told me to report to the hospital for an appointment in the Genito-Urinary department with Dr Roberts for Monday morning a month hence. I remembered his attitude last time, and his eyes for mum. I showed mum the letter to mum, she pointed out a second page that said I should have nothing bar water from six the previous evening. I had to be at the hospital at eight with an overnight bag.

I didn't understand what this meant and mum said we'd speak to Sharon later, she then saw the letter from Dr Preston.

"Do you know what this means?"

"You're to be treated as female in almost every respect, except in the eyes of the government, you should make a few copies straight away."

After lunch we went out with a few copies in my bag. The first stop in town was the solicitors, he was out but a receptionist took the letter. Next was the Post Office for a few Driving Licence forms and a passport form. Next stop was the doctor's surgery where the receptionist, who was obviously new, couldn't work out what was going on. I should have put it in an envelope, isn't hindsight wonderful?

Back home I went to see Sharon.

"It looks like you are going to have a procedure under anaesthetic. Give the hospital a call and ask if you want to. Don't worry though, there's probably another letter but they arrived in the wrong order."

We were there when the girls returned. Claire threw herself at me, almost pushing me over. When she calmed down I told her about the letters.

"That's wonderful, I mean the RLT not the surgery."

"Do you know what it is?"

"Yes, we've had some talks on discrimination and tolerance. One of the speakers was a Dr Preston."

"Oh. He's a Gender Identity specialist."

"Yes, he said something like that. So, you're definitely a girl now, my girl!"

I couldn't quite see how my life had changed since yesterday so decided to change the subject, and location. "I suppose so, are you ready for that bike ride?"

We rode out along the canal but it was too damp to sit on the grass and a sudden shower had us dashing home after forty-five minutes. We were both suitably soaked but agreed to talk later so I could get some more work done. I spent an hour working before we broke for dinner, just as we sat down there was a knock on the door an a courier delivered an envelope. I signed and took it to the kitchen table, in it was a letter from the hospital with a compliment slip apologising for the delay.

All the letter said was that a question had come up following my ultrasound scan, something that wasn't clear. It was stated that my bloodwork was within normal parameters so this was not being treated as an emergency, I was however to inform them immediately if I was in pain or discomfort.

After dinner I went up and concentrated on getting an essay completed. At nine I again stopped work but checked if Claire was online before calling her. We chatted for a while and I let her know that I would be in the school in the morning. We exchanged kisses, as well as you can with video-conferencing and cut the connection.

I gave up the idea of a hot chocolate so just got a glass of water. I was asleep by half nine.

***

At ten the following morning mum and I were sat outside Mr Spinner's office at St Peter's Comprehensive & Sixth Form College, St P's for short. I'd managed a few more hours work that morning and had brought everything that I'd finished so I could hand it in.

As we'd arrived in the middle of a period I hadn't spotted any of my former classmates as yet, but this was the first time in about six weeks that I'd been in the building. The door opened and my headteacher invited us in.

"Good morning Miss Jones, Mrs Jones. Thank you for coming in."

"Mr Spinner, I have some paperwork for you." I handed him the name change Statutory Declaration, the 'To whom it may concern' RLT letter, together with the hospital appointment letter for the following month.

"I see, we'll need to have your records updated and you are to be treated as a female. Then you're going to be missing for a day or so in November?"

"That sounds right."

"I understand that you feel you'll be ready to return after half-term?"

"Yes, there's only a week left and there are some ongoing issues =. I'm not certain my shrink or GP have said I'm fit to come back before then."

"Well, it's a time-scale that works for us. It's not as if you haven't been doing any work, although I understand there was a recent problem?"

"My fiancée claims she had a bad memory."

"You mean Claire Johnson, I understand congratulations are in order?"

"Thank you sir. I hope it won't be an problem?"

"It shouldn't but no doubt someone will take offence, that's not something we can plan for but we'll help educate any closed-minded individuals. Which brings me to a teacher change."

"Change?"

"Yes, I understand you had a problem with Mrs Abbott?"

"She was refusing to handle my coursework."

"As a result of recent events, all the staff were put on a diversity course. Mrs Abbott unfortunately refused to attend, claiming she didn't have to educate someone she didn't like. This goes no further, you understand? Anyway, I accepted her retirement request on Tuesday, she finishes next Friday. You'll get Mr Dunn instead."

"I did wonder about her, thank you for explaining. I take it none of the other staff are a problem?"

"No, and we have some new staff who never met you. I'd plainly like not to lose any more staff."

"I have some coursework to hand in."

"Leave it on my desk, I'll have it distributed later."

"Okay. When do I get my new schedule?"

"I'll print it off later and post it to you."

"Thanks."

"Now, we have the issue of facilities. Fortunately you don't have any PE or sports but you will need the toilet. There's a disabled loo on each floor so could you use those for now?"

"Do I have to?"

"That's a ruling from the Local Education Authority, we have to accept it until you're legally female in the eyes of the law."

"Okay, but it's bound to be asked about. I'd like a quiet existence if possible."

"As the sixth form common room and many of the classes are in the wing on the far side of the site you won't see much of the lower years, we'll bring the whole sixth form together when you get back to tell them, if you don't mind."

Mum now spoke, "I'm not so keen on that."

"Okay, it's not anything that needs pre-planning so we'll leave it there."

"Thank you Mr Spinner."

"Any questions?"

"None, sir."

"Then I'll see you in a couple of weeks."

"Indeed. Thank you."

"Bye."

The bell had just gone and the corridors were starting to fill up, fortunately the Head's office was very close to the main entrance so we escaped without any inquisitive looks.

The rest of the day consisted of more of the backlog of coursework, breaking only for lunch and dinner. Mum kept me stocked with iced water. Claire's visit around seven was curtailed by her own need to submit homework the following morning, apparently 'I forgot' wasn't an acceptable answer from her now.

Chapter 39 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
Previously:
 
Eve has been told she is a month into her Real Life Test and has this in writing.
 
Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 39
 
 

On Friday morning I knew I wanted to get the girls something special for their birthdays, but for Claire it had to be very special. I had some vague ideas, but decided to go for a few things that would be very personal to Claire. First however was the small matter of a physical.

We arrived at the GP surgery at nine and were shown into the examination room. Dr Kumar asked a few questions and found out I was due some exploratory surgery a few weeks hence, he also found out from me that I'd already given his staff my RLT letter, but nobody had actually told him. I finally, before we got to the nitty-gritty, let him know I wanted to go back to school real soon, hoping he had no objections.

A nurse drew some blood, lots of it. She left the room and I undressed behind a screen then came out wearing a gown. I was prodded, weighed, sized and then he put on a one-fingered glove. I did not like the experience one little bit, and I still don't know if Dr Kumar was expecting any reaction, or any other result, because he was mightily confused. A repeat examination yielded nothing new so he gave up, although he first made several lengthy notes on his PC. He told mum and I to return the following Friday and sent us away, I asked mum to drop me in town so I could do some shopping.

I first decided to surprise Claire, in fact everyone, by going to see a stylist. It was quiet so I was seen straight away. Once my wig came off they could see my original hair, which, despite regular washing, didn't behave under the wig. I was sent straight to one of the washing stations to have my own hair washed and conditioned. Back at the cutting station we agreed on a simple style and spent half an hour getting it right before the dryer was used, after dampening my hair of course. I then let them give me a manicure and a pedicure. My wig went into a borrowed carrier bag before I started my shopping expedition.

My treks around the stores eventually wore me out, so I took a break in our favourite coffee house, although it looked like I was the only customer. The usual barista was on duty and welcomed me in his own Italian style.

I ordered a Mocha for a change, it arrived pronto! I was still sipping it a few minutes later when I saw Ms Holts walk past the coffee shop, I just knew that she'd seen me, seen that I was alone and that there would be trouble. I didn't want any hassle and I didn't have a replacement phone yet, I'd forgotten to sort that out.

She pushed the door open and walked towards me, her face was red with anger. The barista stopped his cleaning and moved to intercept. She tried to move around him then kicked him, he was not impressed and knocked her legs from under her with his mop. The rest of the barista's family now started to appear at the back of the café, followed a minute later by the police. She was kept on the floor, swearing freely.

I'd lost my cool exterior and was now crying against one of the older women who'd sat next to me. I was offered a tissue and brought my head up to see a familiar face in uniform, it was the same PC who'd arrested David Stevens when he'd thought he could create artwork with his spray can on mum's car.

"Miss Jones, I believe. Can you think why this lady would want to hurt you?"

"She is David Stevens' aunt, who is now in a Young Offender's Institute. She is also the former bursar at my school and has a severe attitude problem; she spent Monday night in a cell after swearing at the magistrates."

"I heard about that, apparently she got off lightly. It might be different this time, I was nearby because there's several ASBO's in force right now so we like to keep an eye out when it's not busy."

The officer then arrested Ms Holts and hand-cuffed her to a chair, one of those which is bolted to the floor. With her tmporarily secure he looked around, there didn't appear to be any damage to the café although a rplacement mop would be needed as it had snapped. He then saw the CCTV camera that looked the length of the café to the street door, prompting a quick conversation with the barista who sent one of the family to fetch the tape. One of his daughters told me they'd seen my would-be assailant enter the café so had hit the panic button, not waiting to see what she wanted.

Another coffee was brought, my original one had gone cold.

"Would you like to ring anyone?" asked the PC. I nodded and he handed me his mobile, I rang mum and told her where I was.

Ms Holts had been taken away but the copper stayed with me until mum arrived twenty minutes later, with Mr Dixon in tow. Does that solicitor have any other clients? I went over the very short story with mum and Mr Dixon, the PC found a statement pad from somewhere and we sat to take my statement, then the barista's, then each of his family who'd been downstairs before she'd been incapacitated, face down on the floor.

A shopping trip had turned into a saga that had left me shaking so we all downed several more cups of heavy-duty caffeine before the PC left, I wasn't asked to pay for a single one. The barista was trying to work out who she was, and why she'd want to attack me. When we mentioned she was the aunt of the little toad by the name of David Stevens he instantly knew who we were talking about, the kid was barred from everywhere in town and his face was included on a poster that was in most shops.

Having said our goodbyes, mum marched me to a phone shop and bought a new mobile phone before putting me in the car and driving me home.

"Mum, it's not my fault she tried to attack me."

"I know, but I'm not sure about you going into town on your own again. Where's your wig?"

"In a bag. I'm nearly seventeen and not a little girl, I can't hide for the rest of my life. I'm not wearing that wig any more."

"You should have had a phone with you! You should have consulted me before going to the salon!"

I could see I wasn't going to win this argument with logic so I did what any self-respecting girl would do, I started crying. The one-sided discussion ceased and mum comforted me, parental manipulation at work.

I gave up trying to do any meaningful school work and spent an hour programming my new phone, I then called the mobile phone company, giving them the two IMEI numbers, my old phone number and the temporary number that came with the replacement phone. I was told the transfer could take until the following morning, and to expect lots of messages. I then wrapped my presents for the girls.

At five I went upstairs and took a shower, wearing a shower cap. I was sat on my bed, still wearing a towel, when mum found me.

"I'm sorry Eve, I shouldn't have argued like that. I keep forgetting that you're not that little girl I often dreamed of. I want to be there all the time to protect you, especially when this kind of thing happens, but I know I can't. I'm scared for you."

"Mum, I know you care, but I can't go out into the world wearing cotton-wool or bubble-wrap. Not everyone out there is out to get me, believe it or not. All this trouble has come from one family, just one family. One's in a YOI, one's under a strict curfew and the third is in a cell. It's safe out there again."

"I believe you, by the way Mr Dixon rang, she finally got the thirty days she obviously craved, the magistrates were only too pleased to see her again, there was apparently space in the afternoon's court listings. They've also issued a restraining order valid for three months."

"Oh good."

"Now, get your butt in gear, you've got to look your best for your fiancée and the guests."

I already knew what to wear as I put on some of my new black lingerie before sitting to do my make-up. Nothing too heavy, just enough to enhance my face. Finally I put on some tights and my new LBD, before taking it back off just so I could remove the price ticket that I'd forgotten about.

By six thirty I was ready and joined mum in the lounge where I found her wearing a maxi red dress with a black jacket. I suddenly realised I didn't have a jacket to cover my shoulders so went flying back upstairs to find something in my wardrobe, eventually settling on a calf length black coat, it was nearly the end of October after all. I grabbed my bag, making sure I had my bank card, then rushed back downstairs as the taxi stopped outside.

Sharon had ordered a six seater for our trip to the restaurant, I don't think anyone saw my hair when everyone piled in, Sharon and the girls were still indoors getting their shoes and bags organised as mum and I climbed into the rear seats. The ride only took ten minutes, Sharon decided she would pay. As we all made it onto the pavement Claire went to give me a kiss then shrieked.

"Eve, what have you done?"

"It was time for that hairstyle change, remember what I said last weekend?"

"But when?"

"This morning. Do you like?"

"Yes, yes, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm." The rest of the group, which by now included Jenny, Aunt Sue and two other girls, started coughing gently, Claire eventually took the hint and put me down. We were then able to move inside, where the manager led us to a large round table at the back of the restaurant that we had reserved. He took our coats and left us alone for a few minutes with the menus.

Given that Claire was distracted, Annie introduced me to Andrea and Suzie, Claire was meanwhile muzzling my neck and unable to achieve anything meaningful - it was as if someone had turbo-charged her hormones. I could see Andrea and Suzie holding hands so I just knew there wouldn't be an issue with them.

The meal itself was pretty standard fare, there was tons of wasted food as everyone always misunderstands the size of the dishes, or that you can order more as you go along. Maybe one day us Brits will understand? After the meal, which was alcohol free given the number of sub eighteen year old girls, we chatted for a while and I settled the bill. Our taxi was outside when we finally all made it to the street, nine girls all wanted to use the Ladies at the same time, who'd believe it?

We all went back to Sharon's, Aunt Sue had driven the two new girls and arrived just after us. Once inside we all started talking at once. Jenny grabbed my hand to inspect the ring on my finger, she'd been sat opposite me, between my mum and her mum, so couldn't get close enough to see. Claire's ring was next.

We then got to the present giving time. I went first, giving Claire a pamper day at health spa outside the town, a gold chain and matching earrings. Both were inset with diamonds. That earned me a big kiss and some open mouths from everyone else. For Annie it was a little more mundane, a writing set with gold plated pens. The others then took their turns, there was a mixture of gold, clothing and trinkets. some of the clothing would be going back to the shops to be exchanged, I knew Claire's tastes intimately, very intimately.

Andrea and Suzie were desperate to hear how we'd met and the rest of our life story, but before I could start to tell them anything the three adults appeared with a cake. We had to give a rendition of "Happy Birthday" but I doubt we'll get a call from Simon Cowell soon. Claire and myself were then toasted with a sparkling alcohol-free perry. It was cold and fizzy, unfortunately those were its' only attributes. None of us could manage the cake so Sharon went back to the kitchen to prepare some slices to take home. Us girls got back to the serious subject of talking.

"Where did you two first meet?"

This was one I posed to Andrea and Suzie, they'd already asked that question of me and Claire.

"I moved to the school two years ago when my folks came to town. Andrea was asked to show me around and look after me for the first week. We just clicked."

"Yeah, we became good friends first and lovers second, about six months ago. How far have you two gone, I mean ..."

Thanks Andrea, nothing like a direct question. Claire answered for me in a matter-of-fact way, as I turned shades of crimson.

"We've been sleeping together since last week, but we made a promise to abstain, how about you?"

The two girls looked at each other and it was Suzie's turn to blush. Andrea answered.

"We've had sleepovers but our folks think it's separate beds, they don't know about us."

"Oh."

By mutual concern, with the imminent return of adults, we switched the conversation topics to school stuff. Claire knew more about the sixth form than me, so took the lead. I hoped it wouldn't take me long to catch up with the gossip and the new students when I get back.

By eleven we were showing exhaustion, Aunt Sue took Andrea and Suzie home as it was on her way. Mum gave me a kiss then went home as Claire led me to her bed.

Chapter 40 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
Previously:
 
It's the morning after the twin's joint 17th birthday party, hijacked by the engagement celebration
 
Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 40
 
 

Saturday morning arrived very quickly, I'd lost every stitch of clothing on the way to Claire's bed and there was a trail on the floor. Somehow my dress was hanging up, I don't remember doing that for myself. Claire woke up at the same time, probably sensing me moving.

"Morning lover."

"Morning sweetie."

I was shoved out of bed with Claire right behind me, we grabbed our gowns, I now had my own in Clarie's room. The two of us reached the bathroom door as Sharon shouted up the stairs.

"Eve, your mum has sent some clothes over, I'll put them on the bed. Jenny phoned, she'll be here in forty-five minutes. Don't spend too long in the shower."

Why was Jenny coming over? I'm sure she'd said something but I couldn't remember, never mind, Claire switched the shower on and we both jumped in. Fifteen minutes later we declared ourselves clean, but we'd had to make certain. There were indeed some clothes on the bed, a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, along with the necessaries.

Downstairs we managed egg and soldiers, don't ask why, before I took my LBD home. A quick inspection saw it needed cleaning, a check of the label said it was dry clean only. I phoned Claire and told her to bring hers across, we'd get a discount for both dresses in one job, I'd sort that out early next week.

Jenny arrived with her mum and us girls were pushed out the door with instructions to be gone for hours. Annie, for some reason, had already left.

The three of us decided against staying in town so rode the bus to the bus station then took the first bus out of town, it didn't matter where it was going so long as there were decent shops there. We bought all day bus tickets, just in case.

The journey took forty-five minutes to cover the twenty miles, pretty typical, we were sat on the long back seat, remembering last night, both the meal and after we got back. Most of the passengers near us moved a few row forward, particularly when we skirted around Claire's and my love life, I'm sure there were some 'tut tuts' from the forward seats.

When we got off we were only a few hundred metres from the absolute centre of town. This town was built almost 2000 years ago and had a third century Roman wall that severely restricted traffic into the centre, it also meant that most of the shops within the walls were small, the larger shops were close to the bus station outside the walls.

The first job, as ever was a coffee shop. There was a delightful one in the small town square, where today there was a market. We sat inside and a waitress in a smart uniform walked over.

"Good morning, what can I get you?"

"Three skinny lattes please. Can you recommend any good clothes shops?"

"There's 'Underground' that specialises in off-beat stuff, 'Delight' with the more expensive one-offs and 'Dash' that does end-of-line discounted stock from the catalogue and web shops."

"Thanks, how far are they?"

"Not more than twenty or thirty metres from here."

She went off to the back of the shop to pass on our order then returned to serve an older couple who'd walked in. I recognised them as passengers off our bus. There were a couple of glances in our direction but no obvious comments. A minute later our coffees arrived and we concentrated on the long frothy glasses. The drinks cost less than I thought, perhaps a sign of the recession. Outside the town was not very busy, unusual for a Saturday morning anywhere.

We looked around the town square and saw 'Delight' directly across. We'd finished the lattes so wandered across the square, we weren't in a hurry. The waitress hadn't been kidding about her description of the shop, all the dresses in the window cost over £100, with one over £400. Inside we were treated to a wonderland. I mentioned to Claire that we had tickets to the ballet in a fortnight and she needed a dress. She looked but knew she couldn't afford any of them, a suggestion that I paid was shot down, she didn't want me paying for the occasion of my birthday. Jenny asked out loud about the ballet but I suggested her mum spoke to mine as I had nothing to do with the tickets.

We finally left after fifteen minutes, the proprietor didn't bother trying to help us, after all how could three schoolgirls afford her clothes? We looked around the square and then started looking along the side streets. There were more antiques shops than I've seen before, plus plenty of estate agencies trying to sell houses that no-one wanted to buy. There were also several boarded up shops, a distinct sign of the hard economic times.

Next we took a look around the market, it was the usual collection of fresh veg, fishmonger, pirate DVDs, duff electronic bits, and leather goods. Jenny and me bought new shoulder bags, Claire a wide white belt.

We eventually found the discount shop. Most of it was very plain out of season stuff, but I picked up a new bikini, my first bikini! There were also some one piece swimsuits but I doubt if they had even been in fashion. In the end we bought some everyday tops and shorts, they would be fine for the late spring and summer.

We never did find the Underground shop, which disappointed Jenny, she'd hoped for some Goth bits and pieces. I got the feeling that it was one of those economic victims we'd passed. We walked back towards the bus station and the larger shops. There were a couple of factory outlet stores, the 'direct from manufacturer' type plus a Primark.

We headed straight for Primark, it was bedlum! Obviously the quiet in the town centre was offset by the seemingly two hundred folk in here. There were bargains to be had, but the rails were all mixed up and some of the stock was on the floor. I found a long gypsy skirt, Jenny grabbed a denim skirt that was barely wider that Claire's belt.

We spent another hour going round the other stores; we tried plenty of tops and bottoms but bought nothing more. Hunger then dictated our next move, various lunch options were considered but in the end we headed for the nearest pizza restaurant.

Half an hour later we were refreshed, so we took another walk around and still didn't buy anything. By two thirty we were back at the bus station waiting for the next bus home. We each had several bags and just had to put them down and wait, even if it was another twenty minutes until the bus, twenty minutes of valuable retail therapy wasted.

The bus was five minutes late and already quite full, we ended up sat apart so had a very boring ride home. Back in town we caught a local bus that stopped at the end of our road. We finally walked back into my house just after four, straight into the kitchen.

"You're back early."

"We've been gone for six hours, isn't that long enough?"

"Long enough for what?"

"For whatever you've been up to."

My aunt and Sharon walked into the kitchen, that completed the set of our mothers, there was a definite look of conspiracy on their faces. Jenny, being the one who doesn't know what a secret is, had told me a few weeks ago they were planning to decorate my room. The question was, could three single mothers achieve anything close to the makeovers they show on the telly?

"Why don't you go and see a film?"

"Still want to get rid of us? It'll cost you."

Three ten pound notes suddenly appeared, far too quickly. Did I mention a conspiracy? It would pay for the tickets but not the refreshments. I decided to try for more.

"There's another tenner, no more. Now, get moving and don't come back before six."

We left our shopping bags on the kitchen floor where they'd been dropped and wandered back to the bus stop. It was the same driver, he'd reached the end of the route a few stops from us and had turned around to head back into town. We exited at the bus station and caught another local bus to the multiscreen the other side of town.

We decided on 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus', but don't ask me why. There were posters for Avatar but it hadn't opened yet. Two hours later I still didn't know why we'd chosen this movie, but Claire and I had enjoyed a two hour long cuddle, much to Jenny's faked disgust. We'd bought drinks, at silly prices, but couldn't finish them, a waste. If only there had been a smaller size.

We got out at six fifteen and just made a bus into town. One quick change later and we arrived home. It was dark, we were cold and hungry. If it had been suggested that we went back out then we'd have mutinied, as it was we walked into a kitchen that smelt of garlic. I spotted some pasta, a bolognaise sauce and garlic bread, all sins were instantly forgiven.

The seven of us ate, Annie had got back just before us but I never did find out where she'd been. After dinner I was asked to pop upstairs to put my purchases away. I played along, no need to let them know, and walked up to my room.

Not only had the curtains and bedding changed, the entire room was different. My bed was now in the middle of the room, not jammed against one wall. There was extra hanging and drawer space plus a couple of mirrors and a dressing table. It had everything a girl could want, except I'd only been a girl for six or seven weeks so wasn't too sure. Anyway, I loved it.

"Claire, come up here!"

Claire came running up the stairs, almost tripping herself in the process.

"Wow!" She was a little short on words. "I love it."

I looked around the room again, previously the walls had been cream in colour, now they were lilac, the curtains were mauve. The bedding matched, everything just felt right. Claire grabbed me and gave me such a kiss that my knees buckled, we fell onto the bed.

"So I take it you like it?"

I looked around, still locked to Claire. The comment had come from mum but the others were stood there as well. I waved them away, mum closed the door and they retreated.

The two of us made it back downstairs after nine, only mum now remained. We'd put gowns on but hadn't worried about PJs, we wouldn't need them later. I thanked mum for their hard work then went to the kitchen for two hot chocolates. We went back up fifteen minutes later, fully intent on furthering our relationship, but fell asleep.

On Sunday morning we woke at the same time and turned to smile, followed by a passionate kiss. Unfortunately, my bladder rang its little bell and I dashed to the bathroom. I hadn't locked the door and Claire walked in as I sat there. I was dragged, kicking and screaming, I jest, into the shower.

When we walked downstairs half an hour later our hair was still damp but at least we were dressed. I looked at the clock, it was nearly ten.

"Good afternoon you two."

"Thanks mum, it's not that late."

"No, but you've missed breakfast. I'm making a coffee but how about some brunch?"

"Sounds good, I take we'll not bother with lunch."

"That's the idea, I need to go shopping for the next few days and I suggest you come with me. You can come too, Claire, if you want to."

"Mum wants Annie and me to help her so I'll pass if you don't mind."

We sat and had our unhealthy cooked breakfast, filling the dishwasher with the plates and pans. I gave Claire a long kiss and smacked her rear as she headed for the door. You should have seen the look I got for that.

Mum and I went to Tesco and, as quickly as possible, gathered food for the next few days. Somehow we ignored the clothing section but I lingered in the TV department, looking at the small wall-mounted ones. Maybe another time.

As we were at the checkout, mum noticed the instant photo booth and sent me to get my picture taken. I found her five minutes later with a set of four passport-sized mugshots, but wasn't quite sure why.

Back home we stowed the food, I was about to go upstairs to tackle my homework, but mum stopped me.

"Eve, I've filled in the form for you, you need to check it and sign."

It was an application for a provisional driving licence. My birthday was two weeks from now and I couldn't drive before then, but I could apply for the licence. I signed and went up to my room.

I took a look at the coursework, it wasn't as bad as it seemed. I sorted the work into piles of easy, difficult and impossible. By four o'clock the easy pile was gone and I was an hour short of finishing the difficult pile. I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, the smell was wonderful.

"Mum, how long until dinner?"

"Not before six."

"I'm getting hungry."

"You can manage, have a banana if you must have something."

I took my glass and a banana upstairs then settled down to finish the second pile. By five thirty I had the first impossible item started but I was feeling weary. I'd spent far too long in front of my laptop, I printed off the work I'd finished then closed it down and headed back down.

"That's good timing."

"Why?"

"I brought dinner forward, it'll be ready in five minutes. As it's just the two of us we'll eat in the kitchen, can you set the table?"

I got the table prepared as mum dished up the dinner. If the aroma was good before, it was stunning now.

We stacked the now empty plates in the dishwasher and set it going. A few pots didn't fit so we quickly washed them up at the sink.

"Eve, I had Sharon countersign your photo and I've put the form in the post with one of Dr Preston's letter."

We sat in the lounge after the meal, I was ready to surrender to whoever was willing to accept it, but somehow found the energy to take my homework over to Annie. Claire got a quick kiss then I walked back.

I was in bed by nine, shattered.

***

I started Monday with good intentions, really. I finished the second impossible item of coursework by eleven and, after a coffee, started the final one. I actually got as far as opening a blank file and saving it with a relevant name.

I walked back downstairs, my eyes just couldn't take it any more, perhaps I needed them checked? Mum wasn't indoors, or in the garden, so I parked myself in the lounge and put the telly on. Although I'd seen daytime TV before I was still amazed that firstly they could actually make this tripe and, secondly, that anyone would watch it.

I pressed the most useful button on the TV remote and wandered back into the kitchen. I'd finished that coffee and now I was truly bored.

There was still no sign of mum so I bagged up the two LBDs from Friday night, picked up my purse and locked up the house. I thought about cycling but it wasn't practical with two frocks so I walked to the bus stop. I had a ping of inspiration when the bus arrived and bought a weekly ticket.

In town I found the dry cleaners and swapped the dresses for a ticket. I went next door to the bakery and picked up some bread rolls. That done, I'm now stuck for ideas. I caught another bus and got off near the canal. I walked through the picnic area and down to the water, stopping where Claire and I had first explored ourselves, several weeks earlier.

Half an hour later I was back indoors, it would have been quicker by bike. I almost regretted going home.

"Where have you been!" It wasn't a whisper.

"I went to the dry cleaners."

"You didn't tell me."

"You weren't here."

"I told you where I was."

"No you didn't."

"Don't contradict me, Eve."

"Mum, you never told me. I was upstairs behind a closed door with music on. You never told me."

I could see her face going red so I tried something different.

"Mum, let's be sensible. I'll make a coffee and some lunch. I bought some fresh rolls."

I wasn't certain what would happen next so I took a step backwards, knocking over a chair. That caused mum to laugh, I never knew she was a fan of slapstick. She picked up the chair then hugged me.

"At least you're back."

"Mum I'm sorry, I should have left a note."

"Yes, but I think I tried to tell you where I was going by talking up the stairs to a closed door. We're both at fault."

We were both in tears, then I had a light-bulb moment.

"Mum, why don't we put a small whiteboard by the back door? Then we can write a note to each other."

"Good idea. Now, get that lunch done so we can go shopping."

Two hours later we'd bought that whiteboard plus a ton of other stuff from one of those discount warehouses. I somewhow forced myself back upstairs to that coursework but my heart wasn't in it.

Claire dropped by when she came home from school, we had a cuddle as we sat on my bed but that was all. I was getting a headache and wasn't with it. Claire thought I was ignoring her then she saw something was wrong. She put her hand on my forehead.

"You're burning!"

Mum was the next one up, then Sharon. The verdict was that I had a virus, that earned me a smack from Claire.

"If you've got it then I'll get it!"

Claire threw everyone else out of the room then got me undressed and into a nightie, finally making sure I was comfortable in the bed. I got a kiss this time.

I must have fallen asleep as it was dark when I next looked. There was a glass of water next to the bed, plus a strip of paracetamol. I took one and a swig of water, then forced myself to the bathroom.

"Eve, is that you?"

"(croak) Yes mum."

"what are you doing out of bed?"

"Weeeeeee."

"I'll be up in a minute."

I never saw her again before there was light shining through the window. My entire body ached, there was no way I was going anywhere today, except the toilet. How I reached that small room and safely made it back to my room I'll never know. I swallowed another pill and some water and must have fallen asleep again.

"Eve, Eve, wake up."

"Errr"

"Eve, wake up."

"What?"

"I've got to go to see Dr Masters, will you be okay?"

Daft question, if you ask me, I just nodded and rolled over.

***

The next thing I remember is mum stood next to me, crying.

"Mum, what's the matter?"

She just kept crying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

I got out of bed and hugged her, it probably wasn't the best of ideas given my infection, but this was more important.

"Mum, whatever it is, we'll work it out."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

I put on my gown and led mum to the kitchen, I sat her on a seat and put the kettle on.

"Mum, tell me, what's wrong?"

"I told him."

"Told him what."

"I told him everything, everything, everything."

"What did you tell him?"

"Everything."

Mum was sobbing loudly and her head was on the table, I didn't know what to do so I called Sharon but she was out. I tried Doctor Masters but he was unavailable, his secretary wouldn't put me through. I finally rang Dr Fox on her mobile.

"Yes Eve."

"It's mum, she's just got back from Dr Masters but she's distressed and I can't get anything from her."

"You should call Dr Masters."

"I tried, his secretary is a brick wall."

"Leave it with me, don't go anywhere." As if.

She rang off, a minute later my mobile rang, number withheld.

"Hello, Miss Jones? This is Dr Masters."

"Doctor, it's mum. She's distressed, I can't get anything from her, what did she say to you?"

"I'm sorry that's Doctor Patient confidentiality."

"Rubbish, I need to know or are you going to get here? If I call an ambulance then I'll make sure they know it's a result of your session with her."

"Give me ten minutes, I'll be with you."

"You'd better."

I did my best to comfort mum but she was still blubbing, saying "sorry" every now and again. I still didn't know what was going on, why was she like this? What did she have to be sorry about? Sure, there had been issues but we'd talked about them already.

I made a pot of tea and tried to get her to drink, but she was in danger of sending it flying so that didn't work. I tried talking softly, I hugged her but was pushed away.

The doorbell rang, I rushed to the door and let Dr Masters in. He tried talking to her but she became hysterical. He asked me to hold her while her prepared a hypodermic and injected her with a sedative. It took ten or twenty seconds but she finally relaxed. We helped her to the couch and laid her out, moving the coffee table as a precaution.

We sat in the lounge to keep an eye on her while I talked to Dr Masters, after he'd made a call.

"Doctor, what happened? Don't give me that confidentiality rubbish, this is my mother we're talking about. I have a right!"

"Miss Jones, Eve, no you don't have a right but now is not the time to worry about it. I can see why you were concerned about your mother. I persuaded her to face her demons, the session went well and I thought I didn't need to see her again more than once."

"Plainly that wasn't correct."

"No, but hindsight is not a good diagnostic tool."

"So, what did she say?"

"We covered everything that you're familiar with then we concentrated on her post natal depression. She eventually told me that you had a twin, a girl, who was stillborn."

"She's never told me that."

"No, it was a deeply suppressed memory, she told me that she wanted a girl and, when she lost her, she hated herself. Your father knew she was expecting twins and they had chosen names, Eve and Simon, but as you know your father died just before your birth."

"What else?"

"She discharged herself against medical advice and took you home. You were supposed to have been brought back to hospital for checks because the paediatrician later found that your twin had unstated problems that weren't connected to the still birth, but your mother refused and there was no follow up. There's no record of your twin having been collected for burial."

"Another hospital foul-up."

"Yes."

"So what now?"

"I want to take her in, I have to now I've given her a sedative, but it would be useful if you came with me."

"I can't, I have a viral infection."

"Damn."

"Is there an alternative?"

"I don't think so."

"Then I'll have to call my aunt, mum's sister."

"You do that and I'll arrange an ambulance."

We both made calls, I asked my aunt to come here so she could ride in the ambulance. I went back to sit with Dr Masters, who moved the subject to me.

"Have you been checked, physically?"

"Yes, multiple scans, I've got a procedure booked for next month. I hope to find out for myself then."

"Who's doing it?"

"Doctor Roberts."

"Right, I'll pass this information onto him as it is relevant."

"Very relevant, probably."

The ambulance arrived on blue lights a few minutes later, thankfully there was no siren. Sharon came running, Aunt Sue was not far behind, Jenny would drive her car to the hospital separately. I gave Sharon and Aunt Sue a summary, apparently neither knew that I was a twin.

Sharon sat with me after the ambulance left, mum had been taken out of the door strapped to a stretcher, something for the other neighbours to talk about. Doctor Fox then rang, Dr Masters had given her a potted summary, she said she was on her way over to me. You wait all year for one psychiatrist and two come along on the same day.

"Eve, have you had any lunch?"

"No, but I haven't had much of an appetite."

"How about some soup?"

"I'll try it."

"Annie's due home any minute, I'll ask her to warm some up, I just bought it. There's some fresh rolls as well."

"Thanks."

Sharon made herself a coffee, I got a hot blackcurrant and two paracetamol, apparently my temperature was coming down but I still needed to take them. Annie, finding no-one in her house, popped her head into mine and received the lunch order.

I was sipping the hot soup when Dr Fox arrived. Sharon excused herself and left me with my shrink.

"How do you feel, Eve?" Start with a meaningless question?

"My body feels lousy and I've just discovered I was a twin, how would you feel?"

"Point taken. What's your take on this news?"

"That's an interesting way to put it. It reeks of hospital foul-up again, except we're talking nearly seventeen years ago."

"Even if that's true, what about your mum?"

"She's already admitted to post natal depression but she explained it was due to my father dying, if she also lost a daughter that would explain a lot of her actions since."

"It would, Eve, but is it the whole story?"

"What else could there be? Am I the result of alien insemination? Call Mulder and Scully!"

She tried to keep a straight face. "No, I'm talking about her behaviour. Hopefully that will become apparent now she's admitted to herself that you were her surrogate daughter."

"But that doesn't explain these?" I cupped my unsupported breasts. I was, after all, still in my nightwear.

"No, but it could go some way towards that."

Doctor Fox left shortly afterwards and I went back to bed, sleeping until late afternoon. Sharon came up to see me. "Eve, you have to come across, I can't leave you here on your own."

"But I'm might be infectious."

"That isn't something to worry about, Claire's been sent home with the same bug."

"Oh."

"Put on a clean pair of knickers and PJ's then come across. Bring fresh clothes in case you need them."

I locked the house up a few minutes later and dragged myself across the short distance between our houses. I sat in the kitchen and tried some food but my appetite wasn't back. I took myself upstairs to Claire's bed, she was already there, asleep. Cuddling was off the menu.

The following day, Wednesday, was almost a repeat of Tuesday but without the hysterics and ambulance. Of course there was the added extra of a poorly Claire.

I was finally up on Thursday morning feeling capable of getting some work done, but Claire was still moaning to everyone. I showered and put on the clothes that I'd taken over a few days earlier. Aunt Sue had been going to see mum, who was in a private room. I'm not sure who arranged that but I was grateful. She wasn't violent but had been kept on a mild sedative while she talked through her issues with Dr Preston. As it affected me as well, Dr Fox was present for many of the sessions and kept me informed by phone.

After breakfast I rang the hospital and spoke to the ward sister.

"Can you give me an update?"

"She's being discharged later this morning."

"Right." I hadn't been informed, but then my aunt had been the main contact at the hospital. "Is my aunt aware?"

"Yes, she's coming to collect your mum at eleven. Dr Preston is seeing your mum at ten."

I went across to our house to tidy up the lounge. I stripped my bed and got that in the washing machine before remaking it. A quick vacuum around the ground floor made it a bit more presentable. Finally I wiped down all the worktops in the kitchen.

Mum had finally told us those lock-away secrets from the time of my birth, and raised more hospital screw-ups into the bargain. I was now ready for her return home.
 

The Story Concludes Chapter 41 By Shiraz   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
Previously:
 
Eve's mum finally admitted that Eve was a twin, but her sister was stillborn. She has had a breakdown and ended up sedated in hospital for two nights because of this revelation. Eve's fiancée, Claire, is in bed unwell.
 
Now the story continues.
 
 

It was nearly midday when mum finally arrived home, she walked indoors and sat with me on the couch. Dr Preston had phoned me and suggested we sit where it was less likely for mum to hurt herself accidentally, I'd moved a few items off the coffee table and out of the way. My aunt Sue had driven mum back here but was now supervising from a respectable distance.

"I'm sorry Eve."

"Mum, I'm just glad we know now."

"I'd forgotten it all, the doctor suggested that perhaps I had blanked it out. It wasn't until you were in that hospital that it all started to come back to me. I'd even forgotten why I'd changed the names your dad and I had chosen."

"Look mum, there is an explanation now. That's all that matters."

"Eve, I love you."

"Mum, I love you too."

We hugged and mum started crying quietly. I picked up a tissue and wiped her eyes. "Mum, it's over now. The worst is over, now you need time and a few hugs."

I got a small giggle from her, then a bear hug. She kissed me and said that she fancied a cuppa. My aunt was in the kitchen and already had the kettle boiling so the tea was served fairly quickly.

"Mum, we promised last week to be honest with each other, didn't we?"

"Yes, Eve."

"So, I don't want to see you going back into hospital for a third time this month. If there is anything else that bothers you, tell me. Even if it is going to hurt me, tell me."

"Yes, Eve, so long as you do the same for me."

I hugged mum and tears once again came to our eyes. I think they were tears of joy, but I wasn't minding either way right now. Aunt Sue brought the tea into the lounge with some sandwiches our neighbour Sharon had made.

I spotted my fiancée Claire out of the corner of my eye, hovering in the kitchen. She'd managed to get dressed but judging by her hair hadn't visited the shower yet. Her intention was to give me a kiss, as well as my mum, but I sent her back either to her deathbed or the shower. I received a smack and a promise she would be back although I didn't see her for the rest of the day.

We had enough food in the fridge to prepare some lunch. I wanted to do it but mum took over, I wasn't going to argue. While we ate mum commented how nice the nurses had been, I don't think she realised she had been in a private room. At least there's no complaint this time, that is a positive improvement. Of course there is still the issue of the events of seventeen years ago, but it was not the right time to discuss that.

We watched some telly but I was still recovering from my bug so excused myself at eight, I heard mum come up half an hour later.

Friday morning I was in the kitchen just after eight when I saw Claire outside. I walked over and gave her a kiss.

"Are you well enough to go in today?"

"I hope so."

"Why?"

"Doh! It's the last day before the half-term break. I've got to be there, but it's only for a few hours. By the way, Annie asked if you had any more work to hand in."

My turn to say doh! I rushed upstairs just missing a dishevelled mum heading for the loo and shower. I grabbed my coursework folder and gave it to Claire with express instructions to give it to Annie.

"I know, I know. don't you trust me?"

I answered that with a kiss and went back to making breakfast. I'd found bacon, eggs, mushrooms and hash browns, now what could I make with those? I had about fifteen minutes before mum was down, so no rush.

Before I could even start, I suddenly heard a crash from upstairs and ran up as fast as I could. The bathroom door was locked but we keep a key hanging outside to open the simple lock in case of emergency. I pushed the door open carefully and saw mum was in the bottom of the shower. There was no blood and the glass wasn't damaged.

I helped her up and sat on her on the loo seat. This was the first time I'd ever seen her naked but now was not a time to worry about it.

"Mum, what happened?"

"I slipped."

"Is that all?"

"No."

"Tell me, I won't be upset."

"I felt dizzy."

I couldn't see anywhere on her head where she'd hit the wall or the glass, definitely no bruising. I checked her forehead and she was burning, I knew immediately what that meant. She still needed a shower, regardless, she should have had one yesterday. I pulled my mobile out and asked Claire's mum, Sharon, to come over quickly.

I suggested to Sharon that she help wash mum while I checked her bed, it was damp where she'd been sweating all night. I stripped the bedding off and quickly put clean sheets on. Sharon was bringing her from the shower, wrapped in a towel. I got a clean nightie out of the drawer and dropped it over her head.

We sat mum in a chair and Sharon used a dryer to get her hair dry enough for her to go back to bed. Before she did I picked up the packet of paracetamol from my bedside cabinet and handed them to Sharon. A quick trip to the kitchen delivered a glass of iced water. Mum swallowed the pill and we laid her out. She was out for the count. I thanked Sharon and she left us.

So, I was now a nurse for my mum. I made sure she was okay then went to the kitchen. The breakfast ingredients were on the worktop ready but my appetite had flown out of the window. After I tidied everything away I had a bowl of cereal and some fruit instead. I was due at the doctor's surgery for my weekly check-up but there was no way I would leave mum. I phoned them just before nine and gave my apologies, expecting that to be it. The receptionist however told me that Dr Khan wanted to speak to me.

"Miss Jones?"

"Yes."

"Can you let me know why you can't be here today, it was quite important."

"My mum was released from hospital yesterday and has gone down with a viral infection, I've just recovered from the same bug. I'm not leaving her alone, especially as she's been into hospital for psychiatric care and only came home yesterday."

"Oh. I'd best tell you over the phone what we've found. Are you sat down?"

This is ominous. "Yes."

"I did a search of yours and your mum's medical records and it appears you had a twin."

"Yes, I found out yesterday for myself. So, that was seventeen years ago, what now?"

"Your mum's pregnancy file has the birth recorded as two girls but then amended to a girl and a boy, the girl being stillborn."

So I was mistaken for a girl at birth, or was I a girl mistaken for a boy?

"As I said, how does this affect me now?"

"I have scheduled you for a scan."

"I've had ultrasound, CT, MRI, the lot. I'm going under the knife in a week or so because no-one can make their mind up."

"I understand, but I scheduled the scan for this afternoon."

"Sorry, my mum is more important, plus she would have to sanction the scan and I wouldn't suggest her going anywhere near the hospital for a few days."

I rang off, today was not a good day for the medical profession, I decided. I'd run out of school-work and was twiddling my fingers again. I'd have liked to have gone out on my bike but that was out of the question. I pulled my laptop down and put it on the kitchen table, then did some trawling around the web but that didn't help me. I felt like putting some music on, loud, but that might wake mum.

I put the kitchen radio onto BBC Radio 2 with the volume low and took a look in the cupboards. There were enough ingredients to make a fruit cake so I decided on that, first however I discovered some yeast and bread flour. We'd bought these a few days earlier but had simply put them away. I'd always fancied baking bread but didn't know how.

Finally my laptop had a purpose this morning; I used the BBC's large recipe database and decided on a classic loaf. I spent the next two hours making the dough, then making the cake, finally putting both into the oven. The smell was wonderful. I had a gammon joint in the fridge and that went into the slow cooker, coated in honey and wrapped in foil. I finished it off in the oven when the cake came out.

I'd turned the cake and loaf out to cool when Sharon arrived at midday to make sure everything was fine. I hadn't been upstairs for a while so Sharon went to check. She was back down a minute later.

"Your mum's still got a fever and I've given her another tablet but don't give her any more until teatime."

"Right."

"When did you start baking?"

"Today."

"Never done this before?"

"No."

"You'll make a good housewife one day. Claire can't cook, Annie got that gene."

"But she can cuddle so that makes up for it."

"If you say so. How about a piece of that cake?"

"Not yet, it's still warm. Come back this afternoon."

The oven was still on, the gammon would be another half hour, however even in late October it was was warm enough in the kitchen to leave the door open. In the time while I was waiting for the loaf to bake I'd got mum's bedding into the washing machine. My clean bedding, washed the previous day, was now drying on the line. I'd actually managed to occupy myself for the morning, so I had turned into a stereotypical housewife. There's a PC word for it, Domestic something, home something, nah - housewife.

When the oven pinged at twelve thirty I took the gammon out and immediately carved off a few slices. I treated myself to a hot gammon sarnie. Claire wandered in as I started eating.

"That smells good, can I have some?"

Before I could stop here she'd sliced some for herself straight into waiting bread. My first loaf was disappearing. She joined me at the table.

"How mmm didmmmmmmummmm?"

It was pointless trying to talk whilst eating so didn't bother trying to reply to a meaningless question.

After our sandwiches Claire went for the cake, this time I did get there in time and gave her hand a slap. That was the start of a very silly chase around the kitchen, stopped when Annie walked in.

"That smells nice."

"I'd offer you some bread but your sister appears to like thick slices."

"I've eaten, and mum was waiting for Claire to have some lunch, I'll let her know that you've eaten, sis."

"Oh, Annie, did Claire give you that coursework this morning?"

"Yes, how did you persuade her?"

"Can't tell."

"Never mind, I was given some more for you, but it's not much as I explained you would be in hospital for part of the holiday. By the way, Andrea and Suzie are coming over tomorrow."

"I'll have to see how mum is before I know about tomorrow?"

"Why?" That was in stereo.

"She's got the bug! She's in bed."

"Can't you sort something out?"

"I'll try. No promises."

I asked Claire to collect our little black dresses from the dry cleaners and gave her a tenner with the ticket. Claire and Annie then went back, leaving me to clean up the kitchen. My next task was the laundry and I putt mum's bed linen out on the washing line; whilst the weather was dry I'd make the best of it.

I was sat back in the kitchen just after two when I heard movement upstairs. I helped mum to the toilet, she now had a poorly tummy. I found a clean pair of knickers, a sanitary pad and helped her into the knickers. Again, no embarrassment, just expediency. I helped mum back to bed after a mouthful of water.

Back downstairs I made a pot of tea, I was drinking tea more than coffee right now. I had just put a knife in the cake when three gannets arrived, make that five as I just saw cousin Jenny and Aunt Sue appear. Sharon and my aunt intended to check on mum but stayed in the kitchen long enough to see my cake disappear. If I hadn't kept a piece for myself I wouldn't have got any at all, and I almost lost that piece.

Eventually the two adults went up to see mum, I'd given them an update so they knew what to expect. I instructed Claire to clear the table and got a blank look. I used simple terms.

"Plates. Dishwasher."

The look I got could kill, fortunately I've already been killed enough recently so I was quite impervious. I just sat and folded my arms. The adults came back down, Sharon had obviously heard the conversation.

"Claire?"

"Yes mum"

"Did you enjoy the cake and your lunch?"

"Yes."

"Have you thanked Eve?"

"Can't remember."

"Then I think you should clear the table and put the dishes into the washer, and you can't kiss Eve until you do so."

"Ahhh mum?"

"You heard."

Claire looked at me, I just shrugged then gave Sharon a quick glance to let her know I was playing along.

That did the trick and the table was cleared, although I still had to get a damp cloth to wipe it down, then get the vacuum out to pick up all the crumbs. So much for my first loaf and first cake. Everyone except Claire left me and we settled in the lounge, locked to each-over. I think we fell asleep as Sharon walked back in with a tray, with dinner for us.

Before I ate I decided I should check mum as it was gone six. I woke her gently and took her to the bathroom then checked her forehead, her temperature was coming down. I gave her another pill and put her back to bed. I then got back down and gave my plate a quick zap in the microwave. Claire had virtually finished her plate by the time I sat down to eat mine.

I was feeling a bit run down so decided at eight to call it a day. I gave Claire a choice, hers or mine but I was staying here. She chose mine, I checked mum once again before midnight before returning to my lover's arms.

I was up shortly after six on Saturday and checked on mum, she still had a slight temperature but looked comfortable so I left her. I was now fully awake so went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea, knowing that Claire wouldn't surface for at least an hour, that gave me some time to think.

I poured milk into my mug and took a sip, there is something about a cuppa first thing in the morning that just hits the spot, whatever that means. I sat at the table and pulled my gown tight around me. It wasn't warm so I put the central heating on, normally it came on after seven.

Everything was now falling into place, Mum had finally admitted to herself, as well as the rest of us, the reasons for her behaviour and breakdowns. I just wished she'd got the help she plainly needed when I was born, but what's done is done, we need to deal with the present not the past.

So, that's mum explained, what about me? My twin had abnormalities, so have I got the same problem? I keep saying to myself that if it was an emergency I'd already be in the operating theatre but I'm sat in the kitchen drinking a cup of tea.

I was hugging my tea when a shape appeared in the doorway.

(Yawn) "What you doing," (yawn), "up?"

"I checked mum then decided to come down here."

"What you doing?" (yawn)

"Thinking."

"What about?"

"Everything."

"Got a cup for me?" Plainly the continuation of this discussion was too much for her brain at this time of the night, for Claire the day started after seven, preferably after eight.

I poured her a cup of tea, expecting her to sit down. Instead, she wobbled back up the stairs. I left her to it and walked up to have a shower. I was drying myself when mum walked in. She sat on the loo, almost on auto-pilot.

"Morning mum."

"Oh, hello Eve. I didn't see you there."

"That's okay. I'm just surprised to see you up, are you feeling better?"

"Yes. How did I get in this nightie?"

"Sharon and me did that after you fell in the shower yesterday."

"Oh."

"Mum, I hope you're not going to get prudish. You weren't able to do it for yourself."

"I s'pose so."

"Now, are you going to take a shower?"

"I think so, why?"

"I don't want you falling over in there again, mum."

"Let me have a cup of tea first."

"And a paracetamol."

"Okay."

I fetched mum's gown and helped her put it on, she obviously wasn't quite over the bug and was a little weak. I still had my gown but I'd slung my nightie in the laundry so the gown was all I had for now. I helped mum down the stairs, I did not want her to do it by herself.

I made us both a cup of tea, mum sat quietly. I found some underwear in the clean laundry and popped this on, I felt a little more secure now. Mum was still nursing her cup, barely drinking it. I dashed back up to find the pills and got down just before she slid off the chair. I persuaded her to swallow the tablet then helped her back up the stairs and back into bed. She can try again later, maybe. She can't be left on her own though.

There was an irony here, according to what I've been told I can't stay in the house overnight on my own because I'm under eighteen, right? But if mum is in bed, unwell and incapable of doing anything for herself then that's adequate supervision? Go figure.

I went into my room to get some more clothes, Claire was spread right across the bed, the tea was on the side, untouched and cold. I picked up the mug and took it, and my clothes, downstairs. By the time Claire finally appeared, I'd managed out the next laundry load and had half the ironing done.

I prepared breakfast but only wanted toast and OJ. If Claire wanted any more then she could help herself. I wasn't being nasty but I'd been up for over two hours and deserved sitting down for more than thirty seconds.

Sharon came over at nine to check on us. I told her what had happened with mum, of course Claire knew nothing of this. Sharon went up to check on her and found mum fast asleep. Maybe she'll be up later, maybe. At ten Andrea and Suzie arrived, together with Annie. They all wanted to go out for the morning, for that read all day, but I couldn't leave mum. Sharon had said out loud about needing to do some shopping and cleaning, I couldn't ask my aunt to help either, not after all she'd done this week.

No, I had to be here for her. I said to the rest of them that they could go without me, I didn't mind.

"Girls, what are we going to do, stay or go?" That was Suzie.

"Stay." "Stay." "Stay." That's three nil so far then.

"I declare that vote valid, the stays have it," Suzie again.

I wondered if I should say something, but Claire beat me to it.

"What are we going to play?" That wasn't what I'd thought.

Outside it went dark very quickly, then the rain started. I quickly grabbed the almost dry laundry off the line. Indoors the decision was made, whatever we were doing it had to be indoors. I made a suggestion.

"Have a look through the DVDs and choose a few, I'll make us a picnic for lunch." There was still plenty of gammon left plus chunks of various cheeses. I put the oven on and started baking two loaves. I had a sudden idea and got some frozen pastry out, a cheese flan would follow.

By the time the first DVD ended, several bottles of fruit juice and lemonade had gone, plus a few gallons of coffee. I picked up the phone.

"Sharon?"

"Yes Eve?"

"If you're still going shopping can you get a few bits for me please?" I gave her the list. It was more than a few but I figured mum wouldn't be going shopping tomorrow, even if she was up. I had a sudden thought, I'd bought Claire and I a Spa day for tomorrow and we had to be there at ten.

"Sharon?"

"Yes Eve."

"You know that Claire and I have this Spa day tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"What if my mum's not well?"

"Then either you'll have to cancel or ask someone else to look after her."

"Okay."

So I'm no further forward with my problem. I hope I'll see or speak to my aunt later today, at some point, so I can ask her the same question.

The second DVD was halfway through when I put my head back in the lounge. "Lunch anyone?"

The gannets approached at high velocity. I'd put a buffet style lunch on the kitchen table with some paper plates and napkins, gannets can be messy eaters. As with the previous day, I'd reserved my plate before making the announcement. When I looked at the table, the gammon and both loaves had gone. The cheese was holding out, just.

I pulled Claire away from the telly for a moment.

"The Spa day?"

"Yes, is there a problem?"

"There might be. I need someone to look after mum and we need a lift as there's no bus on a Sunday."

"I see, can we ask ..."

"I've already spoken to your mum, she won't sit with my mum and I'm not sure about my aunt."

"What about Annie?"

"Maybe?"

In the end, Claire's solution looked like it would work out okay; Annie wanted to spend the day doing her holiday homework and it didn't matter where she sat to do it. All we had to do then was persuade Sharon to take us to the Spa.

The girls finished their plates, and their second plates. By now they were bored of the DVD. Suzie suggested Twister, but four groans were heard, with hands clutching stomachs. I checked outside, it was still raining heavily and it wasn't quite one thirty so plenty of day left.

The joint decision in the end was to play Monopoly. This worked fine until I heard a call from upstairs and saw mum on the landing. I asked Claire to take my turn and went up to see mum. She looked better and said she really needed a shower so I got it running, then she asked me to stay with her. I shouted to Claire that I would be some time, in the style of Captain Oates, then helped mum into the shower. I didn't need to do anything, just be there.

I helped her as far as I could but she was more capable now and I was just an extra. I stripped her bed and suggested she put her joggers on. I grabbed clean laundry and sorted her bed out. She complained of dizziness but this time I guessed it was from lack of food. We went downstairs and into the kitchen. I said to Claire I'll have to leave the game but she told me I'd lost all my money and hotels. Remind me not to let her near the housekeeping budget.

I sorted some soup for mum, Sharon had arrived back whilst I'd been upstairs and I'd asked specifically if she could get some vegetable soup and fresh rolls, amongst the rest of my list.

Mum brightened up after that but wasn't very active yet. I suggested she stay off the tea and stick with water for now, I did however make her take one last paracetamol, just for good luck.

The rest of the afternoon descended into silliness, with the two couples enjoying each other, leaving Annie on her own. I didn't know what to say to her without upsetting either her or one of the others. In the end, Annie yawned and suggested she needed to get back, it was a strategic withdrawal, we all waved from wherever we were.

Mum had fallen asleep in one of the chairs so missed the love-in. By five however Suzie received a text saying she was being picked up in ten minutes. I said goodbye to her and Andrea then tasked Claire with tidying up.

"Claire?"

"Yes my love."

"The dresses?"

"Oh."

"Did you collect them?"

"I forgot."

"Okay, I'll get them on Monday. I'll need the ticket back, plus the ten pound note."

"I wondered why I had more money in my purse than I should have had."

"So you spent it?"

"Yes."

I threw the damp cloth at her but she ducked, it flew through the open doorway and landed on mum. I went to retrieve it but mum had woken, unsurprisingly. I would deal with Claire in a short while.

"Sorry Eve, just remembered, got to get back."

Make that later or tomorrow. Maybe Claire's finance gene also went to Annie, just like the cooking one. I could see mum wasn't aware of what had landed on her, but now she was awake and needed to get to the toilet.

Mum was more aware this time around and we were back down ten minutes later. She told me shefelt somewhat better, her forehead was no longer burning but I didn't have a thermometer to check it. I made mum a jacket potato, I don't think she could have managed much more. She sat and talked a bit but we left the subject of my birth well alone.

By eight we were both drifting off and went up to bed, I didn't have to help mum up there but once again changed her bedding. There would be more laundry tomorrow.

I woke on Sunday to noises from the kitchen. I checked mum's room and her bed was empty so I walked down to the kitchen to see mum pouring two cups of tea. What's happened to my coffee habit? Mum suggested a cooked breakfast but I wasn't sure she was up to it, or that the Spa would do me any good given the fat content of the breakfast. Therefore I'll pass on the breakfast until tomorrow.

How did I manage to book the Spa for today? Actually it wasn't my decision, Claire wanted it as soon as half-term started and I had given in. Of course, next Sunday it's my birthday, what will she get me?

I was bumped back into today by a mug of tea hitting the table in front of me.

"So do you want the breakfast?"

I hadn't actually answered mum yet, "no thanks, I'd best have something light."

In the end I looked at the brochure from the Spa and saw the piece about removing toxins from the body, so I had a yoghurt and some fruit. I would be extremely hungry later.

I was dressed and ready by nine thirty. Claire looked slightly sheepish as she handed over my tenner and the dry cleaning ticket. I'd guessed that Sharon had lent her the cash, judging the way that Claire looked at her mum as we climbed into her car.

The ride was quiet but thankfully swift, the Spa was fifteen miles out of town but this time on a Sunday the roads were clear. Sharon dropped us outside the main door and left straight away. I'm not certain she was overly willing to do that, but Claire does have a certain effect on those around her.

From the moment we changed into our white towelling gowns we knew we were going to have a treat. I only had one little concern, what was inside my knickers. As a precaution I'd used a panty liner and would say It was my time of the month, it should avoid any accidental issues. I actually had a slight discomfort in my stomach, I knew I'd be hungry - just not this early.

I shouldn't have even worried even that little bit, by the time we were collected at four we had been 'detoxified', pummelled, sweated, everything but fed. I was starving.

As I walked back indoors I asked mum what time dinner would be.

"About seven, why?"

I glared at her, she then collapsed in a fit of laughter. It had been a few days since I'd heard her laugh.

"Don't fret, dinner will be ready at six, Eve, at six!"

I gave her a hug and a kiss. It would just be the two of us tonight, we didn't need any excitement before tomorrow morning.

The Story Concludes Chapter 42 By Shiraz   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
Previously:
 
Eve and Claire made it to the Spa after Eve's mum recovered from the virus. It's the day of Eve's hospital appointment for an endoscopy.
 
Now the story continues.

 
I'd re-read the hospital letter the previous night but checked it again this morning, just in case. I wasn't allowed any breakfast this morning so I used that time to pack the overnight bag that had been requested, but as a precaution I packed for two nights. I sipped my hospital-approved water, okay it wasn't hospital approved but it was just water, ok, mineral water. Despite last night's meal I was sure I couldn't last the day, my stomach was uncomfortable.

We were in the car at seven forty for the fifteen minute ride to the general hospital. Parking in the staff car-park was great, but first we had to make a turn off the main road, the traffic was awful and no-one was prepared to give way.

We eventually reached the enquiry desk just after eight and were directed up two levels to the general surgery ward. Of course, my appearance was female, and I had the letter to prove it, but the hospital database hadn't apparently caught up with itself; I was first sent to the male part of the large ward but after a discussion with the duty sister was allocated a private room. There was no argument, no raised voices, just a quick compromise.

A nurse came in and asked me to change into a hospital gown with the great vented rear, fortunately I'd brought a dressing gown with me. At nine mum was asked to sign a permission form and I was given a pre-med then put in a wheelchair to go down to theatre, the nurse suggested to mum that she go to the café for a coffee.

Once there I was introduced to Dr Roberts who said he would be carrying out the procedure himself. He asked me some questions to confirm who I was and concerning my general health ("no headaches?"). I was then moved onto the table, he said I would only need entinox and a mask was put on me. I was feeling a little fuzzy, probably due to lack of food, he asked me to count down from ten.

I woke hearing my name being called, I opened my eyes and saw a nurse.

"Yeah?"

"Good, you're back with us."

I looked left and right, I was still lying on my back but didn't recognise where I was, obvious question time, "where am I?"

"You're in the recovery room dear."

"All finished?"

"I'll let the surgeon explain that."

"Surgeon? What about Dr Roberts?"

"I'll get you back to your room in a while, can you sit up?"

I might have just come round from anaesthetic but even so I can still spot a swerve when I see, or hear, one. With the nurse's help I raised myself to a sitting position, my legs over the side of the trolley I'd been laying on. Then I felt something strange in my groin. Given the earlier conversation I ignored it for now.

I was helped into a waiting wheelchair and, after a check of my eyes, was wheeled back to my room. A nurse there insisted I be put into the bed, telling me to hit the call button if I even thought about getting back out. Mum returned shortly after.

"Honey, is it all done?"

"I don't know mum, no-one's saying anything. The nurse in the recovery room mentioned a surgeon but I only saw Dr Roberts was in the operating theatre. Can you pass me that water? I'd kill for a coffee, and breakfast."

Mum handed me the water, I sipped it as the door opened and two gentlemen walked in. The second one was mum's favourite genito-urinary doctor, the first I didn't know.

"Miss Jones, Mrs Jones, I'm William Evans, you already know Dr Roberts of course. I'm a surgeon and I have been asked to operate on you."

"Why? I thought you just had?"

"Miss Jones, can I call you Eve?" That was Dr Roberts.

"Yes."

"Eve, when we opened you up we expected to find testes but instead we found two small growths, fortunately those were easily removed. I inserted an endoscope and found a mass I could not immediately explain. As we did not have the team necessary to open you up I stopped at that point and put some temporary sutures across the incision. I then asked Mr Evans to get here immediately. He does not ordinary do NHS work but I explained your arrangement with the Chief Exec so he's more than happy to assist."

"In what way?"

Mr Evans answered, "Eve, Dr Roberts has explained that the various scans were inconclusive, however the endoscope may prove to be more useful and that footage was recorded. I'll be reviewing that video and the earlier scans for a couple of hours and we want you back in theatre at two."

"So what are you planning to do with me?"

"I'll make my first incision across the groin, just below the bikini line. Initially this will be a keyhole so I can take a closer look but I'll have a full team there if we have to open you fully. I think it's important that we do this today given the uncertainty so far."

"Oh, is that all?" I started to cry, then mum joined in. The surgeon and the doctor left, there was a nurse stood behind and she gave us both tissues to dry our eyes.

I wondered why the nurse was still stood there, then I noticed the canula,

"Mum, there's a vampire in the room."

My arm can't have much blood left in it, what with all the tests I've had done since the end of August, and we still haven't finished with October.

I asked about a coffee and got a smile. What do I get if I ask for a full breakfast? Hold that thought, what would Claire think of that?

"Mum?"

"Yes dear."

"Claire?"

"Not yet, wait until we know for sure." Mum seemed to know what I was thinking.

"I s'pose so."

I must have fallen asleep as the next thing I remember is my shrink, Dr Fox, at my bedside, Mum wasn't in the room.

"Good morning Eve."

"Hello." I tried to push myself up but it was uncomfortable, my groin again.

"I'd like to talk to you, it looks like you are due to have major surgery and I need to know if you're prepared for it."

"I've split opinions, yes I'm worried about going under the knife but I want answers and if this is the only way?" I couldn't quite finish the sentence.

"So which opinion wins? They won't do the surgery if you or your mum are unwilling to sign, unless it was an emergency."

"So it may not happen."

"I think it is better to say it will happen, just possibly not today. From what I've been told surgery is required."

Mum re-entered the room at this point and looked at Dr Fox, plaining wondering what she was doing here. She hadn't heard the conversation so far.

"Mrs Jones, we need to be sure that Eve is prepared for what could happen, including any surgery. If Eve is not ready then the surgery will not proceed unless it was life threatening."

"Right, but do I get a say?"

"You would have to agree to the surgery as Eve is still a minor, but you can be overruled in an emergency situation, however we're not there yet."

"I see."

"Eve, until eight weeks ago you were a boy, as far as you and everyone else was concerned you had always been a boy. Then everything changed. Mrs Jones, you know your part in Eve's lifestyle change but we also have the physical changes. There's a lot to be considered, I think you want to know why this has happened."

"I do."

Mum corrected me, "we do."

I reflected on my words, wondering when the next time might be that I uttered them.

"Eve, Mrs Jones, I'll be back in an hour when you've had a chance to talk."

She left the room, I looked at mum but could think of nothing to say immediately. As it was gone twelve I suggested to mum that she get some lunch, that way I could think alone. This had to be my decision, in the first case.

I started thinking about my twin, the sister I'd never met. I had her name, but what happened to her? I started crying gently in sorrow for a life that never was. A nurse walked in the room.

"It's okay dear, we all have second thoughts."

"It's not the surgery, it's my twin."

"I didn't know you had a brother or sister."

"She died, still born. I don't know what happened to her."

"What was her name?"

"She wasn't named, and she wasn't collected."

"If it helps, I'll see what I can find out."

"Thank you."

"That's okay, I'll be back in a minute."

I laid there counting the tiles on the ceiling, I'd reached forty eight when the nurse came back.

"Now, the reason I cam in here is to see if you need to use the toilet. Normally, before surgery we'd fit a catheter but I understand you have an issue. I also need to give you a painkiller."

"That's right, and yes I would like a wee."

I was helped out of bed, my groin was still giving me grief but she wanted me back in bed before I received the jab. She sat me in the wheelchair and pushed me across to the bathroom, the other side of the room. My stomach was feeling worse, what I would do for a slice of toast. Having a wee with your sac covered in padding was not easy, she had to help me - necessary but still not easy to accept.

She was getting me in the wheelchair when mum came in.

"Could you leave me with mum for a minute?"

"Okay, but no more than two minutes." I still got my jab in the arm.

"Eve, the nurse told me that you were crying, she also called Dr Fox." Dr Fox had walked in behind mum, mum got a start when she spoke.

"Mrs Jones, she also told me why Eve was crying. It was because she had a sister she never met, never knew existed. There's no shame in having feelings under those circumstances. I know you have had problems but you have come through. I believe however that you have an appointment with Dr Preston in the morning."

"Yes, but I don't know if I can make it."

"Mrs Jones, for your own sake, for Eve's sake, please see him."

"I'll see how Eve is tomorrow morning."

"Eve, have you had any more thoughts?"

"No, I just feel that this is right."

"Eve, I'd glad you feel positive, this will be major surgery. Have you considered that?"

"No worse than brain surgery?"

"True, I think,

"Dr Fox, would worrying achieve anything?"

"No, but are you suppressing anything?"

"I know what you're trying to do, the answer is no, no."

"I had to ask."

"Perhaps, so what will your report say?"

"That you are in good mental health and ready for surgery."

"Good, now I wish the surgical bods would hurry up."

I hadn't spotted Mr Evans standing over by the door. "Surgical bod?"

"Sorry, just an expression."

"That's okay, I just came along to let you know what we found."

I suddenly felt a stabbing pain in my groin and I was told later that I'd passed out. I'd like to say I remember what happened next but no, nothing, until I heard mum's voice.

"Come on Eve, I know you're in there."

I opened my eyes gently, not very aware of my circumstances. My eyes were blurry, my head fuzzy. I wasn't sure I could feel my body. Now I know what a hangover feels like.

Then there was another voice.

"Eve, I'm going to wash your face then give you some water to drink. Don't try to say anything yet."

Something was moved out of the way then I felt a flannel, a straw was put in my mouth and I started to suck, coughing immediately. I tried a bit more water as the nurse spoke again.

"Eve, don't try to talk yet. You've been ventilated and your throat will be sore. I'll give you something to help you sleep for a bit."

So, nothing again until someone was gently shaking me. I opened my eyes, which were clearer now, and saw mum next to me.

"Eve, good you're awake."

I had a go at talking and nothing came out, mum held the straw to my mouth and I drank. Now I was aware of that annoying beeping and I could see lines going into my right arm. So, I'm wired into the mains?

"Mum?" I croaked.

"Yes dear."

"Where am I?"

"You're back in the same room. I've been here the whole time, although they wanted me to go home last night."

"Last night?"

"Yes dear, it's Tuesday afternoon."

"How?"

"Look, rest for a minute. I don't want a nurse to tell me off for encouraging you too much."

She offered me more water, my head was less fuzzy but definitely not clear. I still couldn't really feel too much in my limbs, what did they have me on? I closed my eyes.

"Eve?" That was a male voice. "Eve?"

"Yes?" I croaked again, more water.

"Good, now how many fingers can you see?"

"Stop moving them and I'll tell you."

"That's okay, we've reduced the anaesthetic a little to let you focus. You might start feeling a little discomfort."

Discomfort is another word for pain, it just sounds better. I could now feel my limbs and my head started to clear. I was a little more aware of my predicament so I looked around a bit, just moving my head from left to right. Apart from the lines in my arm, there was a pipe down the size of the bed.

"You bastards."

"What do you mean?"

"Catheter."

"Eve, we had to, honestly, we'll explain more in a while. Get some more rest, We'll be back at six."

"Mr Evans, can Eve have visitors?"

"I'm sorry Mrs Jones but I think it's best if Eve probably doesn't have any excitement today."

"Okay."

The room was empty when I next opened my eyes, although I wasn't aware I'd closed them. Now I could really feel my body, and it hurt. There was a call button by my left hand, I pressed it. It took a minute but a nurse arrived.

"Hello Eve. I'm Julie."

"Hi Julie. It hurts."

"It will, but the doctor said we had to reduce the anaesthetic, to bring you back to planet earth. Do you want a drink?"

I nodded, Julie picked up a control panel and pressed a button, my head started to rise slowly. She adjusted the pillows and gave me a cup, it tasted weird but she insisted I drank it.

"That'll help you get your energy back, there's also a little something in there to help the pain without sending you back off to sleep."

"Where's my mum?"

"We sent her home to have a shower, I suggested she needed one," she giggled, "I had to promise we'd really look after you."

"Yeah, she's a bit protective."

"So would I be for my daughter, if I had one."

"So what did they do to me?"

"Sorry honey, I think it's best that comes from the surgical staff. I do know some of the detail but I might get it wrong so it's best I don't say too much. What I can say is that you were lucky you were here."

"Why?"

"I shouldn't have said that, sorry. I tend to say too much."

"I get the idea. Don't you have someone else to see to?"

"No, I'm your nurse until ten tonight. I was just waiting for you to wake up and I dived out for a wee, we're not supposed to use the loo in your room."

"It doesn't look like I'll be using it soon, you see this?"

"Yes, but that's because you'll be in this bed for a few days. Right now, Eve I need to change your dressings. This will be uncomfortable and it may hurt."

She pulled up the blanket and fitted a pair of small slings, she called them stirrups, and had me put my feet in them, slowly.

"We don't want to tear the stitches, so gently does it."

When she removed the dressings I wasn't too worried, until she got to the last piece of gauze, I screamed.

"Sorry Eve, but it had to be done. I need to wipe the area, but I promise I'll be careful."

Fifteen minutes later she had just about finished when Dr Roberts and Mr Evans returned.

"Hello Eve, I see you've met Julie. That's a nice job, can you drop Eve's legs down please."

A minute later I was covered by the blanket, Julie stood to one side so the doctors could approach. They pulled chairs to the bed and sat, Julie then passed me some water to sip.

"Eve, I'm sure you are wondering what happened?"

"Yes, you could put it that way."

"When you passed out yesterday afternoon we had to take you straight back to theatre, there was just time for your mother to agree with us, although it would have been a formality at the time. What we had found by comparing the various scans was a set of female reproductive organs, plus some unexplained growths."

"Oh."

"Our first task was to open your vagina, that released a build up of heavily clotted menstrual blood, I believe you are currently experiencing your first period. Did you have any discomfort before you arrived yesterday morning?"

"Yes, since Sunday morning, so I'm really a girl?"

"More like a young woman who's experiencing late-onset puberty, I believe that is in your notes."

"Dr Khan did mention it. So what about the growths, do I have cancer?"

"No, we used an endoscope via a small incision, a keyhole, below your bikini line. The probe identified twelve more growths, about twelve to twenty millimetres diameter, around your womb and ovaries. I removed these through the keyhole and they were analysed yesterday evening. They were fibrous and, as far as we can see, benign."

"So did that throw the earlier scans?"

"Not by itself, it would appear that when the scans were done your womb was contracted and the growths fully obscured one of your ovaries, that would have caused confusion, especially as it also looked, at the time, as it you had testes, which we removed yesterday morning."

"So why wasn't this picked up previously?" I was getting a little concerned.

"Because no one person had reviewed all the scans, if they had then they would have come to the same conclusion as us, only several weeks earlier. It was the video from the endoscope that confirmed our suspicions."

"So what now?"

"You'll have to stay a little longer. What appeared to be a penis was an extended urethra, I've rerouted your urethra to the normal location and there are several sutures there holding it in place, we've had to fit a catheter because of that. I'd like to see your period finish and the bruising around your vagina go down. It's important that the tissue around the urethra is knitted, but I used dissolvable stitches there. Around the edge of your vagina I've used normal sutures which will need to be removed. You'll have to be cleaned and dressed every six hours until you're discharged, I'll want to take a close look tomorrow."

I started crying, I think they were tears of joy, but I then realised that if I was having periods ...

"Can I have a baby?"

"I don't see why not, although we'll have to do some tests, but your mum might suggest you wait. You also don't want to rip your stitches."

"I certainly don't expect her to be pregnant at least before she finishes school." Mum had walked in.

She came over to me and hugged me, "you are my daughter, no-one can say otherwise."

"She is, now you really do have to get Eve's birth certificate changed. I'll write to the relevant authority."

I had tears in my eyes again, "thank you Mr Evans, you don't know how much this means to me. Can I have visitors now?"

"Yes, you're awake and aware sufficiently but just be careful with those stitches. No more than fifteen minutes though. Also I don't want anyone jumping on your bed, and no sex yet."

"Not until I've finished my period?"

"Not for several weeks," Mum glanced at him, "or even months."

"Mr Evans, when can I take Eve home?" Mum looked serious now, I wonder if she was getting ready to have 'that' talk with me. Of course I'd had sex education classes at school, as a boy, and I knew Claire's biology pretty well so I couldn't learn any more, could I?

"A few days, I'd like to see most of the stitches out. I'd also like her period to finish. I suspect this one started two days ago, on Sunday, so we could have three or four more days."

"It's my seventeenth birthday on Sunday and I'm due to go back to school on Monday, that will be the first time since the summer."

"We'll see, Eve, you have had several hours of surgery and could be in a lot of trouble if you left here too early."

"I see. What's next then?"

"We'll arrange for an ultrasound in the morning to see how things are, and a CT scan on Thursday. Those images should be clearer now. You do know that we'll have to check you again every two months for a year and annually after that, as a precaution."

"Right, I think I understand why."

"I'll see you tomorrow afternoon then Dr Roberts will see you each day that you remain here, he will co-ordinate your discharge. All the information you need will be in the discharge letter to your GP, but you'll get a copy. If you have any questions in the meantime ask me."

"Okay."

He left after shaking my hand, he also gave mum a kiss on the cheek. Julie was still there and asked a simple question.

"Hungry?"

"You kidding?"

"I'll get the menu. By the way, visiting finishes at eight."

Julie disappeared out of the door, mum then handed me my mobile. I knew exactly what to do.

"Mum, you haven't told Sharon or Aunt Sue, have you?"

"No, I thought you would like that honour. Just remember it's half past six, not the middle of the afternoon."

I had already dialled Claire's number.

"Hi Eve, are you coming home?"

"No, I have to be here for a few more days."

"Oh."

"But they've told me you can visit, just no jumping on my bed."

"As if?"

"Seriously, and I have some news."

"Tell."

"When you get here."

"Give me five."

I hung up then called Jenny, "hi cuz."

"Hello, you survived then. What did they find?"

"Not telling unless you come to see me."

"I'll let mum now."

Mum's phone started ringing and I heard Sharon's voice and some moaning. Mum was confirming with Sharon that I wouldn't see that crowd before the morning and I could guess the groans were from Claire. Apparently they were doing something important and wouldn't be finished in time.

Aunt Sue called her next, they'd be here in fifteen minutes. Julie arrived back with a menu but warned against anything too heavy because of the anaesthetic and painkillers. I chose the soup and some fruit. Normal meals would start in the morning, if I was up to it.

Of course, the soup arrived about the same time as Jenny. She went to launch herself at me but mum stopped her, there was an instant sulk.

"So what did they find?" She's always direct.

"I'm a girl."

"We know that."

"Seriously, I'm having a period."

"Woah! You're not kidding?"

"No, apparently I can get pregnant, have a baby, all that stuff."

"So, new woman, when do you get home?"

"Not sure, there's a lot of stitches down there." I pointed, as if it was necessary.

"Why didn't they know before?"

"I didn't have a vagina, that was the problem."

"Yeah." Jenny stopped analysing the situation and started giving me the gossip updates. Most of it I didn't need to hear. Mum and my aunt were discussing things as I started eating the soup. It wasn't too bad, and it was food, I hadn't eaten for 48 hours.

Jenny and Aunt Sue departed after half an hour, mum gave me a kiss and then followed them out of the door. I thought I would get some peace but Julie returned to change my dressings. My legs went up again.

"I'm afraid we'll have to do this again at about midnight then at six in the morning."

"Can you not wake me?"

"Wish I could, but I get the feeling you'd wake soon enough, you'll be quite sensitive."

"Yeah."

"Congratulations by the way, I understand you wanted to be a girl anyway."

"That's right, it started when I was in here for a brain tumour a few months ago."

"It's strange how things sometimes just work out right."

"I know, but until now it never worked out for me, ouch!"

"Sorry, that looks a little sore. I'll put some cream on it."

"Thanks."

"By the way, you asked about your twin. I've asked someone in records to look it up. We should know more tomorrow."

"Thanks."

Julie worked on me for a bit longer before she could drop my legs. I now picked up a banana and had a munch. I must have dozed after that. I was woken by a nurse called Wendy who changed the dressings but didn't say much, I presumed it was around midnight.

The Story Concludes Chapter 43 By Shiraz   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 

 
Previously:
 
Eve now knows she is 100% female but remains in hospital
 
Now the story continues.
 

I next woke at six on Wednesday when the lights suddenly went on full in my room, this time it was nurse Karen who saw to me. She gave me a menu when she'd finished attacking my dressings so I could choose breakfast. I went light, I didn't think I could manage eggs let alone the full monty.

I must have dozed again as the noise of a trolley clattering through my door startled me. Breakfast was served and I finally found the remote for a TV in the room, meaning that I could now watch the morning news. I pushed the relevant buttons on the remote and ate whilst the woes of the planet were played out in front of me, the economy was the lead item, again, with all sides alleging blame for the country's state.

My media studies coursework could be entirely based on the press coverage of this economic slump, recession, or financial crisis. My English studies coursework could include a comparison of exactly the same terms.

I barely noticed Karen return to my room, accompanied by an orderly who was pushing a trolley with a monitor on the top. "It's easier to do the ultrasound here than drag you down to the maternity ward," she said as the orderly left. A woman in a white coat came in and introduced herself as Rachel and said she was a radiologist, Karen watched from across the room.

"I'm going to do an ultrasound scan of your belly, just to make sure that everything is where it should be. Are you pregnant?"

"Er, no, but anything's possible given my medical history."

The gel was cold and she didn't give me any warning, I wondered if she thought I'd been making a bad joke? Ten minutes later she handed me some paper towels and suggested I cleaned myself up. As soon as Rachel was out of the door, Karen found some wet wipes and helped me remove the last of the gunge.

She'd been gone for ten minutes when the Johnson contingent arrived, Sharon had obviously been briefed by Mum and stopped the expected bed dive from happening. Claire was clearly uncomfortable, stood next to the bed.

"So, what's your news?"

"Claire, I don't know how to put this," I pretended it was going to be bad news.

"No!"

"I'm having a period."

"What!?"

"I'm a girl, a real girl, all of the bits are there and apparently in full working order."

"When, how, what?" Her questioning is improving, if only she knew what she wanted to find out. Sharon took over.

"Why did they think you were male?"

"I had what looked like male bits," I pointed South, "but it wasn't the real thing. They operated on me to open my vagina and remove the odd bits, saving my life in the process I think."

Claire's face was now full on concern, although her mother was just nodding."Oh, what happened?"

I went through a diary of what I could remember and what had been told to me. Annie kept quiet throughout but walked over and gave me a big hug.

"Welcome to the sisterhood Eve, now you'll really know what we have to go through."

Claire became jealous and gave her twin an evil glare, Sharon immediately shot a look back at Claire. Nothing had been said, but Claire was gentle as she leaned over to kiss me. When I came up for air I asked Sharon why they hadn't visited last night.

"I was giving Claire some cookery lessons and we would have ruined a few things if we'd have left home immediately after your call. Unfortunately common sense flew out of the window, Claire became ratty and said a few regrettable words; she's now grounded for a few days and more intensive cooking lessons are under way. I've only allowed her half an hour to see you today."

We talked a bit more then at eleven Karen asked them to leave, I knew that meant my dressings were due to be changed but I wasn't expecting Dr Roberts to walk in as well.

"Eve, I need to have a look at the stitches, to check if there's any infection or any of them have failed."

Karen cleaned me up then Dr Roberts examined me, including using a speculum. The cold of the metal made me jump.

"That is very good, it's clear of infection and healing nicely. I see there's not much menstrual blood there either. If this keeps up you could even go home Friday."

"Could I? I hope so."

"We'll see how you are in the morning, but I understand that Mr Evans will see you later today."

The rest of the morning was fairly quiet, Mum came by for a while with some shopping, I chose my lunch from the menu and I had my dressings changed at two. Then Dr Fox arrived.

"Good afternoon Eve, how are you feeling?"

"There's not much pain now, just some discomfort when I move."

"That's not quite what meant, and I think you know it."

"I feel happy that finally I know what was happening to me, but upset it has taken this long. We could have avoided all of our meetings if someone here had just investigated a little more."

"I understand, but I hope you're not going to go around blaming everyone?"

"I'm annoyed, I'm annoyed that I've wasted time when I could have been a full woman, albeit only now experiencing a period, but that's a small price to pay. I've also missed two months of school."

"So do you blame anyone?"

"No, not any one person, but the system itself has failed me, going back to my birth."

"I can't argue with you, but is there anything you can do now that will change that?"

"I don't suppose there is, but I don't want anyone else to go through this."

"I can understand, but no individual can have that affect on the Health Service."

"I can try, in my own small way."

"Eve, I'm going to schedule a couple more sessions with you, one just after Christmas and one around Easter, just to see how you are. In the meantime, if you need to talk to me, call. Okay?"

"Yes."

Dr Fox left, I now had mixed feelings about her and her profession. I know she wanted to do her best, but for who? It wasn't always for me and that was a worry.

I dozed and but was woken by Julie to choose my dinner and to have my dressings changed. Mr Evans had obviously timed his arrival so it would coincide with my next unveiling. He was satisfied and left, Julie started to prepare the fresh dressings.

"Julie, can I see?"

"Are you sure you want to? There's plenty of bruising still."

"I'm sure."

"We don't have any mirrors."

"Look in my bag, there's a digital camera."

I had her take several, despite her many objections, but with the flash disabled so as not to draw attention. She handed me back the camera before putting clean dressings on me. Julie did mention that my flow was reduced, I think that was good news, but it was outside of my current experience. I reviewed the photos while I waited for my dinner, I don't know what I was expecting but all I could really see was the purple bruising, the poor light didn't help either. So much for that idea.

Mum popped in at seven for a short while before going home.

Thursday morning I was awake again for my dressing change then, after breakfast, put in a wheelchair and taken to the diagnostic imaging suite. By now I was off all my drips so only a certain bag had to come with me. I was gently put onto the table and waited for the CT scanner to do its business.

Jenny and Claire both visited mid morning, with mum following, then Dr Roberts came by in the afternoon. Again he wanted to see my nether region. Before he could start, I had to press the call button so a nurse could be present, Julie arrived a minute later.

"Very good, Eve. If you like we can make some changes."

"Like what?"

"I'll have Julie remove the catheter and we'll change the dressings for a sanitary towel. Do you have any?"

"I think so, mum brought some bits for me." I pointed at the bag.

"Right, I'll leave you with Julie. Subject to no other problems, I think you can go home in the morning, but I want to see you again on Tuesday at ten to have the stitches out. I'll put that on the discharge letter with some more information."

Julie went to my bag and retrieved a pad plus a pair of knickers, before gently removing the catheter. I was so pleased to be free of it, but thankfully I hadn't experiencing any of the previous problems. She suggested I head for the toilet then take a shower before putting my knickers on.

Back from my shower I pulled on a clean nightie as well then sat up to read, Julie had raised the back of the bed for me after changing the bedding. Mum came by at six and was surprised to see me out of the hospital gown, I gave her the news about my discharge and got a hug from her, then I made a dash for the loo, yelling to mum for a clean pad, I'd forgotten!

"Mum, I've got to see the Headteacher tomorrow."

"Eve, don't worry. Now that you are legally a genetic female he can't set any special conditions. He'll see you on Monday morning."

"I've got to be back here on Tuesday morning."

"I'll let him know."

"How did your appointment go on Tuesday?"

"Fine."

"Just fine?"

"Yes, fine."

That was a dead-end conversation. I suggested to mum she be back here at ten in the morning, then she left.

I was alone again but no longer restricted. I put my slippers on my feet and picked up my barely worn dressing gown. Suitably dressed I walked out of the room and along to the nurse's station.

"What are you doing out of bed?"

"Taking a walk."

"Go back to your room, you'll tear your stitches."

"No. I've been on my back for almost four days, I need to stretch my legs for five minutes but I know I have to be careful."

"Hi Eve."

I spun around.

"Oh, hi Julie."

"Do you mind if I walk with you?"

"Not at all."

"What do you want to do?"

"I think I'll head back to my room to pick up my purse then I'm going to find a decent coffee. Are you joining me?"

"I think I will."

We were back in my room just under thirty minutes later, I'd had my walk and we drank our coffee in a small enclosed garden area. Julie had stayed with me until I was nearly back on my bed, but prompted me to change my pad. She told me that eventually I'd have take care of myself without thinking about it, but for now I needed to be reminded.

She was still waiting when I came out of the bathroom. Julie produced a cannula and asked for my blood, one way or another I was losing plenty of the red stuff.

"Eve, I managed to find out about your twin."

"And?"

"The hospital wrote to your mother and asked her to arrange for your twin to be collected or to authorise us to deal with it. She never replied so, as far as I can tell, it's still in the morgue."

"It was a she."

"Sorry, sometimes I can be too impersonal, sometimes too personal."

"Thanks for letting me know Julie," I gave her a hug, "I'll let mum know."

I had a good night's sleep and woke when the morning nurse asked me to choose breakfast. This time I remembered what I needed to do in the bathroom, but I also had a shower, before dressing.

Dr Roberts came by just before ten and told me I could go, but of course I was still waiting for mum to arrive. She was a typically a few minutes late and we left soon after with a copy of the discharge letter and a few pills for pain relief, just in case. I was to return to the hospital the following Tuesday when the stitches would, hopefully, be removed - he'd decided not to remove any before my discharge. I also now had an appointment for that Friday morning to see the nurse at our health centre.

We drove home and mum parked outside our home, there was a banner across the front of the house.

I stepped out of the car and immediately received hugs from everyone there, if anyone present had any lingering doubts about my gender then the banner would sort that out! At the back of the crowd was Claire, my love. She walked slowly up to me then hung herself from my lips for what seemed to be an impossible length of time.

Everyone wanted to know everything all at the same time but I said I needed a coffee first. A slice of apple cake arrived with the coffee.

"Who made this?"

"Claire did." Knock me down with a feather? The cake was light, fluffy and very appley.

I sat for an hour describing what had happened to me, although most had already heard it. Alison and Suzie arrived halfway through causing a short rewind. I didn't tell any of them about the photos, I really should delete the images?

Just after lunch the doorbell rang and mum let Mr Spinner, my Headmaster, into the lounge. The four girls instantly went quiet.

"Eve, I understand you couldn't come to see me today, therefore I took the liberty to see you. I understand that your status has changed again."

"Yes, sir. I am officially a girl and apparently I always was a girl, someone got it wrong seventeen years ago."

"So, will you be back on Monday?"

"I hope so, but I have appointments during the week."

"We'll work around them, but have you realised, young lady, how much work and stress you've caused me?" He looked serious for a minute then creased up, that caused the room to descend into chaos. What a turn up, Headteachers have a sense of humour!

We talked about how we'd handle my return then he left, leaving a pink envelope with mum. I was feeling a little tired so I excused myself and went upstairs for a rest.

Mum woke me in time for dinner, but I was back in bed two hours later.

On Saturday morning mum insisted I was up and showered by eight. Just before nine I was stood by the front door, not sure what I was doing. Outside I saw Claire waiting so I went to her, receiving the customary welcome. I didn't immediately find out what she had planned.

Fifteen minutes later, however, we walked into the best salon in town and were treated to the full beauty treatment, including a leg wax. I'd previously decided against this on several grounds, but now couldn't think of one. By the time we walked out I had a new hairstyle, new nails and a new feeling on my legs.

We took a comfortable, slow, walk around the town, stopping for a coffee and pastry at midday. I took advantage of the pre-Christmas sales to pick up some bargains. By the time we were finished I had three bags of clothes and make-up.

We made it home just after three and I relaxed, perhaps even dozed. At five mum told me to get changed.

"Why?"

"We're going out, for some culture. I think you should wear that blue dress we bought in 'Dress Heaven' a month ago."

Mum had ordered a cab to take us and Claire to the theatre. First we went to the venue's restaurant for a meal then at eight into the auditorium to take our seats. The production was Romeo and Juliet by a certain Will Shakespeare, performed by the English National Opera.

The production was brilliant, a perfect tonic after a hectic week, I arrived home barely awake. Claire helped me out of my dress and into my nightie before shooing me into the bathroom. By the time I returned she was in my bed, and I couldn't see the straps of her nightie. Thankfully she only wanted a cuddle tonight,

The next day was Sunday the first of November, my seventeenth birthday. I was first up so made my way to the kitchen to make a coffee. During a quick visit to the downstairs loo, I discovered my first period had ended; I just hope the rest don't last a whole week! Back in the kitchen I was wearing a strange smile as mum handed me a stack of birthday cards.

"What's that face for?" I had mum confused.

"Nothing."

"Out with it."

I couldn't answer as I was giggling like mad and mum never did get an explanation! I sat down and opened the cards. I found cards from mum, of course, plus everyone else I saw regularly. The biggest card by far was from Claire, who apparently hadn't surfaced yet.

I then found cards from my Headmaster, my solicitor and my shrink, it was a sweet thought. What surprised me was how many cards were from my old school friends, I got the feeling that Claire and Annie had been phoning the rest while I was in hospital. It bodes well for tomorrow morning.

Mum sent me up to the shower saying we were going out for lunch. I found my bedroom empty, I hadn't seen Claire get up and leave, what had I done wrong? Mum then told me she'd dashed out whilst I was in the loo.

Julie had warned me that, because of my stitches, I should wear a skirt for a few days, although a frock would have done just as well. It reminded me of the way mum had forced me into a skirt two months earlier, ironic is it? I wonder how long it will be before I can put jeans on, I'll have to ask the nurse on Friday as I doubt if Dr Roberts won't be able to answer that one authoritatively. I put a long-sleeved top on as well before doing my make-up, carefully. I still had no idea where we were going. Should I put something else on?

I shouldn't have worried, we had been invited for lunch by Sharon, although it was apparently my love who was doing the cooking, hence her rapid departure. Apparently she could cook after all, but was a tad lazy in that department. I wondered which cruel punishment she'd been threatened with?

It was a lovely atmosphere with no pressure. After the meal, while we each sipped a glass of wine, I finally got to open my pressies. There was lingerie from cousin Jenny, black of course, some sensible clothes from Aunt Sue, including the receipts so I could change them!

Amongst the others, Annie had obviously thought, her package included "The Girls' Book: How to Be the Best at Everything", essential reading! Sharon had bought me a necklace that spelt my name whilst Claire told me I could have her present later!

Mum had three small packages for me, she insisted I opened them in the right order,
 

My provisional driving licence Driving lessons, starting tomorrow after school Car keys

 
I was speechless. I wanted to run outside but mum told me it wouldn't be there for me until tomorrow, she knew we'd all have wine and that I shouldn't lose my licence on my seventeenth birthday. Drunk in charge of a car before I'd even got in it, I shuddered at the thought. No, tomorrow was soon enough, I just dangled the keys for a minute, watching them glint in the light.

I was in a daze for the rest of the afternoon but eventually ended up with Claire on the couch, the others giving us space.

"Claire?"

"Yes my love?"

"You know you have to wait for a month or so?"

"Yes, but I already know what my early Christmas present will be."

We both giggled loudly, several heads turned in our direction then quickly turned away.

"Claire, I have a serious question."

"Yes?"

"What are you planning to wear to school tomorrow?"

I woke up alone on Monday morning with a little trepidation, I would be attending school for the first time since the end of June. Mum had suggested last night that distractions, I think she meant Claire, weren't a good idea but Sharon had apparently already said that to my lover.

Before she went home, Claire and I had managed a dig through my wardrobe, so we had a better idea of what we would both wear. I was restricted, my choices were a skirt or a frock until I was told otherwise, although tights were allowed. Despite her agreement to co-ordinate with me, Claire wasn't overly keen to wear a skirt as the outside temperature had dropped below 10C!

Of course I still hadn't inspected my car and mum had been adamant that the keys remained indoors until my lesson that afternoon. It could be an interesting day.
 
 
End of Book 1