Part 4: It had to happen. . . .
It was only just over an hour later, although it seemed like an eternity, and Rosalind and I sat in a small ante room. We were just outside the private room where Julie now slept after having been carefully examined by a night doctor on duty. The diagnosis: a very mild stroke; unlikely to have caused any brain damage or long lasting affects (thank goodness) but of sufficient severity for her to be kept in overnight and be attached to various monitors—and the recipient of an assortment of medications.
After the initial examination, Julie had then been unceremoniously disrobed, stripped of her female attire, cleaned of her make-up and placed on a trolley ready for a CAT scan. We were certainly more embarrassed for her then she seemed to be, although that may have been as she wasn’t totally with us for most of the time. The hospital staff seemed quite unfazed by undressing a middle-aged man wearing women’s clothes but, there again, I guess they see all sorts.
Whilst we had been treated politely most of the time we had received some overt stares and, once or twice, I felt aware of being the subject of some sniggers and of general amusement from amongst the staff — and I know both Rosalind and I felt a little uncomfortable being there en-femme in an unfamiliar environment.
Still, it could have been worse and so we decided to hang around just to make doubly sure Julie was settled and as comfortable as she could be.
At least they don’t know who we are under all this make-up and clothing, I thought more than once. And hopefully they’ll never know. But as for Julie, she has suffered the indignity of being revealed to be a middle aged man under all that glamour, although maybe she is too drugged up to be worried about it right now!
I was just about to say to Rosalind, “It’s past 1:00 a.m. already, shall we head for home?” when she suddenly sat bolt upright.
“Is Julie married?” she asked, with a frown on her brow. “Or does she have any family? I’d sort of forgotten about her marital and family status in all the commotion.”
“Aaah, now you ask, I’m not sure. Actually, I know very little about her. As gregarious as she is, she keeps her personal details close to herself.”
I stood up whilst I contemplated Rosalind’s question further and looked through the small window in the door of the room where my good friend lay; various tubes in her left arm and wearing a face mask to help her breathing. Julie had been sedated for the night and, thankfully, looked peaceful and was not in any danger according to the doctors. “A mild stroke like this is quite common for a man. . . er. . . person of this age,” one had said.
Rosalind stood up too. “I see. Well, I guess we can’t find out right now. Shall we go? We can always come back tomorrow.”
“Yes, let’s. Not sure we can be of any further help here.”
We’d taken just a few steps down the corridor towards reception when I heard a commotion ahead of us. A woman raising her voice, snatches of what she was saying drifting towards us: “I don’t care what time it is, I want to see my husband. Now! Don’t ask me, I don’t know which room. Got a call from the hospital about an hour ago, said he’d had a mild stroke. I’ve dashed here as fast as I could.”
Rosalind and I exchanged knowing looks. “Aaah, the answer to your earlier question?” I asked rhetorically, raising my eyebrows.
“Yessss. . . I think so.” Rosalind caught on quickly. “Might not be wise to be seen to be here,” she added as we both quickened our pace, skipped through reception, past the woman with the raised voice who was still harassing the night receptionist, and made a beeline for the main doors.
“True. True, Mrs Julie might not appreciate meeting two of her husband’s closest friends… especially wearing their best female attire!”
“No, I agree. She certainly wouldn’t. Hmm . . . let’s get out of here!”
As we slipped into the dark night, as an afterthought I said, “Actually, I’d love to be the proverbial fly on the wall when Julie comes around and has to explain to her wife all about how she came to be in the hospital with no male clothes. . . .”
Category: Transgender Body & Soul, Transgender Fun & Entertainment
About the Author (Author Profile)
Christine has written numerous (at least 150) articles, columns, op-eds, features & stories for well known T magazines, websites & e-zines; she also works as a part time fiction editor for Club Lighthouse Publishing, and is a co-editor of an award winning T-girl Magazine. In addition, she has written 8 adult books mainly in the T sub-genre which have been published by Club Lighthouse Publishing, for whom she has been the best selling author for the last 5 years.Subscribe
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