In LA a week later
"well Doc, what do I have" asks Suzy hoping for some answers
"you grew up around trees, that's a higher oxygen atmosphere than here in America, you can't exert yourself as easily here, what happened was your brain was fighting for oxygen after that make out session with Ashley on the plane, your first breath of America's air, even with the ocean breeze wasn't enough concentration for you, you became irrational, you lashed out, you're acclimating well to the difference in concentration, however I'm going to prescribe an oxygen tank so you have some supply to get your body back up to what your body expects so you can be intimate with Ashley" says Rebecca
"but I'm going to look like an old lady with this oxygen line in my nose, that's not a good image for Ashie, she's a big star now, how can I be with her if I look like an old lady" says Suzy
"you don't need it all the time Suzy, your lungs are more capable than most people, including adults, the air isn't as clean up here in North America so your body isn't getting as much oxygen as it expects, since you've been in America you've probably noticed you're stuttering, stumbling on your words, more tired than you were in Brazil and even more easily confused" says Rebecca
"yeah I've had all of those, we're a poor town, we don't have doctors, we rotate through one doctor who deals with us and is knowledgeable about the disorder, we can't afford to see him or go to the hospital in new York city an hour away over every little thing so we wait till it's our turn to see the doctor and even then it's not always a given that one visit is enough for him to diagnose the problem, what kinds of things will I need the oxygen tank to do, can I go on walks with Ashie without it, what are my limits" says Suzy
"lifting weights, going for runs, sex, that kind of thing, your lungs are like batteries, more so than with most people, you thrive in wilderness environments but suffer in the city, if you had a house with an air purification system you'd need the oxygen tank less often, by the way Ashley is building a house, next to where Cat has set up for her house, it is expected that you'll live with Ashley, they can't start drawing blueprints until I make my diagnosis official, which I can make official later tonight, do you have any other questions" says Rebecca
"I have trouble lifting weights, Ashie lifts ten pounds twice a week for ten minutes but I can barely life two pound weights for two minutes, it worries me, Ashie said when I hit her she'd barely felt it" says Suzy
"the whole amazing lungs thing, it means your body is geared towards swimming and diving not weight lifting, if the town has an average size public swimming pool I'd rather you do that than lift weights, it'll put less strain on your body" says Rebecca
"when can I see Ashie, it feels like a punishment to keep us apart" asks Suzy
"her body is changing rather quickly, for some reason it's like her body had paused her puberty when the girl hormone levels became an issue and now that it's back to normal levels her chest is growing faster than I thought it would, I deal with a lot of interesting patients when it comes to their issues and symptoms but so far I've been unable to predict how Ashley would react to the proper level of girl hormones, you know the soreness you got when yours started to grow, multiply it by seven and that's how much pain she's in, a case like hers is like one in ten million, we doctors don't see it that often, I had suggested that she be in the same bed as you while she recovers but she said and I'm quoting here 'not until this pain calms down, I want to be able to look into her eyes without wincing', she was quite adamant about that last part" says Rebecca
"that does sound like her, she doesn't do anything by halves, she always gives a hundred and ten percent to whoever she's interacting with, it's what I love about her, she's a human encyclopedia, she soaks up information about everything, it doesn't matter if she's interested in a particular topic or not, she'll read about it, the librarian back at our school in Brazil had to actively stop her from reading every book in the library, by the time they realized she was done all the age appropriate books and headed to the upper grade books she was already returning the last of the age appropriate books and trying to check out non age appropriate books, she could recite any page from any of the books too, it's cool to watch actually, it always stumped the teachers" says Suzy
"couldn't she have read the information online" asks Rebecca not believing that Ashley really is like that
"on what computers, the school only had two computers and one was strictly for the teachers and the students had to sign in on a paper as well as sign in on the other one and Ashie had no computer at home, she didn't even have a phone until last year and only because her mom insisted she get one so they could stay in touch at all times because they were afraid she was suicidal, she only agreed to it so long as they got her the bare minimum text only plan" says Suzy
"surely she has games on it as well though, I don't know many people your guys age that don't mobile game" says Rebecca
"nope, she doesn't trust the internet not to send her inappropriate links or videos because of the fact that she, like me has the sexual variable age disorder thing, she simply doesn't trust internet companies not to track her, besides she rarely left my side, we were inseparable friends then, our favourite past time from Brazil was reading" says Suzy
"but yesterday you said you couldn't read, which is it" says Rebecca suddenly confused
"I was cut off yesterday by your team because of my oxygen level dropping, I tried to say 'I don't read that well', I never intended to convey that I can't read, I'm dyslexic, Ashie helped me get better, she helped me understand that If I'm reading a word an it starts or ends with a letter that doesn't make sense then a letter is wrong, I mix up my o's and e's a lot" says Suzy
"a lot of people will wonder why your speech is so good if you don't read all that well, not that I'm judging you about that, I mainly want to know if this is something a doctor diagnosed and if so for how long" says Rebecca
"I've had the diagnosis since I was five, I've had a lot of speech therapy as well, you can thank Ashie for my light accent, I spent so much time with her that I no longer sounded like my family and picked up Ashie's accent" says Suzy
"I was wondering why it sounded so familiar, you've picked up some of her mannerisms as well, which given how kind and outgoing Ashley is, it's definitely not a bad thing" says Rebecca as one of Rebecca's team members walks in
"we need to talk Becca" says Doctor Cameron Kies
"is it about Ashie, is she okay" asks Suzy suddenly worried about Ashley
"why else would I come here personally instead of paging her, unfortunately it's regarding part of her hormone imbalance treatment so I don't think I can legally discuss that" says Cameron
"they're dating Cameron, it's been on pause since they entered America because of the incident that happened because of Suzy's low oxygen issue, as of this morning they're dating again, keeping Ashley's current situation secret from Suzy will only make her more anxious which will aggravate her condition" says Rebecca as Cameron nods
"she wants to be transferred to this room, luckily her hormone levels are still stable since the boosting we gave her yesterday but she fell after insisting she walk down the hall from her assigned room so she could see Suzy, the fall only made the pain worse, Jal then denied her request to change rooms and insisted that we'd continue to deny her request for four days" says Cameron
"is she bleeding" asks Rebecca
"no and I tried to counter him but he said that as the senior team member below you that his denial would stand" says Cameron
"always so laser focused on health care that man, while he is one of the best at keeping patients healthy I hired you as Katarina's replacement for a reason, he doesn't take kindly to a lower tenured team member overriding him, is she stable enough to be moved" says Rebecca
"yes she's stable, her heartrate is a little variable but I felt that it's because no body's there with her going through the pain, nobody to help keep her mind off of it, her condition is pretty rare, do I have permission to transfer Ashley to this room, Suzy has been quite lonely" says Cameron
"yes you're clear to move her, send Jal to my office, in the meantime tell the on duty head nurse that Ashley needs some fresh air, she'll know what I mean and it will get around Jal because the request came from me" says Rebecca
"ok" says Cameron heading back to Ashley's room
With Rebecca 10 minutes later in her office as Jal shows up
"you have some nerve Jal, Ashley's recovery is Cameron's case not yours" says Rebecca standing up and slapping Jal
"I have seniority and tenure, I felt it wasn't in her best interest to be moved, you hired me to take care of patient care, that includes whether to move a patient upon request or not" says Jal stepping back out of slap range
"Ashley specifically requested that a male doctor not be assigned to her case because she doesn't trust most men, helping Cameron make an informed decision on whether to grant Ashley's room transfer request is one thing but outright making the decision for her on her case is over the line, you promised me that in return for me letting your little brother go on play dates with my oldest daughter that you'd stop taking over cases not assigned to you, you repeatedly taking over Kristina's cases without asking her if she needed help is why she walked away, she wouldn't even accept a pay raise, Cameron is a better more well rounded doctor than Kristina, don't make her second guess taking this job, my youngest daughter needs more attention from me, she was sick all last month and the runny nose still hasn't gone away even after the cough went away, giving you more supervisory duties was supposed to let me monitor my youngest more so I can figure out what's wrong with her, I can't do that if Cameron quits because you refuse to let her run her cases" says Rebecca
"sorry, I've been dealing with Sage, he's been off lately, all he'll say is it has something to do with Talia but he won't or can't let me help" says Jal
"she asked him out, she said it didn't go well, something about him brushing her comments about her loving him off, she's usually very open with me about who she's crushing on, for her to be so vague about it means he must have told her to never bring it up again" says Rebecca
"that's not like him, though he's never felt right in his body, at times he requests we refer to him as her, though he usually pulls back after a few days, maybe that's what he didn't want her to find out" says Jal
"she's bisexual among other things, it wouldn't matter to her what gender identity or sexuality Sage goes by, she's loved him since she met him at that doctors conference five years ago where I introduced you as my right hand doctor on my team, she said he was very cute in his elegant dress, she doesn't assume things about people, she never has, rarely does she also ever call anyone cute, not even when her little sister tries to be cute, trust me it's hard not to call them cute, if Talia calls someone cute there's usually a very good reason, cute and ick are the two words you won't find in her regular vocabulary" says Rebecca
"Sage kept that dress, something they only do when they like the dress, usually they have us sell it, she must have complimented them in it" says Jal
"suddenly you're using gender neutral pronouns for Sage, is Sage trans or non binary" asks Rebecca
"neither, at least not that Sage has told me, I do feel they are transgender though, I just realized that, that's why I changed how I refer to them, you're Sage's doctor, don't you know what they want" says Jal
"I am her doctor yes, she has an appointment with me tomorrow, however I can't confirm anything, she required that I not say anything" says Rebecca
"and yet you just did" says Jal
"actually Sage allows me to use whatever pronouns the conversation requires around you as you're her only accepting family member, though I'll admit it is nice using the ones she prefers" says Rebecca
"please tell her that lying to herself for the benefit of others makes me sad, I want her to be real and happy, that judge granted her wish and made me her primary caretaker after her attempt to end her life two years ago after mom and dad hit her very hard for wearing a dress, her brothers didn't react all that well either, I'm the one that accepts her for her, it hurts me that she doesn't trust me with the truth, I became a doctor in this field because it took nearly twenty years to diagnose her as Bipolar, before that doctors just called her moody, I wanted to change the experience for patients, to make it better, anyway I should get back to my patients" says Jal, suddenly leaving to stop Rebecca from seeing him cry
The next day with Ashley and Suzy
"my pain isn't as bad does that mean I can leave with Zuzu" asks Ashley
"I'd like to let you know the requirements of her release from the hospital first, she'll need the oxygen tank for the rest of her life, though it's only to be used in certain cases" says Rebecca as Sage arrives early for her appointment, checking in with the nurse
"what kind of situations, I'd quite like to make out with her and stuff, I've quite missed it since she paused the relationship" says Ashley
"she'll need breaks, depending on how active you girls are it could be more often than not, you'll know when she needs it because she'll be extremely short of breath, it'll be obvious, she'll only need a few minutes of oxygen, though once your house is built with the air purification system she probably won't need the oxygen as much inside, mostly outside" says Rebecca
"oh they're already building it" says Ashley
"but the ground is frozen in new York right now" says Rebecca, surprised that Ashley would get started so quickly
"Zuzu and I don't need much space, one bedroom, one full bathroom and two small powder rooms come spring, a kitchen and a living room, they're building it right now, it'll have a concrete skort as I call it so it can lay on the frozen ground and be supported until spring, then the house will be on stilts while the basement and foundation is being built and I'll get another floor for all my music recording stuff, it'll be a wide tiny home, not quite a regular size home but not quite a tiny home, most of the town is four story homes, though only two stories can be used because of storm damage, which the mayor says will be fixed thanks to Cat getting the feds on board, most of the families in the town need the four stories because they're big families, I don't see Zuzu and I needing a home that big but the property Cat bought for me is wide enough to expand the home if I wanted to, both floors will have an outside door that leads to nowhere in case I want a deck or even an addition later on, the property is big enough that we could expand quite a bit and still keep the indoor pool" says Ashley
"not to take the questions away from us but you clearly have a girl pacing back and forth waiting to see you for an appointment, she looks very anxious" says Suzy as Rebecca turns around
"wow, she wasn't suppose to be here for half an hour, I'll have Cameron get you guys up to date on everything, I don't want you girls leaving for the town just yet, give it a few days, train yourselves with the oxygen line, I don't care how" says Rebecca
"are you giving us consent to have sex, that's not something that we thought would happen, my parents were more worried about us and sex than they were all of us being sent back to Brazil" asks Ashley
"I spoke with your parents this morning, they're ok with a controlled introduction, the kids are giving Cat the week off to spend time with their parents so you'll be staying there until I'm certain you've trained enough, Cat's rules are looser than I'd like regarding clothing requirements and sex but your parents are ok with it for the time being, they'll want you two to go to the new food truck that was opened in the town by the state to help bring up the nutritional levels in the town" says Rebecca
"what do you mean by a slow introduction, I have no idea what that means" says Suzy
"lips and tongue down there, no fingers, however that's as far as they'll allow you two to go, at least until they see how you two handle being a couple in public in full view of the community, basically they want to see if you can behave" says Rebecca
"I guess that's fair" says Suzy
With Rebecca in her doctors office 25 minutes later
"are you sure the hormones are safe, I really want to be a real girl, I heard there's a minimum hormone therapy requirement to get my thing turned inside out, I hate it, people make fun of me at school" says Sage
"I can start you on a dose today but you have to understand it isn't an overnight process, it takes time for things to develop, I was kind of hoping you'd talk to Talia today, she's really been beating herself up since your last playdate, I hate using that word because you're both twenty years old but she insisted that it be used" says Rebecca
"I don't know about that, she came on quite strong about us dating, I'm just not sure I'm ready, I rarely love myself, how can I love someone as kind, beautiful and smart as her" says Sage
"yeah she does that when she's passionate about someone or something, you should see how she is around the NICU nurses, they're always just as shocked and nervous as you and that's the field of medicine she wants to go into despite my warnings about it being a sometimes saddening job, she told me last month before your last play date when I pressed her to look for an easier and less taxing field of medicine and I'm quoting her here 'with Kassie by my side it won't be a problem', not many people know your chosen name let alone actually use it" says Rebecca
"how'd she find out I'm trans, you didn't tell her did you" asks Kassie
"legally I'm not allowed to tell anyone anything about your medical history or diagnostic information without your consent, that includes from my family, remember that dance you had with her in that dress at the conference where I announced your brother was my right hand doctor on the team" says Rebecca
"yeah, that was the peak of the year for me, girls usually avoid me like the plague when I'm in my dresses, she approached ME and asked to dance AND kissed my hand, I was awestruck by her eyes, her manners were far above where most girls tend to stand, that's why I asked my brother to arrange the play dates, I was not and am still not ready to use the word date when it comes to girls" says Kassie
"I'd asked her about the dance that night, about why she felt she had to be the first to dance on the floor, her response was pretty telling 'I felt drawn to her…. Err him ugh I don't know, between the dress, those eyes and that nose, I HAD to get a closer look and when I did I knew I had to dance with them, there was no if about it, I'd make a fool of myself to attempt to dance with her', she couldn't decide how to refer to you at first, by the end of our conversation with no prompting from me on which was right she settled on she/her, I asked her several times if she was certain, her response was 'I love her, of course I'm certain'" says Rebecca
"she was certain from day one that she loves me" asks Kassie quite shocked by the implication
"absolutely, she even complimented your short height saying 'she has the perfect girly proportions for me, well besides the lack of chest pillows but other than that she IS perfect for me, I'm absolutely certain this time', I was quite shocked, that she'd be that up front with it, the last time she was that certain about nothing going wrong, she asked the girl out and the girl told Talia that Talia would be better in a circus than dating her, Talia met you three years after that" says Rebecca
"Tali doesn't belong in a circus unless she wants to be, that's an insane claim for that girl to make about Tali" says Kassie
"something you should know about Talia is she takes rejection very badly, she's a dancer by nature and when that last girl rejected her she quit everything, I took convincing for her to keep attending school and outside of school she never left her room, after you turned her down she outright quit university, even rejecting the online variant and again she hasn't left her room" says Rebecca
"I never said no though, I said I wasn't sure" says Kassie
"to her that's worse than a no, to her it means you don't even like her as a friend let alone like her romantically it's stupid that she sees it that way but she's very in touch with her feelings and anything close to rejection throws her off and she isolates herself entirely until something changes" says Rebecca
"but I saw her here today, on her way to NICU with a nurse" says Kassie
"it was the only thing I could do to get her here today and she fought me on it, told me she wasn't in to mood to dress up for babies and that she wanted to keep herself isolated, I told her it wasn't optional, that the head NICU nurse requested her help today, she begrudgingly got dressed though if she was only arriving now she dragged her feet on it" says Rebecca
"what worries me about her is she seems very sexual, like as in she'd want sex a lot, even before I'm able to have the procedure, that's the reason I said I wasn't sure, not because I didn't want to be with her, I wanted your opinion so I knew if I was wrong and I couldn't get an appointment till today" says Kassie
"she is sexual however I had a talk with her before she went for the playdate where she asked you out and I asked what her plans were if you said yes, I had the exact same fear you do, though she's always been more interested in girls than boys, her response was 'not if she doesn't want to, if she's trans then I'd never ask her to use that part of her, I'd prefer till after the surgery, even then I'm not sure she'd want me to even look at it let alone touch it, besides I'm more interested in her tongue and lip skills than if she can use that part of her body, I'm uninterested in it anyway', since she owns several of those kinds of toys I was very surprised" says Rebecca
"did she explain why she has them, because that's very concerning to me, I'm not sure I'd believe her saying she has no interest in my male part" says Kassie
"to her credit she has a wicked imagination, when my jaw dropped she responded by saying 'they're just objects to help me further my fantasies with Kassie, I have no interest in guys actually using theirs to have sex with me', she ended the conversation there and never brought it up again, though she did slam her door in my face, my advice is to trust her, you saying you weren't sure affected her more than any rejection she's ever gotten before, yesterday she stopped eating enough and also stopped drinking enough water, when I saw her before coming into work today it looked like she hadn't slept all week, please don't leave here without her, it would kill me and your brother if you let her dwindle herself down to near death, I'm certain that's where she'll go" says Rebecca
"I'll talk to her but if she's as bad as you say then I don't know if she'll believe me" says Kassie as Rebecca writes the prescription for hormone therapy
45 minutes later as Talia spots Kassie at the front doors and stops in her tracks
"I didn't know she'd be here, I'd have never agreed to come if I'd known, Kassie rejected me a month ago, now I can't leave, not with her at the front doors" says Talia absolutely terrified
"trust me Kassie had a really good reason to say what she said, besides you straight up said 'I love you and want to marry you', I don't know anybody who would take that well, it would be quite the shock, I know if my wife had said that as a way to ask me out back in the day I'd have absolutely turned her down and I was head over heels for her, you're not exactly an easy person to deal with even on your best days, trust me she's at the front doors as a reason to talk to you, she's probably as afraid to bring it up as you are, your mother obviously said something to her, she's started Kassie on girl hormones, you remember puberty, remember how confusing and painful it could be" says NICU Jackie Stones
"yeah I didn't much like the pain but I also didn't much enjoy my mother explaining every little change to me either" says Talia
"all she has is her brother, do you really think he has the time, knowledge or patience for her questions, I guarantee that her brother's wife left him because of Kassie likely being transgender" says Jackie
"wait you don't know if she's transgender or not, but you said she's on girl hormones, that can only mean one thing" says Talia
"I work with babies for a reason Talia and June who fills most of the prescriptions doesn't ask questions, not unless a doctors prescription pad gets stolen, anyway as far as I know Kassie's been on puberty blockers since just before her boy puberty was supposed to start, something about anxiety and past heart problems, both by Kassie and her family history related to too much boy hormone being produced or something, I don't know the specifics but if I were you I wouldn't want her to go through it alone" says Jackie
"I guess you're right" says Talia as she sighs and walks over to Kassie
"I didn't mean to make it look like I was rejecting you, I've always had communication issues, I'm transgender I hate my guy parts and thought if I said yes outright that you'd want me to give you a kid or something, you're quite sexual, I wasn't sure what you'd expect of me, as it is when I have self care I don't last long" says Kassie
"I'm definitely more interested in your tongue or finger skills, I mean you have a guitar and you play amazing, sometimes I'd dream that I was the guitar, anyway did you get the pills from my mom" says Talia
"they haven't filled it yet, apparently the pharmacy here didn't have enough of my dose on hand to fill the prescription, they said they'd let me know soon if the delivery they got this morning had some, I don't see why it wouldn't, it's not like your mom wouldn't have ordered some, she handles all my prescriptions and it's not like me wanting hormone therapy sooner rather than later wasn't obvious to her, how long have you known I'm trans" says Kassie
"from the first time I met you I had a feeling you might be, my mom likes to think I have the ability to glean information from people without them saying anything, as if I'm psychic or something" says Talia
"you don't believe in that…., my brother absolutely believes that God gives some people special abilities" says Kassie
"it's not that I don't believe it's real, it's the fact that she thinks that I am psychic that I don't believe, I'm just good at reading people, at least most of the time" says Talia as June walks over with a pill bottle
"here you go Kassie, follow the instructions to the letter it's important" says June handing Kassie the bottle of hormones pills
"how long will it take before I can get bottom surgery" asks Kassie
"depends on if Rebecca plans on upping the dose, she seems to think you'll react quite easily to the hormone therapy, the general timeline is a year after starting the hormones but I've seen operations be approved as soon as eight months, on one occasion it happened as soon as six months but don't expect it to happen quickly, if it happens that way then it happens but lower your expectations just in case, anyway go on a date with Talia, you deserve it" says June as Kassie wines as they leave
"you don't like that word do you" asks Talia
"I don't love my own body, mentally how can I love someone else and date them if I can't even love myself" says Kassie now let's go to your brothers apartment and snuggle, I don't think he'll be back tonight, he said something about working in emerge tonight" says Talia
"I know what that word means to you, I'm still nervous about it" says Kassie
"trust me you'll enjoy this, you won't have to take anything off but I'll be naked" says Talia as Kassie's eyes go wide
"you're not teasing me are you, because that would be cruel and unfair" says Kassie as Talia literally starts drooling slightly
"now why would I tease you like that, not to mention I'm literally drooling at the thought of your head finally being between my legs, I've only been dreaming about this for two years, me teasing you would be literal torture for me, as much as I love to torture myself with the thought that the average girl would care about me enough to like me, I'd never do that though, not as long as you're in my life, you mean too much to me" says Talia
"you really really love me don't you" asks Kassie
"you're literally my crown jewel, how anyone could dislike you seems impossible to me, you're the most sincere amazing person I've ever met, not to mention you're the cutest girl I've ever met" says Talia as they get on the bus
at Cat's place later that day
"girls you're going to have to be a little quieter, Jade's trying to sleep" Yells Cat down to the basement
"sorry miss Valentine we'll be quiet" yells Ashley back upstairs
"to be honest I didn't think they'd be this loud, at least not here, they seem like really shy people" says Robbie as Tori nods in agreement
"remember how loud I was my first time with you at your dad's Tori, I didn't want to be that loud, I was experiencing pure pleasure, I'd forgotten where I was, I'm sure they're experiencing that same kind of thing, even if they're only allowed to use their tongues, they're probably going to stay louder than I requested they be, we might have to just put our headphones on and ignore them until its time to make dinner" says Cat
"that's fair" says Robbie