The parents were an odd couple.
Alan was managing director of some city firm, and he looked the part. Tall, slim, though with a slight paunch forming. A ring of hair around his head starting to show the same grey as the thick moustache he wore.
His suit was expensive, but boring. The type of cut and colour you'd fine a stereotypical accountant wearing. The sort of guy people would look at and immediately dismiss as boring.
Nicole, on the other hand, was the polar opposite.
I was sure her name had probably been 'Nicola' at one point, and she'd changed it to seem exotic. Her clothes were immaculate, her nails manicured and lacquered, while her makeup was expertly applied. Armour to face the world.
High heels and a pencil skirt, along with a loud blouse and enough jewellery to mark her out as a target for mugging if she'd ever wandered into the area of the city I'd grown up in. She was all exuberance and emotions, wearing her heart on her sleeve for all to see.
They seemed nice enough people, they just weren't my people.
So, we sat in awkward silence while the doctor answered their questions. The two of them sharing questioning glances as they gave me some serious side-eye.
"And, she'll be okay," Alan asked, leaning forward. His voice as dry and dull as his outward appearance. "No issues from the coma?"
"Some light rehabilitation to get her up and moving safely, and she will be good to go." Dr Beyer glanced at her watch and plastered on a fake smile as she awaited the next inane question.
"What about her memory?"
I got another side-eyed glance there from Nicole and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I lay back in my bed. I'd opted to go for vague non-answers and a feigned 'fuzziness' when they referenced things I should know.
Apparently, that hadn't been the best option.
"It's understandable that there is some memory loss," Beyer said, nodding slowly as she glanced at the chart in her hand. "That will likely resolve in time, and she will be much the same as before."
Hardly.
The door to my room was open and I tuned out the question-and-answer session as I watched the staff and patients wandering about their lives. Most of them were uninteresting, but there was a blonde nurse on the ward that was hot.
She was out there, leaning on the desk as she flirted with an orderly. He said something that had her laughing as she twiddled with her hair. He was tall, decent looking, well-defined muscles and an easy smile.
His name was called, and he turned to answer and for a moment, just a moment, as his face was turned towards me.
It changed.
Twisting into some obscene caricature of his own, the mouth lopsided and splitting his face, eyes growing round as sauces and black as pitch. His nose hooked, while his skin became the corpse like colour I'd last seen on my own dead body.
Then it was gone, and he was the smiling, charming, man calling back a reply to someone out of view. He turned back to flirt with the nurse again, leaning in, faces inches apart.
I blinked, my stomach churning and looked across at the parents sitting beside the bed. They hadn't noticed anything, nor had the doctor.
Just me.
"I need the bathroom," I said, cutting through their conversation and all three of them turned to me.
"You have a catheter, Chloe," Doctor Beyer said.
"Yeah, I want it out."
"It needs to stay in until you can make it to the bathroom-"
"I can do that now," I said through gritted teeth. "Please. I just… I just want to go."
Alan and Nicole shared a look, and she reached out to pat my hand as she looked at the doctor. "It's okay, I'll help her."
"I'm sorry." Beyer shook her head. "We can't spare a nurse every time she needs the bathroom."
"Please!" I pleaded. "I'll be fine."
"Doctor, perhaps…" Alan began as his wife chimed in. "If she wants this, Doctor, then remove the catheter."
The doctor gave way beneath the onslaught and threw up her hands. "Fine, fine. I'll remove it."
Which was a uniquely humiliating experience. The doctor pulled on gloves and closed the curtain around the bed. Alan made his excuses and left while Nicole held my hand and watched my face, which I appreciated more than I'd expected.
When the gown was lifted, I looked away. I wasn't ready to see lady parts where my boy parts should have been. So, instead, I got to feel the tug and pull as the catheter was removed with only a little bit of a sting, and a great deal of relief.
"Thank you, doctor," Nicole said, as I grunted agreement.
As the doctor left, I pulled my gown down and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I was still hooked to an IV, but the wires of the heart monitor had been removed earlier. Since the IV was hung from a metal pole with wheels, I gripped it with my right hand and drew in a deep breath before hopping off the bed.
My legs gave way immediately and I would have fallen if Nicole hadn't grabbed me, throwing an arm around my waist and hugging me close.
I flashed her a grin. "Thanks."
"Come on, love," she said, guiding me to the bathroom door.
Once inside, she made a point of looking in the mirror above the sink, checking her immaculate makeup and hair as I hiked up the gown and sat.
It stung to pee, and I winced, cheeks colouring as I went through the embarrassing ritual with some strange woman in the room.
Once finished, I grabbed the bar mounted to the wall to pull myself up and was stopped as Nicole handed me some tissue.
My cheeks flared crimson.
Under her watchful gaze I cleaned myself up and then flushed before hobbling to the sink, using the IV stand like a cane.
Nicole brushed a strand of hair from my face, hooking it behind my ear as I washed my hands. "You won't have any scars at least," she said, and my eyes flicked towards her, studying her.
"What happened to me?"
"You really don't remember any of it?"
"No."
Which was true, and likely the first truthful thing I'd said to her.
"You were in the pool with your friends. Playing silly games and trying to impress everyone. You'd climbed onto the roof and tried to jump into the pool."
Sounded like typical teenager nonsense. The sort of thing I'd have done with my friends.
If I had a pool.
Or a group of friends.
The only real friend I had was Benny and he'd left me dying in the road as he ran for it. So, I was kind'a crossing him off my list of available friends.
"Guessing I missed the pool." My smile wasn't as charming as I'd intended judging by the way her expression darkened.
"Yes." For a moment she was silent and then with a sob, she said, "You scared me! Don't you ever scare me like that again!"
"Ah… I won't," I promised, as she pulled me into another embrace. I patted her back awkwardly and waited for it to end.
Back in the room, I made it to the bed on my own as the doctor watched me critically. As I climbed back onto it, she gave a nod. "Better than I expected. That's good. Should have you home before you know it."
"Can't wait," I murmured as I lay back on the bed. Surprisingly tired from the short walk.
Typical that the deal I made came with a whole lot of work to fix the body I'd been given. Orryn could have at least fixed it fully first.
"Okay, love," Alan said, joining Nicole by my bedside. He leaned down and kissed my cheek before I could pull away. "We'll head home and pick you up some clothes. Get you out of this gown." He looked back at the doctor. "If that's okay?"
"Of course." She smiled. "Everything is looking good, and the focus now will be on getting her up and moving on her own. Then she can go home. I see no reason she can't be comfortable."
"Your pyjamas," Nicole said. "They're in the bag by the door and when we got the call, we rushed out without bringing them. Is there anything else you need?"
I thought for a moment. It would be a bit much to ask for them to bring me Chloe's diary so I could learn a bit about her, so I settled for the next best thing.
"My phone?" Best not to ask for a laptop until I knew she had one.
"Of course." Nicole beamed. "Everyone will be so excited to hear from you. Poor Kevin has been calling every day." She paused then hurriedly added. "Zara and Brooke too."
I had no idea who any of those people were and could only hope the phone would provide some insight.
After they left, I kept an eye on the open door, but the orderly had gone about his business and there was only the hot nurse. Though, she was less appealing after seeing her talking with whatever the hell the orderly was.
Not human. I was sure of that.
Without meaning to, I slept for a time and woke when everything was dark. A heavy duffel had been left beside the bed, and I blinked bleary eyes as I sat up.
No sign of the parents so they had come and gone, which saved me having to try and make more awkward small talk.
I reached down and heaved the bag onto the bed.
Heavier than expected, or I was just weaker, I unzipped it and began sorting through.
Clean underwear, which was useful as I wasn't wearing any. Simple, plain black knickers with only a pink bow for decoration. My masculinity, what was left of it, would survive wearing them, I was sure.
Especially considering I had the appropriate body for them anyway.
A soft sigh at that reminder and I pulled out the pyjamas.
Pink.
Fluffy.
Covered in cats.
Fuck my life.
A quick glance to ensure the door was still closed and I slipped the underwear on, pulling them up beneath the gown. Pyjama bottoms next, which were at least full trousers and not shorts. Then a deep breath and I pulled the gown off.
I couldn't help glancing down and seeing the mounds of flesh on my chest.
A moments panic as my sense of self shifted and then I slipped on the pyjama top and hid them from view.
"Fucking pathetic," I muttered. "Big hard man freaking out about having boobs."
That didn't help, but it felt warranted.
There were more clothes in the bag, but I ignored them, opting instead for the phone. They'd taken the time to charge it, though they'd provided a charger too, and it unlocked with a rub of my thumb over the sensor.
No pass code then, which was a bonus.
For the next hour, I leaned back in bed, surprisingly warm in the fluffy pyjamas, and delved deeply into the life of Chloe Bennett.
She'd finished sixth form, and had been ready to start Uni. The party, from what I could make out, had been one last hurrah before everyone headed off. Then there had been the accident, and her friends had continued on without her.
There were pictures all over social media of her best friends our partying and having fun.
Oh, sure, there were messages sent and posts up with videos, images or text, all wishing Chloe would get better. Solemn images of pretty girls looking sad, posted an hour or two before those same girls were downing shots at fresher's week.
There was a sense of the superficial about it all. Fake. Her best friends had moved on quicker than I'd have expected, and while some thousand or more people listed as followers or friends had sent messages of support early on, they had soon trailed off.
Leaving Chloe alone.
I had to wonder just who this girl was, who had thousands of likes on a bikini pic from some beach, and yet so few true messages of care.
The phone clicked off, and I dropped it on the bed beside me.
In a way it would make things easier. Less people to fool. But, at the same time, it was kind of sad that was the case.
The door opened and I looked up, eyebrows raising as the orderly from earlier popped his head in. "You, Chloe?"
"Yes." I narrowed my eyes, but his face didn't change. "What do you want?"
"Gotta take you for a scan."
"What scan?"
"No idea, love. I'm just the guy who will be pushing the chair." He dragged a wheelchair in through the door and positioned it beside the bed. "You need a lift into it?"
"I can manage."
He seemed pleasant enough. Stepped back to allow me space to climb out of bed and waited until I was in the chair before he grabbed the handles. He even whistled as he pulled me from the room and set off along the dark corridors.
But I couldn't get the image of that twisted visage out of my head and a sense of foreboding gripped me.
Like something bad was about to happen.