Taylor looked and in its original box was a Stacie doll, his blue eyes went wide at the sight, “Oh oh .. um.” was all he could get out.

Natalie giggled a little, completely misreading Taylor’s shock. “I know it’s not much, but ever since they brought you in we’ve all kind of been praying for you. It’s, um... Well, it’s kinda a miracle you’re even alive right now.” She trailed off for a moment then smiled, carefully setting a fresh glass of water well within the girl’s reach and range of motion.

Fresh tears ran down Taylor’s face, “You all are nice, thank you.”

“Aw, sweetie, don’t cry,” Natalie insisted, trying really hard not to cry, herself. She really couldn’t explain why she felt she had to look after this girl. Either because deep down she knew the truth about her parents, or that the girl reminded her of someone she’d lost, or that Taylor just genuinely had no one to stay with her right now, she felt it was her place to. She hugged her gently.

“When I do go home for the night, I’ll leave my cell number with you so you can call me, if you need to talk though, okay? I really don’t want you feeling like you’re stuck here alone, especially with your arm in a sling like that.”

Taylor nodded, unable to say anything more. She was all choked up, so she just turned and started to drink some more water.

“There are a few other kids your age in the ward too, but I’ll let one of the nurses play matchmaker.” She stage-whispered, “I don’t want to be to blame if it’s someone who bullied you at school or something.” She winked and smiled then eased herself down into the chair beside Taylor’s bed, occasionally glancing up as someone walked by the door.

Later that night one of the nurses came in to check on Taylor. She somewhat looked like Tiffany. “I didn’t get a chance to see what Faith did to this one, but if I guess it’s probably the same as what she did to Sarah.” the woman said into her cell phone as Taylor pretended to be asleep.

“I’m worried,” the woman on the other end answered. “Sarah wanted the changes. I don’t know if this one did or not? Faith hasn’t said anything about it.”

“Faith usually doesn’t answer to us. You have to remember, she does what she wants, but she wouldn’t force something on someone that didn’t want it - not like this anyway.”.

“Yes, that’s very true. And besides, one of her fellows would have no doubt reminded her of Eva’s transgressions if she had.” She trailed off with a light giggle.

“I’m going to do a check up on the girl real fast and come back. We have to place her somewhere, do you have any ideas?” the woman asked.

The woman on the other side of the phone paused for a second, “Actually, I have some good news on that front dear. You won’t believe this, but Bethany is standing right here beside me.”

“Bethany?” the nurse giggled, a little surprised. “What is she doing there?”

“Playing messenger,” the other voice teased. “I’m kidding!” she laughed, sounding like she was talking to someone beside her more than the nurse on the phone. She added a moment later, “Bethany says the girl has a living relative, a sister. I’m going to pose as the girls’ parents’ lawyer. They did leave them a sizable estate so there’s little more for me to do than to deliver the news personally at least. We’re going to have to create a place for them to live, and send the girl to Sunshine Academy here in Alpine Springs.”

“That’s a fantastic idea. You know how much Faith and the others love the old town. She’d be in good hands there.”

“Yes, a lot of history in Alpine Springs: Micia, you take care of that girl, and find out anything else you can then report back to the coven ok? Tomorrow go back as the social worker and tell her all about the home and her sister. I’ll talk to you later.” the phone went dead.

Micia smiled down at the girl and leaned close to kiss her forehead, still believing she was asleep. “You’re safe, little one,” she whispered in a motherly tone, and quietly turned to leave.

Taylor finally went back to sleep and had a peaceful night’s rest. The next morning, she woke to a nurse checking on her. “Oh good morning sweetie, The doctor will be in shortly to see if you can get out of bed or not, and the social worker will be here this afternoon to talk to you again ok?”

She nodded quietly, deciding not to ask about the woman who came into her room last night. It was probably just a dream anyway, right? That’s what she kept telling herself anyway.

Moments later a doctor arrived in Taylor’s room, “Ok missy, let’s see if you can sit up for me today ok?” The doctor gave Taylor a warm smile.

Taylor nodded and slowly sat up. Her ribs didn’t hurt nearly as bad today as they did yesterday, but her broken arm still stung. “Oooouch my arm!” she cried out.

The doctor frowned. “Okay, lie still sweetheart. I’m going to inject something into your IV that will help with the pain.” She deftly reached for a small vial of medicine in her pocket, and within a few seconds, a fresh dose of medicine rushed through Taylor’s veins. “You’ll feel a little tingle, and then the pain should get a lot better. How are you feeling otherwise?”

“My ribs don’t hurt as bad, just my arm I guess. Can I get up and go play soon?” Taylor looked optimistic. She really wanted to get out of that bed already.

“We’re going to take you down to have some more x-rays done after you’ve had breakfast, both of your ribs and your arm, to see how the bones are mending. I’ll be able to give you a better answer then, but I will say that you’ll have to take it easy either way.” She paused and smiled. “But given the time frame, it shouldn’t be much longer before you can at least get out of bed.”

“Is Natalie here? I want her to be with me if that’s ok? She makes me feel safe.” Taylor looked at the doctor with her big bright blue eyes wide. She had only been a girl - consciously - for a couple of days, but she had already mastered the puppy pout.

“She’s not here yet, but I believe she’s on the roster for this morning, now that you mention it. She’ll probably stop by as soon as she gets here.” She trailed off, but smiled thoughtfully. “She’s going to make a fantastic pediatrician someday.”

Taylor nodded in agreement as the doctor smiled turning around to leave Taylor alone for a bit till a nurse came in with her breakfast.

“Scrambled eggs, buttered toast, milk, apple slices, aaaand...” the nurse paused for dramatic effect and grinned. “Chocolate pudding for dessert. It can’t ALL be good for you.” She winked.

Taylor giggled. ‘Wait a second,’ she thought, ‘Did I just giggle? well whatever!’ and smiled, “Thank you! I’m so hungry right now I could eat anything.”

“I’ll bet. You were out for quite awhile there. Tell you what. Just this once, if you’re still hungry afterwards, I’ll sneak you seconds, okay?” She grinned, lifting the lid on the tray of food and arranging the rolling bedside tray as Natalie had done the night before.

Taylor finished her breakfast, and waited for either Natalie or the doctor to show up. The food for hospital food wasn’t all that bad, and with her belly full, she turned her thoughts some more to all this girl business, why everyone kept referring to her as ‘her’, or ‘princess’, or even ‘missy’. She even questioned what Natalie said about the catheter.

She was incredibly smart, and knew pain medications could cause strange hallucinations. She also knew not to mess with the catheter to try and find out, either. She’d just have to bide her time and keep playing the dumb kid awhile longer. At least the attention was a nice change of pace.

“Morning, Pumpkin,” Natalie bubbled as she stepped through the door with a plain bag behind her back, forcing Taylor to add that one to his growing list of girlie pet names since waking up in the hospital.

“Hi Natalie! Will you come with me to X-ray when the doctor comes back?” Taylor asked with a big, bright smile..

“Sure! I’m not technically ‘on duty’ for another hour and a half. I came in early to see how you’re doing, and bring you some goodies.” She winked. “Mostly books. Just um, don’t tell anyone I still read Harry Potter, hey?” she teased, setting the bag on the small table with the other gifts.

“Your secret’s safe Natalie. I like the books too; I read the first two books in class.” Taylor smiled.

The older girl giggled a little. “I’m sure my friends would understand. I mean, I know the girl who modeled for Aria Blade, and she’s a huge comics fan, but I’m not sure about the rest of school.”

“Oh wow I like Aria Blade! She’s so kick butt! I wish I was more like her.” Taylor bubbled.

“Oh, yeah? I’d ask her to stop by if she hadn’t just gotten out of the hospital not too long ago herself. I’ll hit her up for an autographed poster though. She loves to give those things away.”

“Wow really? That is just awesome Natalie; thank you so much! I wish I really had a big sister like you.” Taylor had tears in his eyes.

Natalie smiled as she hugged Taylor. “Aw, you’re welcome. Whatever happens, you can always think of me as your big sister.”

Taylor uses his good arm and hugs Natalie back, “If you’re spending so much time with me Big Sis, what about the other girls and boys that are in need?”

“Well, it’s like I said, I came in early.” She smiled. “Besides, I have my reasons.” She trailed off. She couldn’t bring herself to say the words, and after all it wasn’t her place. Better to let social services handle all that. “Trust me, you’ll meet some of the other kids around here pretty soon.”

“Oh, ok, so I guess when the doctor gets here I go to X-ray and then she will see if I can go play.” Taylor smiled some.

Natalie smiled. “That soon, eh? I guess they were just waiting to let your body heal naturally before doing another x-ray. It makes sense though. Sometimes they actually induce coma for the same reason - so the body can heal. Oh you’re going to like the other kids here - I just know it.”

At that moment the doctor chose to knock on the door and peeked her head in, “Oh hello Natalie, Taylor, mind if I come in?” She smiled.

“Morning Doctor Brahms,” Natalie answered cheerfully. “I’ll get out of your way if you need.”

“No It’s ok Natalie, Taylor asked if it was alright if you went down to the X-Ray room with her, and I told her that was fine.” Doctor Brahms smiled, “So Taylor, ready to stand up so we can get you into the wheelchair?”

“Ok Doctor.” Taylor sat up easily with the pain medication still working and swung her legs over the side then stood. Doctor Brahms got the wheelchair that was off to the side of the room ready and smiled at Taylor.

“Wow,” Natalie remarked softly. “Usually it takes awhile to get your strength back, but you just popped right up.” She giggled a little. “Trust me - that’s a good thing,” she added, glancing over at Doctor Brahms. “I’ve got her IV pole, ma’am,”deftly sliding the tall stainless steel pole away from the bed before its wheels could get caught up on the furniture.

“Thanks Natalie. You’re so helpful around here hon; this wing of the hospital would be so lost without you.” Doctor Brahms smiled as they led Taylor down to X-Rays. “I think if these turn out how I suspect we can remove Taylors IV and if she has any more pain we can relieve it the old fashioned way.”

“A big, scary needle?” Natalie said with all seriousness, paused, and grinned down at Taylor. “Just kidding.”

Taylor gave Natalie a mean look, “That’s not nice!” and then she giggled sticking her tongue out.

“Got you to smile though,” Natalie teased as she pressed the elevator button.

“I smile when I know you’re going to be around. You’re fun to hang out with Natalie” Taylor smiled brightly

“You should consider joining the Girl Scouts if you’re not already a member, you know? It’s a great way to make friends.”

“But you have to be a girl to be part of the girl scouts don’t you?” she responded without thinking.

Natalie glanced at Doctor Brahms briefly. The Doctor nodded, as if she were thinking the same thing. “Taylor, are you having any problems with dizziness, seeing things, headaches, anything like that?” the doctor asked gently.

“No, I’m ok.” Taylor looked at them both confused.

“Well, in addition to the X-Rays, I’m going to go ahead and have a CAT scan done as well, just to make sure there’s not anything going on in there that we don’t know about.”

Taylor giggled softly at the mention of a CAT Scan, but looked at the two still confused, “Am I ok? I didn’t mean to do something bad.”

Natalie smiled as she knelt beside her, squeezing her hand. “That’s what the CAT scan’s going to tell us. It’s basically like an x-ray for your brain. It doesn’t hurt or anything. It’s just going to tell us if there’s been any new damage that your doctor didn’t see before.”

“Ok if Natalie says it won’t hurt I trust her.” Taylor smiled brightly.

“Not at all,” Doctor Brahms answered. “We’re just a little concerned is all. I’m also considering asking a gender therapist colleague of mine to come talk to you - but I trust her completely, so you’d be in good hands.”

Taylor looked confused again. She was pretty sure that she remembered being a boy before, and her new big sister was confused as to if she was a boy or a girl, but she decided the most logical course of action was to accept it for now and figure it out later.

“We’ll get you taken care of before you’re discharged, sweetie.” She stated warmly, squeezing Taylor’s hand as she stood again. She tried hard to hide her concern, but she knew about Allison’s sister Kelly, and that being female-to-male - as she assumed Taylor might be - would arguably be as hard as male-to-female had been for her friend’s sister.

“Before we go to the other doctor can I go potty?” Taylor looked at them both.

“Sure. We always schedule these things with a little bit of leeway in case of emergencies - bathroom, stuck elevators, IV popping out unexpectedly,” Doctor Brahms answered cheerfully. “Natalie, would you be a dear and wheel her to the ladies’ room while I make a quick phone call?”

“Sure thing Doc - I mean, Doctor Brahms,” Natalie answered with a smile as the elevator doors finally opened, letting them out. The doctor turned down the hallway, and Natalie carefully pushed Taylor the opposite direction, backing up into one of the public restrooms near the nurse’s station.

“I’ll give you some privacy, if you think you’re strong enough to walk on your own? Just be careful of your IV though.”

“Ok, Thank you Natalie, I’ll yell if I need you ok?” Taylor smiled as she went into the bathroom alone. Looking around, it wasn’t like the boys restroom. There were no wall urinals, so she went into one of the booths to use the toilet. “EEEEEEEK!” she screeched loudly, followed by a loud and clear to everyone outside the bathroom, “I AM a girl!”

Natalie carefully pushed the door just enough to slip inside. “Taylor? It’s Natalie. Is everything alright in there?”

“Oh Sorry Natalie, Um.” trying to think of a lie so she can stay being a girl, he had always wanted to be a girl, “When I got beat up in the park, I was wishing I was a boy so I could fight back and um” she started to cry.

Natalie frowned as she leaned against the sink. “It’s okay, Taylor. It’s just us girls here. Anything you say to me won’t leave this room.”

“I’m not really this dumb kid I’ve been letting you guys think. The reason I was attacked is because I’m really smart..” Taylor cried harder. That part was actually true. The last thing she remembered was a group of older kids beating her six ways from Sunday.

“Ohhh,” Natalie answered softly. “You know my best friend is like, an orange belt or something in Kenpo, and she’s definitely all girl.” She giggled a little. “But I think I get it now. I mean, you took a pretty bad hit. That’d mess anybody up. I’m sorry Taylor. And um, I hope we didn’t insult you by treating you like a kid?”

“No, I kind of liked the positive attention actually. But I’m sorry - I didn’t mean to make you both upset at me.” Taylor’s voice had begun to calm again..

“Oh sweetie, we were never upset. Just really worried about you. I’ll be honest... I was considering talking to that Tiffany lady to make sure you hadn’t been abused or something.” She frowned sheepishly.

“I just wanted what’s best for you. I promised I wouldn’t let anything you said leave this room, but can I tell Doctor Brahms that I think you’re okay now? She might still want you to speak to that therapist though, but if she trusts them, I would too.”

“I trust you Natalie, if you think its ok to talk to the Doctor, it’s ok to me too.” Taylor stood, getting out of the stall to get back on her wheelchair.

Natalie smiled as she hugged her from behind, carefully wheeling the distraught girl out after giving her a moment to compose herself. She paused at the nurse’s station. “Everything’s okay. She was having a minor flashback - possibly PTSD - I’ll mention it to Doctor Brahms personally.”

The nurse behind the desk smiled sadly as she nodded. “Let me know if she needs anything. I know if it was my little girl I’d be totally lost.”

“Will do,” Natalie answered with a sympathetic smile herself. “I’ve got to get her down to X-Ray for now.”

After Natalie explained to Doctor Brahms, everyone agreed to not to bring in the gender specialist for now, but to leave it as an option just in case. After getting both the X-rays on her arm and ribs and a CAT Scan done just in case, they wheeled Taylor back to her room for lunch and the meeting with Tiffany the Social Worker.

Taylor was in the middle of her lunch and Natalie was off checking up on the other children when a knock on the door startled Taylor, “Hey sweetie, mind if I come in?” Tiffany smiled at Taylor.

“Sure, I don’t have any different cooties then you.” Taylor giggled.

Tiffany laughed as she entered the room and sat down on the chair beside her bed. “I have some good news and some bad news, but lets wait for Natalie to come so she can be here for you ok?”

“Ok, Natalie should be back shortly, She said she had to go see what the other kids were doing.” Taylor smiled, “I get to go play today!” Taylor sounded really excited. For all her intelligence, and for all that had landed her in the hospital in the first place, she missed socializing, even if it meant ‘dumbing it down’ to be accepted.

“Thats great sweetie.” Tiffany smiled, as Natalie knocked on the door and peeked her head in, “Mind if I come in?”

“Sure, Taylor is going to need someone. I have some good and bad news to share with her.” Tiffany frowned a bit.

Natalie moved over to Taylor and put an arm around her, “Ok I think we can handle both huh?” She smiled at Taylor, and all Taylor could do was nod her head.

“Ok I’ll start with the first bit of news. Your parents are both gone sweetie, we went to their house, and well, never mind we can talk about that later, but we were able to track down your sister at Yale.” Tiffany paused a moment to let that last part sink in.

“M-my sister?” Taylor asked, a little confused. She remembered having a brother, but...

“She’s happy that you’re ok, and wishes she could be here to talk care of you, but she promised to come visit you very soon.” Tiffany paused for a moment to look at the two girls. “The last bit of news, your sister is in her first year at Yale, and can’t afford to take care of you full-time, so we’ve arranged for you to attend the Sunshine Academy - it’s a private school over in Alpine Springs where you can live on-campus, but your sister will be able to visit you often.”

Natalie frowned, instinctively hugging Taylor closer. “So... what was the good news again?”

“Well, at least this way she’s not going to be thrust into foster care. We were able to find one other relative, a distant cousin living in Alpine Springs, but we didn’t need to contact her, after locating Michelle.”

“I have several really good friends out that way that I try to get out and visit, so I can stop by and see her on weekends sometimes,” Natalie added, glancing down at Taylor with a smile.

“It’s a nice place, Taylor; I’m sure you will love it there.” Tiffany smiled.

Taylor shook her head slowly. “B-but my parents...” was as far as she could get before she started to cry, burying her face in Natalie’s shoulder. Natalie held her close and let her cry, not really sure what else she could do or say at this point.

Taylor cried herself to sleep holding onto Natalie, too upset to want to play with the other kids, her face was stained with tears as Natalie laid her down on the bed. “Sleep well I’ll come check on you later.”

Natalie let Taylor sleep a bit before coming back in to check on her, sitting down next to the bed and smiled at the youngster. Taylor opened her eyes slowly, “Oh you’re awake, Pumpkin, want to go play before dinner?”

“Ok I guess.” Taylor was still a bit upset with what had happened earlier, but was at least glad she still had a sister who was willing to come see her whenever she could.