The one where things start to become clear for Kim…
By Nick B
© 2007
I’m starting to feel like Angharad here. A story that was supposed to be over and done in four chapters has suddenly doubled in size or will have by the time it’s done, possibly bigger than that even.
Anyhow, it’s put extra demands on Krissikins and for that I’m sorry and profoundly grateful all at the same time. Who says men can’t multitask?
When Kim came round the day after his admission to the infirmary, Dr. Miles Corcoran, the ship’s doctor was waiting and looking to get a few answers.
“You’re having a bit of a time of it aren't you?” he said. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.” replied Kim. He did have some colour back in his face and was looking a lot less drawn. “My mouth tastes like a ferret’s been living in it though!”
The doctor handed him some water.
“You said something last time about being given drugs.” he asked. "Do you have any idea what kind of drugs?”
"No sorry, I really don’t know. I know one of them knocked me out pretty much and even when I came round I still only have sketchy memories. I remember feeling sick and being given something to drink, but after that, it all goes blank again. I do know I was given more than one form of ‘medication’ as they put it, but further to that, I can’t say.” said Kim feeling like somehow this was his fault and started to cry. “I’m sorry. I’m not being much help am I?”
“Don’t worry about it, you can’t really be expected to know about these things.”
“Thanks doc.” he said snivelling a little into a napkin that the doctor passed him and feeling calmed by his words. “I can remember getting a couple of shots in the arm, or was it the bum? I don't know, but I do know there were two; at least the first time.”
“But you have no idea what they were?”
“No I don’t, sorry. Nothing, nada, zilch.”
“This is very serious. The only thing I can say is that it’s unlikely that they've given you anything addictive, otherwise you’d be in a much worse state now, but that’s not to say they didn’t give you something potentially nasty.”
“The way I felt yesterday, I knew it wasn’t anything good.”
“Well look, if you do remember, you must let me know. There’s still over a week before we get to the states and I need to know whether or not to arrange anything for when we get there.”
“Arrange? Arrange what?”
“You may need to get checked out by specialists. For your own good you realise. We have no way of knowing what’s hurtling round your system now do we?”
“You think it could be that bad?”
“I don’t know, but it’s not wise to take the chance is it?”
The return to Pete, Gil and Lucy’s suite put even more of a drain on Kim. He'd had the best part of two days to wonder what had happened, from the cross-dressing to the drugs that had been forced upon him.
When he first found out about the cruise, it was a joyous thing. He had never been on one and although he thought that it wasn’t for him, he still had that feeling of anticipation, expectation and dreamy images of being out on the sun-kissed deck with one of those exotic drinks with an umbrella in.
The truth had thus far been far weirder than he could have imagined and not at all like those daydreams. Aside from that first day, watching Southampton disappear as the ship set sail down the English Channel towards the Atlantic and of course Lucy, there had been nothing that had given him even the least amount of a thrill.
The explanation to Lucy had been completely upside down. Trying to tell her that he wasn’t really a girl, but a boy when she had seemingly made it plain that she didn’t want a girlfriend was even more confusing… and then her running away to her room like that…
It was an emotional time and the tears didn’t seem to have that cleansing effect that they do sometimes, like when your dog dies, somehow crying makes you feel better. Not much admittedly but it did usually help, this didn’t; it made him feel worse.
Gil was there and put her arms about him. He felt good being held; it seemed to take away all the fears he had and there were plenty of those, but it seemed all too quick to end thanks to the ringing phone.
Gil answered it, spoke briefly to Pete and then hung up, immediately looking at the numbers on the card by the telephone and redialling. She didn’t hang around after that, leaving the cabin in an awful hurry.
Kim needed to square things away with Lucy. His feelings for her went quite a lot deeper than he thought and he felt as though he had cheated her, or lied — perhaps a bit of both. Whatever, he didn’t want to be left alone to contemplate his demons.
“Are you okay?” he said to Lucy, calling from outside her door.
“No.” she replied.
“I meant to tell you. I just…”
“Go away.”
“Please don’t be like that. You have no idea how much it’s hurt me not to tell you. Let me explain.”
The door opened suddenly and standing before him was Lucy, red eyed and tear-stained “This should be good.” she said, beckoning him in.
He wanted to just skim over it lightly, to give her the gist and leave it like that, so that she didn’t see it as a sob-story, but as soon as he started, it escalated into much more. Before he knew what was happening, he was telling her everything; pouring his heart out to her. By the end of his account, he was once again in tears, sat on the bed with Lucy’s arms around him, as she rocked him gently, making soothing noises.
Neither of them heard Pete come back and drop off Kim’s clothes, they were fast asleep by then and because Pete had his mind on other things, he didn’t know that they were cuddled up together on Lucy’s bed.
“I brought these back last night for K…” said Pete, holding the bunch of clothes he’d rescued from Donna’s cabin. “What exactly is going on?” he demanded angrily.
“Uh?” replied a very sleepy-headed Kim, whose mind was racing as he found himself naked and under the covers he felt sure he fell asleep on top of — fully clothed. Conversely, Lucy didn’t even deign to acknowledge her uncle.
“What are you two doing sleeping together?” he said as he did that “arms-folded-tapping-foot routine”, like an angry parent.
“Wha…?” said Lucy, finally getting round to realising that her uncle was not actually going to go away until he had a satisfactory answer. “What do you mean?”
“All… all… this.” he said wagging his finger at the two of them, who by now were half way sat up, the covers pulled up to their necks. “What will your mother say? I’m supposed to be keeping you out of harms way and… and…”
“And what Uncle Pete? I suppose that it never occurred to you that I am; a) not in harms way in the first place, b) over the age of consent, c) over legal voting age, which means I can please myself and d) nothing happened. So if you don’t mind, I’d like some privacy so I can get up, since I will never get back to sleep now thank you very much and I expect Kim would like to get up too.”
Pete huffed and blew for a few seconds sure that there was something else he should be saying, though his brain and mouth had become suddenly disconnected. His face reddened some more and he stormed out of the cabin, leaving Kim and Lucy to get up.
“I er, I don’t remember getting undressed.” said Kim.
“No well. We fell asleep. I went to spend a penny later and kind of…” she held her hands before her and shrugged.
“You… you mean?”
“Well someone had to. You couldn’t get into bed fully clothed now could you?”
“You said what?” asked Gil incredulous.
“Well, I…”
“Listen Pete. I know you probably mean well, but she isn’t that little girl you used to take to the park or whatever. She’s a young woman and is entitled to see who she wants to see — on any level.”
“But I…”
“No ‘buts’ Pete, leave them be.” she said firmly. “Besides, we’ve been sharing a bed since the very beginning of this damn cruise.”
“That’s different.”
“I was going to ask how, but it doesn’t matter. Don’t poke your nose in where it’s not wanted, okay?”
“Humph!” muttered Pete, going and shoving a sheaf of paper around the table where their notes were and quietly fuming. Gil just ‘tutted’ and carried on about her business with an almost hidden smirk.
Lucy meanwhile was pottering about the bedroom while Kim stayed firmly under the covers.
“Are you going to get up then?”
“I would but…”
“But what Kim?”
“Well… You know… I’m, um, naked.”
“Yes and who do you think got you that way?” she said and Kim blushed to the roots of his hair. “Now get up and don’t be such a wimp.”
“Wimp?”
Lucy blushed this time and apologised.
“I’m sorry, perhaps that WAS a little below the belt.”
“No. No, it’s not what you said. Well it was, but it’s also what Donna said.” Suddenly, he threw the covers back and leapt out of bed, his modesty disappearing like a small rodent escaping a cat; hopping about as he tried to step into his panties in a hurry before kissing Lucy firmly.
“You’re brilliant!” he exclaimed and then struggled into the rest of his clothes, kissing her soundly on the forehead.
“Pete! Pete! I need to see the doctor. Do you think it’ll be alright to just go on down there?”
“What’s the matter?”
“I’ve just remembered something important. Actually Lucy was the one who jogged my memory, but it might help the doctor to explain what Donna and her cronies were trying to do to me.”
“Can’t this wait till AFTER breakfast?” asked Pete. “My stomach thinks my throat has been cut.”
Dr Corcoran was sitting in his office when the troublesome foursome strode into his office.
“I’m just looking forward to getting this all sorted out.” said Kim brightly.
The doctor rose and greeted each of them with a handshake.
“What can I do for you today?” he asked.
“I’ve remembered something about what they gave me.” said Kim.
“Oh? And what would that be?”
“Implants or an implant, doctor. She said it would take about a month to take away my masculinity and that I should be seeing results in about a fortnight. She said that because I was such a wimp anyway, it should help it to work more quickly. I remember too that Dr Weintraub was talking about “the other medicine”.”
Kim seemed satisfied that now the doctor could do something about this, but the doctor’s expression didn’t reinforce that the way he’d hoped.
“Can I be honest with you Kim?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t you be?”
“Well I may be talking out of turn here and I don’t have the equipment or facilities to prove it one way or the other, but it would seem highly unlikely that implants can mean anything other than hormones; given what you’ve said and what has happened to you.”
“Hormones?”
“Yes and I’m afraid that’s something I can do nothing about right now. I suggest you get yourself checked out as soon as you can. Have you noticed any changes?”
“Changes? Not really… Every time I came to at Donna’s I felt sick, but she’d just tell me to drink something and before I knew what was happening, it wasn’t, I was out cold again. Other than that… no, you’ll think this is stupid.”
“What? If we're right there’s a lot changing in your body and possibly your mind at the moment. You’d be surprised.”
“Well, I seem to be getting really emotional lately. The simplest thing seems to be setting me off. I’ve never been one for crying, but I just don’t seem to be able to stop.”
“That would probably be the hormones then. Your body’s adapting to the flood of chemicals, to being more female.”
“No!” said Kim “You mean I’ve got to stay this way?” he asked and as if by magic, the water-works started and tears were rolling down his face.
“Not necessarily, but an elevated emotional state with the propensity to swing from one extreme to the other is a fair indication that your oestrogen levels have been increased dramatically. I don’t suppose you know whether you have been given a testosterone inhibitor as well, do you?”
“No, I don’t.” sniffled Kim. “Does that make a difference?”
“Well, I’m no expert, I’m just a glorified GP, but I understand that testosterone inhibitors allow the oestrogen or female hormones to work unhindered. It’s kind of like castration without removal.”
“Holy SHIT!” said Kim, his hand instinctively going to his crotch, his eyes like serving platters.
“Hmm. Anyway, for the time being, all we can do is wait.”
“Oh God, I’m turning into a girl.” he said morosely, not noticing the looks the others were giving each other as if to say that they weren't sure he wasn’t one anyway.
“Not necessarily. It all depends on how far along things get. Pop your shirt off and we’ll have a look at your chest.”
“What?”
“To see if there’s any development there around the nipples. Puffiness and sensitivity is usually a pretty good indicator.”
“You mean I’m growing breasts?!” he exclaimed, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
“Possibly. Amongst other things.”
“What other things?”
“Well, there’s usually some loss of fat from the waist as it redistributes itself around your hips and thighs, softening of the skin and often a reduction in the coarseness of facial and body hair. Your own hair will change, but probably not considerably, at least not to begin with and yes you will develop breasts. How large they become is largely dependent upon your mother.”
“This is awful. I’m going to end up with spaniel’s ears.”
“I’m fairly sure she wasn’t always like that.” said Dr. Corcoran, smiling at the image. “Of course, this is all assuming that this is left to continue unabated.”
It was not good news. Sensitivity in the nipples with some knottiness underneath. It explained why he didn’t feel embarrassed getting out of bed this morning since he didn’t have a woody to worry about.
“Um, can this ‘treatment’ affect, er, you know…”
“Pardon?” said Dr. Miles.
“Well, um, the… er, you know.” repeated Kim, nodding in a generally southerly direction and looking pointedly at his fork.
“Ah, erections?”
“Yes.” said Kim looking at his feet and changing colour drastically.
“Possibly. Perhaps they have given you inhibitors. Maybe that was the ‘other’ medicine. I think it would be best if you checked into a hospital as soon as possible. I’ll contact the necessary authorities and have an ambulance waiting when we dock. It sounds a little drastic, but I think it’s for the best. Anyway, try not to think about it for the time being, just try and relax and enjoy the cruise.”
The last statement by the doctor really got to Kim.
“Enjoy the cruise?” he said with more than a note of incomprehension. “How can I expect to do THAT with all this happening?”
Everyone gave him a pretty wide berth and it was several hours before he was approachable.
“It may not be as bad as you think.” said Lucy.
“How so?”
“Well, you know. It’s like doctor Corcoran was only speculating. They may not have done what you think.”
“Well it’s simple enough. Pete said they’d caught the bloke who gave me the jabs, why don’t they just ask him?”
Lucy looked at Kim then laughed.
“What?”
“How is it that we have several highly trained professionals on board this thing and it takes a teenager to show them the ropes?”
Next thing, both Lucy and Kim were laughing.
Pete and Gil spent the better part of the day with Doctor Weintraub and Doctor Corcoran trying to ascertain just what they had done to Kim, but Weintraub was proving to be a tough nut to crack.
To be continued…
Comments
Kim's Trials
aren't over yet are they? At least Lucy has come to some sort of terms over Kim's problems. The trouble is we don't know what is in those implants and rather or not our dear Doctor is going cooperate. Good stuff Nick
grover
One of the advantages .....
.... of being a writer Nick is that you can practice your craft anywhere. So on this evidence you may well have found yourself a new, and timely, profession.
You have a gift for good clear dialogue that gallops along carrying the reader with it. His/her finger already resting on the page corner ready to turn to the next before the eyes have reached two thirds of the way down the current one.
Of course it helps to have a good story to tell.
Hugs,
Fleurie
Oh Yes!
Now seeing Nick's story from your point of view, yes, I am full engaged and straining like a momma dog protecting her babies. It is a good thing that I have no paranormal talents. LOL
Gwenellen
Well, About Time!
We've been waiting for this, you slacker. Just because you've got all these personal things to do doesn't give you any excuse to disappoint your public. Keep going, Nick, we just have to know what's next for Kim.
My hackles are UP !
I can only laugh at my reaction as soon as I finished this chapter. In regards to Dr Weintraub's intrangency. "Look here Mother XXXXXX, I'm gonna pound you till your bloody all over if you don't tell us what you did", I can just hear myself saying. I know, I know, it is not a very lady like reaction is it?
The injustice of it all just shakes me clear to my bones. The poor kid is just starting a really nice relationship with Lucy....... Oh, I have to do something else, like scrub the toilet.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Gwenellen
hormones
Well, it's a fun plot device, and I *am* enjoying the story, but I feel like I need to be a stick-in-the-mud for a moment and point out that even intense hormone injections can't do much permanent 'damage' over that timespan. Over many years, it can be another matter, of course. That said, it's a good plot device in the context of the story :) I just don't want anyone to get the idea that they could do this to themselves intentionally or anything.
true enough
Most here I think would be to some degree familiar with what is and is not possible in reality. 'Exactly' what has been done to Kim at this stage we are not sure. It is possible to get some very minor breast changes quite quickly, but certainly any serious development would take time. At least several months. But, implants and... anything else? He was pretty much out for a few days and Kim is quite girly to begin with, so...
Still that's for Nick to lay out for us when he's ready. Get typing Nick.
Kristina