Byline chapter 15

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Copyright © 2021 Peregrine
All rights reserved.
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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Chapter 15

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“Miss are you alright? Stay still.” Someone was talking to me. “Get one on the paramedics over here.” I heard the voice say.

I was in a fog. There were flashing lights all around. I was on the ground. I saw a policeman kneeling down talking to me. But why was he calling me miss? I looked around to see who he was talking to. I saw a crowd standing around. I tried to move. I saw a pair of legs move. One bare leg had one half of a pair of heels on its foot. I tried to move again. The same legs moved. I realized they were my legs. Why are my legs in a skirt? Why am I wearing one high heel? I’m a guy. I looked at the officer. I felt a throbbing coming from my head. I reached up and my hand came away with blood. I was confused. I could feel panic rising in me.

“What happened? Why am I bleeding? Why am I wearing a skir…”

“Relax miss. Stay right here. The paramedic’s on the way.”

I was helped up to a sitting position. I did what I was told and stayed put. I was still trying to figure out what happen and why I was wearing women’s clothes. Slowly things started to get clearer. I began to remember why I was dressed as a woman. I remembered who I am. I remembered walking down the street to get dinner. I didn’t remember why I was on the ground with blood on my face. I saw someone coming over to me.

“Miss, stay still. Let me check you. Follow my finger. That’s good. What’s your name?”

“C J, I mean Casey, Casey Jean.”

“Nice to meet you, Casey Jean. Can you tell me what day it is?”

He continued to go through his protocol. I answered the rest of his questions to his satisfaction.

“Great, let’s get you up off the ground. Let me help you.” He let me lean on him as I got up. I took a step and stumbled.

“Easy now. I’ve got you,” he said. I stopped, reached down and took off my other heel. I held it up so he could see it.

“It’ll be easier to walk now,” I said.

“I’ll bet,” he said. I looked at him and saw him smile. I thought it was a great smile. “Let’s get you over to the van.”

“What happened?” I asked,

“That can wait. Let’s get you cleaned up and take care of that cut on your head.”

“Cut? On my head? Is it on my face? How bad?” I said. What’s wrong with me? I sound like a woman worried about her face.

“Take it easy. It doesn’t look bad. You should be able to cover it with your hair while it heals. Here we are. Sit down.”

I sat at the back door of the van. I still saw the crowd of people standing around. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“I was walking down the street to get dinner. I had to wait for the light to change before crossing. I started crossing the street. I got to the other side when I heard some sort of loud noise. Next thing I knew a policeman was talking to me.” He reached over and touched some gauze to the side of my head. “Ow, hey,” I said. I pushed his hand away. “Watch it.”

“Sorry, I should have warned you. This is going to sting. I need to clean that cut.” He went back to cleaning. This time with a gentler touch. When he finished, he folded some gauze and taped it to my forehead.

I studied his face while he worked. “How bad is it?”

“It’s not that bad. You won’t need stitches,” he said. “Here, put this over that cut.”

He handed me a cold pack and while holding my hand applied the cold pack to the side of my forehead. “You’re going to have a good bruise there. You might be able to hide it with makeup and your hair.”

“Thanks. Can you tell me what happened now, um… Kevin?” I had looked at his name badge and saw his name was Kevin B. Russel. Kevin was a tall, well-built guy who appeared to be in great shape. He had blond hair which he kept cut short at the sides with loose curls on the top of his head. He had amazing blue eyes. He smiled at me when I said his name.

“How did you know my name?”

“I read your name badge,” I said.

“Oh, right," he said. "They were demolishing a building about a half a block away. It was the middle of three buildings. Something went wrong and one of the side buildings collapsed. You got hit with some of the debris. You were lucky. People closer to the building when it collapsed were hurt much worse. You don’t have to worry. I think you’ll be fine.”

I sat there with the ice pack on my face as he started on some paperwork. “What’s the B stand for?”

“Excuse me?” He looked up after checking off something on his clipboard.

“The B on your name tag. What’s it stand for?”

“My middle name.” He smiled again. God, I loved his smile.

“I figured that out,” I said. I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Tell you what, if you give me your number, I’ll tell you when we go out.”

I looked at him which wasn’t hard to do. “Do you always ask the girls you treat for their phone number?”

“Nope, you’re the first. You’re kind of interesting. I thought I’d take a shot.” He started packing his medical supplies away.

He was cute. I would have been interested in going out with him even before my assignment. He asked for my number. He must be interested in me. Well interested in the girl he thinks I am. This is crazy. I shouldn’t be doing this. I decided if he could take a shot, so could I.

“Let me see your pen,” I said. With a surprised look, he handed me his pen. I wrote my number on the edge of the sheet on his clipboard. “Call me. We’ll go for coffee or something. We can talk for a while.” I handed him back the clipboard.

“Thanks, Casey. I’ll give you a call and we can set something up. Don’t forget to keep the cold pack on. You don’t want that swelling up.”

I looked around to be sure I had everything and realized I only had one shoe. And today I didn’t carry my sneakers with me. I was going to say something to Kevin. Just then, an officer came up to us carrying my shoe. He spoke to Kevin and handed it to him.

“They found your shoe. Now you have a matching pair.” He cleaned it out a bit then handed it to me and smiled again.

“Thanks,” I said. I returned his smile. Why is it when he smiles, I smile. I took my shoe from him and started to put both shoes on. I took my time. I stood up, straightened my skirt and my bag which somehow had stayed on my shoulder.

“You probably have a mild concussion. I gave you a clean bill of health so you don’t have to go to the hospital. If you have any concussion symptoms, get yourself to a hospital,” he said. He handed me a paper with concussion symptoms and instructions. “I’m serious.”

I took the paper. “I will. Thanks.”

“Can we give you a ride home?” asked the officer who returned my shoe.

“That would be great, officer. Thank you.” I followed the officer to his car.

“Bye Casey Jean.” I heard Kevin say.

“Bye Kevin B,” I called and waved back.

I gave the officer Abbey’s address. I wanted to be with my sister right now. I also needed to ask her how to hide my injury.

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Abbey met me at her door.

“Hi Abbey,” I said still holding the cold pack to my face as she opened the door.

Her eyes got wide when she saw me. “Casey, Oh my God! What happen to your face? Are you okay? She hugged me tighter than I think she ever had.

Almost before I got in the door, Abbey was examining my face. I told her a condensed version of what happened. “Do you know what hit you?”

“Not a clue. I remember hearing a noise then waking up on the ground.”

“I heard something about a building collapse on the news. Sit down.” Abbey had me sit on the couch and continued to examine my wound. “Why were you near there?”

“I was going to get dinner.”

“So you haven’t eaten. I’ll get another cold pack and order out for some food.”

Abbey called for delivery and fussed over me until the food arrived. We sat in the kitchen eating our salads. I told Abbey the full story of what happened. At least as much as I knew.

“Your not knowing where you were and not remembering you’re presenting as a woman when you came to worries me a bit. Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’m fine. I’ve got a headache. I remember everything up to the time I got hit and after I woke up. The paramedic said I was fine and told me what to watch out for.”

“That’s good but I want you to stay the night.”

“I was hoping I could.”

I had been holding the cold pack on my face the whole time while eating. I thought Kevin would be happy with me. When we finished, Abbey took the cold pack from me and looked at my face. “Oh, that’s starting to bruise.”

“Damn. Do you think I can fix it with makeup until it heals?”

“Maybe. You might be able to cover it up a bit but not completely.”

“Crap.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I might have a date?”

Abbey looked surprised.

“A date? With who?”

I bit my lower lip before answering. “The paramedic who treated me.”

“Wait. You almost have a building fall on you and you got yourself a date? Casey, I didn’t know you had it in you.” She smiled.

“He’s really good looking and I asked him about his middle name. He said he would tell me if I gave him my number and we went out. It’s only for coffee and to talk.” I said almost without stopping.

“Casey, slow down,” Abbey said. I took a breath.

“His name is Kevin. His middle name starts with a B. His badge didn’t spell out his middle name, so I asked him. That’s when he asked me for my number. He told me he never asked a patient for their number before. I was the first. I gave him my number so I can find out.”

Abbey laughed. “Sounds like you have a bit of a crush, little sister,” she said.

“I’m trying to decide if I’m going to tell him when he calls,” I said.

“Tell him what?”

“Tell him about me, about my assignment. That I’m really a guy presenting as a woman.”

“You don’t have to tell him about your assignment. You could tell him your in transition.”

“I’m not in transition.”

“I know that. He doesn’t have to know it. If you were in transition, you would be living as a woman for at least a year. Then you would be making a decision. It might be easier than saying you’re presenting as a woman to get a story.”

“Why do you think that?” I asked.

“If you tell him you are in transition, you are implying you intend to become a woman. Once he gets over the shock that you’re a guy, the implication that you feel you are a woman and will become a woman is there. Telling him you’re presenting as a woman to get a story implies you do not feel you are a woman. You will go back to presenting as a man when the assignment is over. That will be confusing to him. I guess what I’m trying to say is he might feel better thinking you are intending to become a woman.”

“I see what you’re saying. I don’t know. I think I’m getting ahead of myself.” I shook my head which was a mistake as it caused some pain. “I just gave him my number. He might not even call.”

Abbey looked at me and gave me that smile that told me she knew exactly how I felt and what I was thinking.

“You’re really hoping he calls, aren’t you?” She said.

“I think I am.” I put my hand up to my head. “Do you have something for a headache?”

“Of course I do.” She left and came back with two pills and a glass of water. I took the pills from her and swallowed them.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. After we clean up, let’s go to the bedroom and see what we can do to cover that bruise.”

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Thanks for reading. Comments welcome.

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Cover picture Credits
Photo by Daria Sannikova from Pexels
Photo by Valeriia Miller from Pexels
Photo Composite by Peregrine

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