“Yes,” I say. My voice sounds even higher than before, like the voice of a cartoon rodent. “Where am I?”
“At Lennox Pharmaceuticals. You’re in quarantine.”
“Quarantine? Am I sick?”
“No. It’s more like we’re protecting you from the rest of the world.”
“What happened?”
“I’ll explain that in a little bit. What do you remember?”
“Dr. Macintosh and I went to rescue Maddy. I got on the plane and Maddy was there but she was a baby. I tried to save her, but Dr. Ling showed up. He gave me a shot and I became littler. Then Dr. Macintosh saved us. He crashed Grandpa’s car into the plane. Maddy and I hid in the potty. Dr. Ling tried to get in, but Dr. Macintosh shot him. Then he helped us off the plane and we watched it explode. I fell asleep after that.”
“You weren’t really sleeping, Stacey. You’ve been in a coma.”
“A coma? Why?”
“I’ll explain later. You’ve been in the coma for two weeks.”
“Two weeks?” It seemed like just a few seconds. I open my eyes again to study Dr. Palmer’s face. “What about Maddy? What happened to her?”
“She’s still sleeping.”
“Is she in a coma too?”
“Yes.”
“And Dr. Macintosh?”
“He’s fine. His stitches came out yesterday.”
“That’s good. And Grandpa? Did they get to him in time?”
“He’s fine too. He’s still on crutches, but he’ll pull through.”
“Good.” I take a deep breath and then ask, “Dr. Ling?”
“He’s dead. We’re sure of it this time.”
“So why am I tied down?”
“You were having some bad seizures. We didn’t want you to fall and hurt yourself.”
“Oh.” I try to see myself again, but I can’t. “What’s been happening to me?”
“I’m not sure we should get into that yet. You just woke up.”
“You gotta tell me! How little am I?”
Dr. Palmer touches my hair and even through the mask I can see her smile. She holds up her other hand and in it I see the monitor she used to check our ages. She turns the screen and holds it close enough so I can see it. The digital numbers read: 17.2.
“I’m seventeen?”
“That’s right. You’re a grown-up now—more or less.”
“Can I see?” I ask.
“I’ll take the straps off, but be careful. You’re going to be weak.”
“OK.”
Dr. Palmer’s right that I’m weak; I can’t even sit up on my own. She adjusts the bed so the back reclines to put me in an upright position. Then she turns the bed around to face a mirror. I can’t see anything at first, just a blur. I feel something touch my face and everything comes into focus. I gasp at what I see.
I’m still mostly Stacey Chang. I’ve still got her black hair, almond-colored skin, tiny nose, and football-shaped eyes. The big difference is that those eyes are blue now like they were before Dr. Ling got to me.
“Are you all right?” Dr. Palmer asks.
“I’m fine,” I say.
She runs her hand through my black hair, which is back down to my waist; I’ll need to get it cut again. “I think you look very pretty.”
“Thanks.”
“And seventeen’s not so bad. You might even get a year or so older over the next few days.”
“I guess.”
She puts the bed flat again. “You should get some more rest.”
“I want to see Maddy.”
“Not right now. When you’re stronger.”
“But—”
“No buts, young lady. You can either go back to sleep or I’ll have an orderly bring a syringe in here. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“Good. You’re still in a state of flux right now. We have to be careful.”
“OK.” I could try to argue, but I’m pretty much at Dr. Palmer’s mercy at the moment.
“I’ll have them bring in a TV and some other creature comforts for when you wake up.”
“Can’t you put me in a different room?”
“Not yet. We don’t want any germs getting in here while your immune system is so weak.”
“Oh.” That’s all I can say before I fall asleep again.
***
I’m not sure how long I’m out this time. Not two weeks. I’m a little stronger when I wake up, able to sit up on my own. As I do, I notice a couple of other things. One is that my breasts look smaller than before. I’m not flat like when I was ten, but they don’t look like C-cups either. The other thing is that I’m short. My tiny feet are a good foot away from the end of the bed, maybe more than that. That will be clearer if I’m ever able to stand.
There’s a TV now in one corner of the room. Someone brought in a stand to sit next to the bed too. I find a remote control and a plastic water cup. I drink most of the water and then turn on the TV. I flip through the channels until I get to Nickelodeon. There’s an episode of iCarly on, an older one I watched with Jamie. I sigh as I wonder what I’ll do now.
Dr. Palmer shows up after the episode is over. She still wears her mask and shower cap so she doesn’t infect me with her germs. “Feeling better?” she asks.
“A little.”
“It’s going to take time. You’ve had a big shock to your system.”
“Tell me about it.”
“The important thing is to relax and rest so you can get your strength up.”
“I guess.”
Dr. Palmer comes over to the side of my bed. “I’ve got a surprise for you,” she says.
“What is it?”
“You’ll see.”
She wheels my bed across the room, to the opposite wall from the mirror. A curtain pulls back and I can see another room. It’s pretty much like mine after I woke up the first time with just a bed and some monitoring equipment.
On the bed is a very fat woman. There’s a big mound of flesh around her midsection that rises and falls as she breathes. Her flabby biceps are each as big around as my head. I can’t see her neck because of the double chin surrounding it. Her cheeks are flushed even though she’s asleep. About the only thing even somewhat recognizable is the long brown hair. “Is that…Maddy?”
“Yes,” Dr. Palmer says.
“But she’s so…big.”
“I know.” Dr. Palmer puts a hand on my shoulder as I start to cry to see my baby like that. “The important thing is she’s healthy, right?”
“How old is she?”
“She’s up to nineteen so far. The reaction seems to be slowing, so we’re expecting her to wake up in a few days.”
“Can I be there when she wakes up?”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. It’s going to be enough of a shock to see herself without seeing you too.”
“I’m not that different.”
“You are from two weeks ago.”
“Good point.”
“I’ll leave you here for a while so you can watch her. If you want.”
“Yes,” I say. After Dr. Palmer’s gone, I watch my sleeping beauty. No matter what, she’ll always be my little girl.
***
Two days later I hear the scream as I watch TV. I’m strong enough now that I can hop off the bed. I can’t really run, but I can hobble over to the window. I’m just in time to see Maddy take hold of her gut with both hands. “No!” she wails. “It’s not fair. I don’t wanna be Fatty Maddy anymore!”
I can’t hear what Dr. Palmer says, but Maddy doesn’t like it. “Healthy? Look at me, I’m a whale! You call this healthy?”
Tears stream down her pudgy cheeks as she says this. Dr. Palmer says something to her, probably to reassure her that everything will be fine. “Shut up! You’re not the one who has to live with it.” Dr. Palmer tries to calm her down again, but it doesn’t work. “Normal life? What kind of normal life am I going to have? What do you think Grace is going to say when she
sees this?” Maddy says. She shakes her stomach again. “She won’t even be able to find my vagina.”
I’m sure Dr. Palmer tells her the same thing I would, that Grace will love her no matter how big she is. “Yeah, right,” Maddy says. I can hear her sigh even through the glass. “What did you butchers do to Stacey?”
I wait for Dr. Palmer to push Maddy over by the window or at least turn her so she can see me, but she doesn’t. Whatever she says calms Maddy down a little. “Can I see her?” Dr. Palmer shakes her head. “What, you’re worried I’ll scare her?” Dr. Palmer says something else. Maddy sighs again. “Just leave me alone for a little while.”
Through the window I watch Dr. Palmer leave. Once the door closes, Maddy starts to cry. She’s still crying as she leans back on the bed and goes still.
Dr. Palmer comes into my room then. “That was pretty bad,” I say.
“It could have been worse.”
“Do you think she’ll try to do something?”
“I don’t think so. Madison is resilient. I think she got that from her dad’s side of the family.”
Resilience and stubbornness were about the only things I gave her. “Can’t you suck some of that fat out of her?”
“I could, but liposuction is dangerous. Especially in her volatile condition. It’ll be better to wait and let her lose it the old-fashioned way.”
“Yeah, I guess,” I say. I promise right then I’ll do everything I can to help Maddy lose as much weight as she wants, until she’s happy again.
***
Another two days go by before they move Maddy into my room. To keep out any germs, they have a plastic bubble over her gurney. An orderly takes off the bubble once Maddy is securely in my room. It takes two hefty orderlies to steer the gurney into place beside my bed, the nightstand between us.
“Hi!” I say, my voice squeakier than usual.
“Hi,” she says, her voice gloomier than usual. She pats her gut. “So I guess I’m the big sister now, huh?”
“I guess so.” I clear my throat and then say, “I’m only seventeen anyway, so you’re older than me again.”
“I’ll try not to push you around too much.”
I reach across the nightstand to find her hand. I give her pudgy fingers a squeeze. “I know it’s weird right now, but we’ll get through this. And no matter what, we’ll still have each other.”
“You mean after Grace dumps me?”
“Grace loves you. More than anything in this world. She’s not going to care even if you’re a thousand pounds.”
“I might take you up on that.”
“Maddy, come on. She’s been worried sick about you for almost six months now. You think she’s going to dump you just because you’re a little heavier?”
“A little heavier? I’m two hundred fifty pounds! That’s like twice what I used to weigh.”
“I’m sorry.”
I let go of Maddy’s hand. I pick up the remote to flip through the channels until I find some cartoons Maddy used to watch. Despite the change, I can still see something of the toddler I knew for six months in the way her face lights up. “You think they could sterilize Mrs. Hoppy and bring her in here?” she asks me.
“Probably.”
After a few minutes, Maddy shifts a little to look at me. Past the flabby red cheeks, her eyes are still the same as the baby her mom and I brought home from the hospital. “I know I’ve been a little preoccupied feeling sorry for myself. I didn’t even thank you for coming after me.”
“I would never leave you behind.” I smile at her. “I didn’t do much anyway. Dr. Mac did all the hard work.”
“Yeah. I never thought of him as the action hero type.”
“Me either.” I sigh as I remember the lavatory door opening and him in the doorway, blood on his face and gun in hand, our valiant rescuer. “That was pretty awesome.”
“It was.” Maddy reaches out to take my hand. “You look cute. Not like little, I want to pinch your cheeks cute. I mean like if you weren’t my big sister and I didn’t look like Shamu I’d ask you to come back to my place.”
My face warms at this. It’s surreal to have my daughter talk about picking me up like that. “Thanks,” I squeak.
We both turn back to the TV screen. We continue to hold hands, even after Maddy falls asleep.
***
A couple of days later we’re strong enough to go back to school. Not St. Andrew’s Academy, but a very special class in our hospital room. Dr. Palmer has an assistant bring in a laptop and a projector so we can watch her presentation from our beds.
“I know it sounds weird,” she begins, “but in a way you’re lucky Dr. Ling gave you that shot.”
“Yeah, real lucky,” Maddy grumbles. She jiggles her stomach for Dr. Palmer.
“What I’m saying is he sped up the process for you.” She turns down the lights and then starts with her presentation. A lot of it is science stuff Maddy and I don’t understand.
Dr. Palmer breaks it down more simply. “They might have told you that both of you were aging at an accelerated rate. What we didn’t realize yet is the effect was working at an exponential pace. What that means is you were going to get older, faster. In a couple months, Madison, you probably would have been older than Stacey. From the notes Ling had on him, he knew what was happening. That’s why he made that booster shot and set that trap, using my voice to get your grandpa to bring you here.
“But either he was in too much of a hurry or didn’t have the right equipment because he miscalculated. Instead of keeping you younger for months or even forever, the booster shot interacted with what was already in your system and actually sped up the destabilization.”
“That’s stupid,” Maddy says.
“Think of it kind of like a pool game,” Dr. Palmer says. She’s come prepared with a diagram of a pool table on the laptop. “Say this 2-ball here is the first shot he gave you and this 8-ball behind it is the second shot.” She clicks a button so we can watch as a computer figure takes a shot. The cue ball hits the 8-ball, which speeds into the 2-ball and knocks it into the corner pocket. Then the 8-ball, too much momentum behind it, drops into the pocket too. “The second shot essentially erased the first shot in your systems. But its matrix became unstable and so you started to grow up again even faster.”
“But if it left our systems, why didn’t we go back to how we were?” I ask. In my case, why didn’t I go back to being a man?
“We’re still looking into that, but our best guess is that this wasn’t a clean process. For you, Stacey, that Chinese DNA remained. And for Madison, there was probably a stimulation of certain glands and hormones that changed her metabolism and caused her to gain so much weight.”
“Can’t you fix us?” Maddy asks. “Give us another shot to make us normal again?”
“I wouldn’t right now even if I could. You’re both far too weak to endure another dose of that stuff. In the meantime we’re still working on the serum, but it’ll take a while to have something ready for human trials.” Dr. Palmer sighs. “I know you don’t want to hear it, Madison, but it’ll be a lot better to lose the weight naturally than play Russian roulette with another shot.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who has to go back out into the world like this.”
“Don’t get mad at her. She’s just trying to help.”
“Yeah, she’s been a lot of help so far.”
“That’s not fair. It’s not her fault. She didn’t do this to us.”
“Oh sure, take her side. Everything’s just hunky-dory for you. You’re not a blimp.”
My eyes water. “It’s not easy for me. You can always lose the weight. I can’t get new eyes. I can’t stretch myself out to fit in my clothes again or be able to look you in the eye without standing on my toes. So don’t act like you’re the only one who’s got problems.”
Now Maddy starts to cry. “I’m so sorry,” she says through her sobs. “I’m being such a total bitch to everyone. I just w
ish things could be the way they used to be, you know?”
“I know.” I think of what’s happened in the last eighteen months and say, “But sometimes change is a good thing. Sometimes you find something that makes it all worthwhile, like a little sister.”
She wipes at her pudgy cheeks and then smiles at me. “Thanks, big sis.”
Epilogue
Dr. Palmer keeps us under observation for two more weeks. Every day she checks our ages with the monitor. Since the results are the same and since we’re strong enough to move around, she tells us we can finally go home. “But I’m going to want to see you both at least once a week to start with and then if things remain steady we can make it once a month.”
“OK,” we say in unison.
“I had someone do a little shopping for you two,” she says. She hefts a couple of shopping bags. “These might not be the most stylish, but it’s better than a hospital gown.”
Maddy’s face reddens as she holds up a turquoise dress that looks big enough to cover a Buick. “Is this supposed to be for an elephant or what?” The panties that come with it are almost as big. She says to me, “Jesus, we could probably fit three of you in there.”
I’m not much happier about my new clothes. Whoever bought them for me must still think I’m ten years old. There’s a pink T-shirt with a cartoon monkey on it and a set of pink overalls. There’s a tiny pair of pink Keds too. The underwear have Disney princesses on them; whoever did the shopping didn’t think I need a bra.
Maddy can’t stifle a giggle when I come out of the bathroom. “Oh my God, you’re so cute!” she says. She laughs even harder. “You look like you’re in kindergarten.”
“Shut up!” I squeak.
Maddy runs a hand over her loose-fitting dress. “At least you don’t look like the Blob.” She turns in the mirror and puts a hand on her gut.
It’s about an hour later when Dr. Palmer escorts us out of the subbasement that’s been our home for the last month. We take an elevator up to the lobby. I try not to think about the last time I was in this lobby with Dr. Macintosh.
There aren’t any dead security guards, just Jake, Tess, and Grace. Their eyes all go wide for a moment when they see us. I’m not sure what Dr. Palmer told them to expect, but this isn’t it. Grace is the first to recover; she races forward to throw herself at Maddy. She showers Maddy’s chubby face with kisses before she plants a final emphatic one on Maddy’s lips.
Chances Are Omnibus (Gender Swap Fiction) Page 57