Alice nodded "Yes, Julie, Ted is a girl! She's been calling herself Tina. I had my mentor in college see Ted and give him some tests, he was roughly 95% female!"
Bruce huffed "I took one of those tests in college too. It said I was 75% female. I had lots of women friends, but I didn't wear dresses!"
Julie giggled "Bruce, you had at least 30 female friends and maybe 3 close male friends. No, you didn't wear a dress, but you were pretty girly. I got jealous at first, but then I realized they just treated you like one of the girls."
Bruce smiled "Yes. I had a lot of girl buddies growing up, Julie was only my second lover."
Julie giggled "I thought you were crazy to marry me! I wasn't a virgin and I was easy."
Bruce smiled "There was the impending baby. But I was going to marry you anyway."
Julie smiled at Bruce "I know that now, but when I lost the baby, I thought for sure you would want out. That's why I thought I couldn't lose Ted!"
Alice nodded "Did the doctor give you anything to make sure you didn't lose the baby?"
Julie nodded "Yes, he gave me DES. He said it would prevent a miscarriage, and it did!"
Alice smiled "I've been doing a LOT of research on Tina's condition. There was probably a combination of factors, with Bruce being so feminine already, and you taking DES, which is loaded with estrogen, the combination probably gave him a girl's brain. I'm surprised that he only had a tiny penis."
Bruce started to cry "I'm so sorry, what have I done!"
Julie looked puzzled "Alice just told us it wasn't all your fault."
Bruce shook his head slowly "I've made a horrible mistake! Julie, please don't hate me! You were so tired! We didn't have time to think!"
Julie was bewildered "Bruce, what in the world are you talking about? You're not making any sense!"
Bruce got very calm. "When Ted was born, there were a few birth defects. As you know, he didn't have any testicles, and his penis was really small."
Julie nodded "Yes, but you told me they were in little pockets just above, and would come down, and they did."
Bruce shook his head "No, they were further up, inside. Like ovaries!" The doctor took X-rays and couldn't tell whether they were testes or ovaries, or maybe even one of each."
Julie nodded "I remember the doctor saying we might have to do a surgery on Ted if they didn't come down when he was 12, but they did and everything's fine."
Bruce looked at his hands "The doctor told me I had to make a decision immediately, before the paperwork was final."
Julie glared "What paperwork!"
Bruce was still "For the birth certificate. They didn't know whether to make her a boy or a girl, and I had to decide! Please don't hate me!"
Julie's eyes went wide "That's why his birth certificate was yellow and it had a question mark after "Clark Boy?", they didn't know whether he was a boy or a girl."
Bruce nodded "You'd been through over 48 hours of labor, so I didn't want to wake you up. When Ted was born, there was a tiny vagina, about a third as large as a normal one, and the tiny penis, also a third the size of a normal one. The doctors did the X-ray and couldn't tell even then. He even had wider hips like a girl."
Alice nodded "And they had to correct so they could put the right sex on the birth certificate?"
Bruce nodded "Yes, exactly. Besides, this way kids wouldn't be making fun of her combination of both. The doctor sewed up the opening. I think he also had to attach the urethra to the penis as well."
Alice smiled "So you knew that Ted could be a girl?"
"Yes, I suppose it's possible."
Alice smiled "The brain and skeleton form during the first few weeks of pregnancy, and by default, the fetus would be a girl. During those first weeks, the boy fetus is flooded with testosterone, which produces the masculine brain, designed to hunt, to protect, to fight, to compete for mates, more aggressive.
On the other hand, if there is no flood of testosterone, then the brain and skeleton become more female, designed to nurture children, to gather, to hide and protect her children. There's a lot of biology involved, but it's pretty obvious that Tina has a girl's brain."
Bruce smiled "Maybe that's what happened to me to, but not as severe. But why did she have a penis?"
Alice smiled "It seems that soft tissue like the penis and testes take far less testosterone to produce. In fact, some girls are born with an enlarged clitoris, which may be because she got some testosterone during that early pregnancy."
Julie giggled "Maybe my dad was still having sex while I was in that early stage!"
Alice smiled and nodded "Tina said you are a bit of a Tom-boy. You're the one that likes football and baseball, and even fishing."
"Yeah, and I wasn't into all that girly stuff. I still wear pants most of the time."
Alice smiled "That fighter spirit as probably how you survived polio."
Julie smiled as she remembered "I refused to give up! I refused to settle for the braces! I told my dad I was gonna ride a bike and roller skate."
Alice smiled "That determination is what kept Tina alive, even as she was trying to kill herself."
Both parents snapped "What are you talking about! When was Ted trying to kill himself!"
Alice held their hands "Tina has been trying to castrate herself since her testes first dropped. Some of the things she tried would make you cringe, especially you Bruce. Something involving a hammer and a board."
Julie interrupted "But Suicide! When was she doing that!"
Alice was calm "As soon as he found out he was a bass. He sang in the choir because he loved the people, including you two. He liked to sing, but he hated that he was singing bass. After that, he started trying to overdose on combinations of booze, drugs, and pills. Some of the combinations should have killed him."
Julie shook her head "He never told us about any of this. We would have gotten her into treatment or therapy immediately!"
Alice frowned "This is not unusual. TINA was afraid you would try to kill HER, and force her to go on living as Ted. To HER, that was like being sentenced to life in solitary confinement with no possibility of parole. Or worse, endless torture as they tried to force her to be a boy."
Julie nodded "My therapist said they might have to lobotomize her because she would try to kill herself! She has always been the real person."
Bruce nodded "Ever since he got into theater, I've gotten the impression that he was ACTING, all the time."
Julie nodded "Ted would also try to drive people away by being an intellectual bully. He would isolate himself."
Alice shook her head "That was TINA, trying to keep people from finding out about her. She could hide her feelings, drive people away, and prevent them from asking personal questions that might cause her to reveal herself. I saw her do it at school."
Alice smiled "Sometimes he would be Ted, the intellectual, doing factoid dumps and talking about things that were way beyond most people's understanding. Other times, he would be Teddy, the clown. The amazing thing is that he could be completely honest with people and make such a joke of it that nobody believed him and they never saw Tina."
Bruce nodded "Yes, I noticed the clown. It seems like he stopped having asthma after he started clowning around, making the kids laugh at him on his terms instead of them laughing while he cried."
Alice nodded "She described it as wearing an iron mask with pointy sharp things inside, but the smiley face painted on so that others couldn't see the pain and exploit it."
Bruce looked at Alice "And you've met Tina?"
Alice smiled and nodded "Uh huh"
Bruce pleaded "Tell me, what's she like?"
Alice beamed "She's amazing, beautiful, and incredibly kind. She looks for what's wonderful in people and makes them feel good about themselves. She always has a kind word for everybody. She even talks fondly of you two. She loves you very much."
Bruce teared "I'd love to meet her. She sounds wonderful."
Alice nodded "She is,
that's why I fell in love with her."
Julie startled "You fell in love with HER? So, he’s not gay?"
Alice smiled "He's asexual, but SHE is a lesbian."
Bruce smirked "I'd love to see how THAT works!"
Alice giggled "A lady doesn't kiss and tell!"
Julie started to giggle too "I bet she says the same thing!"
Alice gave a big nod "Let's just say we both have a good time, and that's all you need to know for now."
Bruce smiled "That's why you had to meet us before we saw her isn't it? We would have been expecting Ted, and she's Tina."
Alice nodded "It's critical that you accept her as Tina. She's been beat up badly, both of her testicles were crushed, she has broken bones and scars from previous attacks. She almost died on us just getting her to this hospital."
Julie stood up and gave Alice a hug "You are an amazing woman Alice, she's lucky to have you!"
Bruce have Alice a chesty hug. "I am very much looking forward to meeting my wonderful daughter. She has to be amazing to have captured the heart of a woman like you!"
Alice smiled "Let's go meet Tina now, shall we?"
Coming out to Parents
Alice walked in first "Tina, I have someone who is dying to meet you!"
Tina did her best to smile "Hi Alice, I'm so tired, I just want to sleep, but they won't let me. Can they come back later?"
Alice shook her head "No, they were quite insistent that they could not wait to meet their lovely DAUGHTER."
Tina teared up. She fought back the tears. "Really, they want to meet ME, not Ted or Teddy?"
Alice shook her head "No, ESPECIALLY not Ted or Teddy. They want to meet the REAL you, and see what you're really like."
Tina nodded "I'd like to meet them too."
Bruce and Julie walked in - they could see the cuts on.her face, and the bruises, yet Tina had her hair pulled back with two burets and was wearing lipstick.
Tina smiled as best she could "Mom, I love that blouse on you, it really brings out the color in your eyes."
Julie gave her a hug "Tina, you poor girl, you've had a rough day. You look like you just did 10 rounds with Muhammad Ali, but you are so beautiful!"
Bruce came over and kissed her on the forehead "I love you baby girl!"
Tina let out a tiny giggle "English leather, you smell nice!"
Julie smiled "I like it too!"
Tina had a sweet gentle smile "I love you both so much. Thank you for being here! It means so much!"
Bruce smiled "Tina, you're amazing sweetie, Alice, explained so much to us. It may sound weird, but now everything makes sense to me. This is who you really are, and always have been."
Tina couldn't speak, she just started to cry.
Julie wanted to comfort her "Tina, don't cry, we understand now, and we love you. We love YOU Tina."
Tina shook her head "I'm so happy."
Julie giggled "You MUST be a girl; you cry when you're happy!"
Tina giggled and sniffed "Yep. So glad I don't have to hide that anymore."
Alice giggled "Now she cries during Disney movies!"
Alice bent over to kiss her forehead, but Tina grabbed her and gave her a passionate kiss.
Alice giggled "Right here in front of God and everybody?"
Tina had a huge grin "Especially in front of God and everybody. I love you Alice, and I want my parents to know it too. And God already knows how much we love each other. God brought us together!"
Alice hugged Tina for a few minutes.
Crashing
Tina grunted "Head hurts, so sleepy!"
Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she was out.
The nurse came rushing in "She's going into shock, everybody out, we have to work quickly."
Within seconds, the doctor was in the room.
"Pupils fixed and dilated"
"41 BPM"
"BP 90/60."
"Start an Eppy drip."
"She's slipping."
"Eppy - I'll main-line her."
"38 BPM"
"BP 80/50 - we're losing her."
"Come on Tina, hang in there."
"Crash cart, set to three hundred"
"250 - 300!
"Clear!"
"No pulse"
"Again"
"250 - 300"
"Clear!"
"We've lost her."
They just stood there for a moment.
"Time?"
"0530"
"Call it."
“Time of Death 05:30”
They began filling out the death certificate, cleaning things up.
“The team was silent. This was one they didn’t want to lose.
“Call the coroner, we need an autopsy on this one.”,
Suddenly, Tina gasped for air.
"Jesus, she's still with us, I don't know how!"
"I have a pulse - 45"
"BP 90/70"
"Come on Tina, fight"
"BP 110/80"
"55 BPM"
"Wow, keep fighting girl"
Tina jerked up and was wide awake. "Where am I, what happened? Oh, that hurts."
The doctor smiled "You decided to take a little vacation I guess. We thought we had lost you. You were gone for about 2 minutes. We'd already called your death and given up, and suddenly you came back to life. I have no idea why!"
Tina smiled "God wants me to do things here, in this body."
The doctor nodded "Must be, the fact that you're still alive is a miracle!
Tina calmly mouth "I wish I didn't hurt so bad, and I want to sleep".
The doctor thought a minute. "OK, here's the deal. I'll give you something for the pain, and I'll let you sleep for one hour at a time. Someone will wake you up, to make sure you're not comatose. We're also going to keep you on monitors. If there are any problems, I'm sending you to the ICU young lady."
Tina giggled "Yes doctor, I'll be a good girl!"
The doctored passed on his orders to the head nurse.
Investigation
The doctor walked down the hall to the room where Alice, Julie, and Bruce had been waiting. He was startled by the two police officers with them.
"Hi Mr. & Mrs. Clark, Alice, good news! We thought we lost Tina, but somehow, after we'd declared her dead, she came back to us on her own." He turned to the two women in uniform. "How can I help you officers?"
"I'm officer Jane Miller, and this is Diane Hanson, we're investigating the assault of your patient. I'm sorry we were so late, but the head of ER went ballistic, he apparently refused to treat her and didn't want to tell us where she was. Probably didn't want us to find her so he could be prosecuted. Fortunately, one of the nurses was working a double and remembered that she was taken here."
The doctor smiled "I'm Dr. Ginsberg, I've been on her case since she came in. Could you come to my office with me? I have some pictures you'll need to see and I don't want the family to see them."
"Jane, we also need to talk to the victim."
Dr. Ginsberg nodded "She's resting at the moment; she should be up in about an hour. I just gave her something for pain, and you want a coherent witness. By the way, could you get on the radio and get a bench warrant? You will want the information I'm giving you, but I need to make sure it's not dismissed as doctor patient confidentiality"
Jane stopped "Wait, you don't think she'll want you to release the records?"
"No, she just might not want them made public in a trial, which is why you need the warrant. You can tell them you overheard me talking to the family and realized you might need one."
Diane held up her hand "Wait, why would you think there might be a problem, or a warrant needed?"
"You heard me call her Tina to the family. Do you know her real name?"
Jane went through the reports "Theodore Thomas Clark? OH! Now I understand. Wait here, I'll call it in."
15 minutes later, Jane returned with the warrant.
"Doctor, please show us all medical r
ecords related to Theodore Thomas Clark aka Tina Clark. Here's the warrant."
The doctor scanned the warrant. "This should do the trick. Come in Officers."
Dr. Ginsberg went to a file drawer, and pulled out a folder an inch thick. He handed the file to Diane who's started looking at the pictures
"Oh my god, this is horrible. Usually when I have seen marks and bruises like this, it's because I'm looking at a dead body. You lost her? How did she survive all this?"
He shook his head "To be honest, I don't have a clue, she should be dead, but she should have been dead years ago."
He put the CT pictures on the screen, he pointed "These spinal injuries are at least six years old. The toes have been broken so many times, I can't figure out how she can walk, and I'm told she danced in heels before the attack."
He put up some more pictures "Here, we can see scar tissue on the liver, kidneys, stomach and spleen. She's been attacked many times. Maybe the parents can give you more on that."
Then he pointed to other spots "These are the ruptures and bruises from last night's attack. There was damage to the liver, kidneys, stomach, spleen, and lungs. But here's the worst part."
He handed them the photographs "This was the damage to the groin." Then he put up more scans "This was the damage shown by the scan. One of the testes was malformed, but both were completely crushed. The damage to the penis is so severe I had to remove the vein that causes erections or she would bleed out at the first attempt at an erection."
Diane held up a hand "So that's why the other doctor wouldn't treat her. He saw a guy in a dress and just freaked out."
Dr. Ginsberg nodded "It's probably a good thing, Phillips doesn't have a CT scanner, and the exploratory surgery to find this damage would have killed her."
Diane smiled "Now I understand why you wanted us to get that warrant. This way the Defense can't discredit Tina and can't have the evidence suppressed if she is discredited as a witness."
Max nodded "Precisely. In addition, her parents can't block it to keep him as a boy."
Diane was puzzled. "Isn't she 19 years old?"
Max nodded "Yes, but we lost her once and I'm worried that she might not make it. If that happens, it becomes a murder case, then you don't want the parents blocking on medical confidentiality basis."
Religious Liberty On Trial Page 20