Stray Cats Ch. 05

This is continuation of a reprint of a story that I posted in 2015 on this site. I was rereading it lately and correcting some of the typos (I'm sure I missed some) when it dawned on me that perhaps I should repost this story (in the original chapter format) for readers today. It's still relevant, well most of it is. I hope you enjoy it.

Oh, as a reminder, you might consider going back to read the opening chapters as much of who these characters and the new or subsequent characters who are introduced in this chapter, are better understood with that foundation. But, as always, it's your choice.

Please leave a comment when you've finished, feedback is the lifeblood of a writer.

--Dreamweaver594

Kismet and ER

=ONE=

Alex walked into Kim and Ray's new apartment. "Hey, where do you want me to put this box? It's marked K-Bdm. Maybe Kim's bedroom?"

Kim poked her head out of the bathroom door. "That's my stuff. It belongs in the back bedroom. Can you put it along the far wall? Thanks Alex."

Alex carried the box down the hall followed by Rachel and Amanda each carrying boxes and totes. The morning started when everyone showed up at Kim's old apartment. Ray and Kyle picked up the rental truck early in the morning and had already loaded what little he had into it before they arrived at Kim's.

The rest of the morning was filled with packing the last minute items in Kim's apartment, loading the rest of her stuff in the rental truck, and unloading it in the new place. By mid-day the bulk of the move was finished and Ray drove off with the rental truck and to pick up lunch.

Wendy finished folding and setting the linens into the hall closet. She walked into the kitchen to find Kim and Amanda filling the cabinets with dishes and bowls. "This is a nice little apartment you two found. And the neighborhood is nice too; it's not to far from the condo complex where Kyle and I live. I've sold several condos around here and the people tell me that everyone is friendly and they watch out for one another."

"Thanks Wendy, I know we're going to love it once the dust settles."

Alex and Rachel joined them in the kitchen. "The bed is assembled."

"If you want we'd be happy to put on the sheets and duvet on the bed for you," Rachel added.

"Thanks guys, the linens are in the hall closet."

Wendy walked out into the hallway. "I'll show you." She opened the closet door and pulled out a set of sheets and pillowcases. "I think these all match." Then she giggled and passed them both to walk into the living room. Kyle was busy stuffing Ray's bookshelf with books and magazines. He was surrounded by empty boxes.

"Whew, moving students is almost as bad as moving lawyers." He chuckled as he stuffed another stack of folders in one of the shelves.

Wendy knelt down and wrapped her arms around his neck giving him a big hug and kiss. "Thank you for doing this sweetheart, I know you're busy with work and all, but you've been such a big help."

Kim leaned around the corner into the living room and grinned. "You both have been wonderful, thank you. Everyone, this move has been so easy with all of you."

About then the apartment door flew open and Ray walked in with a stack of pizza boxes. "Lunch break, everyone! Well, maybe a late lunch, there was a line at the check-in counter. Lord they move slow at rental companies."

Amanda walked back into the living room. "I think it's part of their training."

Rachel followed Alex into the living room. She was holding an extra set of pillows. "Kim, do you want me to use these two for the pillow shams?"

Ray dropped the pizza boxes on the coffee table. "What are pillow shams?"

Kyle chuckled still stuffing Ray's bookshelves. "Oh, you have so much to learn, grasshopper." Ray grinned and Kim giggled.

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly; with everyone's help Ray and Kim's move went flawlessly.

Ray walked into the living room to find everyone drinking sodas and laughing about Tom Reilly's latest antics. "Do you guys want to go out for dinner? I'm buying."

Rachel groaned. "Thanks Ray but I can't, I have a late shift tonight at the club."

Alex got up and picked up a few soda cans to take them to the recycling bin in the kitchen. "Me too, I have an early shift at the convenience store otherwise I'd be happy to join you. Can I get a rain check?" He tossed his keys to Rachel with a grin. "You're driving as usual?"

"Love to, thanks."

Ray was beginning to look a bit disappointed. "It's okay, rain checks are no problem. Wendy? Kyle? Amanda?"

Amanda chirped up with a grin. "I'm in, but somebody will have to give me a ride home."

"That sounds great, Ray. There's a little burger joint on the corner we've been to before, not too expensive either, just the thing for a student's budget. Kyle and I will meet you there."

"Great."

=TWO=

The emergency room at St. Mary's Regional Hospital was strangely quiet at the moment. Triage was working efficiently to move the small amount of waiting patients through the screening process and there didn't seem to be many serious cases to deal with for a change. Some minor scrapes and bruises, a broken arm and a few cuts. It looked like it was going to be a quiet night.

Suddenly, the radio dispatch crackled and hissed. Paramedics from engine house four were bringing in a stabbing victim. They shouted his vitals over the radio as the ambulance wove through traffic towards the hospital. Moments later a gurney burst through the outer doors of the emergency room as three paramedics shouted for help from the ER staff.

In a flash, Alex Wells was moved through a maze of corridors, up an elevator, and into operating room number three. Standing alone downstairs in the emergency room reception area, a frightened Rachel Thompson stood shaking and sobbing. An ER nurse ushered her to the couch in the waiting room.

Several minutes later Amanda rushed through the outer doors. She found Rachel curled up and sobbing on a couch in the waiting room. "Is he all right? Where is he?"

"He's in an operating room right now I think, I don't know anything yet."

"What happened?"

"We were at Moulin Rouge. I was working my usual shift. Alex got off earlier than I did so he took a cab over to meet me. We were just hanging out when a fight broke out across from the bar. I don't know who or what started it but it was getting ugly quick. A guy had one of the waitresses, Susan I think, by the neck and was threatening her with a knife. I shouted at him and he pushed Susan away and lunged at me. But before I could move Alex was between us. The bastard stabbed him three times before he ran off. Girls were screaming, people were scrambling out of the bar, there was blood everywhere. Sydney, the manager, called 911 then Susan and I did what we could to stop the bleeding. Oh God, Amanda, it was like I was watching him die and there was nothing I could do to stop it!"

"Okay Sis, okay." She hugged Rachel and held her tight while Rachel sobbed onto her shoulder.

Eventually Rachel's tears began to slow and she lifted her head up to kiss Amanda on the cheek. "Thank you, Sis."

"Let me go get some tissues, I'll be right back." Amanda left Rachel sitting on the couch and wiping her eyes as she walked briskly towards the triage desk. She grabbed a box of tissues then glanced at the nurse behind the counter. "Hi, Alex Wells was brought in a while ago; he was stabbed in a club tonight. Can you tell me what's happening with him?"

A triage nurse looked up from her computer screen. "He's in the operating room right now, ma'am. Are you in his family?"

"Yes, I'm his sister."

"Here, I need you to fill out some consent forms. You can bring them back to me when you've finished."

Amanda looked at the clipboard stuffed with medical release forms and sighed. She added the clipboard with the stack of consent forms to the box of tissues and walked back over to Rachel. She handed the tissue box to Rachel and sat down next to her. "He's in the operating room, that's all she could tell me and then she handed me all this stupid paperwork." Amanda sighed again as she began to fill out the forms.

Rachel wiped her eyes and rested her head on Amanda's shoulder. She mumbled softly. "He asked me to stop working there."

"What sweetie?"

"Alex, he asked me to stop working at Moulin Rouge. On the way over in the ambulance, he held my hand and asked me to stop working at the club. He said it was too dangerous. Oh God, Amanda, it's all my fault."

"Now stop that right now, Rachel. If it's anybody's fault, it's that bastard who stabbed Alex." She leaned over and kissed Rachel on the forehead. "But sweetheart, you really need to stop working there. It's getting way too dangerous."

"I was working there so that I could afford nice clothes and to help pay for all the HRT drugs I need daily to keep my body in check. My part-time job isn't enough.

"I'll buy you nice clothes sweetheart, and all the drugs you need. Just stop working there. I worry every night you go off to work...so does Alex. Why do you think he spends so much time there?"

"I never realized..."

"Rachel, my sweet lovely Rachel, you and Alex are the loves of my life, I don't ever want to lose either of you, ever."

At that moment, Wendy arrived with Kyle, followed closely by Kim and Ray; they all rushed through the waiting room doors. Wendy looked around frantically until she spotted Amanda and Rachel sitting at the far end of the waiting room. "We just heard! How's he doing?"

"He's still in surgery and they haven't told us anything else yet."

Wendy moved to sit beside Rachel and Amanda. "I'm so very sorry, is there anything we can do?"

Amanda hugged her and kissed her cheek. "Just pray it's not serious."

The rest of the family sat close and waited for the emergency team to do their work. An hour or so later, a doctor came through the emergency room doors. His nametag read Dr. Fred Willis. "Amanda Simpson, Rachel Thompson?"

Everyone stood up and clustered around the doctor. "I'm Amanda and this is Rachel."

"He's out of danger and recovering in the ICU. We can't let anyone see him until the anesthesia wears off and he regains consciousness. There was a large loss of blood and several knife wounds but only one was severe. It punctured his kidney on the left side. We'll have to do some tests to determine if the damage will be long term. He's young and strong so that will improve his chances."

Rachel smiled bleakly. "How long before we can we see him?"

"Not for a while yet, I'll send one of the IC nurses out once he's regained consciousness and moved to a room." The doctor looked at all the concerned faces then recognized a familiar one. "Wendy, what are you doing here?"

"Hi Fred, my good friend Alex is here, we're kind of family. How bad was it?"

"Well, fortunately, the blade didn't do too much serious damage. He'll have a few scars to brag about I suppose. He's in stable condition but like I said, he'll be out of it for a while. After that, I would guess several weeks for full recovery. Wendy, I know you said you're family but do you know about him?"

"What do you mean?"

"About his physical condition, it looks like he's in the middle of a gender change. These scars may disfigure him if he wants to continue with that change."

"Thanks Fred, could you keep his physical condition private please, even with the medical staff. He's very sensitive about it."

"I understand. I'll speak to the duty nurse; she'll keep it under her thumb."

Rachel reached forward and shook the doctor's hand. "Thank you Doctor Willis." Amanda and the rest of the family thanked him as well while Wendy walked over to the far side of the waiting area and made a phone call.

"Don? Hi, it's Wendy Bingham. Yes, thanks, sorry for calling so late. Look, I need to ask a favor. A friend of mine was just in a pretty severe accident and Fred Willis told me that the scars woud be rather disfiguring. Is there anyway you can come in and have a look? He's here at Saint Mary's Regional. Oh, thank you, I appreciate it. I'll call you tomorrow morning when we know more and I'll give you the rest of the details. There are a few things I will need to explain. Yes, the attending is Fred Willis. Okay, I'll ask him to call you. Thanks Don, I'll talk to you tomorrow morning. Say hello to Margaret for me, okay, good night."

For the next half hour Wendy was on her cell phone calling in favors, organizing a surgical team to handle Alex's situation. Amanda and Rachel were amazed at her connections.

Meanwhile Kim was on her phone calling her father, a state's attorney. She told him that Alex's attacker was still at large and she wanted to make sure the cops didn't give it a low priority. All in all, the family was doing what they could to help Alex pull through.

An hour later the ER duty nurse came out into the waiting room and told them that they could see Alex now. "He's on the fourth floor in room 4005. But only for a minute, he's still under the effects of the anesthesia and he'll be rather groggy."

They quietly filed into the elevator, each one holding the other's hands firmly, all with anxious looks on their faces. The elevator chime announced their arrival on the fourth floor. Alex's room was down the corridor and in a cluster of rooms that centered on a nurse's station. The family nodded to the nurses as they filed by to room 4005.

In the room, a variety of tubes and wires were strung from IV bags and monitors and attached all over Alex's body. A nurse was re-checking his IV to make sure it was secure. When she saw the family arrive she smiled and politely ducked out of the way and back to the nurse's station.

"Hey babe, how are you doing?" Rachel gently touched his arm; her eyes were brimming with tears.

Amanda moved to the other side and leaned forward to place a kiss on his cheek. "Hey there sweetheart."

The rest of the family gathered around close and touched him gently as Alex's eyes fluttered open. "Hi." His voice was raspy and soft. "From the looks on your faces it looks like you're here for a funeral."

Rachel kissed his other cheek. "That's not even funny, babe. You're going to be okay, the doctor said you'll be up and around in no time. But for now, no jokes, okay?" He nodded as she kissed him again; her eyes were filled with tears.

A few minutes later Dr. Willis reappeared and suggested that they all go home and get a good night sleep. "We're going to give him a sedative to help him sleep so it'll be easier if he doesn't have any distractions."

After Kim and Ray drove off, Wendy told Amanda and Rachel that a Dr. Donald Greeley was going to visit the day after tomorrow. She told them that he was going to do a preliminary examination on Alex.

"Why?"

"He's a plastic surgeon, one of the best in the region. I asked him to take a look at Alex's wounds. Dr. Willis said that they would probably be disfiguring."

Amanda looked a bit shocked. "But our insurance only covers the basics."

"I'll handle it Amanda, it's what families do, right?"

Rachel wrapped her arms around her and kissed her cheek. "Thank you Wendy, you're wonderful."

Amanda's eyes began to tear up again. "Wendy, I-I don't know what to say."

"Amanda, sweetheart, you're welcome. Now let's go home and get some rest, things start early at St. Mary's and I know you want to be there when he wakes up."

Kyle and Wendy got into her car and drove off leaving Amanda and Rachel by Alex's car.

Rachel opened the passenger door and got in. "How did his car get here?"

"After you called, I called Kim and Ray then I called Wendy. I asked Ray to go to the club and bring his car here after he stopped by the apartment house and picked up the spare set of keys."

Amanda slipped in behind the wheel and started the car.

"Can I stay with you tonight?"

Amanda looked at Rachel and smiled sweetly. "I was going to ask you if you didn't ask me."

Rachel watched the blur of streetlights whiz by the passenger window as Amanda drove them back to the apartment house. Even though she was exhausted her mind continued to replay the events that led up to the stabbing. The blood, Alex's blood, was everywhere, the screaming, chairs and tables flying around the room. It was all like a horrible movie that continued to play over and over in her mind. Why didn't she realize that Alex was always there because he was worried about her?

"I'm so stupid," Rachel muttered. "I thought he was there because he liked hanging out at the club."

"You are not stupid my love, you're simply in love like the rest of us. I blame myself for not saying something earlier, and I bet Alex blames himself for not being more direct about his feelings. We love you Rachel, dearly. The club was fun and we loved being there with you but lately it seems a different kind of group has started hanging out there. And the vibe from them is kind of scary. I know you tried to dismiss it but you felt it too, didn't you?"

Rachel nodded, her eyes glistening.

"So it's settled? You're quitting the club?"

"Yes, I'll call Sydney tomorrow."

"And I'm calling our insurance agent tomorrow. I'm going to change our policy to include long-term maintenance meds. That should handle your needs and whatever Alex needs to help him recover."

"Thank you Amanda, you're such a wonderful wife, I don't know what I would do without you."

"I feel the same way sweetheart."

=THREE=

It was nearly six in the morning when Alex woke up and the first thing he saw were two beautiful faces smiling down on him.

"I must be in heaven for all I see are angels." He laughed and winced a little. "That was corny wasn't it?"

Rachel leaned forward and kissed him on his forehead. "Total cornball my love."

Amanda followed Rachel, "yep totally sweetheart."

Rachel scooted a chair closer and took his hand. "They almost refused to let us in here this morning because we're not your legal family."

Amanda grumbled as she sat next to him near the bed. "We're going to change that starting today. I'm going to ask Kyle to give me a reference for a good family lawyer."

Alex smiled and took their hands. "What name are you guys going to pick for us?"

"You know, I haven't thought about that, what do you think Rachel?"

They watched Rachel consider Amanda's question for a moment. She paused then a broad smile broke out. "I've always been a traditional girl at heart and I've always dreamt of taking my husband's name."

"Me too!" Amanda squealed, her eyes glistening. "When I was a kid I would lay in bed at night and dream about it."

Rachel stood up and leaned over to kiss Alex and Amanda on the lips then she whispered to them both. "Wells."

A half hour later Dr. Willis knocked softly and entered to find all three of them laughing and giggling together. "I didn't know there was a party going on or I'd have dropped in sooner." Dr. Willis was followed into the room by someone unfamiliar. Alex, immediately cautious, grabbed his sheets around him in an attempt to hide his body.

Amanda and Rachel smiled brightly. "Good Morning, Dr. Willis."

"Good Morning. This is Dr. Donald Greeley; he's a plastic surgeon and one of Wendy's friends. Alex, Dr. Greeley would like to examine your wounds if that would be okay?"

Alex looked from Dr. Greeley to Dr. Willis as Dr. Greeley stepped around Dr. Willis and offered to shake Alex's hand. "Don't worry Alex, Wendy Bingham already filled me in. You have a very important friend there; she's been pulling in favors all night. Let's see what kind of damage has been done."

Throughout the rest of the day Alex reacted very privately when anyone came into his room. It was obvious to Rachel that he was getting rather annoyed with the parade of nurses and aides coming and going for a variety of what appeared to be insignificant reasons; sometimes checking the same IV drip several times in a row.