Stray Cats Ch. 05

Rachel noticed that the female nurses all acted a bit coquettish around Alex. She also noticed how they all seemed to be interested in his chest. It was obvious that Alex's unique condition was a curiosity. They should act like professionals not like a bunch of schoolgirls, she fumed as she stormed out of his room in search of the doctor. Eventually she found Doctor Willis and spoke to him about it. He placed Alex's room on restricted access.

As a result, there was a bit of a stink at the nurse's station. Rachel overheard the commotion outside Alex's door. But it settled down quickly when she walked out in the middle of all the tension to ask the duty nurse if she could have an extra pillow for her "husband."

"You could hear a pin drop after I said that," she told him.

"Thank you."

A minute later one of the night shift nurses, Tiffany, knocked softly and poked her head into the room. "I'm sorry to bother you but I wanted to apologize for my staff's behavior. We weren't acting very professional. I'm sorry. I'm Tiffany Porter and I'm the duty nurse tonight. I wanted to let you know that we heard from Doctor Willis and we understand and will respect your privacy from now on. Again, I'm very sorry."

"Thank you Nurse Porter..."

"Tiffany, please."

"Thank you, Tiffany."

"Can I ask you something?" She came further into his room and softly closed the door.

"Sure."

"Your body, is it natural?"

Alex blushed slightly and pulled his sheets tighter around his neck. "Yes, why?"

"Because, I...I think I'm a little like you."

Alex relaxed a bit as he looked at Tiffany with renewed interest. "Really?"

"Yeah, I heard some of the other nurses hint that there was something different about you and then Doctor Willis told us the room was on restricted access. I was curious so I asked him and he told me that you're intersexed and bothered by all the unnecessary attention. You see, I'm intersexed too, only a little bit different from you, I think. It's called AIS."

"Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, I know of it."

"Well, I was wondering if we could talk. I don't know anyone else like us."

"Sure, ah, Tiffany, this is my wife Rachel. Would it be alright with you if Rachel stayed?"

"Oh, yes, that would be fine. Are you intersexed too?"

"No Tiffany, I'm a pre-op transsexual."

"You are? I had no idea, your hands are so small."

Rachel blushed slightly and nodded to Tiffany. "Thank you, a gift from my mother, I suppose."

Tiffany sat down on a chair near Alex's bed and took a big breath. "Have you ever heard of Dr. Leonard Brunner?"

Alex shook his head. "No."

"He came to St. Mary's about five years ago, fresh out of a residency in Trenton, New Jersey. He's young but he's got a good head on his shoulders. Anyway, his research is focused on the intersex phenomenon. I'm one of his case studies." She blushed slightly then continued. "The rest of his research is from all over the country. He wants to start an institute for the study of intersexed people here in Wilmington. Would you like to meet him?"

Alex glanced to Rachel, looking for some sort of a response but her expression was blank. He turned back to Tiffany and smiled. "I don't know Tiffany, maybe, but not now. I need to think about it. I've been hiding this from the world for a very long time and it's going to take me some time to open up to a stranger. And the parade of curiosity seekers that has been in and out of my room today isn't any help."

"I truly am sorry about that."

"I know, and I understand why you can relate to my situation. So the best I can say is I'll think about it."

"Okay." Tiffany got up and walked over to the door then she turned and returned to Alex's bedside. She handed him a business card. "Here's Dr. Brunner's contact information. Please give him a call when you think you're ready to meet him. I'm sure you'd like him. Thanks Alex. And if you ever just want to talk about stuff, you know 'stuff'?" She glanced up at Rachel and smiled meekly. "My number is on the back, please call."

Tiffany extended her hand to Rachel. "It's nice to have met you; I hope I see you both in the future under better circumstances."

Rachel shook her hand. "Thank you Tiffany, I hope so, too."

Three days later, Alex went back into surgery with Dr. Greeley. It was finally time to address some of the scaring where the knife cut into him. After another two more days of convalescing, Alex was released into Amanda and Rachel's care. They wheeled a rather stiff Alex Wells out of the hospital and into a waiting cab to bring him home.

Following another week or so of bed rest, Alex was up and about. He was becoming restless and was half way through getting dressed when Amanda and Rachel walked into his room.

Rachel stamped her foot and Amanda barred the door. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To work, where else?"

Both girls looked at him sternly. "No you're not. You're not going anywhere."

"But, I've got to go to work. If I don't I'm going to go crazy cooped up here all day. Besides, they need me there."

Amanda pushed him gently to his bed. "No they don't. Inez is covering your shifts and your manager said you have a one week paid vacation coming to you anyway."

"I'm part-time, how do I qualify for a vacation?"

Rachel leaned over and kissed him on the lips with a mischievous grin. "I called him and persuaded him to offer it to you."

"How did I ever get by without you two?"

"I don't know." Rachel turned to Amanda with a mischievous grin. "Well Amanda, isn't it time for our patient's daily sponge bath?"

"I do believe you're right." Both girls began to strip him.

"Wait! No fair tickling!"

=FOUR=

"Knock, knock. Reception told me I might find Kyle Upton in here."

Kyle bumped his head under his desk. "Ouch." He peeked over the top of his desk with a big grin. "Hi beautiful, what brings you here?" He ducked back under his desk.

Wendy giggled and sat down in one of Kyle's client chairs. "I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd check out your office. Are you hiding from me?"

"Huh? Oh, no, my keyboard cable came lose and I was trying to reattach it when you came in." He grinned as he stood up and walked around his desk planting a kiss on her head as he walked by her to close his office door.

She stood up and fell into his arms as he turned towards her. His kiss was tender and passionate. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly then leaned back. "Hey, it's nearly lunch, you want to join me somewhere?"

"Hmm, sounds like a great way to start the afternoon." She looked over his shoulder at a group of pictures on one of his bookshelves. "Who are those people in the photographs?"

He released her and followed her as she walked over to his bookshelf to get a closer look. Then he waved his hand across the photograph. "Welcome to my family." He pointed to each person as he named them off. "That's Grandma, Mom and Dad, Uncle Willie, his sons Willie junior, and Hank. That's my sister Annie, and her husband Tom, they live on a dairy farm near Lancaster. Over there is my brother Tommy and, in a rare appearance, my twin sister Candace.

"Rare appearance?"

"Yeah, she's the one in the family with a severe case of wanderlust, every family has at least one I've been told, and Candace is our world traveler. That's why it's so rare to catch a glimpse of her standing still, she's always moving. Right now she's up in New York City, at the New School studying filmmaking. She's pretty good at it too. Her last film was a documentary on gender dysphonia. It won a couple of awards on the festival circuit." He laughed out loud. "If you ever meet Grandma be prepared to sit through it at least once, with commentary."

"Gender issues?"

"Yes, something close to her heart. She transitioned when we were twelve, she's my twin. We were identical, now were fraternal." He shrugged sheepishly and Wendy wrapped her arms around him and crushed him in a big hug.

"What was that for?"

"Just for being you."

Kyle leaned in and kissed her. "Then I should be 'me' more often." His stomach rumbled a little and Wendy giggled. "Sorry, I guess it's lunch time."

"Come on, I'll drive. Rachel told me about this cute little Parisian restaurant on Elm Street, Madeline's I think she called it."

Twenty minutes later Wendy pulled into the parking lot at Madeline's, and ten minutes later they were sitting at a table with a view of a small park nearby.

Kyle peeked over his menu. "How's business? Is the real estate market going strong?"

"Not bad, I think I've found a house for Rachel, Amanda, and Alex. It's not too far from here, we can swing by and take a look after lunch if you have time."

Kyle pulled out his cellphone and dialed his office. "Hi Alice. Can you call Henderson and let him know I'll be a little late for my two o'clock? Thanks." He snapped his phone shut and slipped it back in his pocket. "Sounds like I have time and I'd like to see it." He tapped his menu. "Anything recommended?"

"Alex said everything is great here. I'm going for the salad, a girl has to watch her figure, you know."

Kyle grinned and shook his head. "Wendy Bingham, you must be doing a great job because your figure is stunning and I could watch it for you all day long."

Blushing crimson, Wendy smiled demurely, then buried her head in the menu.

"Rachel called me yesterday, she was wondering if I had some time tomorrow to meet her for coffee."

Her nose still buried behind her menu, Wendy tried to sound nonchalant. "Where are you going to meet?"

"I told her I had more time than she did so she suggested a coffee shop on 5th near where she works."

"I know that shop, the cappuccino is really good." She paused a moment and glanced at Kyle over the top of her menu. "What time did she want to meet you?"

"Around ten, why?"

"No reason, I was hoping you would join me for lunch tomorrow, that's all. Maybe we can meet for dinner instead."

"I'd like that."

About then a waitress arrived at their table with two glasses of water and they ordered lunch.

"Are you worried?"

"About what?"

"My meeting with Rachel. I know she's being a bit of a mother hen but with that run-in you had with your former boyfriend I can understand why she's being a little over-protective."

"I know, and I love her for it, but honestly, you're not like any man I've ever met."

Now it was Kyle's turn to blush. "Thank you."

"Tell me about your sister Candace. You told me the other day that your family was just scrapping by. How can they afford to send your sister to The New School, it's expensive isn't it?"

"Very. Mostly she's there on scholarships, some they offered and some she found on her own. Plus I help her out whenever I can. I've always tried to look out for her when I could. She had a rough time of it after she decided to transition; the girls in high school were especially cruel. There for a while it seemed like I was in a fight every other day pushing off her bullies."

"I know, I lived through it too, but I wish I'd had a twin brother to help me."

"There was a boy she fell in love with in the twelfth grade. He was a jock and popular with all the girls. I told her not to try, but she was totally gaga for him."

"What happened?"

Kyle poured some cream in his coffee and stirred it idly with his spoon. "She decided to ask him out. She'd been working up the nerve for a couple of weeks. I snuck along without her knowing. If she had seen me before she asked him she would have beat me up for certain. But I stayed back far enough to not be seen but close enough to hear. The boy's name was Kurt Treadway, he was a real dick but she refused to see it."

"I can see where this is going."

"Yeah, well anyway, Kurt was hanging out with a couple of his buddies from the football team when Candace showed up. She was wearing one of her best dresses and some cute high heels. I mean, if she wasn't my sister I would have totally dated her, she was hot."

Wendy smirked and Kyle blushed a bit then continued. "I couldn't hear everything in the conversation but I got the gist of it. Candace asked him out and he laughed at her.

I heard him shout at her, "I don't do chicks with dicks, freak."

They said a couple more things and then his friends were laughing. She snapped back, "What? You're worried that mine might be bigger than yours?"

"That's when he hit her. He knocked her on the ground and spat on her and I was on him in a flash. Kurt and his buddies proceeded to kick the shit out of me but I got in a few good punches before I blacked out. They must have left shortly after that because when I came to I was lying on a stretcher and being hauled into an ambulance. She stayed with me for the rest of that night telling me how sorry she was. I couldn't say a thing because my jaw was wired shut."

Wendy's eyes glistened as she turned to look out the window at some children playing in a park across the street. What was the big deal anyway? Why couldn't he have just said no? Why is it so hard to treat another human being with respect and kindness even if you're not interested in them? Would he have treated a genetic girl that way? Are they so afraid that being with a transsexual is contagious? Like it's some sort of deadly disease?

She sighed and used her napkin to dry her eyes.

"Hey, it's a beautiful day; let's talk about happy things okay? What about the house you found?"

"It's a cute little bungalow. It has all the amenities they were looking for."

Kyle laughed. "Even a bedroom large enough for a king-sized bed?"

Wendy blushed and nodded. "That too."

The waitress arrived with their lunch. Then half way through his sandwich, Kyle's office called. "Hello? Oh, hi Richard. Uh-huh, I asked Henderson to meet me at two. As soon as I have the final figures from him I can get those estimates to you. Yes, okay, I'll be back shortly. Right, right, okay. Bye." Kyle rolled his eyes. "Sorry, my boss is a poster child for ADHD."

"Do you need to go now?"

"Ha, no. He'll be onto three other things as soon as he hangs up the phone. I'll get the numbers he needs by four when I promised him. He drives Alice, the division secretary, nuts but at least he's thoughtful and remembers her birthday, his only saving grace."

They finished their lunch and, holding hands, they walked out of the restaurant towards Wendy's car. He nudged her shoulder. "I guess next time it will be my turn to visit your office."

"I can't wait." She was beginning to understand the depth of her feelings for him. That she was in love with Kyle not just in love with the idea of love like she was with her ex-boyfriend, Ted.

"We still have time, do you want to swing by that house you found for the family? At least we can see it from the curb."

"Sure." Then she smiled sweetly and kissed him on the lips. "But you can't tell them anything, I want it to be a surprise."

"I promise."

=FIVE=

Kyle walked into Robbie's coffee house on Fifth Street a few minutes after ten in the morning. He glanced around a moment looking for Rachel. The place was filled with customers, laughter and coffee. The hiss from the espresso machine filled the air with the rich aroma of a dark roasted Parisian blend. It smelled heavenly.

Rachel saw Kyle first and waved him towards a booth near the back. "Hi, thanks for choosing this place so close to my work."

"Well, like I said, you have less time than I do and anyway, I like this place, Rob makes his own blend of coffee, it's not bitter like the name brand stuff."

"You know the owner?"

"Sort of, we went to undergraduate school together. I left for law school and he went to South America in search of the perfect coffee bean." Kyle lifted his cup to his lips. "I think he found it."

Rachel glanced at Kyle. "Yes, he did. I suppose you know why I asked you to meet me?"

"Hmmm. You want to know if I'm a rogue and a scoundrel and only after Wendy's vast fortune, is that it?"

Rachel opened and closed her mouth then frowned and looked away. It was clear to anyone watching the couple interact that she was upset. Apparently Kyle's attempt at levity wasn't scoring him any points.

"Okay, ask me your questions, no more flippant responses, I promise." He crossed his heart and held up his right hand.

"You're a bit of a smart-ass aren't you?"

"Only when I'm nervous, which is why I never was any good as a litigator, I couldn't deal with the nerves." Kyle glanced at Rachel's cup. "Would you like some more coffee?"

"No, I'm fine. Kyle, Wendy didn't want me to meet with you, she's afraid that I'll scare you off. But somehow, I don't think that's going to happen. Not just from that last remark you made but from the way you two are together. Still, I want you to understand that I really respect her and care for her. And I don't want anything to happen to her that would make her cry."

"Neither do I, although she came pretty close when Alex got stabbed."

"Yeah, that was a rough night for everybody." Rachel paused a moment and sipped her coffee. She glanced over at a couple sitting nearby and holding hands. "Have you ever known a girl like Wendy before?"

Kyle took a big breath and let it out slowly. "I've mostly dated regular girls in the past, albeit not many of them because I've always been a bit awkward around them, sort of like I am around you now. And because my family is a bit eccentric for lack of a better description, that sort of put off my chances for dates in the past, too. They still live with grandma outside of Philadelphia, except for my sister Candace. She's studying filmmaking in New York at the New School."

"Do you come from a big family?"

"Not really, a brother, a sister, and a twin. The rest are uncles, aunts, and cousins."

"You have a twin?"

"Yeah, Candace, we used to be identical, now were fraternal."

"Huh?"

"She was born a boy and she transitioned when we were twelve. My family has always been supportive, God bless them, but her school life sucked. She's tough though, we're all really proud of her."

Rachel paused a moment, Kyle continued to amaze her. "I've heard of the New School, it's private isn't it?"

"Yeah, and expensive too. My family has always been trying to make ends meet but they also wanted to help her with her dreams. When the scholarship came through, she worked doubly hard to find more financial aide. She pieced it all together and I help her out whenever I can but she's stubborn about it. She knows I have huge student loans to pay off as well."

The booth that Rachel and Kyle sat in had rather high backs which made it feel private but at the same time difficult to see the front of the store. It also made it difficult for Rachel to notice a cute brunette wearing huge sunglasses and a big floppy hat sit down in the booth next to them. The woman leaned back and quietly listened to the conversation going on in the next booth.

Kyle stirred the cream in his coffee slowly. "It's been a blessing to know Wendy. There aren't a lot of people I know who would understand my twin sister like she does. Hopefully, she'll get to meet her sometime."

Rachel sighed and gazed out the window at people passing by the coffee shop on the sidewalk outside. "Wendy is a lucky girl."

"So are you. The rest of us should be so lucky to find the deep love you have for Alex and Amanda."

"Is it that obvious?"

"It only takes a glance, Rachel. I've only known you for what, a couple of weeks? And yet, the first day I met you I knew. Everybody knows if they take the time to look. And you also have this mother hen thing going but it's cool, I can tell you really care for Wendy and I'm fine with that."