Chapter 7: A New Life

When I awoke it took a few minutes to figure out where I was. Once I realized what had happened I started to take stock of the situation.

While I was still puzzling it out a woman came through the door. She moved towards the bed slowly. She was older, but still attractive. Brown hair about shoulder length framed classic features on a well taken care of face. What really made her look old were the deeply etched lines. Worry lines my grandmother would have called them.

As she got closer she realized my eyes were open and she shrieked. Running to the bed she embraced me, crying. I guessed she was his(my) mother but did a scan to confirm it. I had to be careful. I had decided long ago I would feign amnesia to help ease myself into this body's life. But to act indifferent to this woman would break her heart. Saying, "I'm sorry, do I know you?" was out. But I had to pretend to be confused.

The door opened again and a nurse entered. Obviously brought by my(his) mother's scream. She rushed in, saw my eyes were open, stuck her head back into the hall and shouted, "Get doctor Evans!"

She came to the bed and tried to pull his(my) mother off of me. "Give him some air, Matty." She said. "The doctor will be here soon. Let's see if he has anything to say."

Mother reluctantly released me and backed up a little - still holding my hand.

"Well, sweetheart, how are we feeling?" Asked the nurse as she took my other hand and checked my pulse.

"Hungry." I said. That was a safe thing to say.

"That's a good sign," She said with a smile, "we'll see about getting you something to eat just as soon as the doctor gets a look at you."

"Honey," That was my(his) mother, "I was so worried. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't made it."

Just then, the door opened again and a middle-aged man walked in wearing a white coat.

"I hear someone's awake!" he exclaimed with forced cheerfulness. "Danny, my boy, you gave us quite a scare."

The nurse gave him a quick synopsis of the vitals she had rapidly collected.

I looked at the doctor, and as quizzically as I could, I asked "Danny? Who is Danny?"

His(my) mother stepped back, her hand to her mouth.

He looked to the nurse, "Would you be kind enough to take Matty for a cup of coffee while Danny and I have a little talk."

Matty (I got tired of trying to decide who's mother she was) didn't want to leave but allowed the nurse to guide her out the door.

"Son," the doctor began, "do you know what year it is?"

I tried to look as though I was thinking, "No, sir." I replied.

"Do you know how old you are?"

"No, sir." I replied.

"Can you tell me where you were born?"

"No, sir." I replied.

"Do you remember anything about yourself?"

"No, sir." I replied after a few minutes of apparent concentration.

That began a rather extensive charade. Lucky for me I could read the minds of the experts who examined me and was able to present all the right symptoms.

For continuity and ease of writing I will now be referring to my new body in the first person. It's just easier, okay?

I was in the hospital for another six weeks. During that time I got reacquainted (re?) with my family, 'found out' what year it was and pretty much everything else about myself that anyone could think of.

My name was Danny, but you probably already figured that part out. I was seventeen years old and just finished my junior year in high school.

My parents were decent enough but in the interest of their privacy I will not mention their last name or the exact town we lived in - though it is in Southern California.

Matty you have met, Sam was my father and I had a sister, Sarah, who was a year younger than me. She had been the one trying to get past the police officer.

She was also why I was here. From what I could gather (and I could 'gather' quite a bit) she and Danny were very close when they were younger but lately had grown apart.

That was not quite true. Upon entering high school she had become embarrassed to be his sister. She had blossomed into a very beautiful young woman and he was an outcast.

He was tall, painfully thin, acne and not smart enough to fit in with the nerds. As soon as she realized that most of those in her desired social circle viewed him with contempt she felt that she had to follow along or risk being not accepted. I found that this made her a little uncomfortable with herself but what do sixteen-year-olds (boys or girls) understand about these types of things.

But that's not why I was here. Apparently her treatment hadn't changed Danny's feelings.

She had been on a date with Tom, one of the graduating football stars and they ended up at the house of another, Paul, who was just like him. The two of them had tried to get her into a threesome but she refused. They grew insistent and began to get a little rough so she kicked one of them in the balls and ran out of the house.

She called her big brother on her cell phone and he picked her up and took her home. She was too frightened to say anything and it may have ended there, but the next day at school the two assholes (perhaps in an attempt to divert any thing she may have told someone) let everyone know that not only had they had the threesome but also that it was her idea. They claimed she had begged for it and wanted it in every hole. They also spread around that she wasn't a very good lay since her pussy and ass were all worn out.

After school that day, Danny had found his little sister sitting in his car sobbing inconsolably. What happened next I pieced together from the minds of various witnesses when they were brought in to hospital room to give depositions (the lawyers thought it would be good psychology - my parents are suing the parents of the other kids for medical expenses). Danny had left Sarah in his car and sought out the two Neanderthals in question. Finding them with some other jocks on their way to the parking lot he stopped them and demanded they tell the truth. From the pictures I got from the minds of the witnesses Danny was enraged.

When they tried to dismiss him and push their way past him he tried to stop them. It appeared that the effort was pretty pitiful but it got their attention. In total, four of the football players joined in the response. The beating was quick and brutal. By the time Sarah had realized something was happening and got on the scene it was all but over.

Poor kid. He tried to stand up for family and it got him killed.

Of course I was the only one who knew it got him killed. That saved those four assholes from a very long stretch of prison time. As it was, two of them were doing a few years in jail for assault with intent to do great bodily harm instead of on they're way to college. The other two just got probation since they stopped when Danny hit the ground.

The two that went to jail (Tom and Paul - the same two who tried to rape Sarah) had kept on stomping and kicking for a while. Actually, they had kept it up until Sarah arrived and started screaming for someone to help her brother.

My being here had also saved Sarah from some major guilt. She felt bad enough anyway.

The day I woke up was the first day all summer she hadn't come to see me. Many days she sat by my bed all day. My mother would show up after work and they would both sit there until the hospital made them leave. Sometimes my father would join them.

Since I woke up she hadn't missed a day. She couldn't do enough for me. As I said she felt pretty bad. She wanted to apologize for how she had treated me.

The reason for my beating was now well known by everyone (the real truth had come out saving her reputation) but she didn't think I knew how she behaved towards me for the year and a half leading up to it. She was pretty torn. She was enjoying our renewed relationship but was certain that I would hate her once I found out she had joined in on the teasing and abuse dealt out to her brother. She was afraid that I would find out anyway and wanted to be the one to tell me, along with a profound apology. She was just afraid I could never forgive her. Like I said, what do sixteen year olds know about such things?