"That is impossible," Dr. Walsch's silky smooth voice swirled around me, muffled as if under layers of cotton. Imaginary layers that I wanted to tear off so I could see him in all his glory.
My eyes refused to open. Heat rolled through my body in waves, a thin sheet a sweat coating my skin. The scratchy texture of a hospital bed's sheets rubbed against my skin.
"Nothing is impossible with Ryan." Dreece sounded even farther away, though their voice was still just as sharp as ever. "He's a big reason why gender removal or switches are so effortless now."
"Either way, changing gender is hugely different than making a man grow a womb." The skepticism in my sexy doctor's voice hurt even through the numbness that smothered me. I wanted to wake up and argue that the science wasn't that different.
"Look I don't care if you believe it or not, but you're the only fucking OB/GYN we have on-staff right now so can just fucking get my friend an ultrasound?" Every word was becoming much more faint and muddled, my brain refusing to work.
The cold shocked me back to near consciousness, something glacial and goopy being spread over my lower stomach. Why the hell couldn't I wake up completely?
"What am I supposed to be looking for?" A soft voice brushed against my ears, sweet and femine but unfamiliar to me.
"I'll know it if I see it. Just remember though that you can't tell anyone if you do see something abnormal." Dr. Walsh's voice was skeptical, but even then the warmth of it intoxicated me.
Silence fell as I lay there, struggling to will my eyes open. I wanted to see it, I wanted to see if my serum had worked. That's what they were looking for after all wasn't it? It had to be.
The sharp inhalation of breath filled the room, breaking the deafening silence.
"Is that--"
"Remember you can't tell anyone Annie." Dr. Walsh cut off her question firmly the faint pressure moving around over my lower abdomen. "But yes, it would seem this young man has both sets of reproductive organs. Of course, that doesn't mean that one or the other is functional."
Both? I had both male and female organs? I hadn't wanted to dissect any of the rats in my experience so I didn't know if that was what I'd accomplished or not.
"So he's a hermaphrodite?" The pressure was removed, a rag wiping the cool gel away. If I could just open my eyes I'd be able to inform Annie that I most certainly am not, that up until a few hours ago I had been completely male.
"Umm... perhaps. I'll need to talk to the patient once the sedative wears off." That damn fog was starting to roll back in, muddling the world around me. All I wanted was to wake up completely.
Pain throbbed through my head, light turning my eyelids red. Every inch of my body ached, but especially my lower abdomen.
A groan worked it's way from my lips as I turned my head, trying to escape from what was certain to be a glaring light above me.
"Ry?" Dreece's voice was hesitant, whisper-soft as I turned toward them. Just getting one eye to open was a struggle, but eventually, I managed it. "Hey, sleepyhead."
"Ugh." The sound came from my mouth unbidden, but it did a wonder for explaining just how I felt. "What the hell just happened to me..."
"You had a seizure." Whiskey smooth words reached me from across the room making me tilt my head toward my feet. There stood doctor sexy in all his wonderful gorgeousness.
"Okay... that might explain the headache but... I feel like I got ran over by a bus." My throat ached as I spoke, the words dry and rough.
"Do you remember what you said to me right before the sedative kicked in Ry? About the serum?" Dreece's voice did nothing to hide their worry for me, one of their hands moving to brush an errant strand of hair behind my ear.
"Hmm... oh right... I told you about it, didn't I? That I'd used some on me? Fuck that was a stupid idea... Is that why I feel like shit right now?" Tilting my head the other way allowed me to watch the worry flood their expression.
"So those weren't just sedative induced ramblings? You did something as idiotic as that?" Concern was replaced by plain anger. They took their hand from my hair glaring down at me, filling me with guilt and confusion.
"Why are you mad at me? You were the one who said I should test it on myself." A small whimper worked it's way past the pain of my throat.
"Hush I'm not mad at you Ry, I'm mad at myself for even giving you that idea." The soothing hand returned, playing with my hair and helping me focus on one area of my body that wasn't as sore as the rest.
"So... you're saying that you gave yourself an unknown substance meant to alter who you are at a physiological level?" Dr. Walsh's voice startled me, having forgotten he was even in the room.
"Umm... yes, but it wasn't completely unknown, I'd been researching finding a way to allow males to carry a child to term. I thought it might be a solution to the infertility pandemic. Almost all of my tests on rats and other small creatures had come back positive."
"Almost all of your tests?" Sarcasm would have been much better than the stunned disgust in Dr. Walsh's voice. "Almost all of them. You do realize that almost doesn't mean it was safe to use it on a human right? Let alone doing something as foolish as using it on yourself. What exactly did you think it would accomplish?"
"I... I just... I just wanted a chance to have a child of my own." My voice cracked, tears flooding my eyes. Why his disgust hurt so much was hard to say, but it did.
"That's enough from you Nathan. I only asked you to be here so you could explain what the hell you found since I'm not a doctor." Dreece snarled sending the ginger-haired, whiskey scented male a glare. "You don't get to dream shame, my friend, just because he made a bad mistake. You don't know anything about Ryan and his life."
Dr. Walsh, or Nathan I guess, stared at Dreece in confusion for a few moments before nodding sharply.
"Of course, sorry that I overstepped. Anyway, while you were unconscious, Dreece here begged me to do an ultrasound. They were determined that your little episode had something to do with an 'Omega' serum." He moved closer turning a screen to me before pulling up the ultrasounds.
"What I found was confusing since the only time I've seen a man with a uterus was in a hermaphrodite. However, you don't seem to have a vagina as a hermaphrodite would. It doesn't seem to connect to anything aside from what looks like a pair of ovaries."
"So... it worked." Shock warred with the excitement flowing through me. I had a uterus and ovaries, I had two of the necessary parts to have a child of my own!
"If your intention was just to grow the organs sure, but I don't see how you would be able to have a child. We have no way of knowing if your ovaries are producing the necessary ovum, let alone how they would become fertilized."
The disgust was still clear in Dr. Walsh's voice, but there was maybe just the faintest hint of curiosity. Although his observations were accurate.
"During my study... I observed that copulation between to male animals of a species would be done in much the same was as two gay men... I couldn't do an ultrasound on any of them, but I believe that when the carrier male goes into what I call heat, their body makes the necessary connection to allow fertilization."
"You think, but you aren't completely sure?" Bewilderment echoed through the room, making me realize that maybe I should have done a bit more research before trying this on myself.
"Well... no... it was still in the experimental phase, but I needed to try it on human subjects for more specific results. At least since I tried it on myself, no one else can get hurt by my experiment..." I trailed off, heat burning my cheeks as my best friend and this rather gorgeous doctor exchanged looks.
Dr. Walsh sighed eventually in defeat.
"Well, there's not a lot I can do to fix this short of a surgery that might not even do any good. After all, you grew several organs in under twenty hours so removing it might very well just leave the damn thing to grow back." He tousled a hand through his hair, his statement leaving me to wonder just how long I had been out.
"So what? You're just going to let Ryan leave? We don't have any idea what is going to happen to him now?" Dreece voice sounded a bit like a screech in my ears, but their concern for my well being was warming at least.
"There's nothing I can do physically. However, if Ryan is alright with it, I'd like to see him every week so we can keep an eye on this... phenomenon. Then, if it looks like something is going wrong we should be able to catch it." He watched me closely, waiting for an answer.
"As long as I am allowed to also look at the ultrasounds and information you gather I'm fine with it. It would be great information for me to have as well." Excitement bubbled through me. Not only was there a chance the serum was working, but I was going to get to watch my body develop over the next few months and see just how it did work.
"You both are insane!" Dreece retorted throwing their arms up in the air before turning to me. "It's a damn good thing you are coming home with me so I can make sure you don't do any more idiotic things like this. I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on you, you mad man."
Sitting up slowly I wrapped my arms around Dreece, squeezing them tightly. "Thank you, I wouldn't have this any other way."
"You fucking better name any child you have after me you ass whole."
Hey all! Willow here. So hopefully you are enjoying this so far. I know I had a ton of fun writing it during NaNoWriMo! As an author, one of the most rewarding things for me is to hear other peoples thoughts and ideas on what I've done so far!
With that in mind I would love it if you could leave me a sentence or two on what you think! I've been having a few bad weeks with my depression and writing this has helped a lot! To encourage this, I'm going to dedicate my next chapter to whoever leaves the most constructive comment down below!
This means that you will also receive a follow from me and a shout out! It's my way of saying thank you for supporting my work!
With love,
Willow