Erin goes to the doctor

“Da...mn! Mom!” Sarah cried out, seeing Aaron teeter and fall to the floor, luckily catching herself from calling him “dad.”

Arron clutched at his ankle. Damn, that hurt. He kicked the awful heels off, suddenly realizing that Luke and Brad were helping him to his feet. He tried putting some weight on the foot and gasped with pain. The men helped him over and set him down gingerly on the couch.

Brad knelt, gently pressing on Aaron’s stockinged ankle. “It’s OK, I’m a doctor,” he said. “Let’s take a look.”

Aaron gasped once or twice and bit his lip as Brad inspected his ankle. Brad, meanwhile, was trying to focus on being a professional rather than focusing on Erin's shapely calves.

“I think it’s just sprained, but I would like some X-rays to be sure. Luckily, I have access to that at my office. Erin, can you walk?"

Aaron stood and winced, gasping with pain. He couldn't put pressure on that foot.

"You," Brad pointed at Sarah. "You're her daughter?"

"Yeah," Sarah said, slightly taken aback from Brad taking charge like this. "I'm Sarah."

"OK, Sarah, I want you to get under Erin's right arm. I'll take her left. Erin, I don't want you to put any pressure on that ankle until we get it checked out, OK?"

Aaron bit his lip and nodded. Brad and Sarah took positions under his arms and he hopped, his ankle throbbing with each, towards the door. Betty swooped in and picked up the heels, feeling horrible for suggesting the poor girl wear them.

"But the house...." Sarah started to say.

Luke laughed. "Sarah, do you honestly think anyone is going to pull anything with a house full of cops here? Take care of your mom. We'll hold down the fort here until you two get back."

She nodded tersely.

Aaron gasped, held his breath for a second, then said, "We don't have insurance."

Brad sighed. "Let's not worry about that now, Erin. Let's get you checked out. Besides, it's my practice," he smiled at the hurting woman, hoping to relax her.

Aaron bit his lip and nodded once.

"Go!" Betty said, wringing her hands. "Stop talking and get the poor girl some help, Brad!"

He nodded and said soft words of encouragement as he and Sarah helped Aaron out of the house and into his car. Aaron was hurting so much he didn't care that he flashed Brad some stocking tops as he got into the car. Silently, Brad hoped that the woman realized she was getting into a luxury car.

Betty closed the door, leaning back against it. "That poor dear. I didn't... Oh, foo. I should have found other shoes!"

Luke smiled at the matronly woman. "IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT!" he said, loudly.

"I still feel horrible!" Betty said.

"WE STILL HAVE A HOUSE TO UNPACK!" Luke said, trying to get Betty to focus on other things.

"Oh... OH!" Betty said, apparently focusing on the house now. "I know just what that poor dear needs us to do!"

Brad drove as quickly as he could without jarring Erin, who was biting her lip, trying to not cry out in pain. Sarah sat in the back seat, her hand on Arron's shoulder. Aaron was holding her hand and squeezing it when jostled. The trio pretty much rode in silence as Brad sped to his office. When they got there, Brad and Sarah quickly got out of his car and helped Aaron. They carefully allowed him to hop slowly to the door. Brad pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. He held it open with his back and helped Aaron, with Sarah, through the door. He disarmed the security system and flipped on some lights.

He helped Erin down a hall. "Technically, the X-ray equipment isn't mine. I share it with some other doctors in the building. But they won't mind. This is for a good cause, " Brad said as they slowly made their way back behind a counter. They worked their way through several doors, eventually coming to the room with the X-ray equipment in it.

Brad and Sarah helped Aaron up onto the table. Brad told Erin, "We need to remove that stocking. Do you want Sarah to do it?"

That was the last thing Aaron wanted. His daughter, fiddling around with garters near his junk. He shook his head. "No. Not Sarah. I'll do it."

Aaron tried to sit up and hike up his skirt, but moving his foot was just too painful. He slumped backwards onto the table, panting.

Brad was somewhat hoping that would happen. He tried not to smile as he gently pushed Erin's skirt up, exposing her girdle and garters. "I'm going to undo this, Erin. Don't be alarmed."

Arron hated this, that a guy was this close to his junk, but his ankle was throbbing with pain. He just endured Brad brushing against his upper thigh, undoing the garters.

Brad noticed that Erin's thigh quivered as he touched it, gently undoing the garters. That was hopefully a good sign she liked him. He gently, as best he could, removed the stocking from her shapely leg, finally allowing Erin to lie back on the table.

Brad walked around a wall and returned with a lead lined blanket. "I'm going to cover you up now, Erin," He covered Aaron with the blanket. It surprised Aaron that the weight of the blanket covering him seemed to help with the pain of his foot

"Now hold still, we're going to get some images of your ankle," Brad told him, slipping a plate under the woman's foot, Making her lift her knee and placing her foot flat on the plate, then connecting the plate via cable to a computer. He grabbed hold of a white tube above the table, focusing the crosshair it displayed onto Erin's ankle. "Sarah, if you'll follow me."

He led Sarah around the safety wall. Brad fumbled with some controls, then pushed a button. There was a "beep" and he came back around the wall.

"Erin, I need you to roll onto your side. Can you do that for me?"

Aaron rolled onto his side, Brad helping her roll, his hand on the small of her back. Brad maneuvered his foot onto the plate, again, focusing the crosshair onto his ankle. He returned around the safety wall and took another X-ray. He then came around the wall, motioning for Sarah to follow. Brad logged into a computer there and clicked several times, pulling up images of Erin's ankle. After studying it for several minutes, changing the brightness of the image several times, he exhaled.

"Just a sprain," Brad said. "You should be back in heels in no time, Erin. We'll keep the ankle elevated with a cold compress on it. You should be good to go. It'll hurt for a day or two, but some ibuprofen will help that."

"Yay," Aaron said, sarcastically.

Brad and Sarah helped Aaron up and assisted him back onto a table covered with paper in an examination room. Brad went over what Aaron needed to do to tend to his ankle. He gave him some ibuprofen and wrapped a cold compress on his ankle. It immediately began to feel better.

Now that the emergency was over, Brad sensed an opportunity to impress this woman.

"When was your last physical, Erin?" he asked her.

Aaron blinked. The very LAST thing he wanted was to wind up with his feet in stirrups with Brad trying to give him a pelvic exam.

"Uh... look... Brad...."

She was cute when she was flustered, Brad thought.

"I'm unemployed. I don't have insurance. I can't afford a physical!" Aaron said.

"On the house," Brad said, smiling.

"I can't accept that," Aaron said, nervously. "It would cost too much money for you!"

"Tell ya what," Brad said. "Let me at least draw some blood. It's a quick lab test, back in a few days. It doesn't cost too much, and it'll tell us a lot."

Aaron reluctantly agreed, thinking that would at least satisfy the doctor and both shouldn't cost too much or reveal too much.

As Brad tied off some rubber tubing around Aaron's arm, he made small talk. "So... unemployed?"

"Uh.. yeah," Aaron said as Brad tapped on his inner elbow, bringing the veins to the surface.

"You know, I have an opening," Brad said, as he rummaged around the exam room, getting some blood tubes and some sterile needles. He put on some gloves and gathered the supplies he'd need to draw blood.

"Really?" Aaron said, both not knowing where this was going or how excitedly he had said it. Brad smirked, his back to Erin, realizing that she was both interested in the job and him. He straightened his face and turned back to Erin.

"Yeah. I need a new admin. Someone that could handle paperwork, schedules... Kinda keep me in line." Brad laughed softly. "I need a decent assistant. I tend to pay well, too." He rattled off a salary that was, all things considered, fairly above average. "I like retaining employees. It costs too much to train new ones."

Aaron glanced at Sarah, trying to warn her with his eyes not to say a word.

"I'm not sure that's the position I'm looking for," Aaron said, as Brad started drawing blood. He watched the blood spurt from his arm into the first tube.

"Well, the offer stands. I'm sure it's a position you could handle."

"Thanks, though," Aaron said, as Brad swapped out the first tube for the second.

Brad smiled at Erin as he finished drawing her blood. He'd love to have this woman in his office, so that he could see her daily.

"OK, let's clean up here, and then I want you to stay off that foot for a few days, Erin," Brad said. "I think we're about ready to go back to your house."

Brad cleaned up, putting the blood vials in a refrigerator and disposing of the other items in hazardous material waste. Keeping the cold compress on his ankle, Sarah and Brad helped him back to the car. The trio returned to their house just in time to see most of the policemen leaving. Betty was standing in the door, waving goodbye to them.

"How is she?" Betty asked anxiously.

"SHE'S FINE, GRANDMA!" Brad said loudly. "JUST A SPRAIN. SHE'LL BE BACK IN HEELS IN A FEW DAYS!"

"Oh, good!" Betty said as she helped get Aaron onto the couch with a pillow under his ankle. As this point, he just wanted out of the dress and girdle and into some shorts. He was sure there was a baseball game on.

Looking around, Aaron was impressed with the unpacking. The house was pretty much assembled. Things seemed orderly. Neat. Betty seemed to have done a good job managing things. And the cops had left. He didn't know where Luke was, but he exhaled a little. Maybe he and Sarah would make it though this.

Brad excused himself, giving Erin his cell number, just in case there were any complications or if her ankle really started to bother her. "Please, don't hesitate to call me. About anything!" he said, as he saw himself out.

One more visitor down. Aaron really just wanted all these people out of his house so he could return to his male self, now that the license had been seen and approved. Other than dealing with Ted and the whole Sarah thing in court, he could get back to being a guy. Sweats, boxers, tee shirts... he was ready. If these people would just get out of his home!

Betty perched on the couch next to Aaron, holding his hand, a worried expression on her face. Sarah collapsed in a chair to the side.

“Now dear, don't be angry. I did this because I care. It was time," Betty said, gently patting his hand. A knock on the door made Betty release Aaron's hand to stand, then answering the door. Luke came in, smiling.

"ALL TAKEN CARE OF," he said loudly to Betty.

"What was taken care of?" Aaron asked, suddenly worried. Maybe he was just being paranoid, but given what Betty had just said, and Luke's return, he was on edge.

"Eh?" Betty said, cupping her hand to her ear.

"WHAT WAS TAKEN CARE OF?" Aaron asked, loudly, rising up onto his elbows, lifting his back off of the couch.

Betty smiled. "Dear, you needed to let your husband go. It's not healthy. We got rid of all of his things, except for a tee shirt and a pair of his shoes. It's time to move on. I had sweet Luke here donate his things to charity."

"EVERYTHING?!” Aaron asked, incredulously.

"Yes dear. All of it," Betty said, smiling softly. "That's really the only way to get over him. I know you loved him, but it's time to move on."

Aaron fell back onto the couch. He now had no clothes or anything. And they were cash strapped as it was. There was no way he could afford to replace his wardrobe.

Sarah, knowing exactly what her dad was thinking, said, "Perhaps we should give mom some peace and quiet. It's been a long day for her."

Luke nodded. "LET'S LET HER REST," he said to Betty. She nodded and they excused themselves.

Aaron and Sarah were finally alone.

Sarah helped Aaron hobble slowly up the stairs into his bedroom, which was very tidy now, with all the packing boxes gone. Aaron hopped over to the dresser, pulling out drawers to find panties, bras, feminine tee shirts, lingerie... no male clothing. Likewise, the closet only contained dresses, blouses, slacks, feminine footwear. Some old cosmetics had been set up on the dresser in front of the mirror above it. Betty has placed some sheer scarves loosely over the lamps, bathing the room a pinkish light. His bedroom was now essentially a shrine to femininity.

Aaron fell backwards onto the bed, arms splayed, and groaned.

"Dad..."

"My clothes... my wardrobe.... gone," Aaron said. "I'm stuck like this. We can't afford...."

"Uh... Brad did make you an offer..." Sarah said.

"No. There has to be another solution..."

"What other options do you have... MOM?" Sarah said, emphasizing the last word. "You could do it just for a short time, to get some cash. And then get a new job as your male self."

Aaron was silent for a long time. He did not want... But to replace his clothing, to get out of this....

He blew out a breath. "Get me my cell," he finally said to Sarah, "And get me Brad's number."

She did. He dialed the number. After a couple of rings, Brad answered. "Hey, Brad? This is Erin. About that administrative assistant position...."