First a whole bunch of medical tests

There is something strangely comforting about the round of tests that follow. After the weeks of your illness being scanned and poked and prodded by a succession of doctors is as familiar to you as brushing your teeth. It’s almost a relief to fall back into the routine for a while. You hope to let yourself be distracted from the strangeness of your new form but it doesn’t quite work out that way.

The tech and nurses are all very polite and professional but they are also clearly itching to ask you all about your sudden sex change. You deflect their questions with the truth, you’ve been a girl for less than a day and you are still figuring it out.

They also seem to have a lot of advice for you, the female staff, in particular, seem intent on giving you a crash course in feminity.

Say things like, “Don’t sit like that dear, it’s not ladylike” and “Let me help with your hair. You’ll look so much prettier if you have it styled.”

The strange thing is that even as all the unsolicited advice irritates you when you go along with it you feel somehow more comfortable in yourself. Sitting with your knees to together just feels natural. Tying back your long hair into a ponytail is both practical and feels right to you.

You even let one of the nurses try some makeup on you, half expecting to feel like a drag queen but when she’s done you find you feel more at ease not less. Like you had been missing something before without realising what it was.

As the day goes on you notice that your mannerisms, the way you walk, talk and even stand become more girlish when you aren’t thinking about it. It’s like Katie’s body remembers how to do these things without you ever having done them. Another unexpected side effect of the process, like your new aversion to coffee. At least this one is useful, you suppose. Not that care that much about proper deportment but being pragmatic about it, people will probably stare if you insist on walking like a trucker.

The morning passes quickly and before you know it…