THE PRICE OF inHERitance

Weight of Reality

The days following the surgery blurred together for Ellie. He had expected some sort of dramatic change in how he felt, but there wasn't anything instantly noticeable, except for the throbbing discomfort in his lower abdomen. Still, he couldn't shake the sense of something being profoundly different—like his body no longer belonged to him.

It was early evening when Lizzie finally convinced him to sit up in bed, propped up by pillows. The hospital room was quiet except for the steady beep of monitors in the background. The sterile air, the soft hum of the hospital's machinery, and the occasional murmur of nurses in the hall were becoming too familiar.

Ellie tried to clear his mind, but every movement brought a reminder of his new anatomy. The tightness around his hips, the strange sensation between his legs... It was as if his body was no longer his own, and that reality was sinking in with an unbearable weight.

Lizzie, sitting by his bed with a cup of coffee in hand, glanced at him carefully. "You look like you're in deep thought."

Ellie didn't respond for a moment, still trying to adjust to the new reality. His voice came out softer—still startling him when he spoke. "I don't know what to think, Lizzie. I feel... different. Every movement, every breath. It's like... I don't know who I am anymore."

Lizzie placed the cup down on the bedside table and leaned in. "You're still you, Ellie. Just because things have changed doesn't mean you've lost yourself."

Ellie glanced down at the blanket covering his body, feeling a sense of detachment. "But I have. I don't even know what's mine anymore. What's... left."

Lizzie hesitated for a moment, knowing there was no simple answer to that. She reached out and placed her hand over his. "What's left is you. The same person you've always been. Yeah, this sucks, and yeah, it's unfair, but you're not alone."

Ellie swallowed, his throat tight with emotion. He wasn't sure how to feel, how to process the whirlwind of changes his body had undergone. His fingers instinctively brushed against his lower abdomen, where everything felt... off.

Lizzie noticed, her expression turning more serious. "There's no easy way to ask this, but... how are you feeling about, you know, everything?"

Ellie gave her a hollow laugh. "Everything? You mean, besides losing the one thing that reminded me I was still a guy?" He glanced at her, trying to keep his tone light but failing. "I can't even feel the same anymore. Everything's different."

Lizzie squeezed his hand, her own eyes glistening. "It's okay to be angry, you know. Or scared. Or confused. Hell, I'm all of those things, and I didn't even go through what you did."

Ellie let out a shaky breath, leaning his head back against the pillow. "It's not just that I'm angry, Lizzie. It's that I don't know what's real anymore. I woke up, and they told me I'm... biologically a girl now. And I don't know how to process that."

Lizzie's eyes softened, her thumb tracing circles over his hand. "It's a lot to take in, I know. You've been through so much in such a short time. But you're not alone, Ellie. We'll figure it out. I'm here with you."