A Letter From a Transgender Kid to the Universe

Scene 3

Lights up on a hospital room on the side of the stage with two beds in it; EZRA lays on one and ROBIN on the other, both asleep/unconscious. A pair of crutches leans against EZRA's bed, and he is connected to an IV. HAZEL is slumped over in a chair in between the beds, asleep with an open book on her lap. ROBIN and EZRA both wear hospital scrubs and are all bandaged up. ROBIN sits up after a moment, suddenly awake, breathing heavily. They glance around, panicked.

HAZEL yawns loudly and stretches, waking up slowly. She notices ROBIN finally. You're awake! Finally! Are you up for good this time? I think they're transferring you as soon as you wake up for good, but that's just something I overheard.

ROBIN looks down and realizes where they are Wait, what happened? Am I- am I in a hospital?

HAZEL Yep! The finest in the area- and the only in the-

ROBIN Okay, okay, okay. What the hell happened? What am I doing here?

HAZEL Well, what all do you remember?

ROBIN Um, I remember the bridge, and then I fell, and then, well, there was nothingness after that. My lungs filled with water, and then I drifted off, like I was falling asleep. I don't remember anything else. Where's Ezra? Wasn't he there too?

HAZEL looks at the other bed, where EZRA is still asleep/unconscious Yeah, um. Well. He jumped in to save you, but the river was pretty wild. He got a lot of water in his lungs, then he shielded you from this giant rock, and, well, here you both are.

ROBIN covering their mouth with horror Oh, God. I'm so sorry. I never meant to...

HAZEL Don't worry about it. He's already woken up temporarily for a little bit at a few different times, but he's always fallen back into a deep sleep soon after. However, the doctors are convinced that he'll be just fine soon enough.

ROBIN So he's not injured from hitting the rock?

HAZEL Well, I mean, he broke a couple ribs and did something to his ankle pretty badly, hence the crutches over there, but, like, the doctors said not to worry about it. Honestly, this could have gone a lot worse for both of you, so I'm just glad you're both alive. runs over, surprising ROBIN with a hug Sorry. Hugs are okay, right?

ROBIN Um, sure. So... what happens now? What about my parents?

HAZEL They've both been in at least once to visit, but they didn't seem particularly, well, kind, so I avoided speaking with them all, but they did talk to Ezra for a bit earlier. Beat.

ROBIN How long have you been here?

HAZEL glances at the watch on her wrist Well, it's about 9:30 in the morning, so... since yesterday?

ROBIN I'm so sorry that you and Ezra have had to go through all of this. I didn't mean to cause anyone pain....

HAZEL Hey, it's okay! Don't apologize! You didn't force us to do anything. We chose to try and help you. Don't worry about it.

ROBIN Well, I'm gonna worry. Ezra is hurt and you had to go through a traumatic experience, all because of me. God, I can't do anything right, can I? The last part is more said to themself than to HAZEL.

HAZEL Listen to me. You shouldn't talk about yourself like that. It's not your fault that the chemicals in your brain work the way they do. You didn't ask to be transgender or for people to treat you the way they have. You-

ROBIN Wait, how do you know all of this?

HAZEL Uh, your parents brought the note here and-

ROBIN How the hell did I survive anyways?

HAZEL Well, according to the doctors, it wasn't that far down, meaning that there wasn't a terrible impact. I mean, you could have shattered your back, but luckily, you got off with only a few scratches and some bruised ribs. They said not to worry about that though because it could be a lot worse.

ROBIN Hazel, I am so, so sorry. I just-

HAZEL Hey! What did I tell you about that? It's not your fault! Now-

NURSE walks in. Oh, good. I noticed the change in your heartbeat earlier and figured you must have woken up, so-

ROBIN sarcastically Great. What kind of trouble am I in now?

NURSE smiles comfortingly. You're not in any trouble, dear. Now, if you'll come with me, we're transferring you to the psych ward for further observation. From there, you'll-

ROBIN Wait, what? The psych ward? I'm not crazy!

NURSE Of course not, dear. It's just that, well, you tried to kill yourself. We just want to help you get better!

ROBIN I'm just fine. I don't need any help! Please, just let me go home. And besides, I can't just leave Ezra and Hazel behind!

NURSE My dear, they will be well-cared-for here, I promise. Now, come with me. Do you need help up?

ROBIN No, I've got it. Thanks. crawls out of bed, getting to their feet.

NURSE Good. Now, we'll just go get you all ready for them, and then we'll go there. ROBIN follows NURSE off-stage after being helped out of bed, looking back as HAZEL leans over to take EZRA's hand; NURSE and ROBIN have exited by now.

EZRA mutters in his sleep, then jerks awake suddenly. Robin! hunches over in pain Ow. My ribs. God- Hazel? You're still here? Where's Robin? sits up, holding his ribs

HAZEL smiles Don't worry. A nurse just came in and took them to the psych ward to help them so that something like this doesn't happen again. How are you feeling, by the way?

EZRA Like everything hurts.

HAZEL laughs Oh, you big baby. What were you dreaming about? You really woke with a start.

EZRA I just keep having nightmares of something happening to Robin again. I feel... I don't know. Something. It's just... I feel, like, drawn to them or something.

HAZEL Hmm. Want to try walking around the room again?

EZRA hesitates Sure. Help me up.

HAZEL grabs the crutches, helping EZRA out of bed and onto the crutches Ezra, how are we supposed to help them? I mean, look what we go through on a daily basis! It's practically torture, growing up as a gay kid in small town Iowa. We've barely made it through high school, and we're used to it. How're they going to realize that they're not popular anymore, that nothing is easy anymore?

EZRA I don't know, to be honest. It's going to be tough. We're really going to have to be there for them. Let's go.

HAZEL You know, I really hope that they'll let us help them once we all get back to school.

EZRA Oh?

HAZEL Yeah. Beat.

EZRA So what's up?

HAZEL Huh?

EZRA Anything interesting in your life going on? Other than this, of course. What I'm trying to say is, what do you want to talk about so that this conversation doesn't turn out awkward. Like, again.

HAZEL Ohhhhh! I see. Well, um, what do you want to talk about?

EZRA Seriously?

HAZEL Seriously.

EZRA Well, you'll have to tell Mia that our Dungeons and Dragons session is cancelled for tonight.

HAZEL What?! She can come here though! We love DnD! You're not going to make us cancel, are you?

EZRA Sorry. It's just, I'd rather not play here in the hospital. Besides, I might be getting out tonight, and then I'll want to spend time with my family. Clara's got a volleyball game coming up, and I'd like to be there for it, you know.

HAZEL Ah. Well. That's fair.

EZRA Okay, okay, okay. I'm tired now. Help me back in bed, please.

HAZEL No problemo.

Lights go down as HAZEL helps EZRA back onto the bed.

END SCENE 3