David wanted to wake up...
This was a nightmare, and yet he was awake. Everything told him he was awake despite the dark shadows that were around. A voice she couldn't escape, every time he tried to speak. Her voice came out. Every time he tried to move, her body moved. Sounds all around the house, the dripping sink, the flowing waters of pipes that felt like they were drowning her in the sheer noise of what was once a familiar house, registering to very 'unfamiliar' ears.
"This- sucks!" She shouted to her mother with tears in her large sky blue eyes. She wasn't a girl... everything told her she wasn't! She didn't want to be one, she didn't want to look like one she certainly couldn't act like one!
David's mother had given what clothes could fit. Jeans were not possible, not without cutting them to get them past her enlarged digitigrade feet. Jogging bottoms seemed to work, and they had to roll that over due to her reduced size. It was a little unsettling when she had these pants pressed onto her tail at the end, the effect looking really... weird with something stuffed behind there. She was then draped in an oversized T-shirt, that hanged to just above her knees. She struggled a bit to look down at herself, not used to her new balance. The weight of her ears, as well as her breasts were new and needed consideration. Those breasts in particular, they felt a little 'big' on her. How old was she? "W-What about shoes?" she said seeking her toes peeking out from her vantage point.
Her mother looked her over (as well as over her) and shook her head. "Honey, that's not going to be possible. I might be able to get you some stockings to go over them though." Those feet looked nearly impossible to walk in given their size. But it looked like they worked by bending a bit.
David blanched at that. "N-no!" She shouted. She could go barefoot. Her feet certainly seemed sturdy even if she felt a strange urge to jump at times. David took the time to carefully balance on her new feet taking the time to look at herself in a hallway mirror. She stared at the stranger, not quite able to entirely grasp the surreality of seeing something in the mirror that wasn't the person she saw inside her mind.
The rabbit ears stood proudly up, moving and twitching to her thoughts. She could hear anything she wanted to without having to turn her head. She cringed a bit at the body of a girl that looked to be barely a teenager. her Not to mention she was short, standing only four foot six or so. It certainly was a very 'casual' look. (A little too casual for her mother's taste) but for a trip to the hospital it would do.
What was annoying the new rabbit-girl (besides being a rabbit girl) was by how calm and assuring her mother was being. She was treating this as just 'another day'. Didn't she get it?! Couldn't she see how horrible this... this... being this 'thing' was? David went into the car, glancing around hoping nobody saw her. Seated inside, she felt herself shiver.
Her mother started the car, and started to drive. "Are you alright?" She asked glancing to her daughter, smiling a little at the rabbit ears. That might get some getting used to.
"No I'm not!" How could she ask that question! How could she be alright?
"Oh grow up dear." she said patting her head, brushing her hand on the fur.
The bunny-girl glanced at her mother wide eyed... but was surprised at how comforting and 'nice' the tactile feeling was. To have her ears touched made her feel.. nice. She felt herself lean into it, the spell broken only when they went over a little bump in the road.
Her mother glanced back to the road. "I'm not unsympathetic David, but You're fine. This stuff happens now and then." The point was made fairly clear. "You could have turned a lot worse."
"But.. I.. I'm a.. a girl!"
Her mother gave a glance to her, matching her eyes into the young girl's. "and...?"
David bit her lip. There was absolutely 'nothing' she could say to that. The movements of the car sent a slight jiggle through her body, rippling at her breasts- just enough to remind her of them. She folded her arms and tried to get comfortable, waiting to get to the hospital.
Finally at the clinic, the doctor looked over David's test results.
"So how is she doctor?" Asked David's mother anxiously. She was mentally prepared... she just wanted to make sure her son- now daughter was going to be okay.
"I'm afraid David's case is a more complicated case then most," sighed the doctor.
"A-am I stuck like this?" Asked the rabbit-girl closing her eyes. Her mother told her to be brave... if this was going to be 'it'. If she had to say goodbye to the life she knew...
The doctor looked over the notes again with a slight frown. "It isn't always so simple David. We can usually tell pretty easily if the virus has resulted in a permanent change or not. But you are a somewhat different case, as this is a relapse from when you were much younger. The virus probably stayed in you dormant, waking recently to do it's changes. You fought this same virus once to dormancy, and potentially you 'could' do it again..."
"H-How?"
the doctor sighed. "I'm afraid this is something I will have to speak to your mother with. The next phase of your treatment can only be decided by her." The man looked very apologetically, looking as one would to a young child. He almost looked like he was about to give her a lollipop as a practised peace offering.
The condescending tone was not lost on David. "What? Why? I'm sixteen years old!" The rabbit girl protested looking very angry at this.
The doctor glanced at her. "It would be best, if I discussed this with your mother first alone."
"David," Her mother gently took hold of her 'daughter', pressing her hands to her soft ear. The touch seemed to calm the rabbit girl instantly. "..Let me speak to the doctor first.. wait outside alright?"
The rabbit girl pouted but it didn't look like she had any choice. "F-fine."
The doctor looked over the notes again with David out of the room.
"She has good hearing now," Said her mother quietly.
"We're in a sound proof office. Even she wouldn't hear this conversation." the doctor explained. Clearly this is an issue they had encountered once or twice with some unique transformations. "Now... there is a 'possible' treatment for your son," he explained. "But it is not without risks." He spoke very carefully, his every tone weighted. There was even some reluctance about this.
"What are the choices?" asked David's mother. She wasn't sure she had heard of a 'choice' being offered before. This was certainly very different to the usual scenario she had experienced with family members.
"As it stands, your child has a mostly permanent transformation... if we let things continue as they are."
Her mother nodded. "I.. feared that was the case. So... that's it?"
"No... Your child's immune system was probably recently weakened. It could have been seasonal, or just bad luck... it doesn't matter. We know David's body can fight it with past experience when his immune system is strong. There is a treatment we have been working on and David is suitable to go into the trial."
"A.. trial? You mean a drug treatment trial?"
"No drugs exactly. Monoclonal antibodies. If we provide a sample of healthy young antibodies and his own white blood cells from when he came in here before, it should help him fight the virus- while he still has it. We think that the presence of the virus is part of the key to a reversal... so if we time this now, we could initiate a reversal in a day."
"She... she could be restored? Instantly?!" The mother gasped. Had technology really gone that far? She heard a few rumours but never had she heard it actually 'working' before.
"There are risks," explained the doctor calmly. "We have experience this treatment in ten individuals so far. Five of them regained a 90% of their human form... although there is a possibility they might have on their own. The other four didn't change back at all."
"And the one?"
"The first in our studies, was rendered into a juvenile baby. An issue that occurs when the energy balance is not right. We... did not understand the effect of what we were trying." He sighed a bit, clearly uncomfortable by their first experiment. "We find there are... increased risks when there is mass distribution to be done and an energy equation we are still refining. On our first trial, there was no energy to initiate the change as we didn't consider it. So mass was taken. Your son is at the 'edge' of that risk given she has lost some mass, though not critically so. If we provide a drip for energy, a supply of electrolytes that risk is minimised to about one in ten thousand... we have a supply of your son's antibodies when he first got here, and we can clone them quickly. We will need a decision to be made quickly though..."
Her mother thought about it. It was either go home with this rabbit girl as a daughter... and turn her back on David the son she had- or take this risk... a fifty fifty risk to get David at least 'somewhat' happier. "Why can't David make the decision herself?"
"She's regressed in age- albeit I agree, it seems just her body has. Her mind is reasonably mature, but protocol demands I talk with you first." The doctor leaned back waiting. "I don't want to give her false hopes. Also there are incredible ethical considerations here. Your daughter is completely, one hundred percent. healthy. If you go home now, you can live a nice life. Teach her what she needs to know as it comes, as with any child. If we initiate this treatment, there might be unforeseen risks. I understand the emotional pain she might be going through but this is not an easy decision to make."
"I'll... think on it."
"Well?" Asked David.
"Sit down David," said her mother carefully.
David sat down on the chair, frowning at her legs as they dangled down. her mother was acting a little... scary.
"They might be able to reverse it," explained her mother.
"R-Really?!"
"But there is a risk," explained her mother. "The treatment is not tested, but they have your blood from when I brought you here as a child. It's possible to restore you."
David frowned a little. So... she wasn't stuck? She could be restored if they just boosted her immune system for a while?
Her mother looked tensely. "David think about this! I don't want to lose you. This is an untested treatment, and I don't want you to die! You're my son!" She hugged the rabbit girl tightly. "Please, if we go home right now, I'll do anything you want. Just accept this happened to you, and we can move on with our lives. I don't know what would happen if we went through with this... but you are fine. I told you before, you're fine and healthy. Please David... let's go home. I promise whatever you're feeling right now it will pass. You don't have to do this."
David looked blankly at the embrace of her mother as she stared into the white walls of the hospital. Why did it have to be so complicated... if she took the treatment... she could be restored. Or... something worse could happen. Or... nothing would happen. But nothing would happen, if she just went home right now. "I- I'm sorry Mom," she said. "I have to do it. I want to do it. I want to try the treatment."
Her mother swallowed. She didn't want to throw this at David. Maybe telling her the options was a bad choice after all if she couldn't think 'rationally'. "You can't without my signature," she said slowly. "You're a child now, and my responsibility."
"You're... kidding. You won't let me?!" The rabbit girl looked at her mother shaken.
David's mother grimaced seeing that look of pain and anguish. "I... I'll authorise it." she relented in the end. She cried a tear... What... had she just done?
