"You OK?" Nurse Caroline's concerned question snapped Jon out of her brief funk.
"I...sorta." Jon sat upright again.
Dr. Cifaldi breathed a loud sigh of relief. "Miss Gibson, I know I've given you a lot of information. From here on out, it is not about physical healing so much as it is about emotional healing and learning to be your new self. I know your parents will be coming soon—"
A knock interrupted the doctor. "I bet that's them!" He opened the door to instead show Zoe, Jon's sister—two years younger and now, apparently, the same year in school.
"Jon!" Zoe cried out. Time seemed to have changed her, too. She wasn't quite so overtly goth. Sure, she still had dark hair and was wearing dark clothing, but it felt like the last year might have ended that phase in her life.
"Zoe!"
"Oh my gosh you're so different...but I don't care, because you're here."
"Thanks, sis... Doc just told me how long it's been."
"I know, a lot has gone on, and we'll have to catch you up." Zoe sounded more confident and mature than Jon remembered her being. "Is it okay if I sit on the bed with her?"
"I don't see why not," the nurse replied.
"Well sis...Never thought I'd get a sister like this, but here we are!" Zoe continued to surprise, even showing some enthusiasm, which was out of character for the Zoe that Jon knew.
"I've got a lot ahead of me, I can tell... Even putting this thing on was overwhelming," Jon continued, tugging at her bra strap.
"I can help with that."
"Has it really been a year and a half?"
"I can't believe it, either, Jon." Zoe paused for a moment, as if an idea hit her. "...You still wanna be called that? You might wanna think about a new name at some point."
"Well, Zoe isn't exactly a common name, either..."
"You get what I'm saying though."
"Where are Mom and Dad?"
"Actually, on vacation in Spain. I think they're trying to make the earliest plans they can to hurry back and see you."
"Spain? They went to Spain? Mom and Dad never went on vacation without us."
"A lot has changed in the last year and a half," Zoe began as she put an arm around her sister.
"Zoe, please don't try to shock her. She's already been through a lot," Dr. Cifaldi suggested.
Caroline looked at Dr. Cifaldi and tilted her head. "Can we release Jon to her sister? We might need to get their parents' approval."
"Zoe said they're out of the country," the doctor replied. "If they call and authorize it, we can release her." He looked to the two girls on the bed. "Can you call them?"
Zoe nodded and pulled up the messenger app to give her parents a voice call.
"Hi, Zoe," their mother answered.
"Hi, Mom!"
"So you're at the hospital with Jon?"
"Yeah, want me to show you?"
"Yes please!" Zoe activated the front-facing camera and then held the phone in front of the two of them. "Oh my God!" their mother exclaimed. "I... I..."
"Hi, Mom... Umm... it's me..." Jon added, not knowing what to say or how she'd react to her new voice.
"I'm sorry we weren't there, sweetie. They didn't tell us you'd be coming out of it... Your father is changing our flight right now."
"Thanks for letting us know," Zoe replied.
"If the hospital is ready to release you, Zoe can take you home and we'll be there as soon as we can, alright?"
"That sounds...fine," Jon hesitated.
"Love you so much."
Zoe hung up the call and looked at Dr. Cifaldi. "Are we good to go?"
"Yes you are, Zoe. Nurse will be going with you down to the front desk to have Jon discharged. We're going to be in regular conversation with Jon over the next few days... There is a lot of documentation and stuff that will have to be updated."
"Alright, then..." Jon looked around at the hospital room where he had become a she in the last year-plus. "Dr. Cifaldi...uh, I just want to thank you."
The doctor nodded. "Thank you...we can help a lot of people thanks to what we learned with you. It was my honor, miss." Every time someone called her that, it brought her to the painful thought that the way everyone looked at her had changed for good.
Jon had nothing to pack up, only the clothes on her back, which were obviously bought by someone in the hospital for her. Zoe, Jon and Caroline made their way down to the front desk, where Jon was formally discharged. Zoe drove her new sister home in the family SUV—about the only thing that hadn't changed, given that Zoe had not yet learned to drive when the accident happened.
