CHAPTER 19
Joe gradually returned to consciousness. Trying to check
himself out, he discovered his restraints. "What has that crazy
bitch done to me now?" he thought.
What was there left to do to him? "No. Monica said the Doctor
wouldn't do that," he recalled.
Dr. van Damme, the surgeon, and Monica entered his room,
alerted to his awakening by the monitors. "Don't try to move Joe,"
said Dr. van Damme. "You've been given a spinal block and can't
feel below the waist. You might hurt something by moving around
with no sensation."
"So what bunch of suffering human beings am I helping today?"
Joe asked her cynically.
"I'm happy to tell you Joe, that you represent new hope for
thousands of transsexuals."
"WHAT?"
"Well, since you asked. Many men aren't men at all, but rather
a woman's psyche in a man's body. Their only possibility of
happiness is sex reassignment surgery; what you'd call it a sex
change. The problem is that the state of the art of surgery today
results in more mutilation than change. The post-operative
transsexual is usually left with a pathetic imitation of a vagina.
I'm happy to tell you that the surgical procedure we have
developed, and tested on you, was totally successful in the
construction of fully functional female sex organs."
Joe was shrieking and in shock.
After several minutes he looked up, still wailing. "But
Monica, you said ... "
"I told you that you could keep your precious little balls you
foolish boy, and I didn't lie to you."
Monica held up a mirror so Joe could see his face. Brushing
his hair back from his ears she pointed at two diminutive gold
globes, one of which adorned each earlobe.
"I had them freeze-dried, gold plated, and permanently
attached. You'll keep them forever!"
Joe sobbed in his pillow.
Later on, having cried himself out, the giddy man addressed
Dr. van Damme. "So you did it. You've changed me into a woman."
"Not really Joe. Let's examine your situation. You have the
beauty, the figure, and now even the secondary sex characteristics
of a woman. You may, over time, even acquire the needs and desires
of a woman, but you are and shall always be a man since you lack
what truly makes a woman female; a womb and ovaries. However, you
also lack what makes a man male; a penis and testicles. Now a woman
is the equal of a man, but since you are something less than a man,
it follows that you must be less than a woman. Don't you ever
forget that you are an imitation, a plaything created in
retribution for the way you lived your life. You're gorgeous,
you're sexy, but basically Joe, you're only a eunuch." On that note
she left with the surgeon.
In the hall outside, the surgeon asked her. "Why were you so
severe with him? He's been through a lot. His vagina cannot be
distinguished from that of a genetic female and I did a superb job
on the plumbing. Why any gynecologist who examined him would
testify in court that he is a woman who has suffered from cancer
and been given a hysterectomy ."
Dr. van Damme answered him. "Doctor there's more going on here
than meets the eye. Part of what we are doing to Joe is punishing
him. Dave Weinstein's earlier experiments have shown us that a man
who is feminized unwillingly can eventually find refuge in his
femininity. Dave tells me that this approach we're using on Joe
will establish in him a streak of rebellion which will prevent that
from occurring. He will cling to the fact that he is a man, even
though he could never convince anyone of that fact."
They walked on.
Later, in his bed, Joe thought to himself. "They may give me
a woman's body, but I'm still Joe Watson. My body may betray me,
but my mind won't. I will not let it. I'm Joe Watson and I'm a man,
and no matter what they do to me, I'll always remember that in my
brain, where it counts. They'll never conquer my spirit."
