Exposure
"Do I have a right to know..."
-Marcus

Lately, it was a good day for Marcus to wake up to little pain from all his injuries.  It had been about a month or so since he was attacked and when he first woke up with multiple casts he could barely understand what was happening.  Police questioned him about his attack once his doctor said he was well enough, and for a week and a bit they had officers standing guard outside his room.

Today, the injured athlete awoke to the sound of someone lightly tapping away on a keyboard sitting off to the side of his bed.  A not too unfamiliar sound since the one typing up reports, filling out spreadsheets, and more-or-less running the business side of her diner has been spending the better part of her days visiting him and making sure he was feeling better.  However, there was also a familiar scent in the air that he hadn't smelled in quite a while, almonds and oats.

"You know, I bet you'd get more work done in your nice, comfy office."  He commented light-heartedly as he opened his eyes.

"Oh?  And how would you know what my office looks like?"  The blonde owner of Marcus' favorite truck stop just outside the city asked, closing her laptop and approaching his bedside.  "You never let me drag you in there."

"Knowin' you Theresa, I'm findin' it hard to imagine a cramped, messy little hole in the wall."  He replied, with a slight chuckle that quickly developed into a cough.

"Careful now Marcus," Tess advised softly, "you're still healing.  You could open a wound like that."

"Yeah, I know.  Still not as bad as a couple weeks ago though."  He replied, playfully teasing.

Her cheeks turning a bright red, Tess hid her face in embarrassment just remembering her careless mistake.

*** 2 Weeks Ago ***

It was revealed rather early to the aspiring athlete that with the injuries he had incurred that while he'd recover and be able to live a fairly normal life, continuing a career as a mixed martial artist would be something he'd have to give up on.  With so many broken bones, to say nothing about the gunshot wounds, his body wouldn't be able to heal back to a point to withstand the punishment of a professional fight.

Theresa also learned of this and decided to take matters into her own hands.  She had been getting Enma to come with her to the hospital to visit Marcus when they could, and while he was asleep she had Enma shrink her down so she could crawl into his casts and under his bandages to use her ability to slowly 'reshape' his body to heal better than it could naturally.  She could have waited until he was discharged from the hospital and fixed him in one go, but that would be far more suspicious than him 'miraculously' recovering better then doctors thought he would.

Today, Enma was going to meet the charitable blonde at the hospital but was running late so there was little she could do but sit in Marcus' room and wait.  She still had a shrunken, mentally broken and cum filled Dandian Randall Stephen stuck up her rear as punishment for his part in hospitalizing Marcus.  She had been pulling all-nighters more and more recently to get all the necessary preparations done to make sure the one who ordered her newest butt plug to hurt the Afro-American athlete got what was coming to him too and ended up falling asleep.

"...should probably have her explain when she wakes up."  Tess heard Enma say as she was stirred from her slumber.

"Yeah, that's fair."  She heard Marcus reply.  "I'm just surprised, ya know?  Theresa is such a beautiful woman.  I never would have imagined..."

"Yeah, I get that."  Enma replied, by now Tess was awake enough to crack open her eyes.  "I've known her since she was known as 'Theodore'."

That comment quickly dismissed the drowsiness from Theresa's mind as she jumped up out of her seat.  "Enma!  You promised you wouldn't tell him!"  She cried, on the verge of actual tears from the sense of betrayal and anger she felt.

"Holy fucking shit!"  Enma exclaimed, almost jumping out of her skin as she turned to face her awoken, distraught friend.  "Morning sleepyhead.  And you think I told him?  You showed him."  She replied, pointing to the blonde's waist.

"What?  What do you mea-"  Tess began to ask before looking down to see her almost fully erect cock poking up out from the top of her tight pencil skirt, exposed thanks to the midriff top she was wearing.  Her face lit up like a red stop light and she quickly turned around and crouched down to hide her morning wood and it took all her self control to not scream remembering she was in a hospital.  In her arse, she could feel Randy squirming which didn't help calm her raging meat.  "Randy, you're so dead after this!"  She thought, looking back over her shoulder to Enma standing trying to hide her amusement that her secret was out now and Marcus turning his head as much as his injuries allowed with an awkward smile on his face.

"Good morning, Theresa."  He greeted awkwardly as the bandages over his shoulder began turning red.

"Marcus, your wounds."  She replied, grabbing her sweater and tying it around her waist to hide her erection.  "What happened?"

"Your energetic morning wood happened."  Enma teased, poking at the still visible bulge from her friend's waist.  "He nearly jumped out of his bed."

"Definitely tore a couple stitches."  Marcus agreed, while not with the same entertained smile that Enma wore, but still a gentle smile all the same.  "Do I have a right to know, or would you rather not talk about it?"

Breaking away, Tess walked back over to her seat and sat down.  Heaving a heavy sigh, she looked down at the floor.  "Well... where do I even begin?"

"Pretty safe bet you can skip the start, I'd say."  Marcus encouraged with a light chuckle.  "Born a woman in a male body, it's not that uncommon a story.  What I don't understand is with how much you've adjusted your body, why not go through with the op?  Are you still waitin' or is it somethin' else?"

"You're not going to get angry or accuse me of lying and hiding it from you?"  Tess asked, feeling a bit ashamed of herself.  "Or think I was trying to trick you?"

"You wouldn't be the first gu-er... sorry, that was insensitive of me."  Marcus said, catching himself in a Freudian slip.  "I should say you're not the first person with a bit more down there that's made passes at me."

"So you don't mind that she has a dick?"  Enma asked.

"Theresa is an amazing woman.  She works hard, owns her own successful business, cares for her friends and can brew a mean cup of joe."  He replied smiling.  "How a beautiful, confident woman like her wasn't already taken was beyond me."

"'Was'?"  The buxom blonde asked.

"People may talk a big game in public, but truth of the matter is few people are as open-minded when they come face to face with it themselves.  Heck, even a lot of people that support the whole LGBTQ thing are just seekin' equal treatment for them, not to become in a relationship with them."  The ebony fighter explained in a sad, almost disappointed, tone.  "The sad reality is I'm sure you've had your heart broken more than a few times, right?"

"None worth mentioning."  Tess replied smiling.  She knew Marcus was different from most guys she liked, people like Johan who rejected her after finding out about her only to have Enma track them down and make their height reflect the diminutive size of their hearts.  She would typically shove such tiny pricks down the dick that they found so repulsive as poetic justice, but Marcus didn't mind that fact that she had a penis, though him not being interested in getting in her pants to begin with might be playing a larger part in it than she might hope.  No, he was just curious and was hoping for answers.  "To make a long story short, I haven't gone through with the operation yet for my parents."  She admitted.

"Wait, 'for', not 'because'?"  Marcus asked.

"Oh no.  Momma and Poppa Tess were both really supportive when their daughter informed them of her discovery, after making completely sure it was what she wanted of course."  Enma answered.  "You know, they didn't want her to act too hastily and do something she might regret later."

"Not that the headstrong brat realized it at the time..."  Theresa added in bitter self-loathing.

"But they still took her back with open arms when she came to her senses."  Enma insisted, intending to look on the bright side of the whole ordeal in hindsight.

"Only thanks to a meddlesome bitch getting her out of a tight spot."  The blonde teased back.  "And stuck with her ever since."

"None of that mushy stuff..."  The raven haired woman said back, looking away with cheeks of crimson.

"Why do I feel like there's more to this story than you two are lettin' on?"  Marcus asked, picking up the subtle hint that the casual rendition glossed over the most important parts of their friendship.

"Stick around long enough and you might find out, Big Boy."  Enma answered with a wink.  "But getting back on track, so with their daughter back, Momma and Poppa were happy and, like I said before, fully supported their daughter's decision.  However..."

"I overheard them one night.  They were coming to terms with the fact that their only child would never give them a blood-related grandchild post-op."  Tess finally explained.  "It wasn't easy for them, since they had always imagined their child starting a family like they did, but they accepted that for my happiness they wouldn't be selfish.  I wanted to thank them for being so supportive and understanding, so I decided to hold off on the operation until I can give them the grandchild they always wanted."

"Yeah, and how much longer do I have to wait for you to knock me up?"  Enma asked, backing her butt up into Tess' crotch.  "I'm ready any time."

"When you learn some self-control.  No telling what might happen if you get pregnant doing the things you do."  The blonde replied, forcefully thrusting her hips forward to push her friend off of her.

"Wait.  So you two have..."  Marcus began to ask, looking back between the two a couple of times.

"All the time!  Tess is still the best lay I've ever had!"  The raven haired girl confirmed smiling.  "Disappointing and uneventful nights out tend to end with a roll in the hay, if you catch my drift."

"Enma!"  Tess exclaimed, embarrassed by how brazen she was being.  "I-It's not everytime Marcus, I swear.  And we don't when I'm in a relationship.  I don't cheat on my boyfriends."

*** Present ***

"Could you please stop bringing that up... it's too embarrassing to think about."  Tess requested from behind the hands she was currently using to hide her face.  "I was really worried that you'd... well, you know, after you found out."

"Like I told ya, it's not that big of a... well okay, physically it's pretty big I have to admit.  Given the tight, form-fitting outfits you usually wear, I was just surprised is all."  He replied, smiling at her like he always had.

"Well, I usually 'shape' it away..."  She thought, chastising herself for forgetting to put it away after tormenting Randy with it the night before.  "Oh my.  And here I thought your eyes didn't wonder when we chatted."  Giggling, she was happy his recovery had gotten to a state where he could joke around with her again.  "... So...  Any word from Katria's lawyers?"  She asked soberly.

"No... not yet."  Marcus replied with a sad smile towards the envelope from civil court.  "I... I know I messed up.  Katria deserves someone better than a muscle-head who grew up hard on the westside, I'm just lucky Mr. Hapkomah introduced us, but I at least want to hear it from her first.  I vowed to love and protect her, to honor her wishes and all that.  If she wants a divorce, like really wants it... then I'll sign."

"Oh~!  So then, you'd be single?"  The buxom blonde asked playfully to try and lighten the mood.  "I could finally give you a private tour of my office."

The ebony athlete smiled a bit at her offer, grateful for the intentions.  "Thanks for the offer, but I don't think-"

Before he could say anymore, Theresa cut him off by putting a finger on his lips.  "Shh, if you can sort things out with her, I'll buy you a drink.  If not," she offered, lifting and squeezing her breasts together, "then you can come cry into my chest.  Deal?"

"Heh... Deal."  Marcus chuckled, as always only eyeing the presented eye candy with a respectable glance before locking eyes with her again.  "Thanks Theresa."

"Don't thank me.  To be honest I hope you two do end up breaking up."  She giggled playfully, packing her laptop up and putting on her jacket.  "I'll be back tomorrow."

"That time already?  Must have slept the day away, did I?"  He asked.  Despite her overly flirtatious behavior, both Theresa and Enma had been invaluable emotional support for him while he recovered.  That along with Ioseph offering to cover his medical bills and Marcus's miraculous healing progress that might even allow him to continue fighting once he gets discharged gave him the strength to keep going.  "All I need to do is talk to Katria."

"Well, being cooped up in a small room with you isn't exactly a bad thing."  Theresa replied, heading for the door.  "Besides, resting is the best thing you can do right now.  Try not to stay up too late."

"No promises..."  He joked back.  Just as she was about to close the door, the scent of almonds and oats in the air made his curiosity the better of him.  "Hey, Theresa?"

"Yeah?"  She asked back, poking her head through the doorway.

"Were...  Were you the only one here today?"  He asked hesitantly, almost ashamed.

"Other than Enma, I was the only one here."  She replied.  "Why?"

"Oh, no.  It's nothing.  Good night."  He said, bidding her farewell.

"Good night."  She said back, leaving him to his own devices.

Picking up the remote, Marcus turned on the T.V. in his room and got comfortable to watch a good fight if he could find one on.  The nostalgic scent caught his attention as he rested his head on the pillow, he turned to look at the envelope.  "Did...  Did she come to check-up on me?"