First Health Montgomery Memorial Hospital:
Machines beeped as they kept the young teenage girl alive. A nurse had checked on her several times, bringing in flowers, get-well cards, and balloons. A giant pink teddy bear and several smaller plushies sat near the hospital bed.

The machines kept a steady beeping sound as the tube going into Piper’s mouth kept her breathing on the healthy lung she had left. The doctor had managed to remove her damaged lung, and so far Piper wasn’t showing any signs of infection in her other lung.

Officer Sterling sat next to Piper’s hospital bed, holding her hand. Sometimes she spoke to Piper, letting her know she wasn’t alone and that Detectives North and Forrest were on the case. As for the investigation into who shot Piper, the case was moving slowly.

Detective Forrest had informed her that the striation marks on the three bullets that were removed from Piper’s body had the same markings from six other unsolved cases. The victims from those attacks had all died, and their cases haven’t been solved yet.

The gun that shot those bullets was used in all six crimes, and there was nothing else linking the victims to one another. Each victim was killed at different locations around town or in their home. They varied in ages and were of different ethnicities.

As for Piper’s safety, there was a guard posted outside her hospital room. The department didn’t want to take the chance of whoever shot Piper trying again. As for her friend Gloria, she and her husband, US Marshal Givens, were flying in tomorrow to talk to Child Services. She explained everything to Gloria and her husband last night about Piper.

She also spoke with Judge Reardon about getting access to Piper’s foster records. Judge Reardon was a family friend and had been the one who suggested she should go into law enforcement. She couldn’t decide what she wanted to do. He made arrangements with a few friends for her to ride along with them on patrol.

Sterling wonders if Piper knew who her birth parents were and why they abandoned her. She had been wrong about Piper’s gender as well. According to Piper’s birth certificate and medical report when she was born, she had been assigned the genitals of a male. But when she got testicular cancer, the doctor discovered she had the organs of a female.

However, since she was designated as a male at birth. It has caused problems for her. Even Sterling thought Piper was a boy, pretending to be a girl. However, after the first time Piper was taken to the hospital. Sterling learned that wasn’t true.

Officer Sterling gets up and walks out of Piper’s hospital room. It has been a long day, and her friend was coming in tomorrow. She takes the stairs down to the first floor and exits the hospital.

Sterling drives home and pulls into the driveway. She spots her middle brother’s pickup truck parked behind their father’s work truck. Something didn’t feel right when she parked behind her mother’s car and got out.

She walked into the house through the garage door. She spots her parents in the living room with her mother sitting on the sofa with her oxygen tube. Her father was sitting in his recliner and his right arm was covered up.

Officer Sterling watched as her brother came walking into the living room, and his left arm was wrapped up as well.

“What happened to you and Dad today, John?” Sterling had walked over and sat down on the sofa near her mother.

“Someone didn’t drain the hot water heater before trying to cut the pipe.” Henry looks over towards his middle son when he answers.

John looks at his father and sister and wanted to say something, but decided not to. He knew it wasn’t going to do any good. He walked over and sat down on the other recliner.

“How was your day, sweetie?” Mary looks towards her daughter.

She knew Mary had taken an interest in the young girl who got shot recently. It was the same girl that had been attacked by bullies on her way home.

“It was nice and quiet, which is a relief. And before you ask, Mom. I did check on Piper, and she is still unconscious. The doctor said he was keeping her under until tomorrow. They are worried about how she will respond to having her left lung removed.”

“Why did the doctor remove this girl’s lung?” John looked towards his sister and didn’t know she knew the girl who got shot yesterday.

“They had to remove her lung because the bullets bounced around inside her body and turned her lung into Swiss cheese. There was nothing they could do to save it, except remove it.” Sterling knew the doctor who had talked to her had wanted to save Piper’s left lung, but the damage was just too severe. There was no other option, except to remove the whole lung.

“Dam, I feel sorry for the poor girl. Before you got home, I went ahead and ordered dinner for all of us.” John knew normally his mother or Sterling made dinner.

“That’s fine. I’m going to go ahead and get out of my uniform.” Sterling stood up and headed to her bedroom to change out of her uniform.

The next day, Piper is woken up. At first she felt extremely groggy as she tried to recall what happened to her. All she could remember was choking on her blood and passing out. She had reached out and balanced herself against a pickup truck. As her head finally cleared, she noticed she was in a hospital room with an older man standing near the bed she was lying on. Next to him were two nurses.

“Ms. Welch, can you hear me?” Doctor White stood near the hospital bed and looked down at the young girl.

Piper nodded her head yes to his question. She was finding it hard to breathe and felt that her chest was tight. She was still feeling a little lightheaded from the drug they used on her. She noticed an oxygen hose was around her neck.

Piper felt pain in her chest when she tried to sit up or moved suddenly. She winced as she stayed lying on her back. She wasn’t going to try moving any time soon.

Doctor White looked down into Piper’s eyes. “We had to remove one of your lungs because it had been damaged too severely. Also, you have three broken ribs in your back. So, you might not want to move around too much.”

Tears start streaming from Piper’s eyes as she listens to what Doctor White was telling her. She had felt the bullets enter her body from behind and penetrate her lung. She had started choking on her own blood, as her air supply had been cut off.

A nearby nurse wiped her eyes as Piper cried. The nurse wondered why anyone would do such a mean thing to a young girl. Doctor White informed Piper that she might find it weird for a while breathing with one lung. However, her body will adjust, and her good lung will become stronger.

The doctor stayed for a while, making sure Piper understood everything, and informed her that she’ll have to get up and move around. Which was something Piper wasn’t looking forward to, because of how her ribs felt. After the nurses were done with her, they asked her what she wanted to eat. She lay there in bed and looked around the room.

Piper noticed balloons with "Get Well" printed on them, plants, and plushies. There was a huge pink teddy bear sitting in a chair next to her hospital bed. She wondered who sent it to her.

Later In The Afternoon that Same Day:
A white and gold 2007 Gulfstream G200 lands at a private airfield. The plane taxis to an empty spot and parks. Gloria looks at her husband. “Admit it, I’m a good pilot.”

“I never said you weren’t. I just hate flying, is all.” Russell has never liked flying that much. He would have preferred to drive to meet the girl.

A smirk appears on Gloria’s face as she exits the plane. She had gotten her pilot’s license while she was in college and while she worked for NCIS. The plane she bought from another college buddy that goes around buying old planes and fixes them.

She knew he flipped planes for a living and was well respected as a mechanic. There wasn’t a plane he couldn’t fix. A smile appeared on her face when she spotted her old college roommate Lupe Sterling standing near a black SUV.

“Lupe, it's nice to see you after all these years.” Gloria hugged her old roommate.

“You too, Gloria, and you as well, Givens.” Lupe looked at Russell as he stood nearby.

Lupe knew Russell was a deputy US Marshal stationed in Montana, but originally came from Lexington, Kentucky. The man had been well known on the track and field circuit in college. She also knew that he and Gloria had met while she was working for NCIS. They weren’t married then, but got married a few years later.

After Lupe hugged Gloria and Russell, she helped them with their bags and loaded everything in the cargo area of her SUV. Before they drove away from the airfield, she looked at Gloria. “I made arrangements for you two to stay at the Marroit, downtown. It’s not far from the hospital or city hall. Judge Reardon said he would be willing to handle any legal matters.”

“It sounds like you have been busy, Lupe. What do you know about this girl that you haven’t already told us?” Gloria looks at her friend as she drove.

“Not much, other than what I’ve already told you. The poor thing has to pretend she is a boy. The state won’t acknowledge that she isn’t what she appears to be.” Lupe knew that the state she and Piper lived in wouldn’t change Piper’s birth certificate.

“That does cause a problem. You said her birth certificate says she is male, but she is developing like a girl.”

“Yes, she was born with a penis and testes, but inside she had the reproductive organs of a female as well. She didn’t know she had them until she got testicular cancer and had to have her testes cut off. Once that happened, her body jump-started her female organs, and she has been developing like a girl, while still retaining the penis she had been born with between her legs.”

“Are the doctors sure her penis is a penis and not a clitoris that grew weirdly?” Gloria was curious about that.

“As far as I know, her medical records say it’s a penis.” Lupe was thankful to Judge Reardon for letting her look at Piper’s medical records.

“Getting a new birth certificate for her in this state is impossible. Even with a judge’s order, the state won’t do it.” Russell knew how some state laws worked, and getting them to change things isn’t easy; if nothing else, it was impossible.

“So, why did you call us?” Gloria knew there had to be a reason Lupe called her.

“I need you two to adopt her. She needs to get away from here and somewhere where she can be herself and be safe. This is the second time she has been attacked, that I know of, and we don’t have any idea who is trying to kill her.”

Russell looks towards his wife from the back. “That’s asking a lot from us, Lupe.”

“I know, but if there is anyone who can give this girl a chance to be herself and be safe, it's you two.” Lupe knew Piper would be safe with her friends.

“I don’t know.” Gloria didn’t know if she was the motherly type.

“Look, just meet with her and talk about it. If I could adopt her, I would, but I’m taking care of my mother and my father has problems of his own.” Lupe knew her father had health problems that would soon sideline him.

“Alright. But first, let’s check in and grab some lunch.” Gloria was hungry because she skipped breakfast.

“I know the perfect place.” A smile appeared on Lupe’s face as she continued to drive.