The door to the room slid open, surprising the three of us. We all turned our heads to look at the woman who entered next.

  “Hey, Zara could you–Oh, she’s awake!”

  I flinched at the pronoun usage, the word feeling alien yet familiar at the same time, but try to give my best friendly smile and wave to the new woman. Her referring to me as ‘she’ gave me a strange warmth in my chest that I didn’t need to start identifying at the moment. The woman’s words sent a strange flutter through my chest and I felt my cheeks slightly begin to heat up.

  She was absolutely gorgeous. Flawless honey-beige skin with side-swept black hair that cascaded in soft wavy curls to her shoulders. She wore tight black pants (another shock) and a hoodie wrapped around her waist with a white spaghetti-strap tank top. Her ears were with many different pieces of metal and her left arm was so littered with tattoos that I could barely see the skin beneath. Her voice was deep and smooth but undeniably feminine and something about it made my thoughts race.

  Her outfit framed her athletic build perfectly and she carried herself with a fundamental confidence that I immediately couldn’t help but admire. One hand rested loosely with her thumb hooked on a pocket while the other was holding some sort of rectangular device. She returned my smile with her own grin that felt almost like she knew something I didn’t, causing my cheeks to heat up further and me to glance down at my lap to hide them.

  “Oh, Juno,” Zara shook her head in disappointment but the hint of a smile appeared on her face, “can’t you even knock? There’s a little something called ‘doctor-patient confidentiality’ you know.”

  Juno smirks at Zara but her eyes travel over to me, seeming to take me in in a way that I hadn’t experienced before.

  “What, and miss the cute girl waking up? As if!”

  ‘Cute’.

  I had used that word plenty in my life but never had it refer to me, it was something only used for women on New Eden. It was strange how the butterflies in my stomach only seemed to be excited by the word but I chalked it up to nervousness. I was a man, I couldn’t possibly enjoy being called cute. I had to be strong and handsome and…

  “So what’s your name, cutie?” Juno speaks up and it takes me a moment to process that she’s speaking to me.

  “O-oh, I’m…I’m…” I couldn’t use my actual name, as Samuel was very distinctly a man’s name. I don’t know what it was about this woman but I had the the urge to not introduce myself as a man. It wasn’t that I didn’t want her to know that I was a man inside, but something about introducing myself as one felt wrong. I would introduce myself as a girl and then explain everything afterward.

  “Cassie.”

  “Sam,” Zara said simultaneously.

  Zara and I stared at each other, her expression caught between confusion and surprise and the blush I was barely holding off before lit up my face like I was cosplaying a tomato. Sam was such an obvious choice as a gender-neutral alternative to my own name, but I had immediately defaulted to Cassie.

  Though it had always been a struggle with my parents, I was able to do online gaming as I got older, and often I would play a female character. It wasn’t strange to me as many of my other male friends (though I didn’t have many) would do so with the justification of ‘not wanting to look at a man all day’. Cassie was the name I always used for my characters, being a shortened version of Casanova. I thought it a fitting name to take since I wanted to be an explorer just like the ancient Terran adventurer Giacomo Casanova and ‘nova’ was very space-esque. I didn’t realize my attachment to the name would get me in trouble one day though.

  Juno and the Captain glanced between the two of us in confusion, though the Captain was obviously more aware of what just happened. My head dropped to face my lap again but my eyes continued to dart in all different directions as I wondered how I missed such an obvious name choice.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “Ah, yes. I’m sorry, I got confused for a moment,” Zara stated, smiling toward Juno, “Her name is Cassie, though the procedure was not performed quite as expected so we were sorting that out.

  Juno’s confused expression remained but she got the hint to move on from that it seemed. “Got it, what happened? Is she okay? Dare has been pretty worried.”

  “She’s physically fine, though I will need to do a check-up to make sure. I’m not really sure how much more she would like me to tell you and I’m bound by confidentiality to not say anything more without her permission.” Zara glanced at me with a concerned look but I avoided her gaze, still utterly embarrassed.

  “Oh, yeah, sorry. I teased earlier but I am sorry for bursting in like that. I’m not used to someone new being on the ship.” Juno replied though I noticed her looking at me instead of Zara.

  Zara finally turned her head to face the others, “Well, Reed, Juno, would you both mind giving us some time to complete my checkup and sort things out? I’ll send you both a message when we’re finished up.”

  The other two nodded and didn’t push any further, Juno following Reed out the door quietly.

  As soon as the door slid closed, Zara turned back to me with the same gentle smile she had given me before. I expected immediate questioning of my name choice, but she seemed to understand that I didn’t want to broach that subject yet and completely dodged that conversation.

  “Well, like I said, I will have to perform a checkup if you’ll allow me. I do need to make sure nothing else has gone…wrong.”

  She emphasized the last word in a way I couldn’t decipher but I was too frazzled to ask her about it. My mind was still on the embarrassment of calling myself the wrong name even though everyone handled it well. I wondered when she would bring it up, though.

  “I will warn you,” Zara said with a concerned look, “this might feel rather invasive and uncomfortable as I will have to perform a gynecological exam.”

  My eyes shot open wide, “w-wait, what?”

  She gave a nod and placed her hand on my back, rubbing it in circles, “Yes, sweetie. It’s a necessary procedure but I’ll make it quick, I promise.”

  It was nearly three hours later when she finally finished up. She had kept her word that the gynecological exam would be fast but the rest of the exam had been fairly invasive as well. By the time it was over I laid back on the bed, exhausted and she rolled her chair up to sit next to me.

  “So, Cassie, would you like me to explain to the crew what has happened? We can leave it only for the Captain and I to know if you’d like, but the decision is completely up to you,” she remarked in a reassuring tone.

  I hesitated a moment at her question as this felt like a monumental question for me. I wasn’t sure I wanted to advertise myself as a man but in my mind, it would likely be obvious. They had also been fairly understanding until this point and were more worried than judgmental because they knew the circumstances were out of my control.

  “I-...I’m fine with you explaining it to them all. Though, I would like to be introduced first, if that’s okay?”

  She gave a warm smile and nod. “Of course, though I’m guessing you’ll want to be introduced as Cassie?”

  My entire body tensed as she asked the question. I knew this was coming but I had been so distracted by the exam that I hadn’t had any time to think of my reply to it.

  “I-I picked that name because,” my words fell out of my mouth quickly and I couldn’t hide the panic in my voice, “well, there was a Terran adventurer in the 11,700’s, back when it was just called the 1700’s, called Giacomo Casanova. I figured that…”

  “Honey, honey. It’s okay! You don’t have to justify yourself. I think it’s a very beautiful name,” she placed a hand on mine and gently rubbed it with her thumb.

  ‘Beautiful’, another word that had never been used to describe me and I felt those butterflies start up once more but I pushed them out of my mind. I wasn’t ready to learn why they popped up only at certain times yet.

  “I...yeah, Cassie is okay.”

  Zara gave a wide smile and nodded in confirmation.

  “Got it, and look, Cassie. None of us are going to judge you here. I know this crew like I know my own family and they would never do anything like that, okay?” She mentions gently, still rubbing the back of my hand with her thumb.

  I slowly nod, not entirely knowing what she means but appreciating the sentiment.

  “Th-thank you, Dr. Bennett.”

  “Call me Zara, now I imagine you want some actual clothes instead of just a hospital gown, so let’s sort that out, shall we?” She stands up, offering her hand for me to take so I can stand as well. I stare at it for a moment, not entirely used to this treatment but I take her hand regardless.

  “Yes please,” I say, returning a soft smile but not realizing exactly how embarrassing it will be to get clothes.

  “Good, and don’t worry, we’ll avoid any skirts,” she teases with a smirk and my face heats up, betraying me once more.