The Misadventures of Ranger Kim and Ranger Kelly

Lucky for Jun, Aiden had good taste in doctors. Dr. Kingsley did freak out upon learning about her, but in a good, concerned-for-her-safety way. No one was allowed near Jun’s room without his knowledge. Whenever a nurse had to tend to her injuries, he stayed in the room just to keep an eye on things. 

Dr. Kingsley kept Jun’s gender a secret as much as he could, but as she expected, word got around. In the meantime, Jun and the doctor exchanged idle chat and got to know each other. He had a wife and three kids back on the Moon and was a doctor even before joining the Interstellar Forces, bypassing the normal rank system.

Dr. Kingsley went over his notes. “How long had you been wearing that chest binder?”

“More than it said I should.”

He nodded solemnly. “That’s apparent. I’d recommend you not wear it again until your chest heals up. Not that you’d need to, since everyone knows already. One of my sons started wearing one, and I keep telling him to take breaks every so often.” He wagged a finger. “Your x-rays make for a good warning.” 

“Is it that bad?” Jun winced.

“It didn’t help your accident, that’s for sure.” The doctor looked up from his notes. “But we should get you fixed up in no time!”

“Thanks, doc.”

“How did you even get into the IF anyway? They did background checks on you, right?”

“Not very thorough ones.” Jun leaned her head back on her pillow. “All I really had to do was get a haircut and get my gender marker changed.”

“But I was under the assumption that the IF didn’t take in transgender people. Wouldn’t they have taken you for one?”

“I don’t think they were expecting anyone like me to just walk in.” Jun could’ve also mentioned that Stephanie found a way to get the gender on Jun’s electronic birth certificate changed, but that would be admitting to forgery. 

The doctor raised his eyebrows. “You learn something new every day. Guess my son could join after all, if he wanted to...” 

“If they don’t enforce the rules more strictly.” 

“True.” He agreed. “Regardless, I’m sure people’ll be talking about what you did for a long time.”

“Yeah…” Jun didn’t really want to think about it. “Did I get any ‘visitors’ today?”

Dr. Kingsley sighed, nodding. “A ranger by the name of Eric Murray showed up claiming that you were friends.”

“Wow, Murray? I know that guy."

The doctor appeared shocked. “Oh, is he actually a friend of yours?”

“No way.” scoffed the injured ranger. “I reported him for harassing some kid.”

Kingsley laughed, shaking his head. “Sometimes I worry that we send people away who you’d want to visit. But I’d rather keep everyone out than let the wrong guy in, you know?”

“Yeah, I get you.” Jun knew the risks involved better than anyone. 

Sometimes she wished she could see her friends again, but didn’t know if she ever would. Of course she’d see them again physically, but she doubted that the vibes between them would be the same. 

There was only one person she’d take the chance of meeting again. “Has Aiden Kelly ever showed up at the desk?”

“Usually, whenever there’s trouble, he’s involved somehow,” Dr. Kingsley began, “but I don’t think anyone has ever seen him show up. Why? Do you think he’ll start anything?”

“No, no, I was just gonna say if he came around, send him back. He can visit for a few.”

“Really??” the doctor nearly shouted. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Jun confirmed. “He’s the only other person I told directly, right before I checked in here. Actually, he’s the one that recommended me to you.”

“Really…? I would’ve thought he hated me.”

“He seems to have some issue with doctors in general, but out of all of the ones here, he said you were the most trustworthy.”

“I’m...flattered.” Dr. Kingsley seemed at a loss for words. “Well, I did hear from someone else that he had an overdue checkup. If I end up seeing him anytime soon, I’ll let him know he’s free to visit you.”

“Thanks doc.” Jun gave a thumbs up.

A few weeks later, Dr. Kingsley announced that there would be a visitor. Minutes after that, someone else entered the room.

“‘Sup?” Jun waved weakly. The painkillers made her a little drowsy.

“Hey yourself.” Aiden leaned on one of the walls.

“So…” the patient began awkwardly. “How’s it goin’?”

“You know it’s wild out there, right?” Aiden looked around. “I’m surprised they let me in.”

“I gave ‘em the okay.”

“Oh.” He began to laugh. “I can not believe you. Here I thought you were Mr. Goody Two-Shoes, but little did I know that you were breaking rule #1 just by existing here. Wow.” He placed a hand on his head. “Wooow, you really had some guts pulling this one off. Right under our noses.”

“Aiden, be honest. How do you feel about this whole," Jun waved her hand around her general vicinity, "situation?”

“It’s hilarious!”

“Nghhh, I meant about me.” the patient clarified.

“What about you?”

“Are we still cool? We still bros?”

“Aren’t you a… lady?” Aiden tilted his head.

“I mean, I don’t mind being called bro, or dude, or a guy, or he or any of that.” Jun actually dreaded going back to being referred to and seen as a woman, though she didn’t know why. Still, if she could convince someone to treat her the same way as when they thought she was a man, she’d try.

“Huh. If we’re still bros, then we’re still bros.” The blond shrugged. “You weren’t faking your personality or anything like that, were you?”

“No--?”

“Wait.” He interrupted. “Of course you didn’t. You wanna know why?”

“I mean, I’m me, so I already know why.” Jun had no idea where he was going with this.

“They finally made me take my medical exam today, and then I remembered how cagey you were about taking yours.” Aiden scratched his beard. “And then it hit me! No one in their right mind would take a medical exam in your situation. It’s the perfect way to get found out! Why would you do that?”

“Because I’m married to the rules?” Jun grinned sheepishly.

“Because you’re obsessed with the rules.” Aiden reiterated. “That’s even more depressing. Get help.”

Jun laughed.

“Other than that!” he continued, “I got nothing but respect for you. You turned the IF upside-down in a way I never could’ve dreamed of doing. Who knew you had it in you?”

“I didn’t.” Jun admitted. “How are the other guys taking it?”

“Oh, you mean the lunch guys? They’re mostly still in shock.”

“Ahhh… Can’t really blame them.”

“Everyone else is losing their minds, but you probably don’t need me to tell you that it’s a mess out there.” Aiden pointed a thumb at the door.

“I figured as much.” Jun looked away.

“How’s the infirmary been?”

“Boring, mostly. But safe, which is really all I can ask for right now. Doc Kingsley has everything under control.”

“Someone better.” Aiden crossed his arms. “Especially since you can’t with whatever’s going on with your shoulder. Did you break something?”

“My shoulder.” The patient tapped said shoulder. “There’s some other stuff too, but it basically amounts to my shoulder being messed up. The good news is that I’ve got a lot of free time to spend on my phone.” 

Jun picked up said phone and opened it. 

“I was thinking about what you asked, what are we if we’re not attracted to anyone. According to the internet, we’re asexual. Aromantic too, if we’re not into dating either. I’m not. You?”

“Nope.”

“Cool. Then we’re both that.”

The blond lifted his head. “Interesting.” 

“I haven’t seen any news about me being in the IF, so I don’t think it reached Earth quite yet. Wonder if the higher-ups are trying to keep this a secret for now.”

Pure, unbridled joy spread across Aiden’s face. “Oh man… I can just imagine them squirming. Beautiful…”

The patient laughed. “I guess I’ll enjoy my last few moments of peace and quiet.”

“You do that.” He turned toward the door. “I’m gonna head out now.”

“See ya.” Jun waved. “Feel free to come back. I’ll be here for probably the next couple weeks.”

“‘Kay. Take care of yourself.” With a casual salute, Aiden left the room. 

Jun felt relieved. Aiden’s perception of their friendship barely changed at all. With the many changes that were probably going to happen going forward, it was nice to have one constant.

With nothing left to do, Jun scrolled around on the website where she found out about asexuality and aromanticism. A section for different gender identities piqued her curiosity. Expecting there only to be sections for transgender men and women, it surprised Jun to see that there was another category to choose from: Nonbinary Identities.

‘Nonbinary Identities: Any gender identity that isn’t exclusively male or female.’

This situation pulled Jun between womanhood and manhood. The former never sat quite right, but she resigned herself to being considered a woman, because being a man, while it fit better, still didn’t fit.

No other options seemed to exist. Yet here they were, a list of many brand new labels both daunting and freeing. Neither man nor woman, Jun finally had the word to define herself on her own terms: Nonbinary. Things finally clicked for her!

No. Things finally clicked for them.