"You know, I've always wanted to try a brain transplant, but it's so hard to find volunteers." He comments off-handedly, stepping out of the room after locking the wheels on your table so you can't roll away. Still too weak from the sedatives to get free, all you can do is wait, the sound of your heart pounding in your ears in the quiet.
After an while, he returns with a second table. You can't see it, but you can hear the wheels squeak and the mechanism click as he parks it behind yours. The two of you now head to head.
"Don't worry my dears, think of it as trading places." he comments in a tone that's anything but reassuring. Your counterpart just gives out a muffled cry in response. "I'm sure I can put you back into each other's bodies afterwards." You can't tell for certain but the muffled voice sounded like your sister.
From between the two of you you can him hum some random tune as a scalpel enters your line of sight momentarily. Then you feel it cutting, delicately slicing a line around your scalp following the contours of your hairline. It stings, but not like a cut should, more like a dentist working on a tooth after freezing it. You only just feel it. Still you can't help but whimper, not from the feeling, but from knowing that you can't stop this madman in your current state, and if he kills you in the process he'll just work on some other member of your family next.
He's stopped working on you but now you can hear faint sounds from the other patient. And still that annoying humming.
"I am a genius." he softly comments to himself, stepping back and putting the scalpel away, only to return with a small saw which quickly whirs to life. slicing through the bone of both of your skulls in short order leaving only a few delicate membranes between the brains he plans to operate on, and the open air. You feel a slight pressure in your forehead, followed by a sudden slight pain behind your eyes as everything goes black. A moment later the same sensation again but in a different spot as the world is muted. Lastly a sharp pain in your neck and you can no-longer feel your body. I'm just a brain now... you manage to think before your mind shuts down from the shock of what's been done to it.
- - - - -
You can't tell how much time has passed since you blacked out, but you're lying on the couch at home. Getting up you look out the window to see the house next door looking abandoned with a sign out front saying "For sale: FREE!". At least that crackpot is gone. Letting out a sigh, you notice your voice doesn't sound right.
Heading to the washroom, you can plainly see that he left you in a body not your own before he ran off. And most likely, left someone else in yours. Looking in the mirror you see ________ staring back at you, the thin red line of a carefully cleaned and stitched cut tracing the edge of her, or should I say your, hairline.
"I was really hoping that was a bad dream..." The current occupant of your old body grumbles, having walked in while you were looking at your new reflection. "It's me, ________. In case you're wondering." 'he' states.