"...He's... Well, he's not taking all this very well, I'm afraid," he said, looking more than a little uncomfortable now as he stood there, rubbing nervously at the back of his neck.
Well of course he isn't, you thought. His wife had just died and his son's girlfriend's brain had been transplanted into her body. How was he supposed to feel?
You didn't say this however, and instead simply asked, "How do you mean?"
"Well, after we performed the operation, your father was naturally shocked, just as I'm sure you are. But once we explained that it was the only way to save Allison, he slowly came round. He even agreed that it would be in everyone's best interest to keep this whole thing quiet..."
"Quiet? What do you mean quiet?" you said, interrupting him. Not liking the sound of this one bit. "Like... not tell anyone?"
"Precisely." Doctor Kerry then stepped in, having remained silent until now. "Due to the experimental nature of the surgery, as well as the... lets be honest here, rather extreme change your girlfriend has undergone, it makes much more sense that word never leaves this hospital. The media attention alone would be relentless, never mind the legal ramifications that would follow. We simply can't have that."
"Dr. Kerry is right, Tim," Saunders added, "Better she lives out the rest of her life pretending to actually be your mother than be labeled as some sort of freak by the press. Don't you think?"
Right now you really didn't have a clue what to think. This whole thing seemed so surreal. Hearing this on top of everything else being like the icing on an extremely fucked up cake!
Aware though that you didn't want your girlfriend being paraded through the streets like some sort of freak, you finally answered, "Well I... I, uh... I mean of course, but... but does she really have to pretend to be my mom for the rest of her life?" This part just seemed like too much. You'd only found out your mother was dead like ten minutes ago and they were already telling you that you had to replace her!
"Only out in public," Saunders assured you, his voice soft and soothing, clearly trying his best to put you at ease (unlike his shorter, balder colleague, who seemed far more curt and to the point). "You, your father, and your siblings, as well as Allison's parents will all know the truth - that she is Allison Lowry. Everyone else though will think she is Jennifer Connors."
Butting in again as he fiddled with his glasses, Kerry said, "You'll all be financially compensated of course."
Money however, was the last thing on your mind right now. Who cared about compensation when your mother was dead and your girlfriend was lying behind that door, unconscious, and was currently inhabiting her body?
"This is... this is crazy!" you mumbled, feeling rather ill as the weight of all this suddenly came crashing down around you. Why did this have to happen to you?
"I wish there could be some other way," Saunders told you, placing a hand on your shoulder. "But there isn't. Allison has to be your mother now, Tim. I'm sorry."
You were sorry too, having hoped this had all just been a bad dream and that you were going to wake up soon and everything would suddenly be rosy. It wasn't though. This was real, and you entire world had now changed. Yours... Allison's...Your family's... Everyone's!
Taking a moment to process this all, bemoaning the hand that fate how now dealt you, you suddenly remembered how this conversation had started in the first place. Oh wait... Dad! - Doctor Saunders having been talking about him.
"Wuh... what about my dad?" you asked, trying to regain focus again. "What were you saying about him?"
"Ah, yes," the older doctor replied, as if only remembering now himself. "The thing is, although your father did agree to keep this whole thing a secret and has already signed the paperwork, when we took him to see her... to see Allison, well I'm afraid it went rather badly." Oh-oh. You didn't like the sound of this. "He claims now that he won't be able to do it. To play along like everyone that she is in fact his wife. He says that he can't even bear to look at her now, knowing that she's someone else inside. Which, I imagine, is a perfectly reasonable response..."
It certainly did sound it. Your father presumably feeling a lot like you did right now. Terrified. Confused. Filled with both anger and sadness. If it had been your wife, then you were pretty sure you'd have the same reaction. How do you even begin to treat a 16 year old girl who was in a relationship with your own son like she was your loving wife of twenty years?
"So, then, what does that mean?"
"It means that he doesn't want Allison to live with him. To see her everyday and keep up the pretense in front of other people. It means, that when she wakes up, he is going to file for divorce."
"Divorce?!" you screeched, having certainly not been prepared for that.
"Yes. Presumably she will be agreeable to it also, and her parents are more than happy for her to stay with them... At least while the details of the divorce are worked out that is. Obviously it can't be a permanent arrangement. Your 'mother' can hardly stay in the bedroom of a teenage girl forever without it looking a tad suspicious, now can she?"
"No. No, I suppose she can't..." you replied, still reeling from the whole divorce thing. You weren't entirely sure why it made you feel so upset. Allison was never married to your father after all, and it would solve the problem of having to pretend you were one big happy family when you were clearly not. But still, it was the 'idea' of your parents marriage that would be destroyed. To the outside world it would no longer seem like they were the happy, loving couple that they were. Sure, you and your mom hadn't always seen eye to eye all the time. But that didn't mean your life together as a family wasn't a good one, and that your parents hadn't been as happily married as anyone else.
Though what was the alternative really? Put your grieving father through hell by forcing him to live with the very walking embodiment of his dead wife? And ruin Allison's happiness and chance for a life of her own as well? No, you couldn't. You'd loved them too much. Both of them. Not only was Allison your girlfriend, but she was your first love too. The two of you having met when you were around 12 and having been dating ever since. You knew each other better than anyone else, and you used to even imagined what it would be like if the two of you got married... No chance of that now though, you thought. Not now that she was in the body of your mother.
Thinking about this, about how your father cutting off all contact with her would affect your relationship, you asked him, "But what about me? Do I still get to see her?"
Saunders answer was incredibly diplomatic. "That is entirely up to you, Son. She's in there right now," he said, pointing to the door in front of you, to where both him and Kerry had wheeled you. "You can choose whether you want to see her or not. Or indeed if you want to continue to see her after she wakes. Just because your father doesn't want to, doesn't mean you can't."
This was a relief, though in all honesty, you weren't entirely sure what you wanted anymore. At first, of course, you had greatly desired to see her, to make sure she was all right, feeling physically sick at the thought that anything might have happened to her. Then when they'd told you what they'd done, whose body she now wore, you were terrified. You were terrified of looking at her and no longer seeing the girl you loved, but you had tried to push that aside for her sake and for the sake of your relationship. Now though, after hearing all that about your dad and the divorce and what he had gone through after visiting her... Well, you were really beginning to have your doubts. You didn't want to walk in there and have the same reaction as your father. You didn't want to lose what was special between the two. You couldn't...
Obviously reading this on your face, as you sat there staring at the door, Doctor Saunders rather delicately asked, "So, do you still want to go inside?"
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