Chapter #4Someone else. by: Wassel   You awoke some time later, not entirely sure when or even where - your previous awakening seeming more like an incredibly vivid dream than anything that could have possibly been real. Opening your eyes slowly, you were confronted by the sight of your mother, as well as Doctor Kerry standing over you, the sound of his voice quietly echoing in your ears.
"Tim? ... Tim, can you hear me? ... It's Dr. Kerry." he said, accompanied by the sound of your mother saying the exact same thing not long after.
"Wuh... what's happening?" you groaned, feeling incredibly sluggish. As if not every part of your body had woken up just yet.
"Oh thank God! He's awake!" your mother yelped, a ginormous smile appearing across her lip as she reached down and softly brushed a hand against your cheek. Your father also appearing then. Grinning away himself as he welcomed you "back to the world, son."
"Am I in hospital?" you asked, as the two of them helped you to sit up ever so slightly. The sterile white walls and the pale green gown you were currently wearing indicating you were.
"Yes, Tim, that's right," Kerry replied, his voice calm and soothing. "You've been here for quite some time. Do you remember anything of what happened?"
Although disorientated and slightly muddled about what had been a dream and what hadn't, you definitely remembered a few things. Specifically what had occurred on the way back from the football game. "Yeah... there was an accident," you told him, "A car accident. And something... something happened to David..." You couldn't quite recall what, but you were pretty sure it was important.
"That eh, that is correct, yes." Kerry smiled, looking slightly uncomfortable for a moment, before carrying on in a more collected manner. "You suffered serious trauma in the accident, Tim. Your internal organs were badly damaged, so we had to keep you in a drug educed coma for a while. Thankfully you're all fixed up now."
Jesus, you thought to yourself, hearing this being utterly surreal. You were of course glad you were okay, not really able to feel too much right now (the happy look on your parents faces doing the verifying for you), but still. Serious trauma and badly damaged internal organs wasn't something you really wanted to hear come out of a doctors mouth. Especially not in relation to you.
Continuing on then, his smile dropped slightly and you felt your mothers grasp on your hand. The doctor hitting you with a major bombshell. "But you should know, you've been unconscious for almost two months."
"TWO MONTHS!?" you shrieked, certain that you must have misheard him. No. That... That can't be right. Can it?
"It was touch and go for a while, but your vitals are all stable now and as soon as we do a few final checks and get your strength back up, you should be able to go home."
"Isn't that wonderful news, sweetheart? We've been so worried about you." your mother piped in, while you were still reeling from this news. It not seeming possible. How could you have missed so much? You didn't even know what had happened during the accident. If anyone was hurt or not...
Recalling your concern for your little brother, fearing that something might have happened to him, you asked the doctor, "What about David? Did something happen to David?" as little bits and pieces of information gradually came back. "I... I remember something about his brain..."
This time Dr. Kerry looked towards your parents for help. "Ehm, perhaps you would like to field this one. It might be better coming from you." Telling them that he'd just wait outside, before scampering quickly off. This concerned you greatly. Remembering that there had been something they'd been avoiding telling you before. Something about him not being quite how "you remember him".
"What does he mean "coming from you"?" you questioned them, after he was gone. It being obvious that they knew something you didn't. "What's happened? Is David alright?"
"He is. He's fine." your mother said, her voice calm, before - just as with the doctor- a slight hint of unease slowly began to sneak its way in. "It's just... well, this may come as somewhat of a shock, and we don't want you to get too worked up, but well, David was very badly hurt in the accident. In fact... Well, technically he was dead. If it hadn't been for Dr. Kerry and Dr. Saunders and what they did, he'd no longer be with us now."
Technically dead?! ...What the hell did that mean?
"You see, they used this brand new medical procedure." your father took over, placing a hand onto your shoulder as he explained. "One that they weren't really supposed to use, but it was the only chance of saving David's life." This was all starting to sound familiar, and you were pretty certain that any minute now someone was gonna bring up 'brain transplant' as you listened intently to your father's words. Sure enough, the next thing out of his mouth was indeed "His brain was still active after the crash but his body was irreparable. Fortunately there was an available donor that had just been brought in from the same accident. One that was a perfect match for the procedure."
This was of course when it came - the validation that what you had assumed was little more than a dream, had actually been true... "They uh, they put part of David's brain into another body to save him."
Even though you had seen it coming, actually hearing it from your father's own mouth absolutely floored you. It being like a kick right in the gut!
"Oh my God. This...this is insane!" you whispered, having no other response that that.
"I know. It sounds crazy." your mother agreed, gripping your hand even tighter. "It sounded like the craziest thing ever when the doctors first told us. But I assure you it's really not. David is now inhabiting the body of somebody else and..."
"And what?" you hastily interrupted, realizing there was more.
"And well, we all had to sign an agreement to keep it a secret. To not reveal what went on during the procedure."
"As far as the world is concerned, David is dead." your father sighed. "We held a funeral for him over a month ago."
If hearing that your 14 year old brother was now inside someone else's body was a shock, hearing that he'd also been pronounced dead and buried just about made you hit the floor. "YOU DID WHAT?!"
"I'm sorry, but we had to." your dad replied, not looking particularly proud of the fact. "We thought it best to get it out of the way as quickly as possible to save everyone the heartache and to convince people that he really is dead. It's not ideal, we know, but you have to understand we had very little in the way of options here. If word got out that this procedure had been performed, that David was inhabiting this other body, he'd be hounded by the media for the rest of his life! He'd be called an abomination and freak of nature! We couldn't let that happen."
While you didn't really know all the ins and outs of this, and were basically still reeling from everything you'd heard, you still couldn't help but feel angry. Your little brother's entire life having seemingly been pulled out from under his feet, and you couldn't do a thing about it.
"So what, he's living as someone else now? Pretending to be something he's not for the rest of his life?"
"Only to others. We all know the truth," your mother said, tearing up ever so slightly, your reaction obviously bringing up emotions she herself had previously gone through. "We wish things could have been different, we really do. But at least this way he has a chance at a full life. And considering what he's had to go through, we think he's doing remarkably well."
"Jesus," you sighed, hearing this making it seem so much more real. You'd been out of it for almost two months. Your brother and the rest of your family had been dealing with this for weeks. He'd already been living this life. This different life. Where the hell were you when he needed you?
"I can't believe this. It's... It's... It's just too much to take in!" you whimpered, feeling now like you were going to cry.
"I know, sweetheart. We all felt the exact same way." your mom comforted you, having always been the voice of reason. "But we've had time to accept it as the way things have to be now, and so will you."
You guessed you had to. There was no two ways about it. As bizarre and as frightening as it was, your little brother was now someone else. The only question was who?
"So who was the donor body? Who's life is David now living?"
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