"...a young woman by the name of Victoria Monroe."
Victoria Monroe...? you thought. Not recognizing the name at all. "Who the hell is that?"
"She was involved in the exact same accident as you and your family. The car right behind you actually" Saunders informed you. "She hit her head on the steering wheel when your families' car slammed on the brakes. The impact of which ruptured a small blood clot in her brain, resulting in an aneurysm. By the time she arrived at the hospital it was already too late for us to do anything. Luckily her daughter was OK"
"Daughter?!" you squeaked. "She... She had a daughter?" This revelation being almost as shocking as the fact that your girlfriend was now in someone else's body.
Yes. I'm afraid so," the older doctor continued. "She had a ten year old daughter. Bright young thing too. She's actually in the waiting room with her grandmother."
That word again, "daughter" was completely throwing you through a loop. One minute the two of you were laughing and playing around the the back seat of your mother's minivan, and the next... this. She was a complete stranger who was responsible for the life of another. She was now a mother. This thought being so incredible unsettling and bizarre. She was a teenager for Christ sake, and your girlfriend. She can't raise a child alone. She couldn't!
Barely listening then as the two of them went on to explain the various ins and outs of the surgery. How, other than the aforementioned blood clot, this Victoria woman had been in amazing health and the recovery had been proceeding well. Making her the ideal candidate for the procedure. Which had apparently been a resounding success, as Allison's brain was adapting to its new host remarkably well. Much to Dr. Kerry's obvious pride. The short, balding, mustachioed doctor looking very pleased with himself indeed.
And while you were of course relieved that Allison was doing well, the question still remained; Who exactly was she? Who was Victoria Monroe, and what was this going to mean for her future? Putting this to them then.
"Well... Her full name was Victoria Latisha Monroe," Saunders said. "She was twenty-eight years old. Worked as a stripper here in town. She was married for five years but have since divorced and she and her ex-husband share joint custody of her daughter, Keisha..." as far as we've been able to tell, she was still single. She lived in a small two bedroom apartment in Park Heights"
Jesus... This all being a lot to take in. Allison is now twenty-eight? Fuck me... Thats twelve years older than the age she'd previously been. Twelve years older than your age too. She was now a proper adult. A proper adult with a child and her own apartment too. Which apparently wasn't all that far away.
Still, as messed up as this whole thing was, at least she was alive. Not knowing what you'd have done had she died. Allison being your first and only girlfriend to date and basically your soul mate. Not being able to imagine yourself with anyone else. Not since you'd worked up the courage to actually ask her out, all the way back in middle school. And for some crazy reason she'd actually said "yes". Having been pretty much inseparable ever since.
"So... What... What happens now?" you asked. "What happens to her... to her... to her daughter?" Still cringing at the mere idea.
"That's, uh... That's the other thing we had to tell you I'm afraid." Dr. Saunders looking rather uncomfortable again as he nervously stated, "Due to the, uhm... experimental nature of the procedure, and the fact that it wasn't strictly 'legal', both Dr. Kerry and I feel that it's in everyone's best interest if this procedure remain a secret. That we all pretend like none of it even happened. That it was Allison who died, not Miss. Monroe.
"Wah-what?" you yelped. "You... You can't be serious!? You actually wanna pretend like she's dead?"
He was serious however. Deadly. Explaining to you then that it would only be in public, and that both yours and Allison's family would still know the truth. "It's just that if word of this gets out then life could become very difficult. For Allison, for you and her daughter Keisha. The media will be all over it. None of you will get a moments piece. Not to mention the legal ramifications of transplanting a brain into someone else's body... Who knows what will happen. She might lose custody of Keisha... or worse."
"I know it might seem extreme," Kerry then added. Backing Saunders up. "But it really is the only option. And both of your families have already agreed, as well as signed the necessary paperwork."
They what?! You couldn't believe this. That they'd actually agreed to what basically amounted to robbing Allison of her life. Forcing her into living someone else's. Not to mention having to raise child that wasn't even hers. All while she was still asleep! They couldn't. It was wrong. Allison wasn't Victoria Monroe, she was Allison Lowry, the girl you loved. You couldn't let them do this to her. You wouldn't.
No. No way. You can't do that!" you protested. Becoming quite angry. "You can't just pretend like she doesn't exist. It's... It's insane! You're insane! This whole fucking thing is insane!"
"Tim, please. I know this must be very upsetting for you but..."
"Change her back!" you demanded. Trying your best to sit up but finding it a struggle. Groaning as you raised your neck, "Put her brain back inside her own body where it belongs!"
"We can't," Saunders told you, shaking his head. Explaining why it wouldn't work. Though right now you were too worked up to even care. The thought of your girlfriend losing her identity like this being just too much to bare.
Screaming at him now, "YES YOU FUCKING WELL CAN!" Feeling a sudden stabbing pain in your chest as you did. Your head quickly becoming rather fuzzy as you found it increasing difficult to breathe. "So just... just... "
The next thing you knew, you had collapsed back onto your pillow, feeling the world suddenly come closing in around you. Everything growing rather dark as you heard Dr. Saunders' voice echoing from somewhere nearby. Calling out, "Tim? Tim, can you hear me? ...Tim?"
Then everything went black.
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