This choice: Your mother, Jennifer Connors. • Go Back...Chapter #5Your mother, Jennifer Connors. by: Wassel   "Oh, thank God! He's awake!" you heard your dad's voice then say. Appearing over your bed a second later, looking incredibly relieved. Though at the same time, kind of sad. His eyes becoming quite teary.
Looking at both him and the doctor as they helped you to sit up ever so slightly, you asked, "Am... Am I in hospital?" The sterile white walls and the pale green gown you were currently wearing indicating as much.
"Yes, Tim, that's right," Kerry replied, his voice calm and soothing. "You're in hospital. 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 occured 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 his calm and collected bedside manner. "You suffered serious trauma in the accident, Tim. Your internal organs were badly damaged, so we had to keep you in a drug induced coma for a while. Thankfully you're all fixed up now."
Jesus, you thought to yourself, this being an utterly surreal thing to hear. Glad of course that you were okay (or at least assumed you were, not really able to feel too much), but still, serious trauma and badly damaged internal organs wasn't something you ever really wanted to hear come out of a doctor's mouth. Especially not in relation to you.
Continuing on, his smile dropping slightly, he then hit you with a bit of a bombshell. "But you should know, you have been unconscious for well over a month."
"A month?!" 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."
"That's really good news, buddy," your father then piped in, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder, while you were still reeling from the revelation that you'd been in hospital for more than a month. It not really seeming possible truth be told. How could you have missed so much time? Hell, 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 him?" as little bits and pieces of information gradually came back. "I... I remember something about his brain..."
Once again, Dr. Kerry's bedside manner dropped,and he looked to your father for help. "Ehm, perhaps you would like to field this one. It might be better coming from you." Telling them then, "I'll uh, I'll just be outside." before scampering quickly out the door.
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', not to mention the fact that you suddenly realized, your mother wasn't anywhere to be seen.
Questioning your dad about this after he was gone, you asked, "What does he mean 'coming from you'?" It being obvious that he knew something you didn't. "What's happened? Is David alright? Where's Mom?"
"He's... He's fine," your father replied, looking incredibly uneasy now. His hand tightening it's grip on your shoulder. "Only, not everyone came out of the accident unscathed..."
Not everyone...? "Mom?!"
"I'm so sorry, son, but she never made it. The impact of the crash caused an aneurysm. She was brain dead before we even made it to the hospital."
"Oh my God... No. No she can't..."
"There was nothing the doctors could do for her. But they could for David. He was very badly hurt. In fact, technically he was dead. If it hadn't been for Doctor Kerry and Doctor Saunders and what they did, well he'd no longer be with us now."
What they did?! ...What the hell did that mean?
"You see, they used this brand new medical procedure. 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. That was where your mother came in. He needed a donor urgently or he too would have died, and apart from the damage to her brain, the rest of her body was still in perfect working order."
This was of course when it came - the validation that what you had assumed was little more than a dream, had actually been true... "Are... are you saying that they put part of David's brain into Mom's body?"
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," your father agreed, nodding his head. "And I wish there had been some other way. But there wasn't. Time was running out and I know that in her heart, its what your mother would have wanted. To save David's life. Even if it meant..."
"It meant what?" you hastily interrupted, realizing there was more.
"It meant that we would all have to pretend that David really is your mother."
"Wuh...wuh-what?"
"It was part of the arrangement. We all had to sign an agreement to keep it a secret, and to not reveal what went on during the procedure. Otherwise the doctors would lose their jobs and David would be hounded by the media and labeled a freak. We couldn't let that happen."
"Jesus Christ. But that... that's..."
"I know, it's not fair. On any of us. But that's the way it has to be. That's the way its been for the last month. As far as the world is concerned David is dead. We uh... we even held a funeral for him two weeks ago."
If hearing that your 14 year old brother was now suddenly inside your mother's body had been 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, I know, but you have to understand we had very little in the way of options here. And besides, we didn't know how long you'd be in the coma."
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 mother was dead and your little brother's entire life having seemingly been pulled out from under his feet, and you couldn't do a thing about any of it.
"So what, he's really living as Mom now? And you're all just pretending like she isn't really dead?"
"Only to others. We all know the truth, and yes, he's trying his best," your father said, tearing up ever so slightly, your reaction obviously bringing back emotions he himself had previously gone through. "We all 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... what we've all had to go through, he's doing remarkably well."
"Jesus." you sighed, hearing this making it seem so much more real. You'd been out of it for an entire month. Your brother and the rest of your family had been dealing with this for weeks. He'd already been living this life. Your mother's 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, starting to cry.
"I know, buddy, and I felt the exact same way." your dad comforted you, having always been the voice of reason. "But I've had time to accept this as the way things have to be now, and so to will you. I miss your mom like crazy, but she would have wanted her son to live, no matter the cost."
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 your mom.
"So... wuh-where is he?"
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