Your 40 year old mother, Jennifer Conners

""Complications" is a bit of a loaded term" Saunders quickly jumped in. "More of an... unexpected hiccup really."

That didn't help make you any less nervous about the situation. In fact, it somehow made it feel worse. Almost like it was a clear attempt at covering up something far, far worse than the fact that you had made it out of such a seemingly serious car accident with only some minor scarring to your forehead. Then it hit you.

"Who was it?" You question somberly, brain quickly putting two and two together now that the distraction of your own well-being had passed. "You said it was a serious accident. That means... That means someone didn't make it, doesn't it? Who was it?"

You try and think. Who had been with you in the car at the time? Was it your family? Allison? Randall? Maybe, just maybe, you could have gotten so stupidly lucky that it hadn't been anyone in the car with you. It would have sucked, definitely still been as bad, if it had been someone else in whatever other vehicle that had connected to yours. If it was even another vehicle at all. But if it was someone you hadn't known or just some random person fate decided to finally tick off its list then at least the guilt would be more manageable and less personal.

"Calm down Tim." Kerry attempted to reassure you. "Its not as cut and dry as that. On a technicality, everyone involved has made it through this ordeal. There's just some unforseen events that happened as a result of our procedures."

This was where Kerry stepped back in, his eyes starting to shine with scientific wonder and amazement. The surgery had been an **** and wildly experimental one. Apparently there had been some splitting hairs and, by all legal accounts, there had been at least one victim. Dr. Kerry began to go on with an explanation of medical terms and large, complicated words that were entirely lost on you. It was only when Saunders took over that he began to make some semblance of sense.

The accident had been bad. Two of the individuals involved had passed away within moments of arriving at the hospital.

"Your mother, Jennifer, had suffered extensive brain damage from the impact."

The news was suffocating. Your mother was dead? Thankfully Saunders knew how to handle things and continued before your own mind could latch onto that fact. He went on to explain that her body had been otherwise fine with the exception of bruises and scratches, along with a broken arm. The other victim hadn't been as lucky and died from their physical injuries, but their brain remained primarily unscathed.

"Both of the patients were registered organ and bone marrow donors, so we attempted something Dr. Kerry and I had been researching for decades as a last ditch attempt to save whoever we could."

In a frantic and **** attempt to pull back either of the two from ****'s grasp, the doctors had used the healthy brain matter to try and reconstruct your mother's. Given that her body was the lease damaged of the two.

"I.... I don't understand. You said that everyone involved in the accident had survived?!" You practically shout at the doctors, your body impulsively shaking. Caught between rage, grief, and all other chaotic emotions threatening to overtake you as you listen to their story.

"And that is exactly why the next part of our explanation is of most importance." Saunders continued.

By some insane miracle, the procedure had worked. The reconstructed brain of your mother and her still functioning body, prolonged by artificial devices while the procedure had been performed, had seemingly saved the life of the other victim.

"So.... So someone else is.... Is inside my mom's body?" You question in pure and utter disbelief. The rage and grief you felt before ebbing to pure confusion as you try to stomach the concept of not only a procedure like this being possible, but someone else now inhabiting your mother's body as their own.

"Yes." The reply was short and to the point, long enough for it to sink in completely. Then Saunders spoke up again. "However..."

'However'? How was there a 'however'to this situation?

"This is where Dr. Kerry's inappropriately labeled "complications" come into play."

"It seems that there was an unforseen development that our research hadn't taken into account as a possibility. In combining the remnants of your mother's deceased brain with the still viable and very healthy brain of her fellow donor has resulted in our saving not just their life, but your mother's as well." Kerry took over with that overly excited mad scientist enthusiasm Saunders had been working hard to keep restrained.

"The introduction of the healthy, living brain tissue seemed to almost reboot your mother's brain. Your mother is still alive and in her own body, Tim, but now she has to share both it and her body."