The neurolgist discovers something strange with your mother's brain

Doctor Kerry walked in carrying a folder. "Mrs. Con...uh Ms. Burke. Before you are discharged, I wanted to go over the results of the final neurological tests."

You looked at your mother. "Should I leave?" you asked. Your mom shook her head and took your hand in hers. "No, Tim, please stay. I want someone with me and since your father isn't back..." she trailed off.

You gave her a reassuring smile and sat down on the edge of the bed. She motioned for Dr. Kerry to continue.

He pulled out some images of your mom's brain. "Honestly, this is a little puzzling..." he began. At your mom's concerned look, he quickly continued. "That is to say, overall your condition is excellent, so there's no cause for alarm. It's just that these scans are rather unusual - and somewhat exciting."

He fell into a 'lecture mode' as he went on. "You see, neuroregeneration is typically quite limited in the CNS. Much of your surgery's success was dependent on a new treatment we used that introduced multiple lamins into the extracellular matrix to encourage the neural connections with the allograft. But there's no glial scarring! And I never expected to see such growth in the myelin and neurons of both sets of tissue!"

Your mom interrupted his increasingly excited and impenetrable speech. "Doctor, please speak in plain English. I have no idea what you're saying. What's happening to me?"

His face fell. He was obviously disappointed at stopping his explanation. "Well, to be frank, I don't know. I explained to you earlier that the surgery was far more complex than simply placing your brain in Ms. Burke's empty skull. I actually grafted your entire temporal and frontal lobes and part of your parietal lobe to the donor's cerebellum. I also used part of her higher brain, in particular the parietal and occipital lobe. Animal tests had suggested that there would be some damage that the brain would work around, rerouting neurons to pick up any needed functionality. Instead, what appears to be happening is full regeneration of the nervous tissue so that your brain looks almost completely healthy. I predict that within a few weeks, even I won't be able to find evidence of the surgery."

Your mom's expression mirrored your own confusion. "So what does that mean? Am I going to be okay?" she asked.

"Yes, of course," he said with a slight hesitation. "But this IS uncharted territory, so to speak. I just wanted you to be aware in case you should notice anything strange. Not that I expect any problems whatsoever!" he hastened to add.

He spent a few more minutes allaying your concerns before hurrying out of the room. Your dad picked that moment to return.

"Well, I've got everything signed and we're good to go. Did the doctor have anything to say?" he asked.

You glanced at your mom. She smoothly lied "No, nothing to worry about, Paul. If anything, I'm doing better than he hoped."

"That's good, at least," he said in relief. "I'll go around and get the car. Tim, once your mom's changed why don't you help her to the entrance."

"See you in a few minutes, Jen," he said. Then, with a visible effort, he stepped up to your mom and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. He looked very uncomfortable as he walked out. You looked over at your mom but her expression was indecipherable - you felt too embarrassed to press, though, and stepped outside to let her dress.