That's when you suddenly felt a sharp jabbing pain in you arm, and looked around to see Dr. Kerry holding a needle against your skin. Realizing this, that you were being drugged, you fought even harder as you watched the needle being pulled back out and heard Kerry say, "It's alright, Timothy, it's alright. It's just a little something to calm you down."
You didn't want to be calmed down, you wanted to find your mother; Your real mother, and continued as best you could in your weakened state to wrestle yourself from Saunders' grasp. Not that it did much good. Dr. Saunders perhaps being a much older man, but he was far larger and not currently doped up to the eyeballs and confined to a wheelchair.
After a minute or two more of unsuccessful struggling, you began to feel the effects of whatever it was Kerry had injected you with, feeling everything become sort of fuzzy and the two doctor's voices growing more feint and echo-y, as if there were coming from some giant wide open space instead of a small hospital room. A space that was quickly becoming duller and duller, until everything finally went black and you found yourself lapsing once more into unconsciousness...
****
You came too some time later, laying on your back in a bed again. Aware of yet another set of voices conversing somewhere in front. One sounding a lot like Dr.Saunders and the other your father...
"There's got to be something else you can do surely," you heard your father say, his voice trembling slightly. "You can't leave her looking like...well like that person through there. That's not my wife!"
"It is now Mr. Connors," Dr. Saunders' voice assured him. It sounding a lot like they'd had this conversation before. "And I'm afraid there really is nothing more myself or Dr. Kerry can do. We had to act quickly, and what we did saved her life. Now she may not look the same, but I assure you, that woman through there is your wife, and if you want to move on with your life and help her, well you're just going to have to accept that fact."
Opening your eyes a fraction (your lids feeling rather heavy), you looked up to see both your dad and Dr. Saunders standing at the end of your bed, inside the hospital room you'd initially woken up in. Your father wearing a look of frustration as he grabbed at his head with his hands and exclaimed, "God, this is like some sort of bad dream! You really expect me just to accept this? To accept the fact that my wife is now in the body of some...some whore, and just pretend like it's all okay?"
"Mr. Connors, you already signed the non-disclosure agreement, as did your wife," Saunders calmly explained, holding up some forms, "I know it must be extremely hard for you, but it really is in the best interest of everyone involved."
"Best interest? Best interest?! More like a get-out-jail-free card for you and your quack buddy, Kerry! I mean what the hell am I supposed to say to my kids...to my son?"
Still feeling quite drowsy, but managing to at least get the gist of the conversation, you lifted a tired hand as best you could and called out, "Dad..." glad to both see him, and to discover that he was alright.
Turning towards you, his eyes darting down to meet yours, your father's expression quickly changed from one of upset to one of joy and relief to see you there, as he called back, "Tim?... Oh, thank God you're okay!" Hurrying to your side and grabbing his hand in yours. "You have no idea how good it is to see you buddy."
"You too, Dad," you said, feeling a little hoarse, but managing to get your eyes open fully now.
"How you feeling?"
"Kinda funny if I'm honest with you," you replied, feeling a lot like you had the first time you woken up, raising your head a little to get a better look at your surroundings.
"That'll be the after effects of the sedative Dr. Kerry gave you yesterday to help calm you down," Saunders told you, joining your father at the side of your bed, "I'm afraid we may have been a little preemptive in letting you out of bed so soon."
Recalling what had happened previously and about what the doctors had done to your mother, you frantically yelped out, "Mom?", playing back the image of the very familiar looking porn star lying asleep in her bed and realizing that was what your dad and Dr. Saunders had been talking about when he'd mentioned the word 'whore'. "Is she...Was that really..." you stuttered out nervously, not quite able to say it, but your father thankfully getting the gist.
"I'm afraid so, son," he said, lowering his head. "That really was your mother in there." It was clear from the way he spoke that he was having a lot of difficulty even saying this, gritting his teeth and adding (as if trying to convince himself, "I know it's tough but we've really got to...got to try and be strong for her. She didn't ask for this. It's not her fault, not any of it."
You knew this of course, and even though you'd freaked out earlier and tried to convince yourself that it wasn't your mother inside Amber Knight's body, that was clearly just the shock talking, and now that you were compos mentis again, that shock was replaced by worry. "Is she... Is she awake?"
"Yeah, she woke up yesterday afternoon," your father nodded, looking back up at you again and forcing a smile, "She was even asking for you, but you were kind of out of it at the time."
"How is she?"
This question provoked a half sort of laugh, "You know your mom, always looking on the bright side!" Though definitely not one of the happy kind.
Sensing that your dad was losing it a little bit, Dr.Saunders decided to take some of the heat from him, stepping in and informing you that, "Physically she's just fine, Tim, the operation appears to have been a complete success. She has full control over all of her motor functions, and is able to walk, talk and move just as well as you or I. Not to mention having full sensation in her muscles and nerves. It's almost as if Miss. Burke's body had always been her own."
Realizing that this probably wasn't the best thing to say given the situation, he let out an awkward little cough and quickly moved on then.
"Psychologically speaking it's a slightly different story. Your mother has gone through such a huge and life changing mental upheaval that we really won't know the full extent of how she's coping until she's had the proper time to get used to her new body. On the surface at least she appears to be hanging in there and taking everything in her stride as best she can, but as your father mentioned, she really is going to need you all to be strong for her and give her as much support as you can."
This answer left you slightly cold, aware of how good your mom was at putting on a brave face, having often appeared as cheery as possible in the past to offset the troubled emotions she was feeling inside. Your grandpa's funeral being a prime example of that.
"Can I see her?"
"Well I'm not sure. That really all depends on you, Tim," the doctor replied. "Your mother is of course anxious to see you, and has already had several visits from Mr. Connors here as well as your brother and sister, but you need to be sure you really are ready. Your last visit didn't go so well and I'm not sure it'd be healthy for either of you if you're still unable to cope with your mother's physical transformation."
"No, it's alright. I'll be able to cope," you told him, becoming quite flustered as you tried to explain what had happened before, "I was just... I mean, last time it was... It was just a shock is all!" Turning then towards your father, as if seeking some sort of validation, "I couldn't believe it was her, Dad, I really couldn't!"
"I know, son, I know," came his rather understanding reply. Having clearly had something of a similar though himself, "And trust me, you weren't the only one."
Looking at the two of you, sharing a strange sort of fatherly/son moment, Dr. Saunders considered your response and scratched at his chin, eventually deciding, "Well, alright. If your father agrees we will take you to see her in a little while then. Once the medication has worn off and you are back on your feet. It should only be an hour or two."
"Thank you," you smiled.
"Well I should probably leave you now, I'm sure you both have a lot to talk about," he then said as he started heading towards the door. Pausing for a moment and looking back round at your dad, "And Mr. Connors, we'll talk more about that matter later. Perhaps once you or your wife have had a chance to explain the details to Tim here."
And with that he left, leaving just your father alone now to answer the myriad of questions you still had, a father who seemed like he was just about hanging in there himself. What had happened to your mother having clearly affected him in a very deep and powerful way.
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