Emily slowly opened her eyes. It was the first time she had woken up from her coma in two years. Except now, things were not exactly the same as they used to be.
Two years prior, Emily and her father, Alan, were driving to the mall, when their car slid off the icy road and into a riverbank. The accident had mysteriously caused them to switch bodies, leaving Alan to assume his daughter’s identity, while his daughter lay in a coma.
Her vision cleared, slowly revealing her own face looking down at her.
Emily blinked a few times, trying to process the sight before her. It felt like she was looking in a mirror, except the face staring back at her was that of an 18-year-old woman rather than a 16-year-old girl. She reached up tentatively, tracing the lines on her face, the once familiar features now foreign to her touch.
"Emily, you're back," he said softly, reaching out to grasp her hand.
But she pulled away out of fear.
"Who are you?" she whispered, her voice barely more than a breath.
His face fell at her words, a flicker of hurt crossing his features before he masked it with a forced smile.
"It's me, Alan. Your dad," he replied, his voice cracking slightly.
Emily looked down at her own hand. It looked like her father’s hand.
“I don’t understand,” she croaked out, her eyes darting around the sterile hospital room as if seeking an escape from this nightmare.
“I know this must be hard to accept, but it’s me, Emily. Somehow, our bodies switched after the accident. I’ve been living your life since then. No one knows besides you and me.”
Just then, Emily’s mother, Julia, entered the room.
"Alan, you're awake," Julia gasped, rushing to her daughter's side and enveloping her in a tight embrace.
But Emily stiffened at the touch, her eyes widening in confusion.
She noticed her father in her body quickly adjust his mannerisms to look more feminine, tucking his hair back behind his ear.
“Hey, Mom?” Alan addressed Julia, his voice wavering slightly as he tried to maintain his daughter’s cadence, “I’m gonna go get some fresh air and stretch my legs for a bit. I'll be back soon, okay?"
Julia nodded absentmindedly, still holding her husband’s hand tightly.
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