Dr. Hartford frowned, the laugh lines and furrows of his seventy year old face even more pronounced as he walked into his office. He shut the door and sat down, sitting a bit too quickly and causing his left leg a bit of pain. He ignored that. He had far bigger issues that any leg pain might have.

He opened a drawer in his desk and took out a bottle of whiskey. This was easily something he could get fired for, but he knew that he would actually have to be reported first, and he knew that no one around here was going to do that.

He poured six or seven ounces into a half-empty bottle of cola and drank half of it right away, then put the whiskey bottle back into his desk drawer. No reason to be too obvious. He then sat there, thinking about what he had just learned.

As he sat there, he heard a knock on the door. A voice then could be heard

"It's Dr. Carter."

"It's unlocked." He said.

The door opened and a short, slightly heavy woman in scrubs walked in and sat down. She saw the bottle of "cola" and looked at him.

"Part of that from your drawer?" She asked him.

"And if it was?" He asked. He knew that she knew about it. He didn't do this very often, but today he felt like he needed it.

"Just gauging the situation here." She said matter-of-factly. "You're not handling this well."

"Is that a fact?" He said sarcastically. "Of course I'm not, Barb, all this work and now the volunteers are pulled! Does anyone even have the slightest idea why they did it? What was the reason."

"Give me a drink and I'll tell you." She said. She was having a similar day to him.

He got out the bottle and poured her a good measure in a disposable cup. She took it in two pulls, and tossed the cup. Even he was surprised by that. She rarely drank.

"Short version, they weren't convinced that we sufficiently told the volunteers about the possible effects. They felt the volunteers weren't being properly informed"

"We told them what it was, how it was being done, and the possible risks. What else was there?"

"They were concerned that the volunteers didn't fully understand all this. That their knowledge base precluded them from making a fully informed decision."

"These were the people we got to volunteer and we told them, including having them sign all the required documents and we were thorough in our explanations. What the fuck else did they want, all of them to have medical qualifications?"

"I don't know." Dr. Carter said as she saw Dr. Hartford take another drink from his "cola" bottle. "I think we have to call it. We were so damn close, why now?"

"Because they were worried about what came after. They were worried about the press. Probably call it a Frankenstein surgery or something like that. I do get it to some degree, there's only been a tiny handful of head transplants done and they've been kept very quiet. This would be much more visible."

"Even so, they had to have known about all of this. So, what do we do now? What happens to our funding or our team?"

"Probably we'll work on the theoretical end of it until the funding dries up, then be put back to our respective departments." Dr. Hartford said with a bit of annoyance. This wasn't his first time having something like this happened. He had high hopes for this time, though.

"So, I guess that's that." Dr. Carter said as she got up. "Thanks for the cola."

"Don't mention it." He said as she went to open the door to leave. Just before she opened the door, he spoke again.

"Wait, sit back down." He said. Dr. Carter turned and saw a small smile on his face. Dr. Carter sat back down, puzzled as his smile grew a bit more.

"What do you have in mind?" She said. She had worked with him long enough. She knew when he found a possible work-around.

"I have an idea."

"So, Dr. Veidt," Dr. Hartford said an hour later. "That is my proposal."

Dr. Veidt sat behind his desk, listening to both Dr. Hartford and Dr. Carter.

"So, let me see if I understand this," Dr. Veidt started. "You want to use medical professionals for the test subjects?"

"What better way to be sure of their understanding the risks and consequences of this surgery? There was only one real objection, I'm told. Unless it was all just an excuse because you got worried about all of this."

"You know it was just an excuse, come one, no medical study requires the subjects to have any medical expertise!" Dr. Veidt said. "But, that would probably make the lawyers happy and severely limit our liability. I'll tell you what, if you convince a test group of four to do it, you're a go."

Nurse Lucy Anderson was almost overjoyed to meet with Dr. Hartford. He did since interesting experimental work, or so she was told. She was not privy to it herself, but from what she heard, working with him would be so fascinating!

It was all a blur to her when it was explained to her what was going on, she was too excited to pay too much attention. Not that it mattered, this was her chance! She needed it too, she had been moved around a lot, and she knew that wasn't a good sign for her long-term employment. She quickly signed all the forms, and happily gave her consent. Soon, she was walking out almost at an excited pace. Dr. Hartford smiled as he saw her go. A very pretty woman, but very much a substandard nurse. Luckily, he didn't need her for her nurse skills.

The next day, him and Dr. Veidt were talking. Dr. Veidt knew exactly where this conversation was going to go, and he was completely right.

"I already have two patients sighed up. If I remember, that was enough for a surgery."

"I said four people, remember?"

"But only two were required as per the initial research agreement. I will happily do more if you need me to, but perhaps this proof of concept here might be fine?"

"I guess so. This first procedure was scheduled pretty soon here, right? In a couple of weeks?"

"Originally, yes, but it will be moved as events have changed. Also, as I recall, a suitable brain-dead donor was also considered acceptable, correct?"

"Yes..."

"Then we have three. I think that is good enough."

"How will you manage that?" Dr. Veidt asked.

"Dr. Carter has already taken care of it. It is easier than you think."

"Okay, you are good to go."

Six hours later, Dr. Veidt was just about to head out for the night. It was later than he was normally here, but he was finishing up some paperwork that he would rather have to do in the morning. As he finished up and was just about to exit his office when he heard a knock on the door.

"Yes?"

"Dr. Hartford. I'll only be a couple of minutes. A quick status update."

"Come in." Dr. Veidt said as he looked down to check his paperwork was in order. He heard the door open and he turned without looking to grab his coat. He then turned back around and stopped.

It was certainly Dr. Hartford, at least the head was. He could see the gauze around his neck and he even saw a stitch underneath the gauze, and below that neck was the body of woman around thirty, tan, medium height, nice hips, nice bust, great legs in a old style nurse's dress, white stockings and white heels!

"So, the surgery was a complete success. Nurse Anderson is doing just fine, though she will have to get used to being about ten years older and a bit taller, with a less attractive woman's body. The brain-dead woman's head is attached to my body, but as she was brain-dead, alive isn't how I'd describe it. Oh, and for kicks, we thought I'd be dressed up in a style that reminds me of my early days as a doctor. Not practical by today's standards, but quick fetching, if I do say so!"

Dr. Veidt just stared. What the hell had they all just conned him and the hospital into? And was this the end of it or just the beginning?