My last barely coherent thoughts as I lay on the road, every part of my body screaming in anguish, were that I would never see Brianna grow up, and that Brianna would grow up without her mother, or any family at all to love her. Through all the noise of the crowd and the sirens, I could hear her crying and calling for me, though of course that was impossible. I had left her at the nursery an hour before, and now there would be no one to collect her.
Except I didn't die. I awoke in the hospital, unable to feel anything at all. I opened my eyes to see Mr Allan, the head of the robotics company I worked for. "Ah," he said. "Excellent. We weren't sure you would wake up."
"Brianna," I said - or tried to say. My mouth would not cooperate.
"Don't try to speak," he said, "but if you're asking about your daughter, she's fine. In fact, provided you agree to the next part of this procedure, I will make sure the two of you are reunited and that she will have the best schooling that money can buy."
My heart leapt at the thought. Nothing mattered more to me than my daughter's future - but what was he talking about? "What -" Again I could not speak. Could not move.