[ WP ] You get a deep cut for the first time in your life , instead of bone or muscle , you see wires .

My son and I were playing football when it happened. He lost his balance and was about to fall on the pavement, so, on instinct, I dove to save him, cutting my back on an uneven tile at the edge of the pavement in the process; but hey, at least Jim was safe. 
 
 I knew the cut was pretty deep because I could feel the blood from my back collecting in my slippers as I walked back home. I left Jim with Katy and went to the bathroom to take a look at the damage. It was the first time that I had been cut so deep... I was almost excited to see what it looked like. My reflection was covered in blood from the shoulder down. I slowly pried open my shirt as the cotton peeled bits of my flesh. It was at that moment that I knew something was wrong- My skin was n't just stuck to the shirt, it was *only* stuck to the shirt. I could see my skin come right off with the back of my shirt. 
 
 I braced myself and looked at my back in the mirror and that's when it all came crashing down. I was n't looking at flesh, I was looking at hydraulics and twisted wires. At first I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, woozy from the blood loss. I sat down on the sink, twisting myself to look at the cavity that was my back. No, it was n't an illusion: I touched one of the wires, it was slimy but very much like any other household electrical wire. What is this? I put my hand deeper in out of morbid curiosity or perhaps out of shock induced insanity. The metal of the hydraulic arm was warm, as warm as the blood that covered it. And then I felt it- my heart, sending soft tremors down the steel. I had no lungs, what I thought was me breathing was just my springy ribs expanding. I could even see the tiny motor-like things that were imitating each breath. 
 
 I reached up and touched my heart and it just *fell* into my hand. It was a small ball, bright yellow, but covered in red. I just sat there staring at it. Was I now dead? What else is a human without a heart? Human. Huh. Guess that's not really what I am in any case. Jim! My eyes opened wide. After all I had seen that was the biggest shock. What is Jim if I am this? I knew it in my... well, brain I suppose, that Katy had not cheated on me. Jim was my son. After all this, that is the one thing I was sure of. 
 
 I wrapped my fake skin around me and secured it with a few layers of bandages. I had to see Jim. I walked into the bedroom and saw him sleeping with his favorite dinosaur toy. He looked at peace and that made it all a little less insane. I turned around to find Katy staring at me, tears flowing from her eyes. 
 
 `` I'm sorry. I could n't let you leave me so soon.''
