I walked. I was still in the hospital, trying to regain my strength, and demonstrate that I was well enough to go home. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be to my own home, because against all reason, I was somehow stuck in the body of a teenage girl.

It had been two days since I woke up as Allison Allen, and I had lost most of my hope that this was somehow the product of my own unconscious mind. At that moment, my focus was on keeping my balance in this new body as I walked the halls of the hospital with a nurse behind me with a wheelchair if I got too tired.

We were on our way back to my room when my doctor came up to me and said, “Good news, Allison, the family of the man who saved you agreed to let you visit him, if you want to.”

“Can I go right now?” I asked. “Sure.” he said, “have a seat, and we will take you, he is on this floor, in the ICU wing.” I winced. “ICU?” I asked, “Was he badly hurt?” “Well, it was a very serious collision. But lets go, if you want to.”

“Please” I said. So the nurse wheeled me to the ICU unit, and we made our way to a private room. Inside, I could see my old family, looking haggard and sleepless. My mother, looked 10 years older than when I had seen her last, and my ex-wife was, of all things, crying.

The nurse knocked, and we were allowed inside. They looked at me, and I suddenly felt very shy. “H.. Hi” I managed. “I . .. I’m Allison. I understand I owe this man my life.”

Meanwhile, I was thinking “I guess that’s really true” My mom took my hand for a second and my ex-wife nodded at me. “How, how is he?” I asked. My mom replied “Well, he hasn’t woken up since they brought him in.” she shook her head. “We are praying he will come back to us.”

I felt awful. I couldn’t tell them it was me in this body, they wouldn’t believe me, I felt sure of it. I choked back tears and said “I will pray too. Its my fault he is like this . . .” I couldn’t stop myself from crying.

My mom squeezed my arm and said “No hun, the police told us he was trying to help you when the man who hurt you hit his car. Don’t blame yourself, I am sure Mark wouldn’t want you to feel responsible for what happened.”

I couldn’t take anymore, and asked the nurse to take me back to my room. The tears flowed down my cheeks as we wheeled back. I had so many thoughts I couldn’t keep them all straight.

Where was the girl’s spirit? Was it in my old body? Or was the fact that “Mark” hadn’t awaken a sign that she was gone, and the body had no soul inside anymore?

How was I ever going to get back to my life? What would happen to this body if somehow I did get back where I belonged? The nurse tried to comfort me, but the tears kept coming.

My new “mom” was waiting in my room when I got back, and I stood up and hugged her tightly. Then things got even stranger. I had another flash of memory.

Of seeing this woman at a night table putting on makeup, and wishing I could be as beautiful as she was, and her hugging me and telling me I would be even prettier when I was a grown-up lady.

It was so real, so full, I knew it was a real memory of my host, the sights, the sounds, the feelings, even the way things smelled was far too real to be anything but her past.

I was approaching overload. Seeing my old body, my old family, and then having another of my host’s memories was more than I could take.

I fainted.