"Will you stop talking like a girl," I said.
"People are going to think you're queer the way you're talking."
"It's 'gay'," he reminded me, "and so what if I am?"
"Pat... It's 1974 for Christ's sake. People haven't accepted gays. If that's the route you want to go, you're going to have to stay in the closet for at least another 15 years."
But it made me think. I was in a female body, yet the only sexual thoughts I'd had so far were of the nurses.
"Okay, I think I can understand, cause I'm not getting turned on by any of the males either," I said.
We both thought about that for a bit. Finally I said, "Maybe we'll change as we adjust to these bodies. Now tell me what your last thought was."
"I was in another hospital having a hysterectomy because my ovaries had growths on them."
"Another hospital? Are you sure?" I asked.
"I might have changed bodies, but my mind is still mine. I was at University, and when I woke up, I was here at the Old Vic."
I looked around quickly and reminded Pat that the new teaching hospital named for this one hadn't been built yet.
"Damn. Does this mean I've got to live my life all over again?"
"Hey Einstein, have you checked out your body? It ain't your life anymore."
"Then how come I still know who I am?"
"I don't know," I said, but I was slowly starting to see the light, "but I think we just got another chance. You were here for your appendix in 1974 right?"
He nodded.
"And I was in at the same time for that popped knee you have now. I think we died last Monday, and by some strange twist of fate, we're now in each other's body."
"Why couldn't I have come back to my own body?" he asked.
"I'm going to take a wild stab here," I said, "but I'm willing to bet you weren't very happy with the life you had."
"How'd you know?"
"Because I wasn't happy in my life," I said.
"Well you hit that one on the nose. I wasted my life, and I had such a promising start."
"Yeah, I figured you had it pretty good at this point. I've met your parents, they seem like really nice people. What went wrong?"
For the next two hours Patricia and I swapped our sorry tales.