And Odd Visit

“I think something happened,” you say to your aunt as she stares at you over the cover of a Spider-Man comic from her hospital bed, “between us. You know, after the crash.”

It was a awkward drive to the hospital. After Emily picked out clothes for you, slim pickings from the wrecked bag, you tried to explain your theory to her, that the out-of-body experience you and Katy had shared somehow had mixed the two of you up. As if pieces of you and Katy were swapped.

Of course Emily stared at you as if you were crazy. And maybe you are. Had one of your friends just told you the same tale, you would certainly question their sanity. People are made of physical things! Neurones! Synapses! Proteins! You can’t just mystically trade elements of one person and put them in another.

Only, maybe you can.

“What do you mean?” Katy asks, putting the comic down, “and what happened to your face?”

“That’s part of it,” you say, “I did this to myself without even thinking. I didn’t know how to pluck eyebrows, but look at them! They look just like yours!”

“I got home from shopping today and I caught him wearing your pyjamas, wrapped in your robe,” Emily jumps in, “Alex, I don’t think it’s very cool to make up crazy stories just so you can go back into the closet.”

“Emily! I told you already! Something has happened between your mom and I!”

“To tell you the truth,” Aunt Katy starts, “I have noticed some weird things. And we did have that experience.”

“You mean that happened? He wasn’t lying?”

“Sweetheart, you need to be more trusting,” Aunt Katy says with a smile, “and yes. When the accident happened, there were a few moments that I can sort of remember looking down on the wreck, and there was this connection I felt with Alex…”

“Like a kind of joining!” You interject.

“Exactly,” she says, “it happened so quickly, it almost feels like it was a dream.”

“That’s the thing. I don’t think it was. I think that when we came back to our bodies, something got mixed up.”

“Like these,” Aunt Katy points to the stack of comic books on her night stand, “I gave a hospital volunteer some money to buy these for me at the gift shop. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve read a comic since Archie Andrew’s when I was young. Now I can’t get enough of the X-Men, Spider-man, Superman. That’s certainly new.”

“I was watching a show when Emily got home about a celebrity break-up,” you say, “something I would have never cared about. Now all I want to do is go online and see if there is more news!”

“I can’t believe this is really happening,” Emily says, defeated, flopping onto a visitor’s chair.

“Okay, so if something did happen, maybe it’s temporary,” your aunt says, “maybe it will switch back, or fade, or whatever.”

“Should we talk to someone? Like the doctor?”

“Absolutely not!” Katy snaps, “I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want to be taking antipsychotics the rest of my life! No, this is perfectly manageable. So what if I spend a little while enjoying comic books. So what if you spend some time trying on my clothes and having great eyebrows. We aren’t hurting anyone.”

“But what if it doesn’t fade?” You ask nervously.

“What’s the alternative? Would you rather be dead on the side of the road?”

“I guess not,” you say, heart a little sunken.

“Good,” Aunt Katy says with a finality in her tone, “now thank-you for the visit, but I want to finish this issue before the doctor comes in and does rounds. Same time tomorrow?”

“You got it, mom,” Emily says, “love you.”

“Love you too sweetie,” Katy replies, already reading.

You both leave the hospital room, uneasy with how that went. In silence you walk to the elevator. Then, as you hit the button to go down, you speak.

“I don’t get it,” you say to your cousin, “I’m freaking out about this thing. Why is she so calm? Why doesn’t she think it’s a big deal?”

Emily shakes her head. “There’s something you need to understand about my mom…”