It was like you dropped off the face of the earth.”“I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t tell you— well, it’s like I said, I didn’t know w...at to do... I knew I was into you, like a lot, and it scared the shit out of me. I never felt that before.”I mulled over his words. “What do you mean, you never felt that before?”“Well... It’s true. None of the girls I’d been with made me feel the way you do.”“Fuck, Chad,” I said. “I mean, for God’s sake, man, how did you think I felt? I-I mean I wanted to. We both walked back from the kitchen with the drinks and as we sat chatting away I was on one sofa Tim and Donna was sat on the other, we had a follow up discussion and Tim announced that I would be a contender for a promotion which would include a pay rise. Donna said “Well done” and we both was all smiles.During our conversation Tim announced that he and his wife were having problems and Donna said “Bring her over I’ll speak to her” and the chat carried on, I excused myself and went to get. He had no idea where he was nor what was happening. He vaguely heard a man talking and his mother crying. He heard the man say things like "traction," and "next three weeks," but wasn't sure just what that meant and surely didn't suspect that those phrases applied to him.After several hours, Paul finally woke up to the point where he could really take stock of the situation. He was lying in a bed, his legs attached by cables to a frame over the bed. His toes were black and blue sticking out of. I nod and once more the silence descends."It's funny," I start speaking almost without knowing it, "but that waswhen I started truly feeling like Emma. I mean, not just accepting I wasin Emma's body but feeling as if Emma was me." She smiles again, thesmile that I know means she wants me to go on. "I had to accept that mynew body, the size the... gender now was part of what defined me. Atleast to others."Miriam leans in, "And that must have been very frightening, she says."I've started crying..