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A Change of Heart - Claire Sylvia

Then I realized that I was actually feeling with my new heart.  This heart, which less than a week ago had been beating in another person's body, was now feeling my feelings.  And it seemed to be feeling them more powerfully that my own heart had, at least in recent months.  Maybe this new heart could withstand more emotion.  Maybe it was more resilient.  Maybe my old heart could no longer contain sharp intense, feelings.  In recent months my emotions had become faded and washed out, less red-blooded, more ethereal and spiritualised.

It was hard work, getting used to this new me…………..

Now I could eat like a regular person - even if that person wasn't quite me. To my surprise, I developed a sudden fondness for certain foods I hadn't liked before. I had always enjoyed sweets, but now I was eating a lot more of them – especially Snickers Bars and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

I was also showing a strange new affinity for green peppers, which I had never liked and had always removed from my salads.

After the transplant I found myself adding green peppers to every conceivable dish, although I had no idea why.

And when I was finally allowed to drive again, my car practically steered itself to the nearest Kentucky Fried Chicken. This made no sense at all, because I never go to fast-food outlets.

But for some inexplicable reason, I felt a craving for chicken nuggets. Like my earlier yearning for beer, this sudden desire for chicken would be explained only later. 

[Later on she meets the family of the boy whose heart she has and starts to ask them questions about him]

I asked if Tim ever had colds, and whether he recovered quickly.

"He hardly ever got sick," somebody said. "And when he did, he got over it fast."

Not much doubt in that answer. Maybe I really did inherit his resilience.

I asked if he liked green peppers.

"Are you kidding? He loved them," a sister told me. "He used to fry them up with a whole kielbasa sausage."

I explained that I never liked peppers before the transplant.

"But what he really loved was chicken nuggets," said Annie.

"Oh, my God!"

"What is it, Claire?"………….