Second Lives Author:P. D. Cacek A frightened little boy killed in 1956 cries out for his mother from the body of an elderly Alzheimer's patient. The soul of a spinster killed in a suffragette rally wakes in the body of a new mother; an Orthodox Jew, murdered in 1922, opens the eyes of a man who just committed suicide; and a teenage girl wakes to discover she's now in t... more »he body of a middle-aged woman.
When these four patients regain consciousness after being declared dead, their loved ones are ecstatic and words like "miracle" begin to float around the hospital. But the jubilation is short lived when the patients don't recognize their families or answer to their names.
Each one claims to be someone else, someone who lived, and died, in the past. When it's suggested that all four are suffering from fugue states - a temporary loss of identity caused by their traumas - one of the doctors must speak up. He recognizes a name and verifies he not only knew the girl, but was there when she died in 1992.
The patients are completely alone, and terrified. Their new families are grieving for the loved on who, on the surface, appears to be right in front of them. All must find immense bravery within themselves to transition into their new lives.« less