Aetiology

One morning, ten years ago, I awoke in a different body. The new body looked superficially like the old. But gone was the healthy 33 year-old, and in its place was a stiff, pale wretch, aching as if I'd been beaten by sticks in my sleep, delirious from fever, with lungs wheezing like a rusty harmonica. The next day I had to be driven to the ER because, in a rare moment of clarity between waves of delirium, I realized I couldn't drive; It was that bad.

After having my vitals checked, I found myself being hustled quickly into a cardio ICU ward! The diagnosis was influenza leading to pneumonia complicated by pericarditis.