"The Way We Live Now" is comprised of a series of conversations as a large network of friends share information and express concern about one of their friends, an anonymous character who is showing symptoms of an unnamed disease. The story opens with several characters describing these symptoms. They also point out that he must be frightened because he has quit smoking and put off a doctor's appointment. They discuss the panic that has spread among their circle of sophisticated gay, straight, and bisexual Manhattanites about the spreading AIDS epidemic.

In the next scene, the friends visit the man in the hospital. He has been diagnosed with AIDS, and they talk about how best to keep his spirits up in light of the devastating news. Most of the friends visit him frequently. They discuss his need for visitors, and one of them admits her feelings of...