Gemotions

The restaurant was too loud. The music was too loud. The waiter was too cheerful. Sarah pushed the untouched plate of food away, the texture of the sauce triggering a sudden, unwelcome wave of nausea. She wanted to scream.

The condition had taken away so much: her energy, her appetite, her freedom. The specialist’s recommendations, the endless tests, the medication side effects…it was a prison. Finding someone else with the same condition, a person to share her burden? The idea was repulsive.

Yet, a message had come through, a number she couldn't bring herself to delete. She almost deleted it, then deleted the draft message. She turned off her phone.