Gemotions

The sterile white walls of the infusion center felt suffocating to Eleanor. She sat hunched in a chair, watching the saline drip into her arm. Across the room, a young man with a shaved head and a haunted look stared blankly at the television. He looked as if he was struggling with a mountain.

She walked over to him, and asked if he had a blanket. He said no, and stared at his hands. She went back to her chair, grabbed hers, and returned it to him, and put it gently on his lap.

He didn't say a word, but she saw a flicker of something, a slight softening in his expression.