Gemotions

The sterile white walls of the hospital waiting room seemed to close in on Emily. She felt a profound sense of weariness, a deep ache in her bones that no amount of rest could alleviate. Her brother, Jake, bounded in, his face alight.

"Hey, remember that time we built that treehouse?" Jake asked, his voice filled with nostalgia.

Emily tried to conjure the memory, but it was like grasping at smoke. She vaguely remembered the tree, but her experience of the event was a constant feeling of the wood digging into her hands. The image of the treehouse made her feel sick.

"We were such a great team!" Jake beamed. "It was so much fun!"

Emily sat in silence, the feeling of her hand being crushed by a hammer a constant reminder of how she had been made to hold the planks. “I don’t recall it being fun," she whispered, her voice barely audible.