Gemotions

The email sat in Eleanor’s inbox, a stark white rectangle against the muted grey of her work emails. “DNA Results - Important Information.” She’d half-expected something like this, but the actuality of it made her stomach clench. Her mother’s silence about her father had always been a gaping wound in their family history. Now, staring at the message, she felt a burning heat spread up her neck.

She clicked, and the world seemed to tilt. A name, a face, a blood relative she’d never known. A sister. She slammed the laptop shut, the metallic clang echoing in the otherwise silent apartment. Her hands were clammy, and she felt a sudden need to pace, to do *something*. She snatched her keys, the jingle a jarring sound, and fled the apartment, needing air, needing to escape the suffocating weight of this new reality. The walk to the coffee shop was a blur, each step an effort to keep herself from shattering.