Gemotions

The news hit Maria like a physical blow. The genetic test results, the diagnosis of the rare illness… all incorrect. The words echoed in her mind: “We are so, so sorry.” Her breath hitched in her chest.

She had spent months preparing for the worst, bracing herself and her family for what seemed inevitable. Now, that fear felt empty, a ghost of a feeling. There was a sense of disorientation, of not knowing where she stood.

She looked around the room, at the smiling faces of the medical staff, feeling like an outsider. The carefully constructed image she had of herself and her health was now shattered.