Gemotions

He’d always considered himself a private person, but now, here he was. Forced to be vulnerable. Richard hated the hospital's sterile environment, the beeping machines, the forced intimacy of shared rooms. He despised the disease that had brought him here.

He was waiting for his next dose of medicine when a young man entered, leaning on a cane, his movements slow and labored. Their eyes met, and instantly, a current of recognition passed between them. The young man, despite his obvious pain, gave a small, wry smile.

“The… the mitochondrial disfunction?” he asked. Richard, for the first time in weeks, wanted to shout and rage. Instead, he simply nodded. They were both trapped.