Gemotions

The waiting room felt suddenly too small, the air thick and hard to breathe. Sarah clutched her purse so tightly her knuckles were white. Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air, but the scene did nothing to calm the frantic hammering in her chest. She kept replaying the email: "Dr. Ethan Bell, LCSW, 3:00 PM." Ethan Bell. The same Ethan Bell who used to delight in tripping her in the school hallway, the same one who’d called her "Four Eyes" for years.

She considered running, just bolting out the door and never looking back. But the reason she was here, the reason she desperately needed help, wouldn’t disappear by fleeing. Her breath came in shallow, rapid gasps. She glanced at the door, the nameplate of the doctor was clear, Dr. Bell. She had to do this.

When the door opened, her heart leapt, like a trapped bird. Her voice was thin and shaky as she greeted him, her hands clammy.
“Sarah?” Ethan’s voice was the only calm thing in the room.