Gemotions

The phone call had come at dinner, mid-bite of a tasteless chicken breast. Maria didn’t even bother to finish the meal. The voice on the other end, the doctor’s assistant, was apologetic, but the news was stark: the wrong results. The treatment she’d endured, the surgery she’d gone through – all for a condition she didn't have. She felt a numbness spread through her limbs, a slow paralysis.

She rose and mechanically cleared the table, the clatter of the dishes a dull percussion against the silence. There was a sense of inevitability that had settled over her, a feeling of being carried along by a current she could not control. She took a shower, the hot water offering no solace.