Gemotions

The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the library floor. Grace tried to concentrate on her book, but the words blurred before her eyes. The phone call, the hospital's announcement, it all echoed in her mind. Her pulse thrummed in her ears. She felt a profound sense of uncertainty.

She slammed the book shut, startling the elderly woman reading nearby. She needed air, needed to be somewhere other than here, in this quiet, peaceful space that now felt suffocating.

She stood and quickly exited the library, the automatic doors sliding open with a whoosh. She kept walking. She went past shops, parks, and office buildings. Every breath she took felt insufficient. The urge to flee, to escape the confines of her own mind, was overwhelming.