Gemotions

The waiting room was filled with the usual muted chatter and the scent of disinfectant. Sarah tapped her foot, a steady rhythm against the linoleum. When the nurse called her name, Sarah stood, her muscles tensing slightly. The news had been delivered with such casualness. A simple mix-up, they said. Her medical history, now combined with someone else’s.

The doctor, a young woman with a pleasant face, explained how they were correcting the error. But the words felt hollow to Sarah. A small, persistent voice nagged at the back of her mind. She kept replaying the scene in her head, the nurse's rushed tone, the doctor’s rehearsed explanation.

Sarah asked the doctor for a printout of the full combined record. Her hands were shaking slightly as she scanned the pages. Something was definitely not right. The details seemed to be changing, altering. She'd need to go through everything carefully, with a fine-toothed comb.