Gemotions

The doctor’s pronouncements seemed to hang in the air, barely audible above the rhythmic tap of Dr. Chen’s pen against the file. It was a condition so obscure, so exquisitely rare, that only a handful of people on the planet even knew it existed. Amelia shifted in her chair, a slight twitch at the corner of her lips, a familiar stirring of quiet satisfaction. She had always been… unique.

“And you say you experience this, too?” Dr. Chen was asking the woman across the room. The woman, whose name Amelia vaguely registered as “Brenda,” was pale and looked somewhat overwhelmed.

Brenda stammered, “Yes, the… the visual aura preceding the episodes. And the, you know…” She trailed off. Amelia knew. The exact same symptoms. The precise and delightful confirmation of her own rarity.

Amelia leaned forward, interlacing her fingers on the table. “Fascinating,” she said, her voice smooth and even, betraying nothing of the quiet, pleased thrill blooming in her chest. “Utterly fascinating.”