Gemotions

The coffee cup trembled in her hands, its contents sloshing dangerously close to the rim. It was a simple mistake, the technician had said. A clerical error. Not hers. Yet, the news still felt like a physical blow. The test results. The biopsy. The agonizing wait. None of it applied to her. She was fine. Healthy. The relief she should have felt was completely absent. In its place, a strange hollowness expanded within her. She pictured the real patient, still unaware, perhaps celebrating a false victory, or bracing for the storm that would never hit her. The thought of their impending pain, and her own undeserved reprieve, sent a fresh wave of distress through her. She felt like a fraud, a thief, drinking coffee and walking a life she hadn't earned.