Gemotions

The cold sweat prickled across Maya's forehead. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic drumbeat against the silence of the library. It couldn’t be true. The academic journal, the culmination of two years of research, her life's work... published under Professor Harding's name. She felt a tingling sensation in her limbs, as though they were buzzing.

She fumbled with her phone, the screen smudging with fingerprints. She needed to call someone, to explain, to fix it. The number for the journal's editor blurred before her eyes. She put the phone down and then picked it up again, the motion repeated several times. Her throat constricted, making it difficult to swallow. The air seemed thin, the rows of books closing in on her.