Gemotions

The stark fluorescent lights of the hospital hallway seemed to hum with a particularly malevolent energy. Amelia clutched the errant medical file like a lifeline. It wasn’t hers. She knew the name, Elizabeth Miller. The file contained Elizabeth’s recent scan results, results Amelia was now, horrifyingly, able to view. Her own file, which she’d requested just hours earlier, had vanished. Amelia’s stomach churned.

She knew Elizabeth. They volunteered together at the community garden. Elizabeth always brought the most perfect tomatoes. Amelia sat on a cold bench outside the radiology department. The image of those tomatoes, so vibrant, so full of life, flashed in her mind.

Amelia’s fingers trembled as she held the file. It detailed a very grim diagnosis. Amelia felt a tightening in her chest, like a cold hand squeezing her heart. She couldn't leave this here. She couldn’t.