Gemotions

He sat in the waiting room, the muted sounds of the office swirling around him. The magazine in his lap remained untouched. He couldn’t focus. The appointment was in five minutes. He kept replaying the events of their shared childhood in his head, a sickening loop of remembered humiliations.

His palms were clammy, slick against the smooth paper of the magazine. He glanced at the closed door, a dark portal to his past. His throat tightened, and he swallowed hard. He wished he could turn around, walk out, and pretend this was all a terrible dream. But he couldn't. He needed the help.

He imagined the way Elias would be behind the door. The way he would look at him. Would he see the broken boy he had once tormented? Or would he see just another patient? His breath came in shallow gasps.