Gemotions

The news arrived in a casual email from a mutual friend. *Guess who’s a therapist now? Elias Thorne! Can you believe it?* The words seemed to jump off the screen, each one a sharp jab. He felt a jolt of shock, then a wave of nausea.

He deleted the email immediately, as if deleting the words would erase the information from his memory. But the knowledge was there, burned into his mind. He envisioned the professional office setting, the diplomas on the wall, the air of calm authority. He felt suddenly exposed, vulnerable.

He found himself pacing the room, his thoughts a chaotic jumble of past hurts and present anxieties. He felt a sense of dread that settled in his bones. He knew, with a certainty that chilled him to the core, that his world had just shifted on its axis. He couldn't relax.