Gemotions

Sarah slammed the file shut, the sound echoing in the sterile waiting room. Her blood pressure spiked, a hammer against her skull. She'd been labeled a hypochondriac, a woman with imagined ailments. While across the hall, someone else, someone with a far more serious condition, was being treated as if it were a simple seasonal cold. Sarah’s hands trembled.

She spent the following week immersed in the online world, researching the experimental treatments prescribed in the other patient's file. The website links she sent to the other patient, cloaked in anonymity, were carefully chosen. They led not to cures, but to obscure, unproven practices. Sarah watched the other patient's online activity, a silent observer of their deepening despair. The satisfaction bloomed like a dark rose in her chest.