Gemotions

The doctor’s reassurances sounded distant, muffled. "The bone marrow biopsy… there's been an error." For weeks, she had endured the fear of leukemia, the fatigue, the constant ache in her bones. Now, it was all someone else's.

She sat in the waiting room, the fluorescent lights harsh on her face. A nurse called another patient’s name. This woman, too, would face the same fear she had just been released from. The thought made her feel… wrong.

She clutched her handbag tightly, her knuckles white. She wanted to scream. She wanted to run. She felt a tightness in her chest, a physical ache that wouldn’t go away.