Gemotions

The email arrived late, a digital notification flashing across Thomas’s phone. He’d been staring at the screen for hours, the dim light of his apartment reflecting in his tired eyes. He dragged a hand through his thinning hair, the action heavy and slow. This new message revealed it all: his records belonged to someone else.

The doctor's words from his last check-up echoed in his memory, and he thought of how he had dismissed them as nothing. "Do you feel any aches or pains?", "Are you managing okay?", "You look down today." Those questions now took on a sinister resonance. He felt the blood drain from his face as he stared at the unfamiliar diagnosis.

The world seemed to tilt on its axis. He felt a profound depletion, a hollowness that seemed to emanate from the very core of his being.