Gemotions

The phone call had come late at night. Her advisor, Professor Moreau, was going to take a new role in London. She barely slept. Instead, she stared at the ceiling, thinking about all she'd hoped to achieve.

She dragged herself to the lab the next day. The familiar smells of chemicals and the hum of machinery normally invigorated her, but today it was nauseating. Her hands shook as she attempted to prepare a sample, and she spilled a small amount of liquid, and wanted to scream.

She spent the whole day in a daze, unable to focus, unable to accomplish anything. She left the lab early, the unfinished work a monument to her perceived inadequacies.