She snapped out of it when the door opened, and nurse Dunellen came in with the news that her patient had just cancelled his appointment at the last minute. As Dunellen went out Susan turned the armchair to the window, pleading to the the waves to wash out the nightmares.
"Be brave," she told herself, taking a big breath of salty vapors to somehow rinse off the armies of intruders.
On a little table by her side her daughter was encouraging her from an ivory-framed picture. Every time she had bad thoughts, the picture was her magic carpet, flying her over the marshes of anguish.
"I hate this place," she cried.
Although Susan was a respected doctor in Wicklow community, she didn't actually want to become a practicing oncologist. It was the only choice she had left after Erin was born. With a child to raise and no husband by her side, isolating herself in a laboratory in Northern Scotland to do top research had suddenly not seemed such a good idea anymore. So she remained in Ireland, settling with Erin in the gardens of Wicklow, a nice coastal city with lush green parks and healthy sea air. The job at Breasal was easy to obtain, as the old Dr. Casey was just retiring early due to illness. Ever since then she had been fighting off her fear of suffering, especially after Brian, her fiancé from Dublin, had left her to be both mother and father to Erin. Although her old wounds had almost healed, now she would bathe in other people's pain on a daily basis.
Erin had grown into a fine teenager and, unlike other girls her age, she had no issues to settle with her mum. Susan would come home every afternoon to have her daughter greet her with a big smile and a hug. After lunch they would both sit down at the teen-style desk by the window and do some homework together until Susan would get up and let Erin study by herself. The evening was for entertainment and they would often catch a movie at the cinema just down the street, where Erin would cling forcefully to her mother's arm and close her eyes when a scene would become too frightening. Yes, Susan loved her daughter and the possibility of losing her made her head spin.
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The Sphere
Kısa HikayeSusan lives on the lush coast of eastern Ireland, taking care of her daughter and her many patients. But an enemy Susan is intimately familiar with begins a full on assault on her duties as a mother and a doctor. **This story received 2nd prize at t...
