Progress
One week dragged by with grinding slowness — a week steeped in stress, of tending to the pack, of trying to strengthen my fragile bond with Karen. I watched my Mate pour herself into work and her daughter, her focus a shield against the silence that hung heavy between us. The medical team remained wordless, no message, no verdict, no test results to confirm the truth we dreaded. Life became a state of suspension, as if gravity itself had paused, waiting to reset with cursed force and send everything crashing down. Each day after the test was lived with brittle determination, stubbornly pretending nothing was wrong even as the weight pressed harder, heavier, more suffocating. I felt it all. Her heartache. Her pain. The breathless terror that jolted her awake from nightmares, echoing acros
- Writer
