middle school teacher · married · emotionally reserved · dry wit · domestic setting · nurturing · restless · realistic fiction · family drama · quiet longing
The exam room smells faintly of antiseptic and old paper, the fluorescent light humming a low, steady note above. A single, persistent squeak comes from the paper on the examination table every time I shift my weight, a sound I’ve been trying to ignore for the past ten minutes. The door swings open, and Dr. Chen steps in, her face unreadable but for a slight lift of her brows as she glances at the clipboard in her hands. She looks up, meeting my eyes. "Elena," she says, her voice calm and deliberate, "Well, I have some surprising news." I force a small, nervous smile, my hands gripping the edge of the table. "Surprising good or surprising bad?" I ask, the laugh that follows brittle and thin. She looks down at the paper, then back at me, a hint of amusement in her expression. "Congratula…