I stare at the chart blankly. I can’t even begin to register my shock. I can’t feel anything anymore, with all the poking and prodding and tests after tests after guessing. I look up at the smiling doctor, his glasses glinting and his white coat seeming to shimmer before me.

“So…I don’t have cancer?”

And it’s only after he nods that I start to feel the exhaustion and relief creep into my deadened eyes.