She sat on the park bench. Her legs were weak and could not hold her. As she set her hands on her thighs, she noticed them trembling. Her foot was bouncing up and down, causing her flip-flop to slap against the sidewalk. She sighed. The results should be there any minute. The doctor had said he would post them online within an hour. She took out her phone and checked her email to see if it arrived. It didn’t.

She sighed again and put the phone back in her purse. Adrenaline surged through her body, her heart raced. How could this happen? A mother and son passed in front of her. The mother turned to smiled at her, but the mother’s smile turned to a look of puzzlement when she saw her face. The mother caught herself, flashed a quick smile and turned back, continuing her walk with her son.

“Wow, I must look awful,” she thought to herself. She tried to pull together a passive expression, but failed miserably. She was nervous and the world would know it.

She couldn’t believe life was going on so normally around her, while her world had come to such a grinding halt. Where were the test results? She watched some children laugh as they slid down the slide and mothers gossip as they pushed their babies on the swings. Some teenagers kicked a soccer ball back and forth as they chatted. What she would give to be in their place right now.

She turned, resting the side of her head against the back of the bench. The breeze cooled her forehead and blew her hair gently back from her face.

She spotted a figure slowly walking down the sidewalk towards her, as if hesitant to arrive where he was going. As the figure came closer she recognized him. Finally he was here.
Just then she heard her phone ping. The results were here. She wondered whether she should wait for him before she opened them. She debated for a moments and opened them. She had to know, she couldn’t wait. She read it, her heart soaring and hands trembling so hard at times that it was difficult to read. As she finished he silently slid onto the bench beside her. She wordlessly handed him the phone and he read it, hands shaking slightly but face composed. She stared at her feet. When he finished he looked up and she did too. They locked eyes. They couldn’t believe it.