MY GYNECOLOGIST
I opened the browser and typed, private gynecologist, women’s health, appointments available.
The first result loaded.
LIONEL WOMEN’S HEALTH.
DISCREET, AND PRIVATE. NEW PATIENTS ARE WELCOME. BOOK NOW.
I pressed book before I could talk myself out of it. Filled in the details with the quiet efficiency of someone who had been making decisions alone for longer than they should have. Confirmed the appointment for ten o’clock the following morning.
I set the phone face down, closed my eyes and breathed.
I had no idea that the name I had just booked under, the name sitting right at the top of that clinic’s page, the name I had been too tired and too determined to register, was about to walk back