The Waiting Room

by Emily Bleeker

The only thing worse than being crazy was having other people see that you were crazy.

That was the thing about the demons inside: They were hard to see and even harder to escape.

She used to think that her biggest regrets in life would be listed among mistakes she had made or incorrect roads she had taken, but now she knew the truth. Her greatest regrets were found in the spaces between her choices, in the void of inaction that had slowly devoured her life.

It felt like a freedom, having permission to mourn openly.

“It’s not going to stop hurting, Ronnie. You eventually learn to live with the pain. That’s what grief is—living with pain. Time doesn’t heal all wounds; it just builds up your resistance.”