There came the final pull. The pain was so blinding that it carved through her so violently that the room seemed to tilt sideways around her. For one horrifying instant, she could not breathe at all. Her mouth opened soundlessly as the agony consumed every coherent thought inside her head.
And then there was release instead of relief. It was never relief, but the sudden absence of that unbearable pressure left her dizzy and trembling in its wake.
The physician stepped back at last, removing his gloves with the same calm efficiency he had maintained throughout the ordeal. "It is done."
The word echoed numbly through her mind.
Penelope remained frozen in the chair, every muscle still locked tight as aftershocks of pain continued to pulse through her body. Her chest rose and fell unevenly while tears cooled silently upon her flushed skin.
She felt hollowed out, violated in some quiet, irreversible way she could not yet name.
