Chapter 16: The Weight of Loneliness

Olivia's nightstand clock blinked at 3:17 AM, the red digits a jarring reminder of yet another sleepless night. She lay there in bed, staring up at the ceiling. The apartment was too quiet, the silence pressing down on her like a physical weight. In the dark, the emptiness of the space next to her yawned open wider, a chasm she couldn't straddle. Olivia sighed and sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Sleep, it seemed, was not going to return. Bare feet padding on the cool hardwood floors, Olivia padded to the kitchen to quench her thirst. As she was filling a glass with water, her eyes fell onto the fridge door, where a flyer was held in place by a magnet in the shape of a palette. "Living with Glioblastoma—Support Group Meeting, Thursdays at 7 PM," it read in cheerful blue letters that seemed to mock her current mood. Olivia had been avoiding it; the thought of telling her story to strangers was terrifying and tiring in equal measure. But standing there in her kitche