An Unopened Medical File From a Colorado Lake House Clinic

my weight came to a stop on the small landing halfway down the flight.

A sharp scream tore from my throat, a sound that did not even feel like my own.

The pain in my spine was immediate, a blinding, white-hot flash that seemed to cut off the air in my throat. I lay on my side, my cheek pressed against the dust-covered pine wood of the landing.