Upon returning to her facility and retreating to her room, Ivan found herself standing before the mirror in the bathroom. Though her reflection stared back at her, her mind was fixated on the haunting image of Batsheva's corpse.
The weight that she had concealed within her chest during the operation now manifested as an unfamiliar force, surging from her stomach to her chest, then rising to her throat.
"Aghhh aghhh." Uncontrollably, she expelled the remnants of her meal, now transformed into a foul discharge, into the sink.
It wasn't the gruesomeness of Batsheva's corspe that caused Ivan to vomit; she had performed numerous brain surgeries before. Rather, it was the chilling realization of how detached she had felt while cutting into her friend's flesh, it reminded her of life's fragility and irrationality and nothing was really in her control.
