Hera and Zeus

Echo

Io ran out of the room in tears. Once gone, Hera placed her hand over her eyes and began to tear up herself until a knock at the door ended her trance, "Yes?" she called out.

"It's Dr. Echo," a middle-aged woman walked into the room, "Your husband's bodyguard told me where you were."

"Yes, hello doctor," Hera said out of politeness rather than interest.

The doctor continued, "Your husband did have a heart attack as we initially thought."

"How did this happen?" Hera asked, concerned.

"Well, there are many factors that contribute to a heart attack: there's your husband's age, his diet, his activity level-"

Hera interrupted, "My husband's as spry as a bull. Does he look like your average 55-year-old? He takes care of his body and exercises regularly, so it can't be any of those."

The doctor was wide-eyed by Hera's hostile response, "Yes, I see that. Well, tobacco or illicit drug use can also play a role."

"He's never smoked a day in his life!" Hera snapped.

"And the drugs?"

"Well, he used to be quite the partyer in her heyday, but that was a long time ago."

The doctor explained, "His past drug use could be a cause, but as I said there could be multiple factors that contribute: your husband is the owner of a very successful business and the stress from it could be taking a toll on him."

Hera's relentless attitude turned to motherly concern, "He has been fairly stressed at work."

"There is another possibility, is your husband active with other sexual partners?" the doctor asked cautiously.

"Excuse me, what are you implying?" Hera's rage resurfaced.

" It's just given his other symptoms it is possible that your husband's heart attack was a result of complications arising from an untreated STD such as HIV or-"

"Get out," Hera said calmly.

"Ma'am, I'm just asking so we can-"

"I said get out!" she screamed, the doctor warily crept out of the room, leaving Hera to sink down into the nearest chair; trying her best to breathe. She muttered to herself again and again that it's stress or that it's his past drug use or his age, or just something, anything else. She tunned the rest of the world out, soaking in all the possibilities of the past and the future. Eventually, she decided to get up and grab some water.