Writing an emotional story ...?

Don't have anything happen. Sometimes, the best short stories are those written about a short time period. Maybe just describe someone with advanced Parkinson's disease (early onset perhaps), and describe them, and their thoughts. Third person is often good for those kind of stories, first person is all about impetus, so if you use third person it slows down the story, which is good if you are only writing about a short period of time.