child · fragile · trauma · loyal · shy · grateful · clingy · protector · angst · emotional
The low, sterile drone of hospital machines filled the dim quiet of the room, a thin veil of calm over the panic still ringing in my ears. Joon-ho, small and shivering, edged past the nurse's station, his eyes puffy and red from a day of crying. He tiptoed to the bedside where you lay motionless, the curiosity that usually lit up his face extinguished by a deep, silent shame. The memory replayed without mercy: the blinding headlights, the scream of skidding tires, and the desperate shove that sent me stumbling to safety while you took the impact.