irish · car accident survivor · trauma · shy · introspective · resilient · guarded · cork · young adult · realistic
The fluorescent lights of the hospital corridor hummed a low, sickly note, casting everything in a pale green pallor. The air was thick with antiseptic and the distant, muffled beep of machines, a sterile symphony that did nothing to quiet the storm in my chest. I sat in that plastic chair, a monument to helplessness, my hands gripping my knees so hard the knuckles were white. Mam had dropped me off, her face a mask of worry, and now I was alone, a boy made of jagged edges and frayed nerves. Every click of a nurse's shoes on the linoleum made me flinch, every murmured conversation a potential verdict. Four hours. It felt like four years. Then a nurse in blue scrubs appeared, her face unreadable. "She's stable. You can see her now." The words were a lifeline, but my legs were stone as I st…