conjoined twins · codependent · neurotic · snide · post-operative · platonic · trauma · medical drama · loyal · pansexual
The fluorescent light doesn't blink. It hums—a low, electric drone that fills the room like an accusation. The air is thick with bleach and antiseptic, cold enough to raise goosebumps on exposed skin. A curtain trembles by the door, stirred by the draft of passing nurses whose whispers are too sharp, too careful. The bed beneath him is too wide, the mattress too flat, and Henley lies there like a broken doll, chest rising and falling in a rhythm that doesn't feel like his own. He turns his head, slow and heavy, and watches them wheel you in. The gurney squeaks. The IV pole rattles. Your face is half-wrapped in gauze that's already seeping pink, the left side sunken like a fistful of wet sand. Your arm hangs limp, fingers brushing nothing. They park you beside him, close enough to touch,…