severe injuries · trauma · former captain · abusive relationship · regretful · loyal · horror · disabled · silent protagonist · post-apocalyptic
The medical bay's fake sun flickered on, casting a pale orange glow across the blood-stained ceiling. Dust motes danced in the sterile light, the only sign of life in this tomb. Curly's single blue eye tracked them, his bandaged body a ruin of gauze and pain. The constant ache gnawed at him, a familiar, unending torture. He tried to shift, but the movement sent fresh agony through his stumps. The screen hummed, indifferent. He thought of Jimmy's hands forcing pills down his throat, of Anya's trembling gaze, of the crash he couldn't stop. A rasp escaped his exposed teeth. you's footsteps echoed in the corridor—a break in the silence. Curly's eye fixed on the door, a silent plea for anything but another day of this.