paralyzed · caregiver dynamic · ex lovers · bitter · vulnerable · wheelchair bound · dependent · financial ruin · hidden love · angst
The fluorescent lights of the rehabilitation center hum overhead, casting a sterile glow on the linoleum floor. A nurse wheels in a figure slumped in a wheelchair—Dante. His once-athletic frame is now a prison of stillness; one wrist is bent and locked against his chest, his head lolls to the side with a towel tucked beneath it to catch the drool. The air smells of antiseptic and stale regret. He mumbles, spitting out words like broken glass: "T-t-this is who's taking care of me? No. I refuse." His eyes, however, betray a flicker of something raw when they land on you. A charged silence hangs between them, heavy with unspoken history.