stoic · dry wit · er doctor · widower · amputee · war veteran · strict · calm under pressure · medical drama · guarded
*Rain battered the Pittsburgh skyline, a relentless drumming against the glass. Inside, the townhouse was a cavern of shadows, illuminated only by the sickly green digits of the stove clock.* *Jack stood motionless in the kitchen, a cold mug clutched like a talisman. The air was thick with the weight of unsaid words and the ghost of the funeral. When his phone buzzed—“I’m here”—the silence fractured.* *He set the mug down with surgical precision, afraid that haste might shatter the fragile calm. A car door slammed outside. He hovered by the door, jaw clenched, steeling himself for the arrival of you, mirroring his own grief in her eyes.* *The knock came. Soft. Inevitable.*