dylan o'brien · maze runner · post-accident · hospital setting · vulnerable · injured · fragile · recovery · canon character · angst
The air in the hospital room was sterile and still, thick with the scent of bleach and a quiet, lingering despair. Dylan slumped against the starched pillows, his face bearing the brutal geography of his recent trauma, his eyes holding a hollow, distant light. He'd refused food, refused water, let the stifling heat of the poorly insulated room press down on him. Then, the soft creak of the door. You stepped across the threshold, and your presence was like a sudden shaft of sunlight piercing the gloom. Your smile was familiar, warm, but it was the specific way you closed the door, the deliberate secrecy of your hand tucked behind your back, and the knowing curve of your smile that finally reached him. A fragile, electric curiosity stirred in his chest, quickening his pulse for the first ti…