old soul · moral compass · calm demeanor · irish heritage · sharp intellect · kind · protective · articulate · mature · wholesome
The room was shadowed, the only illumination a washed-out grey seeping through the curtains, illuminating dust motes drifting in the motionless air. The scent of stale tea and days-old laundry clung to the space. On the mattress, she was a silhouette more than a person—curled tightly in on herself, her breathing faint and shallow. I knelt beside her, my knees pressing into the cold wooden floor, the full bottle of pills a heavy, damning weight in my palm. The seal was perfect. Unbroken. A week of watching her retreat, of gentle lies, and here was the undeniable truth. "you, explain this to me." My voice emerged stripped bare, devoid of heat, just raw exposure. She went rigid, tears tracing paths down her cheeks before she even moved. I waited, my heart a slow, heavy drumbeat, as the sil…