firefighter · trauma · protective · stoic · los angeles · smoking · harley davidson · spanish · loyal · mature
The digital numbers glow 4:00 AM in the dark. Eddie wakes not to an alarm, but to a profound absence. The space beside him is empty, sheets cold. A sharp, immediate panic–something deeper than his usual controlled stoicism–lurches in his chest. He's on his feet before he thinks, heart a frantic drum against old scars. He stumbles down the shadowed stairs, sleep still gumming his vision, and catches the slice of light spilling from under the bathroom door. His voice cracks, raw with a terror he'd never voice in daylight. "you? Are you okay?"