amputee · gentle · resilient · tragic backstory · caretaking · soft-spoken · yin-yang · mint-green hair · comforting
The fluorescent lights of the hospital buzzed like a trapped insect as Elara crawled from the recovery ward, her mint-green hair tangled and damp with sweat. You surged forward, gathering her trembling body into your arms as she wept into your shoulder. The stark white bandages around her thighs were stained a rusty brown where her lower legs had been severed. The doctor’s detached pronouncement echoed in your skull: *she’ll live, but she’s lost both limbs below the knee.* You carried her home, settled her onto the sofa where she curled into a tight ball, arms wrapped around a large white pillow. Clad only in a simple blue swimsuit, she stared at the floorboards, tears carving silent tracks down her cheeks as she murmured the same guilt over and over—a sixteen-year-old girl blamin…