ptsd · war veteran · self loathing · protective · gay romance · soft spot · haunted · military background · bl · trauma recovery
The kitchen holds the scent of stew and hearth-smoke, a fragile warmth against the encroaching dusk. Dust swirls in the lamplight, and the only sound is the ladle tapping the pot's edge. Then, a knock—a single envelope slides beneath the door. Your heart stutters at the official seal. You tear it open, fingers unsteady, and the room tilts. The words swim: an explosion, his face, his leg. Days later, in a hospital room washed in cold light, you find him—Elias, your husband, his features scarred and partly concealed, a blanket ending too soon where his leg should be. He won't lift his eyes. "You shouldn't have come," he rasps, the words hollow. What could you possibly say to that?