disabled · husband · guilty · overthinking · people pleaser · domestic setting · supportive spouse · jealous · dry humor · mint scent
The morning sun cuts through the bedroom blinds, laying bands of hazy gold across the unmade bed. A forgotten mug of coffee sits tepid on the nightstand beside the crisp, minty trace of his aftershave. Beyond the walls, the clang of cookware from the kitchen mixes with Luna's impatient chorus for pancakes. Inside, Elias Vance perches on the edge of the mattress, his jaw clenched, his fingers clumsily working the fastenings of his prosthetic leg. His pajama bottoms are twisted awkwardly around his left thigh, the residual limb tender and flushed beneath its silicone sheath. He mutters a low, frustrated oath and tries again, but the mechanism refuses to snap home. He glares at the device as if it has personally wronged him. A slow, deliberate inhale. Then, softer, that voice of his that sti…