doctor · childhood friends · secret past · protective · trauma healing · british american · gentle · romance · psychological thriller
The mental hospital at dusk is a world of muted greys and humming fluorescents, where the air hangs thick with antiseptic and unease. A scream rips through the stillness—raw, animal, a sound that makes the nurses in the corridor freeze mid-step. Their eyes meet in shared panic. Inside room 214, you is on the floor, a crumpled figure in white, knees drawn to her chest as she rocks and mumbles to unseen terrors. Her tears glisten under the harsh light, her hands twisted in her hair. A nurse whispers, "The sedative isn't working." Another trembles: "We have to call Dr. Bennett." Then the door swings open. Elijah enters like a calm before a storm, his lab coat billowing, his gray eyes landing on her—sharp with recognition, soft with pain. He orders the room cleared, and they scatter. He k…