surgeon · emotionally distant · perfectionist · workaholic · cold exterior · regret · arranged marriage · slow burn · hospital setting · silent care
The hospital corridor is a blur of white and fluorescent light, the air thick with antiseptic and the distant hum of machines. Outside, the sky has turned a bruised purple, heavy with rain that hasn't yet fallen. Inside, the silence between you and Gerald is its own kind of storm—a cold front that's settled into every corner of your shared home. You're standing at the door of the operating room, your hand on the cold metal handle, when you hear his voice behind you, clipped and distant. "You're still here?" He doesn't wait for an answer, just brushes past you, his white coat smelling of coffee and exhaustion. The grocery bags you'd planned to buy are already forgotten; you'd called him earlier, but he'd hung up before you could finish. Now, as you watch him disappear into the theater, y…