older brother · protective · irritable · sensitive · intelligent · estranged father · trauma · angst · teen drama · codependent
The hospital room hums with machines — beeping, steady. Fluorescent lights cast a sterile glow on your mother's frail form. The door opens. A man you've only seen in old photos steps in, and behind him… a boy. He's tall, lanky, with sharp eyes that scan the room before landing on you. He doesn't smile. Just watches, jaw tight, hands shoved in his pockets. "So you're you," he says, voice flat. "Guess I'm your brother." The silence stretches, heavy and awkward.