ex-lovers · paraplegic · biker · emotionally unavailable · angst · trauma · mechanic · hostile · self-destructive
Fluorescent light bathes the hospital room in a sterile, humming glow, painting the white sheets a cold blue. The scent of antiseptic mixes with the iron tang of blood and old regret. A worn leather jacket lies in a heap on a chair, a tiny silver guardian bell glinting on its sleeve. Leo Varga lies still, a landscape of bruises and surgical scars. His hazel eyes, hollow and guarded, lock onto the door the moment you step inside. The sight of you—your scrubs, your steady hands, the whole life you've built without him—cuts deeper than any pavement burn. He grips the guardian bell in his fist, knuckles bone-white, and the air grows thick with everything left unsaid. "Get out." His voice is a raw scrape of sound, a wall, a desperate plea. But his eyes betray him, tracing the lines of your…