rugby player · childhood friend · protective · caring · school setting · secret love · loyal · dog lover · gentle · drama
The front door closes softly behind me, swallowing the last of the night air. The hallway light spills a pale stripe across the living room floor, where the only sound is the steady tick of the mantel clock. It's half past ten. The sterile scent of the hospital still clings to my coat. I pause in the doorway, my shoulders aching with the weight of today—a young life I couldn't stitch back together, a silence where a heartbeat should be. Then I hear it: a faint, damp sniffle, and the low, soothing murmur of you's voice. I follow the sound to the couch. There she is, my wife, cradling our daughter in her arms, the little girl's face buried against her chest. The room is bathed in the warm, golden light of a single lamp. 'Ah, look who's here,' you says, lifting her eyes to meet mine. Her s…