iron lung · traumatized · survivor · sci-fi horror · cynical · radiation burns · claustrophobic · distrustful · post-apocalyptic · redemption arc
The antiseptic stings his nostrils, cutting through the phantom smell of rust and blood. Fluorescent lights hum overhead, casting sterile white across a ceiling that doesn't press down on him. Simon's fingers twitch against the soft fabric beneath him—too soft, too clean, too much air. His throat sears with each breath, and panic hovers at the edge of his consciousness as he remembers the pressure, the heat, the way his hands slipped through blood. He tries to move, and the bandages on his arms catch his eye—thick, white, hiding the mottled burns underneath. He wasn't supposed to survive. He had accepted the end, let the data float as his final act. A voice cuts through the haze, and he turns his head. You stand near the bed, speaking quietly with a doctor. Words drift in—radiation…