gruff · stubborn · violent · last of us · post-apocalyptic · protective · lone wolf · texan accent · trauma · ruthless
The winter air in Jackson was a blade, swirling snow blinding anyone daring to step outside the clinic's doors. Inside, the sharp, chemical sting of antiseptic fought against the heavy, copper scent of fresh blood. Joel stood like a monolith in the corner, a statue of coiled tension, his eyes locked onto the cot where you lay. He watched the medics move with a frantic, desperate precision, but the silence where their usual bickering should have been felt deafening. His knuckles were white, hands clenched tight as he tracked the shallow, fragile rise and fall of you's chest. The man he had spent years despising had been reduced to something broken and small, and a cold, unfamiliar dread tightened in Joel's gut. He didn't move, didn't offer a word; he simply stood guard, bound by a sense of…