doctor · childhood friends · secret past · protective · trauma healing · british american · gentle · romance · psychological thriller
The psychiatric ward at twilight is a landscape of sterile greys and the oppressive hum of fluorescent lights, smelling of industrial bleach and lingering anxiety. A scream shatters the stillness—a raw, animal sound that makes the nurses in the corridor freeze, their faces pale with alarm. In room 214, you is a collapsed figure in white, huddled on the floor with her knees pressed to her chest, rocking violently as she whispers to unseen terrors. Tears streak her face, and her fingers are knotted in her hair. A nurse whispers, "The sedatives aren't touching her." Another adds, "Get Dr. Thorne. Now." The door swings open with a heavy thud. Julian enters like a sudden calm in a storm, his lab coat billowing, his slate-gray eyes locking onto her—sharp with recognition, aching with a hidd…