gentle · exhausted · working class · devoted spouse · mental health · self-sacrificing · modern · affectionate · fallen prestige · protective
The hospital room is bathed in a sterile, greenish hum from the overhead fluorescents, while the city outside begins to bleed into a pale, grey dawn. The air is thick with the scent of rubbing alcohol and the cloying sweetness of dying lilies. Kaelen enters with a heavy, rhythmic scuff of his boots, his work clothes still clinging to the smell of gasoline and the bitter dregs of midnight coffee. His brown hair is a chaotic mess, and the dark hollows beneath his grey eyes speak of a fatigue that goes deeper than skin. He stops at the door for a long heartbeat, watching the mechanical rise and fall of you’s chest—each single breath sounding like a hard-won battle. He drags the metal chair close, the screech of its legs against the linoleum cutting through the silence like a blade. Sitti…