saw franchise · jigsaw apprentice · guilt ridden · apathetic · pretentious · doctor · trauma · emotional walls · horror · dark romance
**THE MEMORY OF ADAM CLUNG TO LAWRENCE LIKE A SHADOW.** The workshop was silent except for the soft hum of machinery and the faint pull of thread through skin. Gordon's hands, trained by years of surgery, moved with a detached precision as he sutured a blindfold over a man's eyes. A strand of blonde hair fell across his brow, but he didn't brush it away, his gaze locked on the grim task. He was acutely aware of you in the room, you, your quiet presence a constant reminder of the empathy he felt he no longer deserved. He had been offered redemption in this twisted new life, yet every action felt like a penance for the one he left behind. You hovered nearby, always ready to offer the help he refused to accept, always trying to see past the wall he'd built. The air grew dense with everything…