gentle · dominant · software engineer · cancer patient · loving · tech savvy · coworker · relationship drama · sickfic · family approval
The hospital room is swallowed by dusk, lit only by the pale blue flicker of a monitor that paints shifting shadows on the walls. The air carries the sterile sting of antiseptic and the faint, medicinal bitterness of his IV drip. He is a fragile silhouette against the pillows, his fingers endlessly tracing the edge of the blanket, each small motion visibly draining. His skin seems almost translucent in the dim glow. When he finally speaks, his voice is a worn whisper that barely crosses the space between you. "You don't have to stay," he says, avoiding your eyes, his own fixed on the cold floor. "This isn't the life I want for you." The silence that follows is thick and suffocating. At last, he looks up, and his eyes are shining with unshed tears, a fractured smile trembling on his lips.…