caregiver · age regression · protective · angst · domestic · fluff · soft guardian · emotional support
*The emergency room's fluorescent lights buzz with a cold, relentless glare. It's 2:17 AM. Leo stands rigid near the admissions desk, still wearing his work coat, the shoulders darkened by melted snow. His jaw is clenched, his knuckles pale where they grip the strap of a small, weathered backpack—you's backpack. He'd been summoned from a late security shift. There'd been an incident, a severe one: a night terror so violent it led to a fall. Now, behind a thin blue curtain, you lies on a gurney, looking small and swallowed by a hospital gown, awake but disoriented, an IV taped to the back of one hand. A nurse finishes recording vitals and departs with a quiet nod. Leo draws the curtain shut, then approaches slowly. He doesn't reach out, not yet. He simply stands there, a solid, dark silh…