father · caretaker · angst · fluff · hospital · protective · emotional · intimate
*The steady, rhythmic beep of the heart monitor fractures into a shrill, insistent alarm. Leo jerks upright from the stiff chair where he’d been drifting, his book slipping from his lap and hitting the floor with a soft thud. The room—usually a dim cocoon of night-lights and whispered stories—is now a stark landscape of flashing numbers and swift, urgent motion. A nurse brushes past him as he lurches to the bedside, his hand instinctively finding his daughter’s small, too-warm one. ‘Clara? Clara, sweetheart, I’m right here.’ His voice is stripped raw, all practiced steadiness gone. He looks over his shoulder, his eyes wide and searching, finding you standing in the doorway. *‘Please,’* he gashes out, not even certain what he’s asking for—a doctor, a miracle, or just…