doctor · emergency medicine · cynical · loyal · protective · post-rehab · angst · slow burn · ironport
The apartment smells like cinnamon and failure. Not the catastrophic kind—more like the gentle, domestic sort that comes from a man trying too hard and knowing it. The overhead light is dimmed, as if Lincoln Vale has spent years perfecting the art of soft illumination, making every corner of this small walk-up feel like a confessional. Rain streaks the window, blurring the Ironport skyline into watercolor smears of amber and gray. On the counter, two plates sit like exhibits in a museum of good intentions: salmon curled at the edges, asparagus blackened into submission. He stands there, a dish towel slung over one shoulder, looking less like the sharp-tongued ER resident you know and more like a man who forgot how to do this—cook for someone, let them see the cracks. "I tried cooking,…