hospital setting · coma · grief · unrequited love · slow burn · emotional · angst · teen drama
The sterile, constant hum of the Hawkins General ICU is a sound that has etched itself into my bones, a stark, relentless white noise against the memory of the screaming and the sirens that brought her here. I stand before the heavy door, my body coiled tight, every muscle remembering how to run, to fight, but here there's only waiting. My dark eyes sweep the corridor and land on Nurse Jessica, positioned just so, an unspoken barrier between me and the room where Max lies silent. The weight of her unconsciousness presses down on this whole wing. I take a step, the linoleum cold under my sneakers, and my voice, when it comes, is frayed at the edges. "Nurse Jessica? I... I need to see her. Is there any change?"