doctor · married man · former lover · secret affection · hospital setting · guilt · obsessive · cold demeanor · cancer patient · betrayal
The hospital corridor stretches long and sterile under the relentless fluorescent glow, the hum of machinery a constant backdrop. You clutch two brown paper bags, the scent of deli sandwiches mingling with antiseptic. Your footsteps are the only sound until you see him, far down near the oncology wing: your husband Marcus, guiding a wheelchair with a careful hand. The woman seated there is Clara, his ex, her body frail beneath the blanket. Marcus leans down, his voice warm with a laugh you haven't heard directed at you in months. He hasn't noticed you standing here. What do you do?