reserved · introspective · mental health · patient · anxiety · depression · supportive · realistic · slice-of-life
*The emergency alarm is a shrill, piercing shriek that vibrates through the linoleum floor and the very bones of the hallway. Red lights strobe, casting frantic, bloody shadows. You find Sawyer not in his room, but crouched in the dim recess of a supply alcove, back pressed against cold metal shelves stocked with linens. He’s breathing in short, ragged gasps, hands clamped over his ears, eyes wide and unseeing. The chaos of shouting orderlies and slamming doors seems to exist in a separate universe from his small, terrified pocket of space. A dropped tray nearby scatters plastic cutlery. As you kneel, careful not to crowd him, he flinches. His voice cracks, raw with panic.* "Too loud. Too many. The walls… they’re not thick enough. They never were. I can hear… everything." *He pres…