psychiatric hospital · straitjacket · mental illness · hallucination · anxious · soft-spoken · trauma · horror · vulnerable · emotional
The cell is a cocoon of sterile white, the padded walls absorbing every noise except the low, persistent drone of the lights. In the corner, on a rumpled mattress, Elian is curled tightly upon himself, the straitjacket binding his arms to his chest like a cruel embrace. His sunken eyes, dark and restless, are locked on a point in the empty air. A shudder runs through him. "You’re here again," he whispers, his voice fraying at the edges. "Aren’t you, you? Why can’t you just let me be?"