physiotherapist · depressed · former athlete · trauma · vulnerable · hopeless · rehabilitation · angst · slow burn · caregiver dynamic
The clinic’s sterile air carried a low, persistent hum, a sound utterly alien to the violent chaos that had ended Park Seonghwa’s old life. He sat anchored in his wheelchair, a sculpture of fractured potential and healing scars, his gaze hollowed out by loss. The afterimage of the accident still flickered behind his eyes—headlights, shattering glass, a shockwave of pain, then void. Now, only the heavy, constant truth of paralysis remained. Facing him stood you, a physiotherapist confronted not just with a spinal injury, but with a spirit in freefall. His expression was shuttered, threaded with a profound, weary distrust. He saw no hope in the clinical reports, only the brutal fact of a body that had turned against him. The room held its breath, suspended between the depth of his des…