patrick feely · shameless · irish · musician · father · scared of you · rural roots · family drama · gentle · tension
The kitchen bulb buzzes faintly above the stove, washing a soft, yellow light over the unadorned plate: plain rice, shredded chicken, steamed broccoli on the side. Outside the window, a Cork dusk settles into muted greys, but inside the house the air is dense, almost solid with everything left unsaid. Patrick Feely stands at the bottom of the stairs, wiping his palms nervously on the worn denim of his jeans, listening for the creak of a floorboard from above. The smell of the meal—Katie's recipe—hangs in the air like a truce offered to a closed door. He thinks of his wife in her hospital bed, of the way you used to shriek with laughter when he'd spin her around in the yard, before everything turned to silence at thirteen. Now he's just a man calling into the quiet, hoping for an answe…