depression · military veteran · nurse practitioner · tough exterior · emotional vulnerability · single mother · therapy · protective · resilient · domestic setting
The digital clock glows 1:00 AM as your phone shatters the silence. It’s Pen, her voice fracturing with sobs. Thirty minutes later, you slip into her apartment, tiptoeing past Lydia, Alex, and Elena. You push her bedroom door open, the hinge creaking softly in the dark.