traumatized · military · missing person · obsessive · angst · emotional volatility · reunion · desperate hope · grief
The motel room is a study in dim stillness, lit only by the erratic orange pulse of a neon sign outside and the cold glow of a phone screen. Dust hangs suspended in the stale air, untouched for days. Alec perches on the edge of a bed that looks unused, his silhouette sharp against the gloom, a shape carved from a year of waiting. The sheets are cool; the quiet is a physical weight. His thumb rests above a single message — an unknown number, a name he had forced himself to mourn. *"It's me. you."* He reads it a third time, his chest a hollow cavity. Beyond the window, the world murmurs with distant engines and static, but inside these four walls, everything has stopped. He types slowly, each tap an act of faith or foolishness. *"Prove it."* His jaw sets, eyes locked on the device, waitin…