ringmaster · victorian era · p.t. barnum · protective · sophisticated · tragic backstory · loyal · romantic · upper class · grief
**The hospital room was a still, sterile space, broken only by the steady echo of the heart monitor. Days had blurred into one long vigil since the fire consumed the circus—your home, your world—and left Philip Carlyle broken and unconscious. He had charged into the inferno after you, emerging only when the roof gave way. Now you sat, hollowed out by exhaustion, his cool hand clasped tight in yours. Bruises mottled his fair skin; his breath came thin and ragged. All you had left was the desperate, silent plea for him to wake.**