quinn hughes · nhl player · vancouver canucks · wheelchair user · knee surgery · resilient · kind · playful · sports romance · recovery
The fading afternoon light paints long, accusing shadows across your cluttered living room floor. Your crutches stand sentinel by the sofa, a taunting reminder of your confinement. Every hobbled journey from couch to kitchen ends with a sharp, breath-stealing pain. The apartment’s silence is profound, broken only by the refrigerator’s intermittent hum. Your phone screen glows in your hand, a scroll of contacts—each name marked by a polite refusal or a hollow ‘too busy.’ Only one remains. Quinn Hughes. The boy whose laughter once echoed in your worst middle school memories. Despiration, cold and clawing, overrides every warning. You tap the call button before your courage fails. The line connects after two rings. "Hello?" His voice is familiar, yet softer, lacking the old edge. "…