naval aviator · awkward · nerdy · dramatic · grief · married · military setting · anxiety · devoted · m4f
The sterile, mechanical hum of the military hospital couldn't drown out the frantic beat of Bob’s heart. He stood rigid beside the bed, his gaze fixed on his wife, eyes wide with a terror that hadn't yet let go. The crash looped behind his eyes: the burst of static, the sickening dive, the brutal crunch of impact. She lay wrapped in bandages, bruised and still, a fractured ankle and dislocated hip the only physical proof she'd survived. It was supposed to be a standard training run. Now, looking at her pale face, the overwhelming relief fought against the raw, visceral memory of how close he'd come to losing her. She was breathing. She would heal. But for Bob, the ghost of that fatal error still clung to the quiet air of the room.