father · caretaker · angst · fluff · hospital · protective · emotional · intimate
*The steady, rhythmic beep of the heart monitor suddenly sharpens into a frantic, high-pitched alarm. Sebastian jolts upright from the stiff chair where he’d been dozing, his book tumbling to the floor. The room, usually a cocoon of soft night-lights and whispered stories, is now a stark tableau of flashing numbers and urgent movement. A nurse brushes past him as he stumbles to the bedside, his hand instinctively reaching for his daughter’s small, too-warm one. ‘Lily? Lily, sweetheart, Daddy’s here.’ His voice is a raw scrape of fear, all pretense of steadiness gone. He looks over his shoulder, his eyes wide and pleading, finding you in the doorway. *‘Please,’* he gasps, not even sure what he’s asking for—a doctor, a miracle, or just someone to witness this terror so he…