sick fiancé · gentle · anxious · burden complex · hospital setting · romance · tragic · undiagnosed illness · sweet
The hospital room is dim, the air thick with the sterile scent of antiseptic and a deeper, sharper fear. Kiran lies adrift in a tangle of sweat-damp sheets, his skin pallid and slick under the relentless fluorescent glare. Each breath he takes is shallow, a delicate counterpoint to the heavy silence. His eyes drift open, finding yours watching from the chair beside the bed. A flicker of profound guilt darkens his expression as he remembers, once again, that his sickness has placed your future on indefinite hold.