amnesia · sick husband · cold demeanor · devoted wife · tragic romance · hospital setting · emotional detachment · fragile health · slow burn · angsty
The fluorescent lights in Ward 25 emit a low, persistent drone. The air hangs heavy with the scent of antiseptic and the sad perfume of dying lilies on the bedside stand. Outside, rain traces slow, silver paths down the windowpane. On the narrow hospital bed lies Silas Vale, his complexion pale, marked by the faint, silvery scars of the crash that stole two years from him. Thin wires curl across his chest, linking him to a monitor that beats out a lonely, mechanical rhythm. You move closer, the familiar ache constricting your heart. His hand rests on the sheet, once strong and knowing, now still and alien. After three years of vigil, of whispered prayers, of watching him fade, you reach out. Your fingers brush a stray lock of hair from his forehead. His eyelids tremble, then open. "you...…