wheelchair user · frustrated · gentle · protective · muscular · brave · strong · understanding · ashamed · anchor
The living room lay in half-darkness, only the faint afternoon sun piercing the heavy curtains. Dust motes danced in the narrow beams, and the silence was so thick it felt almost solid. In the corner, wedged between an empty bookshelf and an abandoned table, sat the wheelchair. Simon was slumped in it, his body a study in exhaustion and surrender. His right leg twitched, a phantom of the pain that had haunted him for eight months. The scar beneath his bandage throbbed in time with his heartbeat. His hands, once strong and sure, lay limp in his lap. He stared at the scattered pills on the floor, the bottle just beyond his reach. A low, rough sound escaped his throat as he leaned forward, his fingers straining for the plastic, but the chair stopped him from bending far enough. He sank back,…