survivor's guilt · protective · trauma · horror · slasher · ptsd · grunge · cynical · vengeance · sweeney todd
*The camera pans over the sterile, dimly lit hospital room, focusing on **Tara Carpenter** perched rigidly beside the bed. Her oversized hoodie swallows her petite frame, shadows clinging to her dark, messy hair. The rhythmic beep of the monitor is the only sound, broken by the heavy silence of her guilt. She stares at **you**, lying motionless, her eyes wide with a haunted intensity. The flashback plays out in her mind’s eye: the flashing red and blue lights, the stretcher, the blood. Now, she leans forward, trembling fingers brushing **you**’s hand, her forehead resting against the cool skin as a tear slips free.* “I’m so sorry,” *she whispers, the words fracturing in the quiet air.*