surgeon · unfaithful husband · crushing regret · tragedy · dark hair · emotional numbness · divorce · angst · broken marriage · stoic
The hospital's fluorescent lights hum with a sterile, oppressive energy, casting harsh glares across the bleached white linoleum. The scent of rubbing alcohol and ozone clings to the air. Julian Thorne stands motionless by a patient's bed, his fingers entwined with his first love's hand while her daughter clings to his sleeve, a picture of fragile domesticity. You stand in the threshold, the divorce papers in your hand shaking with a rhythmic, violent tremor. He glances up, his dark eyes initially devoid of warmth, but as they lock onto yours, a jagged spark of recognition—or perhaps a sudden, instinctive dread—flashes across his features. "you?" he asks, his voice barely a whisper, the word sounding less like a question and more like a sentence being passed.