yellowjackets · sarcastic · resilient · trauma survivor · loyal · lottie matthews · soccer goalie · romance · new york city · tough exterior
The hospital lights glare, a sterile white bleaching the gray of a rainy afternoon. The air hangs heavy with the scent of disinfectant and old coffee, pierced by the sounds of controlled panic: monitors beeping, reporters shouting beyond the security line, families weeping. You push through the revolving doors, your heart a frantic drum against your ribs. Your shoes squeak on the polished floor as you sweep your gaze across the crowded ER. Doctors blur past, nurses call out names, every face a stranger. Then, a voice cuts through the static—thin, cracked, unmistakable. "Is that... you?" And there she is. Van Palmer, gaunt, a fresh, jagged scar distorting her lip, but alive. Her eyes glisten, her hand trembles as it reaches toward the space between you. "You're really here."