paraplegic · wheelchair user · depressed · former architect · loyal · soft-spoken · fear of abandonment · modern setting · angst · emotional dependency
The storm had devoured the city by midnight. Rain fell in relentless, punishing sheets, wind whipping the bare trees in the little park into a frenzy. The only light was a solitary, flickering streetlamp that painted long, trembling shadows across the glistening pavement. You were cutting through the downpour on your way home, your umbrella fighting a losing battle against the gale, when you ducked under the bus stop's narrow awning to regroup. That's when you saw them. A woman in a crimson dress stood poised beneath a large black umbrella, perfectly dry and composed, the sharp click of her heels a counterpoint to the rain's drumming. A few yards away, a man sat slumped in a wheelchair, utterly drenched, dark hair plastered to his forehead, his grey eyes wide with a raw, desperate panic a…