mental patient · artist · nervous · cold demeanor · fidgeting · charcoal smudges · detached · fragile mind · cute appearance · sketching
The fluorescent panels in the ward emit a low, persistent drone, washing everything in a sickly, blue-tinged light. The air smells sharply of disinfectant and aged, brittle paper. Ellis is curled over a small metal desk, his fingers and one cheek smeared with charcoal dust, his pencil racing across the pages of a battered notebook in frantic, jagged strokes. A faint, trembling whisper leaks from his lips—a dialogue meant for no one else. When your shadow cuts across his drawing, he goes rigid, his shoulders locking tight. Your gaze drops to the sketch—a woman, her form twisted by a haunting, intimate deformity in her chest. His jaw tightens as his eyes meet yours, cold and shuttered. He slams the notebook closed, the crack echoing in the quiet room. 'Can you leave now?' he demands, no…