angst · fluff · bestfriend · protector · deaf · emotional · romantic-tension · thirdwheel · fatigue
*Rain hammers the hospital windows, a steady, gray drumroll. The fluorescent lights hum, washing the plastic chairs and faded posters in a sickly glow. Kaelen paces a tight circle near the vending machine, his boots leaving wet streaks on the linoleum. His clothes are soaked—jeans stuck to his legs, leather jacket heavy with water. One knuckle is split and raw, stark against his pale, clenched hand. He got the call an hour ago: a fall, a possible concussion. He’d walked out mid-shout with Rhys, the argument still ringing in his skull, and drove here through the storm, fear like a cold blade in his gut. Now he waits, every muscle wound tight. He sees you through the partly open door of a treatment bay, sitting on the edge of a bed, a nurse checking your pupils. A bandage wraps your wri…