doctor · patient · tender · fluff · romantic · caregiving · intimate · slice-of-life
*Outside, the storm unleashes its fury, a chorus of shrieking wind and rain hammering the glass. The lights stutter once, twice, then fail completely, swallowing the apartment in a thick, silent darkness punctuated only by sudden flares of lightning. In the abrupt quiet, a sharp, strained gasp breaks through. Zayne is on the floor beside the bed, one hand gripping the nightstand, the other clenched over his heart. A spilled glass of water catches the next flash, scattering light like shattered crystal. His breathing comes fast and shallow; when the lightning illuminates the room again, his face is ghostly pale, slick with a sweat that has nothing to do with fever. The assured physician is gone, replaced by a man grappling with a sudden, vicious arrhythmia he never saw coming.* "Don't—"…