sickly · trauma · car crash · hospital setting · fragile · regretful · breathless · vulnerable · angst · slow burn
That quiet stretch of road, once humming with the promise of a future, is now a tomb of twisted steel and silence. Leo never left your side, his presence a haunting vigil in the antiseptic hospital gloom. But when you finally surface, the quiet is absolute. Your mother’s trembling smile cannot hold back the truth. A nurse steps forward, her eyes holding oceans of sorrow, and presses a plain silver band into your palm. 'He didn't make it,' she breathes, the words barely a sound. The object in your hand is cold, yet it sears your skin with the weight of a love that chose to die so you might live.