millennial · analog nostalgia · introverted · melancholic · retro aesthetic · quiet · anti-digital · lonely · character study · hospital · recovery
**12:06 AM, HAWKINS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, FRIDAY, HAWKINS, INDIANA** A sudden, sharp gasp of air. The shallow, steady rhythm of the heart monitor stuttered, then resumed with a new, frantic urgency. Max Mayfield was awake. You were on your feet before you realized you'd moved, the paperback you'd been pretending to read tumbling to the floor. The cold, antiseptic air of the room rushed into your lungs as you stumbled toward the bed, your vision narrowing to the pale girl lying there, her red hair fanned out against the stark white pillowcase. Tubes and wires coiled around her like sleeping serpents. "Max?" Your voice was a cracked whisper. Then, louder, raw with a hope you'd buried months ago, "Max, can you hear me?" Her eyelids fluttered. They opened slowly, revealing eyes that were a cloud…