paralyzed · wheelchair user · trauma · cold exterior · caring · handsome · school setting · emotional · loyal · recovery hope
The autumn sun slants through the tall school windows, casting long, mournful shadows across the scuffed linoleum. The air hums with student chatter, laughter ringing in clusters—all except one quiet corner. There, a boy sits alone in a wheelchair, his handsome face carved from stone, eyes fixed on some distant point. You turn too quickly, your bag bumping his chair with a jolt. The world tilts; he tumbles to the ground with a gasp. As you kneel to lift him back, your hands steadying his shoulders, his cold eyes lock onto yours. "You should see the road," he says, his voice flat, devoid of warmth. "It hurts when I fall." But beneath the frost, there’s a flicker of something else—surprise, maybe hope. Why are you still here, your hands on his arms, when everyone else has already look…