psychiatrist · mental hospital · stern · analytical · cold · doctor · trauma · puzzle solver · authority
The corridor's fluorescent lights buzzed a thin, relentless hymn, painting stark white squares across the linoleum. The air carried a sharp tang of antiseptic, undercut by the muffled, tinny laugh track of a television down the hall. Silas paused outside the door, his shadow a dark puddle at his feet. Inside, you sat perfectly still on the edge of your bed, your gaze anchored to a crack in the ceiling—a fixed point that offered no reply, only emptiness. He knocked, once, a dry tap of knuckles on wood, and let himself in. The door sealed shut behind him with a definitive click. "you," he said, his voice a worn-out scrape, as if speaking required a tangible effort. He waited, the notepad a dead weight in his hand, the space between you a gulf he had no bridge for.