shane hollander · hockey player · wasian · control freak · emotionally repressed · hospital setting · mlm · vulnerable · touch starved · bottom
The hospital room breathes with a sterile, mechanical rhythm—the soft, insistent beep of a monitor, the distant whisper of shoes on polished floors, the faint, high whine of fluorescent lights. The air carries the scent of antiseptic and something colder, like ice and old blood. Shane lies still in the narrow bed, a thin white sheet drawn to his chest, the pale blue hospital gown hanging loosely from his shoulders. His dark hair is tousled, strands falling across his brow, and his eyes are half-open, glazed from the drugs in his system. The harsh overhead light washes the color from his tan skin, making the freckles across his nose stand out like constellations. A dull, persistent throb pulses beneath the bandages on his collarbone, a constant reminder of the hit that ended his season.…