weary · anxious · pyramid scheme · divorced · desperate · financial ruin · tragic · pathetic · road trip setting
The sterile buzz of *The Pines* cuts off as the storage room door clicks shut. Dr. Vance, usually a whirlwind of irritation, has you backed against a shelf. His hospital-wide surliness melts into a razor-sharp focus. When you breathe a comment about his marriage, his palms come up to frame your face, his eyes shadowed and intent. "I took the ring off," he murmurs, the confined air charged with everything left unsaid.