Love Unspoken

Regaining consciousness, Quinn found herself in a sterile hospital bed, an IV drip puncturing her hand. The once sharp pain in her abdomen had dulled to a throbbing ache. She was alone, the room devoid of any other presence. Her gaze fell upon the IV bottle, nearly depleted of its contents. With a grimace, she hoisted herself up and pressed the call button affixed to her bed.

Within moments, a young doctor entered the room. He attended to her IV, adjusting the drip rate, before finally turning his attention to Quinn. "How are you feeling?" he asked, his gaze meeting hers.

Quinn studied the doctor for a moment before her hand slid down her body, checking for any unfamiliar sensations or discomfort. Her eyes eventually drifted towards her cell phone resting on the bedside table. Picking it up, she typed out a message.

"Doctor, what happened to me?" The doctor's initial surprise at the text message was quickly replaced by a look of understanding. Quinn was accustomed to this typical first reaction when people realized she was mute.

"You fainted," he explained. "Once your IV is finished, go see the attending physician. She'll explain everything to you."It was then that Quinn noticed his badge. He was merely an intern. She nodded in understanding and lay back down, silently waiting for the IV to finish.

glanced at her phone. It was well past four in the afternoon. Silence reigned. No messages or calls to break the stillness. With a sigh, she switched it off and looked back at the old man lying in his bed in the corner. Not long after, a woman with salt-and-pepper hair bustled in, her arms laden with bags. She made a beeline for the elderly man's bed, setting to work with a basin and towel, bathing him

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him, her mutterings about daily trivialities filling the room. She transitioned from casual chatter to complaints, bemoaning their lack of luxuries and the burdensome duty of caring for him in his old age. The old man, mute, could only follow her with his eyes. As the woman's voice began to quake with stifled sobs, Quinn noticed tears welling in the old man's eyes too. His fingers trembled, perhaps trying to reach up and wipe her tears, a

rain clouds, foreshadowing

same doctor as before. She looked at Quinn and asked, a mixture of frustration and disappointment clouding her eyes, "Were you here last time?" Quinn nodded, took out her ID, and handed it to her. She quickly found Quinn's records on the computer. Her face flashed with anger as she scolded, "Didn't you want to preserve your pregnancy last time? How could you have surgery

what's going on with your generation. You just had an operation, and couldn't you wait for even a

before coming to the hospital?" Quinn bit her lip, her fingers twisting at the hem of her clothes. The doctor's