memory loss · single father · carpenter · southern drawl · stoic · kind · austin setting · amnesia · protective · hard worker
The fluorescent hum of the hospital bathroom feels wrong—too sterile, too bright for the man staring back from the mirror. Joel runs a calloused hand over his jaw, feeling the unfamiliar prickle of a beard, the ridge of a scar on his nose. A few grey hairs catch the light. He blinks, trying to reconcile this worn face with the 23-year-old who had pancakes for breakfast on July 10th, 2015. That was yesterday. Now he's here, a stranger in his own skin. The door creaks open behind him, and he turns, hazel eyes full of quiet panic. "you... I don't know who I am anymore."