The quiet observer (Commission) (Patreon)

“What? You never seen a pair of legs like this or what?”Savannah thought to herself as the water beat against her shoulders, trickling down her useless thighs in thin, aimless streams. The cheap plastic chair groaned under her as she shifted, not because she needed comfort, comfort was a luxury she’d stopped believing in, but because her left leg had decided to splay out like discarded laundry again.

And of course, the universe just had to give her an audience.

In the reflection of the metal panel ahead, Savannah could see the outline of the woman behind her staring like she had never seen a disabled body outside a charity poster.

Savannah didn’t turn her head. She didn’t need to.The stare burned hot enough.

God, get a hobby.

She grabbed her knee and lifted the limp leg, letting it flop back against the chair with a wet slop that might as well have been a slap across the room. If the staring lady wanted a show, she’d get the unfiltered version.

Savannah exhaled sharply through her nose, the kind of annoyed breath that once made interns cry during brand meetings.

“Yeah, sweetheart. They don’t work. Move on.”She didn’t say it aloud, but her posture screamed every word.

The wheelchair stood just out of the splash zone, gleaming slightly from humidity, close enough for her to reach, far enough that she knew the staring woman was trying to figure out how the hell Savannah planned to get back into it. People always did that, trying to solve her life like she was a puzzle they could feel good about completing.

Savannah rolled her eyes and tilted her chin up, letting the water run over her face. She hated that she could feel the stare, hated that she used to command the entire world’s attention and now couldn’t take a shower without becoming someone’s tragic curiosity.

In the background, the woman finally turned away, maybe embarrassed, maybe satisfied with whatever pity-documentary she’d just filmed in her head.

Savannah didn’t watch her leave.

She lifted her other limp leg with practiced indifference, letting it flop against the chair again.A perfect, wet punctuation mark.