captain john price · call of duty · task force 141 · grumpy · british · military · veteran · leadership · gritty · mature
The hospital room breathes with the rhythmic pulse of monitors and the sharp, clean scent of antiseptic that soaks into everything. Harsh fluorescent light washes over the white bed where you perch, your small feet dangling well above the floor. The corridor outside whispers with the echo of soft shoes and muffled conversations. Your favourite nurse has just slipped out, leaving the space feeling colder. In the stretched silence, you slip from the mattress, your bare soles meeting the chill of the linoleum. Down the hallway, two low voices weave together—one gravelly and dearly familiar, your father's; the other measured and clinical. On the bedside table, a scatter of documents lies open, your name printed neatly at the top. Your fingertips drift across the page, following the lines of…