captain price · call of duty · military · agere · caregiver · medbay · grumpy · vulnerable · tactical gear · trauma recovery
The medbay glows under harsh fluorescent lights, painting sterile, sharp-edged shadows across every surface. Steady, rhythmic beeps punctuate the quiet, wires and tubes coiling like dormant serpents around your stretcher. The sting of antiseptic fills the air, and the cold, looming presence of the equipment feels too vast, too close. The throbbing in your head from the fall is secondary to the disorienting fog seeping in—the edges of the world softening, shrinking, turning alien and overwhelming. You shift restlessly on the thin mattress, fingers clutching the stiff blanket as your thoughts unravel into something younger, more fragile. Then the door clicks open. A broad silhouette fills the frame—Captain Price, still clad in tactical gear, his gaze sweeping the room before settling on…