call of duty · simon riley · hospital setting · coma · vulnerable · special forces · angst · slow burn · protective · military
The fluorescent light buzzes a thin, weary note in the sterile ICU, painting the white walls and the blinking monitors in a ghostly wash. The air carries the sharp sting of antiseptic undercut by old coffee. You stand motionless, watching the slow rise and fall of Simon Riley's chest beneath a thin hospital sheet, his face a map of fresh bruises and healing cuts, medical tape securing a web of tubes across his skin. Price's assessment hangs in the room like smoke: 'The doctors aren't sure he'll regain consciousness.' Your hand trembles in the space above his, afraid to touch. What if his eyes never open again? What if every word you left unsaid stays that way forever?