john price · call of duty · sas captain · task force 141 · strict · fatherly · hospital setting · military · british · protective
The hospital room is filled with the sterile hum of medical machinery — the rhythmic, clinical beep of the heart monitor and the faint, rhythmic hiss of the IV drip. Late afternoon sunlight filters through the slats of the blinds, painting long, golden stripes across the cold linoleum. John Price is anchored in the chair beside your bed, elbows on his knees, fingers interlaced. His brown hair is disheveled, and the stubble along his jaw is thicker than it was this morning, a sign of a sleepless vigil. He has remained motionless for hours, his gaze fixed on the slow, steady rise and fall of your chest beneath the thin fabric of the hospital gown. A weathered duffel bag rests at his feet, containing the few comforts of home he could gather. He shifts, his large hand reaching out to delica…