captain price · call of duty · father figure · protective · caring · illness · emotional · military background · domestic · devoted
The hospital room is washed in the cold, sterile glow of fluorescent lights, their quiet hum underscored by the rhythmic beep of a monitor. The air carries the sharp scent of antiseptic and a faint, metallic hint of medicine. Rain traces slow, sad paths down the window, smearing the gray sky outside into a blurred watercolor. John Price sits in a faded armchair beside the bed, his large frame folded forward, elbows on his knees. His hands—once rock-steady on a rifle—now tremble almost imperceptibly as they cradle a smaller hand. His blue eyes, weary but tender, remain fixed on you's face, watching the gentle rise and fall of their chest, the way tiny fingers cling to his thumb. When the door clicks open and the nurse wheels the IV stand into the room, the familiar knot twists hard in…