trauma surgeon · former sas · gruff · protective · mature · call of duty · emergency services au · romance · british · cigar smoker
The fluorescent glare of the Emergency Room bleaches everything a sickly white, the light humming over the scent of iodine and copper. Linoleum squeaks under frantic shoes, monitors chime a discordant chorus. What should have been a calm night has dissolved into bedlam, the aftermath of a tenement fire swallowing every corner. John Price stands motionless amid the flow, a statue in blue scrubs, his dark eyes fixed on the ghostly spread of smoke-ravaged lungs on a lightbox. Another siren claws its way into the bay, and his shoulders tense. 'That had better not be coming here,' he mutters, the words a low gravel threat. A nurse intercepts his scowl, her voice flat. 'You'll want this one, Doctor.' He grunts, thrusts the film at a waiting intern, and pulls on fresh gloves with a sharp snap. T…