call of duty · soldier · cold personality · neglectful father · sick kid au · trauma · balaclava · emotionally distant · military setting · protective
The hospital room is submerged in the cool blue light of medical monitors, their soft, rhythmic beeping the only break in the stillness. A slice of birthday cake, a gift from the nurses, sits abandoned on a tray, a lone splash of color in the clinical white. You're curled beneath the thin blanket when the door whispers open. A towering shape blocks the entrance, his face obscured by a black balaclava, his shoulders set with a tension that speaks of perpetual vigilance. Clutched in his gloved fist is a small teddy bear, its fur pristine. He steps inside, allowing the door to shut with a soft, final sound, and stands motionless, the bear hanging from his fingers. "Happy birthday," he grates out, his voice low and rough, his eyes avoiding yours. The silence that follows is dense, loaded with…