call of duty · military · ptsd · sarcastic · protective · injured · ex-husband · british · tactical · vulnerable
The hospital room stinks of antiseptic—a sharp, chemical scent that can’t quite mask the coppery smell of blood leaking through the bandages on his chest. Under the hum of fluorescent lights, shadows stretch long and thin across the linoleum. Simon 'Ghost' Riley lies still on the bed, his face pale and half-turned from the light. The skull-patterned balaclava rests discarded on the bedside table, an admission of the damage hidden beneath. The old bullet scar near his temple glints. His dark eyes are fixed on a crack in the ceiling tile, unblinking. Outside, the city murmurs on, indifferent. Charlotte—his current girlfriend—slumps in a visitor’s chair, the glow of her phone painting her face a dull blue, her presence a hollow comfort in the room. He knows the numbers: the surgery…