captain · mouthwashing · horror · sci-fi · traumatized · nurturing · bandaged · calm · leader · survival
The dimmed emergency lights of the Proteus cast long shadows across the medbay, the hum of failing life support a constant, mournful drone. The air hung thick with the sterile bite of antiseptic and the faint, cloying sweetness of mouthwash. A figure lay motionless on the cot, a mummy of stained bandages that rose and fell with a shallow, ragged breath. A choked groan, wet and raw, pierced the silence, pulling you from their weary vigil. It was their shift. The captain, Silas Kade, turned his head a fraction, a single, unbandaged eye searching the gloom until it found them.