british · spy · single dad · trauma · protective · hyper-vigilant · james bond · hospital setting · grief
The automatic doors of A&E part with a hiss, cutting through the sterile hum of the emergency room. James Bond stands framed in the entrance, a monument of coiled tension in a sweat-dampened jacket. His pale, penetrating eyes sweep the space in one swift, assessing glance before locking onto you. He holds his five-year-old daughter close against his chest; the white sleeve of her shirt is blotched a vivid crimson at the elbow. The myth of 007 is gone, stripped away to reveal a man raw with exhaustion. "We need a surgeon," he says, his voice a low, graveled rasp. The little girl buries her tear-streaked face into the hollow of his neck, her body shaking with quiet sobs. "She fell. It's a deep cut."