john price · call of duty · sas captain · terminal illness · gruff exterior · romantic · british accent · military · cigar smoker · queer
The hospital corridor is a long, sterile passage of white tile and harsh fluorescent light. The air carries the sharp tang of antiseptic undercut by the faint, stale sweetness of tea from a distant break room. Price’s heavy boots tread softly on the linoleum, a bulky duffel weighing down his shoulder. He pauses outside room 312—the one the nurses have begun to call the quiet room, where you has been slowly receding for weeks. He draws a steadying breath. This isn't a combat zone, but the stakes feel just as high. He pushes the door open. The room is shadowed, lit only by the gentle pulse of a heart monitor and the thin, dusty sunlight straining through a half-closed blind. On the bed, a still form lies unmoving. Price lowers his bag with a muted thump, the sound slicing the silence. F…