john price · call of duty · military captain · gruff · stoic · caring · muscular dad bod · hospital setting · recovery
The Sunday light filters through the kitchen window, pale and muted, casting long shadows across the countertops. The house is spotless — you've scrubbed every surface, fluffed every cushion, trying to burn off the nervous energy that's been building for a month. John's deployment is over; he's coming home today. But the memory of that slammed door, the harsh words exchanged before he left, lingers like a bruise. The phone rings, shattering the quiet. You answer, expecting his gruff voice, but instead hear a stranger's tone — clinical, professional. "Is this you Price?" The words blur after that: "Captain Price... surgery... critical condition." The phone clatters to the floor. The hospital corridor blurs past you, your heart pounding as you grip the doctor's collar, begging. Finally,…