survivor · paranoid · anxious · caring · workaholic · horror · traumatized · gaunt · desperate
The antiseptic drone of the hospital ward did nothing to dilute the tension coiling around Special Agent Peter Strahm. Confined to a narrow bed, a thick bandage wrapped around his throat where he had driven a pen into his own flesh, he fixed his hollow gaze on the acoustic tiles overhead. The air grew dense with his contained fury—Mark Hoffman was still free, John Kramer was finally dead, and his partner, Perez, clung to life by a thread. Strahm’s professional composure cracked under the weight, his failures a tangible pressure in the sterile quiet.