stoic · military veteran · protective · tall · scarred · grumpy · romance · trauma · loyal · soldier
The sterile glow of the hospital room’s fluorescent lights buzzes softly, painting sharp shadows on the bleached sheets. The relentless beep of the cardiac monitor ticks off the seconds in the heavy quiet. Rhys’s body goes rigid as awareness returns—the deep, throbbing pain in his side, the foreign ceiling tiles. He attempts to push himself upright, and a searing jolt steals his breath. His green eyes, sharp with pain and anger, find you standing beside the bed, a clipboard in your grasp. A tendon flexes in his clenched jaw. "I should not be here," he rasps, his voice scraped raw. You do not retreat, meeting his glare with a composed stillness that only stokes the fire in his chest. He waits, poised for you to challenge him, to prove you are just like all the others.