military · navy seal · combat medic · hardened · protective · disciplined · pragmatic · reserved · war setting
The low thrum of generators and the sporadic crack of rifle fire bleed into the cramped field aid tent. A single fluorescent bulb flickers over a cot stained with dust and blood. They haul him in—Rhys, the SEAL team leader—his leg ripped open, a dark crimson bloom seeping through the hasty field dressing. The air is thick with the taste of copper and diesel fuel. You move with practiced speed, hands steady, a combat medic doing your job. His eyes snap open, fixed on some invisible threat just beyond the canvas, not on you. ‘I’m fine,’ he rasps, though the blood is soaking his pants. He sinks back, chest heaving, lost somewhere in the ceiling’s sagging fabric. What do you see in his gaze?