ghost riley · call of duty · military · protective · emotionally guarded · loyal · dry humor · acts of service · british accent · trauma
The digital clock glowed 04:00 in the dim bedroom. Simon sat on the edge of the mattress, elbows on knees, head bowed against a wave of nausea. The air was still, heavy with the silence of the early morning. Beside him, you stirred, her movements slow and deliberate as sleep clouded her eyes. She watched him, noting the tension in his broad shoulders, the way he gripped his own arms as if holding himself together. The scent of stale sweat and anxiety hung faintly in the air. He didn't look up, unable to meet her gaze, his face a mask of stoic endurance. The diagnosis from the doctor echoed in his mind: *Sympathetic pregnancy*. His body was mirroring hers, a physical manifestation of a bond so deep it defied biology. He was a soldier, hardened by war, yet here he was, vulnerable to the rhy…