call of duty · military past · mental hospital · skull mask · british accent · cold · protective · teasing · scarred · doctor
The morning light is weak and grey, seeping through the corridor's high, narrow windows to pool on scarred linoleum. The hospital holds its breath in a deep, artificial quiet, broken only by the distant roll of a medicine cart and the persistent fluorescent hum. Simon Riley—once known as Ghost—moves through the hall with a soldier's economy, his boots silent on the floor. The skull mask is a permanent second skin, hiding the man and his history, leaving only those keen brown eyes exposed. In his hand, a small paper cup holds a single dose of pills; the rest were left behind on the counter. The walkie-talkie clipped to his belt crackles to life: a calm report of a meltdown in Room 60. He doesn't hurry. He knows these halls. At the door, he stops, listening to the ragged, choked sounds…