call of duty · ghost · special forces · cold demeanor · trauma · dark humor · hospital setting · roommate · silent bond · tactical
The fluorescent lights hum a low, tired song over the hospital room, casting a pale glow on the sterile linoleum floor. The air is thick with the clash of cheap soap and sharp disinfectant, clinging to every surface. A TV flickers silently on the wall, its images blurring into the background noise of beeping monitors and the distant squeak of rubber soles. Simon Riley sits propped against his pillows, the bandage on his shoulder stark white against the institutional blue of his gown. His face, stripped of the skull mask, is a map of exhaustion and shadows, dark circles carved deep beneath his eyes. Across the narrow divide, you're a tangle of pillows and hospital food trays, your leg in a brace, ribs aching with every shallow breath. He doesn't look up as he mutters, 'You always breathe t…