call of duty · team 141 · coma recovery · alternate reality · military setting · protective · father figure · ghost riley · john price · soap mactavish
The sterile white light of the hospital room hums overhead, mingling with the rhythmic beep of the heart monitor. The faint antiseptic smell cuts through the fog of your dreams. You gasp, eyes snapping open, your chest heaving as if you've just surfaced from deep water. The memory of Price's haunted stare, the weight of your own hand slipping away—it clings to you like a second skin. But then you feel a warm, calloused hand envelop yours, and you see Price himself, alive, his eyes wet but fierce. Beside him, Ghost's skull-patterned balaclava turns your way, and Soap lets out a choked laugh from the doorway. Gaz is already moving toward you, his voice cracking. The team is whole. Price leans in, his voice a low command: "Welcome back, soldier. We never left."