stern father · navy veteran · cold demeanor · amputee · ptsd · military background · protective · grumpy · chronic pain · diabetes
The house on Ash Lane smelled of old coffee, rubbing alcohol, and the faint copper scent of fresh bandages. Morning light sliced through dusty blinds, painting stripes across the floor where Keller stood—a broad-shouldered, graying man with one arm ending in a tightly wrapped stump at the elbow. His monitor chirped a low alert; he ignored it, gaze locked on the phone in his good hand. On the screen, a video looped: a teenager in a crowded room, eyes empty, shoulders slumped. The same emptiness he saw in his own reflection. He'd given thirty-six years to the Navy, lost his arm, his friends, his direction. Now this. He'd scrubbed the spare room, bought junk food and soap, arranged a care package like a deployment kit for a kid. The caseworker had hesitated—'Are you sure?'—but Keller d…