Don't fear the reaper - Captain John Price

III

White rays of electricity were flying in anger from the fluffy clouds into the ground. Load roar of the thunder echoed in the whole building through a couple of open windows that were letting inside the cold fresh air and a few drops of rain. One after another, lightning was hitting the cold ground as the storm was reaching its peak. It's been raining the whole day, but only by the evening the weather did get darker and nature was freeing its anger in the strongest storm the place had seen in months.

The yellow light of the lamp was traveling along the countless pieces of paper on the hardwood desk. Personal files, notes, and reports about each person who was taken care of by Knight. The whole process turned into a routine. Days passed by, one wounded soldier after another, wounds, scars, blood, and stitches that were going to be later documented on the thin sheets of paper. Price was taking a deep breath as the impatience was taking him over. The man wasn't planning on spending his whole evening in the routine check-up of a small wound, but the plans of the captain were the last thing a brunette had on her mind. Her fingertips wrapped in the cold material of the latex gloves were running along the skin of John's body, as the gaze of the brown eyes was fixed on the wound.

"The wound has almost healed, I guess you were following my advice, sir, " A hint of a smile appeared on the woman's tired face. Knight was happy to see no signs of infection over the skin of the man as she removed the old bandages over the injured part of the captain's skin.

"Good for an old man, eh?" John caught her eyes for a moment on him, almost forcing eye contact between the two. For Amelia, it felt as if she was a prey sitting in the corner of the room with no way out. But for Price, the situation was completely opposite. A mixture of a smirk with the slightest hint of a smile was written over his face when the captain could read nothing but shame and embarrassment in the look of the brown eyes on him.

"I'm sorry Captain. Shouldn't have described you in that manner, " The room was filled with the roar of the thunder right after the lightning hit the ground somewhere far away from the base. A brunette finally broke eye contact, taking her eyes off the blues'. Look of the brown eyes would never tell that a couple of hours ago they were running along the medical card of the captain, realizing that her description of him as an old man was too sharp on her tongue.

"It was your first impression, Lia. You were just sharing your thoughts," John's jaw clenched when the burning sensation ran through his whole body as the rubbing alcohol touched his wound. Years of service taught the man how to never show his pain, so even if Price was struggling inside, his face kept the cold stoned expression for everyone, including the only person in the room taking care of him.

"Want to prove me wrong, Captain Price?" A soft giggle was heard in the silence of the room. Even the rain got quieter as if nature wanted the man to hear whatever Amelia was saying in a soft, almost whispering voice.

"I might, dove. But after I'm done with the mission that was interrupted, " Gaze of the captain's eye was focused on a brunette, watching over every single move of her hands on his body. For a moment, Price was thinking that his own mind did not trust the actions of a woman whose job was taking care of anyone, other than her own self.

The silence of the room was interrupted by the squeaky noise of the stool when it traveled a bit away from the bed the captain was occupying. For a rare moment, John let his thoughts take his own head under control. The medical offices always felt unsettling for Price. He was a captain for over a decade. Taking care of his team, his own self while having the weight of the whole damn world on the man's strong shoulders. However, it always was uneasy for him to be taken care of. From one side, John admitted to himself that it was harder to trust anyone else other than himself with his health, or even a small scratch on the body. Yet every single time Price's leg entered into any medical facility, the captain was struggling with trusting anyone. With the great number of enemies comes great precautions. The look of blue eyes roamed around the room for a moment, as if he was trying to find the reasons to run away and take care of the wound himself. But there was nothing, nothing that could catch his eye and draw any suspicion to the brunette on the other side of the room.

"It looks like Soap has found a friend in you, " Finally, the silence was broken off by the raspy voice of the man. A part of him wondered if there was anything more to a picture after the friendly atmosphere he noticed during the lunch between the two. After all, the last thing a captain wanted to happen was for any of his team members to get distracted in the middle of one of the most important missions.

"Well, he did so 20 years ago. Back in the days when no one called him this way," Amelia was concentrated on the wound on Price's body, checking every single inch of it, under the magic that isopropyl alcohol was doing. Finally, making sure there was nothing more to it, a large piece of bandage hid the future small scar and was almost unnoticeable to anyone else. The long day was almost over for her when another pair of dirty gloves joined the rest of the used latex materials in the garbage can.

"Are you done with the check-up and letting me go, miss?" John watched the figure of the officer keeping a distance from him. As his eyes fell on the patch of bandage on his body, something was telling a man that she was done with a wound. The reasons for his sudden collapse and unconsciousness were still unknown, but even in the stale air of the base, the captain felt better than in the fresh air of the mountains.

"Yes, I am, captain. Take care of yourself during the mission, don't want to see you bleeding out anytime soon," Amelia let her eyes fall on the clock to understand how late in the evening it was. The documents were still waiting for her on the hardwood desk. The brown eyes traveled from the pile of paper to the captain on the other side of the room. Knight let herself keep the gaze of her eyes on Price's body for a little longer, seeing how his muscles were moving as the soft fabric of the dark green military t-shirt started to hide the muscular torso of the captain with the scars thrown over it just like the shattered glass over the floor.

"I will, dove. For sure I will," And just when he was done, John felt the look of the brown eyes on him. Even for a split moment, the captain wondered what meaning it was hiding. Was it a look of curiosity, admiration, or on the other side, full of disgust and negligence? This was something he would never know, but a soft smile formed along Price's lips, while his eyes could speak about the gratitude towards a brunette for taking care of him.

Another lightning struck the ground somewhere closer to the base causing the two to finally break eye contact as if it was the time to let each other run into their own directions and catch up with the tasks left for the day. The silence and looks between the two were speaking more than any words that evening did. A soft, yet full of warmth smile was written over Amelia's face in return to Price's. The time was flying fast, sometimes anyone at the base felt that 24 hours in the day was not enough to complete everything every soldier had on the task list for the day. And just in a wink of an eye, the man headed out of the medical office, as if he was trying to catch the last bits of the time that could be spent on better preparation for the mission. Steps of the heavy boots were echoing in the long corridors the deeper John was walking into the building. Little did the captain know that the gaze of the brown eyes would still be on the doorframe even after his silhouette was no longer seen in the sight of the dark corridor.