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"Get him inside!" Price orders.
Soap looks to Ghost, he"s practically carrying him at this point. He looks down at the knife sticking out of him. Just his luck. Quick in and out mission, and he is the only one who encountered an enemy. And the only one who got hurt. Fucking stabbed in the gut.
"Lay him on the bed."
Ghost lays him gently on the bed in the corner. Kneeling beside him when Soaps settled. Price walks over to them, kneeling beside Ghost.
"Get some water and cloths ready for me Ghost." Price says, looking over the wound.
Ghost nods, getting up, handing Price his med kit. Price takes it, removing Soaps and his own. He rummages through them, getting everything he needs.
"This is going to hurt Soap." Price says, reaching for the knife.
Soap reaches out with weak hands, trying to stop Price. Price looks at him with pity. Eyes shining with worry. Ghost kneels next to them, holding out everything for when Price needs it. Soap looks at Ghost, his mask isn"t hiding anything, worry clear in his eyes.
"Sorry Soap. Gotta remove it, bite down on this" Price says, taking a few cloths, folding them and placing them between Soaps teeth.
Price moves his hands back to the knife, grabbing the handle. Soap lets out a muffled shout, hands still trying to push Prices hands away. His grip does nothing, his hands too weak. A louder, sound leaves him as Price pulls out the knife. He bites down on the cloths in his mouth, head craning back, tears streaming from his eyes.
"That"s it, Ghost press down." Price orders.
Soap lets out a pathetic whine, head moving from side to side, eyes closing.
"Keep those eyes open." Price says, tapping his cheek.
Soap lets out a groan, eyes not wanting to open. He feels to weak, it"s even too hard to keep breathing.
"Eyes open Soap." Price orders, voice gruff.
Soap peels his eyes open. He turns his head towards the others, looking at them the best he can.
"Good, now keep "em open." Price orders.
"Look at me Johnny." Ghost suggests.
Soap moves his eyes towards Ghost, looking at him through half lidded eyes.
"The blade is fucking rusted to shit. Gonna clean the wound out as much as I can." Price says.
The stinging from the water makes him let out another pained groan. Ghost reaches out, petting his sweaty hair.
"Best I could do. Stay strong for me, gonna stitch you up now."
Soap looks towards Price with wide eyes, shaking his head as best as he can. Price looks at him with sad eyes.
"I"m sorry, keep strong for me a bit longer." Price says.
Soap whips his head back, muffled cry leaving his head as Price starts. The pain doesn"t fade, doesn"t get manageable, just gets worse as Price goes.
He can hear Ghost soothing voice, but he can"t make out the words. He feels a hand running through his hair, but it"s overshadowed by the pain.
When Price stops, Soap relaxes into the bed with a muffled sob. He looks towards Price, meeting his eyes just before his roll back into his skull, finally passing out.
Soap wakes up an undetermined time later. His head is pounding, sweat beading down his forehead. His tongue feels like lead, saliva filling his mouth. He looks down at himself. He"s covered in blankets, wrapped snug on the bed.
Soap pants as he tries to sit up, stomach screaming at him. He pulls the blankets away, throwing them off of himself.
"Hey, hey ,hey!" Someone shout, pushing him down again.
Soap tries to fight the hands on him. He"s too fucking hot. He leans away from the hands, groaning as his stomach pulls.
"Calm down. Just lay back down."
Soap just grunts, his stomach lunging, making more saliva fill his mouth. Soap keeps fighting against the hands, nausea building. His head throbs with any movement he makes.
"Please, lay down." Someone pleads.
Soap tries to shake his head, but his head hurts too much. Everything hurts too much. A gag finally leaves his mouth, showing who ever is trying to push him down, that he needs to sit up.
"Shit. Hand me that bucket!"
Soap flinches at the shout so close to him, gagging again. Someone moves him up, putting a bucket under his panting mouth.
"Let go, it"s okay."
Soap heaves, hurling everything he has in his stomach into the bucket. Gagging and heaving until nothings left.
"Good, good. Take it easy."
Soap falls back down on the bed. Winching as his head continues to throb. The blankets are placed over him again. Soap lets out a annoyed groan, pulling the blankets away again.
"Too hot." He slurs.
A hand moves over his forehead. Soap opens his eyes, looking towards the person. It takes a few moments for his eyes to focus enough to actually see anything.
"Price?" Soap slurs.
"Yes, it"s me." Price smiles a relieved smile.
"It"s too hot." Soap groans
"Looks like you have a fever. Most likely caused by an infection." Price says, moving his hand to stroke through Soaps hair.
Soap grimaces, letting out a small whine.
"I know, I know." Price says, patting his head.
Soap looks over his face, he looks tired. Soap looks behind him, seeing Ghost standing there, hovering, unsure of what to do.
"I don"t feel well." Soap slurs, looking back to Price.
"Exfil is almost here. Gonna get some medicine in you." Price says, moving away from him.
Soap lets out a distressed whine, eyes opening wide, looking towards the man.
"What"s wrong?" Price asks, moving back to him.
"Please, just keep holding me. Makes me feel better." Soap says.
Price smiles a small smile, hands continuing their petting.
"Thanks Da..." Soap mumbles as he falls asleep again.
When Soap wakes up again, it"s to the familiar sound of beeping. He tries to open his eyes, but as expected, he blinded by the bright hospital lights. He tries again, letting his eyes adjust to the lights.
When he can see better, he looks to his side, expecting to see Ghost there, like always. But this time, he is surprised to see a familiar bucket hat resting there.
"Price?" He calls, voice hoarse.
Price whips up, eyes wide as he looks towards him.
"Son? How are you feeling?" Price asks.
"Okay, I guess. My head is pounding something fierce, and my stomach fucking hurts." Soap says, looking down at his covered stomach.
Soap looks around then, seeing Ghost and Gaz on the small couch in the corner. Both still asleep, laying against each other.
"What do you remember?" Price asks, drawing his attention again.
"I got stabbed, you stitched it. Woke up feeling like shit, and then not so much after that." Soap says.
"You got a nasty infection. Knife was rusted, couldn"t clean it out as good as I hoped." Price says with a frown.
"I"m okay." Soap says, reaching out to grab Prices hand.
Price looks at him again, frown leaving, a small smile replacing it.
"You were pretty out of it. Bad fever, some vomiting, might have been a little delusional." Price says.
"Why do you say that?" Soap asks, head tilting with his question.
"Well," Price lets out a laugh, "You called me Da, I assume you thought your dad was taking care of you."
Soap looks at him. Face reddening as he recalls the memory.
"My Da never took care of me. Had to just get better, the weak die, the strong survive. That"s how he saw it anyway." Soap says.
"Why did you see him then?" Price asks, confused.
Soap looks back towards the sleeping men. He huffs, looking back at Price.
"I didn"t see him." Soap whispers.
"You didn"t? Why"d you call me Da then?"
Soap can feel his face redden even more. Fuck, this is too much for his still recovering body.
"You see me as..." Price trails off.
Soap just looks at him, waiting for some sort of bad reaction. But Soap doesn"t get one. He gets to see Prices eyes soften, eyes crinkling as a blinding smile spreads over his face.
"You are my son." Price says, smile staying on his face.
Soap lets out a small sob. Price leans forward, grabbing him into a tight hug. Stroking his hand through Soaps hair.
"What"s wrong?" Gaz"s sleepy voice pulls them away.
"You have a brother." Price says, looking towards Gaz with the same smile.
Gaz copies the smile, removing himself from Ghosts hold, waking the man in the process.
"Johnny?" Ghost asks, seeing the tears running down his face.
Soap lets out a wet laugh. Reaching out to the rest of his family.
"I finally found you." Soap sobs.
"I finally have my family."