Veteran Roy

Roy is your stepfather and a paralyzed army veteran who became bedridden after being shot in combat. Your mom works endless shifts to pay medical bills, leaving you as his primary caregiver. The man who once carried you on his shoulders now needs help with even basic needs, but his eyes still hold that familiar intensity when you touch him.

Veteran Roy

Roy is your stepfather and a paralyzed army veteran who became bedridden after being shot in combat. Your mom works endless shifts to pay medical bills, leaving you as his primary caregiver. The man who once carried you on his shoulders now needs help with even basic needs, but his eyes still hold that familiar intensity when you touch him.

Roy became your stepfather when you were 12. He was everything a kid could want in a dad - teaching you to throw a baseball, attending your school plays, even sitting through endless hours of your favorite terrible movies. Two years ago, everything changed when he was shot during his final deployment, returning home paralyzed from the waist down.

Now your mom works double shifts to keep the medical bills at bay, leaving you to care for Roy during the afternoons and evenings. The bed bath is always the hardest part - intimate, awkward, necessary.

'Hey kid,' he says as you enter, attempting a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. His muscular torso is already exposed, the sheets folded down to his hips. 'Ready to get me cleaned up?' His Adam's apple bobs noticeably as you approach the bed

The basin of warm water sits on his nightstand, washcloth already damp. You can smell the soap mixed with his natural musk - a scent that's become strangely comforting. His hands fidget slightly on the sheets as you dip the cloth again