Chapter Text
For Johnny, it wasn't a good day. Between getting released from one hospital to almost immediately being sent to another, he had lost all hope to enjoy the day.
Getting shot in the abdomen, on what he thought was going to be an ordinary mission, had quickly shattered his dreams of getting to go to the apartment viewing he had looked forward to.
It was common that he had such little free time between missions that he could barely get through a weeks groceries. Having the job that he had, one couldn't really plan that much into the future.
He had never felt at home in his small one room ground floor apartment. Between his small livingroom and his crowded bedroom, he could barely walk from one side of the apartment to the other without tripping and bashing his head in.
So, when he came home from the hospital, (thankfully by Price driving him instead of having to walk the 4 miles in agony) moving around in the small apartment had proven to be difficult. Which means that technically nobody could blame him for tripping on the couch, spilling his almost boiling soup all over himself and definitely reopening some of his stitches.
After laying on the floor for what felt like hours, he had slowly reached for his phone and called Price.
The phone call had been quick and Price had been there in a few minutes.
Johnny had insisted that he didn't need to go to the hospital again and that he would be fine getting checked up in the small military base that was far closer to his apartment. After a small discussion, Price had agreed though only after making sure that the dermal burns were only superficial.
The medic that had been assigned to Soap was a tall blonde woman who was obviously in a very good mood. While redoing Soaps small stitches that had come loose, she had tried to initiate conversation. On any other day Soap would have loved to chat with her, but today he was just too tired to keep on talking with the woman. All he wanted was to get somewhere with a bed so he could sleep for the remainder of his break. He couldn't have been happier when Price finally escorted him out of the building and into his car.
“You need to move out.”
“What?”
Price stared directly into Soap's eyes with such seriousness that Johnny had to genuinely rethink if he had accidentally done something to offend him. He felt like a kid getting scolded by his dad.
“You can't keep living in that kind of an apartment if you want to avoid injuring yourself everyday.”
Johnny knew that. That was exactly why he had been so annoyed about missing the apartment viewing. He also knew that without a roommate or someone to look over him, he would accidentally harm himself regardless of the kind of apartment he was living in.
The stitches made moving way harder than it needed to be and it also hurt like hell whenever he tried to walk for more than 10 feet.
“With this bundle of injuries you are at risk of making them worse each time you move. We can't afford to lose one of our best soldiers just because he tripped and fell on his carpet.”
“I'd love to but it's going to be really hard to find a roommate who i'd trust to be alone in my apartment for months”
Price had been unsuccessfully trying to suppress a grin and Johnny could tell that he was scheming something. He didn't like it.
“Move into their place instead then, preferably someone who you could trust. ”
Soap laughs.
“If only it was that easy. Living with any living relatives or friends is not really an option for me and I'm not going to meet anyone new that I'd trust enough . You know it's not a good idea to tell everyone you meet what you do for a job and coming up with excuses is not gonna hold up for long. It would only complicate things”
Price hummed in agreement “ You know, I happen to know someone who could hold up to your standard. They know about our “business” and they also have hectic schedule so they won't judge. They are also a very great caretaker and friend, exactly what you need right now”
Johnny could only mumble a small “maybe” in response, too busy thinking about the “friend”. It was hard to find anyone who he could tell about his job and have them really understand
“So how about it? I'll give you their address, go try them out for a night, i'll let them know that you are coming.”
“Sure, it can't be that bad anyway” chuckled Johnny.