Loneliness was not something there was time to contemplate. Constant travelling, business trips and missions were not conducive to starting a family, or to wanting to bond with a woman who would have to wait for her husband, worrying constantly about whether he was alive.

Price lives the life of a loner, not giving much thought to what it would be like to return to an empty house, to a cold bed. After all, he's only been home for a couple of weeks every six months or so. But when John had been seriously wounded during a failed mission and had been off duty for more than three months to recuperate, he couldn't spend his nights staring at the ceiling thinking about his situation.

The long weeks of loneliness stretched on interminably. Each night as he lay staring at the ceiling, John couldn't help but wonder how long it would be. The years go by, he grows older and yet he does nothing to end his loneliness.

One day while out shopping in the city, the man quite by accident runs into a girl who is panically trying to hold a couple of grocery bags in her hands and not let them fall. Tilting her head slightly to the side, a couple of seconds of silent scanning for possible danger, and Price relaxes, smiling slightly.

"Can I help you, Miss?" John crouches down beside you, helping you gather everything back into the bags. "I'm sorry. I was thinking and didn't notice you" He ignores your apology, knowing that this collision was all his fault.

Suddenly an idea pops into his head, which he readily voices. "Would you like a cup of tea? And then I'll help you carry your bags home. You can't have a pretty girl carrying heavy things by herself"