The brunette was used to stitching up the brunette. It came with the job title, and she hadn't minded it in the slightest. Any time Barry was in need of any medical attention, she provided it. Her fingers gently held the needle and as carefully as possible, she threaded the fine thread through the gaping gash across Barry's torso.
"We'll Be done here shortly," Caitlin informed him.
"Yeah, no problem," Barry responded rather flatly.
She rose her eyebrows to this response. The brunette just didn't seem to be his usual self, Caitlin could tell. He usually had this warm aura but today, it seemed rather dull and he was uninterested in holding any kind of conversation.
Gingerly, she moved the needle to the next entry point, her eyes flicking up towards Barry's face. She tried to read his expression yet it felt vacant and was blank; as blank as she'd ever seen it. A pang of worry settled into her bones, Caitlin exhaled slowly but silently. She could see that something was eating at the male, something heavy.
After her eyes fell back onto his torso, Caitlin decided to break the ice. "Is anything on your mind?" She questioned a little cautiously. She wouldn't pry but she wanted Barry to be okay.
"Huh?" Barry was shaken from his thoughts. "No, no. I'm fine. Really." He lied — terribly, at that. An uneasy feeling caused him to shift ever so slightly where he sat.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, Yeah. It's just um, work. There's just been a lot going on and now this." He motioned towards his injury. Fighting a meta human who wielded claws was not as easy as he thought it would've been. In fact, it was much more complicated. And, it hurt. A lot.
"I see." Caitlin simply said. She knew he was a bad liar. In the short time they'd known each other, it was evident that Barry would get this guilty look upon his face before he even tried telling a whopper; much like the face he was wearing now.
"I wouldn't want to burden you with it." Barry added after the thick pause between them.
This caused Caitlin to look directly at Barry, eye-to-eye. "You could never burden me, Barry. We're all in this together, aren't we?"
The male simply shrugged, his cheeks flushing the lightest shade of pink, nearly missable. "I suppose so."
"So..."
"So." Barry repeated. "It's not actually about work." He revealed, his fingers fidgeting on top of the hospital bed he sat upon.
"Then what's it about?" Caitlin listened, giving Barry her undivided attention now. She had stopped stitching up his wound at this point.
"It's Iris." Barry clarified, his eyes swirling with a sadness behind them. "I just feel like... she's never going to feel the same way that I do for her. Maybe if she knew about the Flash.."
"If she knew about the Flash, you'd be risking her safety." Caitlin reminded him.
"I know." Barry sighed, his chest falling from the deep exhale. "I told her. I told her how I felt but it—it didn't change a thing." It was obvious in his tone that Barry was heartbroken, deep sorrow bit at the end of his words.
Caitlin peered at Barry with a frown curving the edges of her lips. She knew Barry but she didn't know him that well — not like Iris. The brunette knew bits and pieces, however, the bits and pieces were all things in which she liked about Barry. Naturally, he was one of the good guys, one of the best guys, in fact.
She exhaled gently, still eyeing Barry, intense hazel hues melting into emerald. "I can't speak for Iris, Barry. But, I can speak for myself." Caitlin began. "And what I see when I look at you or think about you, is something good. You're someone good. You have one of the best hearts, Barry. Nobody has to be a rocket scientist to see that." She explained sincerely. "If Iris can't see what I see — what we all see here — then that's on her. Not you. She shouldn't want the Flash. She should want Barry Allen." The doctor concluded.
Barry's heart had sank hours ago, yet having this conversation caused him to feel a little bit better. Caitlin didn't tend to have heart-to-heart conversations everyday. However, the ones they did share were quite meaningful to Barry.
"You really think so?" Barry asked.
"I know so."
Caitlin resumed her work on Barry's torso and after a few more moments, the injury was all stitched up. "There we go." She put the needle down and began to remove her gloves before discarding them.
Barry sat up on the table, eager to get back to the city to try and find the meta human. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head until it was secured on his body. "Thank you."
"No problem." Caitlin smiled.
He smiled back, that content look crept upon Barry's face. Hopping off the table, the brunette started for the exit.
"Oh, and Barry?"
"Yeah?" He spun to face Caitlin.
"Be careful."
It was no lie that despite the meta human problems wrecking Central City, Caitlin was grateful to have someone like Barry Allen around. She was grateful the people of the city had the Flash and that he had an enormous heart and knack for saving people.