Barry's ears were ringing all the way back from STAR Labs.
Caitlin said something, it kind of sounded like she was asking how he felt, but the ringing in his ears trumped whatever she said.
He said something back, but he could barely hear what he said.
Caitlin said something else, but no sound came out of her mouth. Barry apologized. Or, at least he thinks he did.
Barry was getting tired of the ringing in his ears, but that's what he got for going up against the Pied Piper.
Cisco came up, and they started talking about something. Barry strained his ears to try to get a sense of what they were saying, but soon enough they both walked away.
Dr. Wells started talking, Barry noticed, and he pretended to be engrossed in conversation. He was talking slow enough for Barry to read his lips, so once Wells was finished, he said something, not hearing himself at all.
About an hour later, after Barry got home, the ringing subsided, leaving him in pure silence. Barry felt relieved, he was slowly being driven insane by the ringing.
"Thank god," he mumbled, but he couldn't hear himself.
What the hell?
The ringing stopped, he should be able to hear again!
Barry snapped his fingers by his ears, hoping for some sort of sound, but there was nothing.
Barry's heart started racing, so fast that if you put your hand up to his chest, his heartbeat might as well be gone.
"Hello? Hellooo?" Barry asked, louder this time, hoping he would be able to hear himself. But he had no such luck.
Barry started freaking out. He was healed now, he should be able to hear, so why couldn't he?
He saw movement in the corner of his eye, and turned to see Joe standing in the corner.
He mouthed something, and Barry read his own name off the older man's lips.
"I can't hear, Joe, I can't hear anything," Barry panicked, and tensed up when he couldn't hear his own voice. What if he never heard his own voice again?
Joe mumbled something, and Barry started shaking his head.
"I can't hear you, Joe, I can't hear you. Oh god, this is really happening, oh my…" Barry grabbed his hair in panic, and suddenly felt Joe wrap his arms around Barry.
The silence was suffocating. Barry didn't know how he would be able to live his life like this.
Joe called Caitlin, while soothing his panicked son. Barry seemed really spooked by the fact that he couldn't hear, and Joe didn't blame him. He would also freak out if he suddenly couldn't hear anything anymore.
Could Barry hear his own voice? Probably not, your voice is only loud because it's the closest sound to your ears.
"Hello?" answered a tired Caitlin two calls later.
"Caitlin, it's Joe. Barry, I found him in his room on the verge of a panic attack. He says he can't hear anything," Joe said quickly.
Caitlin immediately went from tired to concerned on the other end of the line. "What do you mean, he can't hear?" She asked.
"I heard Barry shouting words in his room, and I decided to check on him. When I did, he kept telling me he can't hear. I asked him what he meant by that, but he just kept repeating himself, louder and louder, as if he were trying to hear himself," Joe said.
There was silence on the other end of the line. "STAR Labs is locked up for the night, maybe you could offer some comfort to Barry tonight? I'm sure he needs it. Also, come up with a story for what you plan to tell Iris, and his boss," Caitlin suggested.
Joe looked at Barry. The poor man was starting to hyperventilate. Joe started rubbing his back, hoping to calm him down.
"I'll probably take up your advice on that, Caitlin, he's on the verge of a panic attack," Joe said. "I'll see you first thing tomorrow."
He hung up with that, and took Barry to the living room where they sat down. The TV remained off, as Joe felt that it would just be taunting Barry.
Barry threw himself in Joe's arms as soon as they sat down, and cried. For what seemed like hours, they sat in silence, the only sound in the room was Barry's sobs and Joe's useless reassuring words.
After about what seemed like an eternity later, Barry let go and sat up, drying his tears.
"At least the subtitles on Netflix have a use now," he laughed, trying to make a joke out of the situation.
Joe laughed at that too. A millennial would never give up Netflix, would they?
Barry then got a solemn look on his face. "Joe, can… can we learn ASL or something, so you won't have to write everything down when you talk to me?" he asked.
Joe realised two things in that sentence. One, He wanted to make speaking easier for him. Two, he was asking Joe to get a pen and paper so they could communicate.
Joe smiled and nodded, then he held up a finger, telling Barry to hold on as he got up to go get a paper.
The short time he was gone was one of the scariest times of Barry's life.
He knew Joe was in the other room, but he felt isolated from the world. Everything was silent, and there was no one with him. He wouldn't be able to tell when someone was sneaking up on him from behind, or whether someone was entering a room unless he saw them enter.
He would never be able to listen to music again, or watch Youtube or Netflix without the subtitles.
Flash work would be so much more complicated, if he was still able to do it at all.
He really took the sense of hearing for granted.
Joe suddenly sat down, with a pen and paper, shaking Barry out of his thoughts.
Joe started writing something down on the coffee table, then handed the paper to Barry.
We need to figure out what to tell Iris about your new situation, it read.
Barry's eyes widened. Joe was absolutely right! How could he tell Iris that he was now apparently deaf, without outing himself as the flash?
Barry didn't say anything though. It was hard to speak when you only had an idea of what you were saying, after all.
Joe wrote down something else.
Barry looked at it and smiled.
We can also start learning ASL together tomorrow, with the team and Iris too, if you'd like.
Barry smiled. "I'd like that," he said.
He just hoped this wasn't permanent. If this went on for more than even a day, he'd probably go insane.
With that final thought in mind, Barry closed his eyes, falling asleep in pure silence for the first of many days.