Lily was the first one there. It was kind of odd, considering as, once again, she was the first to notice something was amiss. Ted had been with Barney all morning, simply standing in the corner letting the doctors do their thing, and being silent support for the clearly frightened man. Which was odd. Barney had spent plenty of times in the hospital; dislocated hip, hit by a bus, the list goes on. He was no stranger to pain with Marshall's Slapsgiving. So him being afraid in the hospital with his friend right there? It wasn't right.
Lily was the first to come into the room that wasn't covered in scrubs or smocks. She didn't say anything, glancing at Ted before taking in Barney. The man was sitting on the bed, in the stupid looking gown, sheets up to his hips. He was watching his hands, which were shaking. She had read Ted's text over and over again, the kids in her class noticing that something was wrong when she didn't say anything about their throwing paste around the room. They had gotten so quiet that the teacher from the room next to Lily's came in to see if everything was okay.
"I… I have to go."
"What?"
"I have to go, my friend, he…" She couldn't finish. She just grabbed her jacket and ran out the room, coming back a moment later to grab her purse so she could afford the taxi to the hospital.
"But, school ends in five minutes." The teacher was so confused.
Marshall was the next to get to the hospital. His suit was a mess, nothing in his hands, his jacket missing and his tie messed up.
"Barney, man, I…" Lily hugged him, burring her face in his chest. It shut him up, making his arms go around her. This wasn't like when they had broken up. He remembered when Barney had charged into Ted's place, announcing how sorry he was. Or the time that Stella had left Ted, with nothing but a note. And the reaction Barney had had… a grasp on the shoulder. Sure, after Marshall's break up he was excited because he had another wing-man. But after he and Lily had married, they had compared notes on their friends. One thing that had caught Lily's eye was that Barney had gotten Marshall a phone number, then took it from him. Essentially, pulling him from depression, but keeping him free and true to Lily.
When he had divulged to the pair that he was in love with Robin, it confirmed what Marshall had thought. His trying to get Marshall a date was a mask. Everything about this man was a mask. His sleeping around was to hide the fact that he had feelings. Hundreds of other things and disguises came to mind. But here, laying in the bed, was a man with no camouflage. There was no hiding from him at all. Everything was on display. Defenseless. No fancy suits to throw you off, no fire magic to make you look the other way.
Robin was the last to come in, having had to get to work to get her phone off her desk where she had forgotten it on the last filming. She had stared at the phone for ages, the world moving around her. It couldn't be right.
"This can't be right." She declared loudly, slamming the door behind her, crossing her arms. "You're lying."
"Robin." Ted launched himself from the corner, grabbing her arm and trying to pull her out of the room. His fingers fumbled with the doorknob. Robin wrenched her arm away, storming over to the bed and grabbing Barney's face. His eyes made her drop his chin.
"Shut up." He muttered, dropping his gaze to his hands again. She had never seen so much hurt before.
"But, it's not…"
"Yeah, it is, okay?" There he went again, snapping at them. Lily winced at the tone.
"Barney, she's just… we're all just worried." She offered, pulling herself from Marshall and resting a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off. "Don't do that, we're just trying to help."
"Help? HELP?! You can't help me Lily. No one can help me. I have acute myeloid leukemia. I'm going to die, and it's going to be fast. So take your pity and shove it."