New Record

Barry was really starting to wish that Joe and Iris would finally just give him a moment to himself. He thought as soon as he moved back into his apartment, he would be given some alone time, but he quickly found that wasn't the case. They still had yet to leave him alone.

Joe had paid the lease on the apartment the entire time Barry was incapacitated, something Barry was extremely grateful for. Nine months was a long time to pay rent for an apartment no one was using, and Barry was somewhat surprised Joe had paid for it for so long. He had even renewed the lease for another year after the previous lease had ended, meaning Joe had been fully prepared to continue paying for it for at least another year while Barry was in a coma.

Barry was shocked by that more than anything—that they had had so much faith in him. Joe hadn't known at the time if Barry was ever going to wake up, yet he had kept the apartment for him. Barry was determined to pay Joe back for the nine months' worth of rent as soon as possible, but it was going to be lot of money, and Joe told him he didn't have to. Barry was adamant about paying him back, though, and had already started setting money aside to repay him.

Thankfully, Barry didn't own a car, so he didn't have any car insurance bills racked up that he had to pay off. Any other bills that he normally had to pay were done via direct deposit, so Joe hadn't had to worry about them. Barry's bank account suffered for it, though. Nine months of unpaid sick leave while still paying for his usual bills hadn't exactly put him in debt, but it would take him a while to be as financially sound as he was before the lightning. He was anxious to get back to work soon. He couldn't really afford to extend his sick leave for much longer now, and he was looking forward to things just going back to normal again.

Barry was incredibly grateful when he entered his apartment to find that Joe and Iris had kept the place up. They had covered the furniture and dusted and cleaned everything regularly. His fridge was emptied out now, and the apartment was pretty hot and stuffy since it would have made no sense to have the AC running while no one was there, but other than that, everything was pretty much how he had left it.

"I'm so glad you're back," Iris said happily as she was removing the sheets from the furniture, "Coming here and maintaining your apartment was just depressing. I can't tell you how many times I cried in here while you were at STAR Labs."

"I'm sorry," Barry said quietly, feeling a well of guilt pool in his chest.

"Obviously, it's not your fault," she laughed, "You didn't ask to be struck by lightning."

"Still," Barry said, "I can't tell you how grateful I am for everything you and Joe did for me these last nine months."

It still felt weird saying it out loud. To him, it honestly didn't feel like nine months had passed. For Barry, it felt like it was just a few days ago he had been living in this apartment. His mind still kept thinking about trivial little things from nine months ago, like the Hendricks case he had been working on, or the Ortiz case that, in his mind, was supposed to be going to trial next week. By now, the case had long since been closed, though. What was even stranger for Barry was asking Joe about the cases and how they had turned out and having Joe not quite remember which cases he was talking about. To Barry, he and Joe had just been discussing them last week.

"We'll have to get you some groceries," Joe said as he walked out of Barry's small kitchen and back into the living room, "I don't think there's any food left in this place. We cleared out just about everything."

"Oh no!" Barry said, smacking his forehead.

"What?" Joe and Iris both asked urgently in unison.

"I had my Benvenuto's leftovers in there," Barry said miserably.

"So?" Iris asked in confusion.

"So, I was saving it," Barry said in a small voice.

Joe and Iris both laughed.

"You just lost nine months of your life, and you're upset over a little chicken parmesan?" Joe asked in amusement.

Barry sighed.

"It was from Benvenuto's," he pouted.

Joe and Iris both laughed and shook their heads at him in amusement.

"Well, Barry, as soon as you're not on a strict medical diet, we'll take you to Benvenuto's to celebrate," Joe chuckled.

Barry grinned at him.

"Deal."

"In the meantime," Iris said, "We can go shopping to get you some groceries."

"I can do that myself," Barry said dismissively, "Don't worry about it."

Joe and Iris both looked at each other.

"Are you sure, Bar?" Joe asked, "We really don't mind helping."

"I'm sure," Barry said firmly, "I realize that to you guys, I've been completely dependent on other people for nine months, but to me, I just want everything to go back to normal again."

"We get that," Iris said, "We just worry about you."

"You don't have to," Barry assured her with a smile, "I'm awake now. You have nothing to worry about. You guys should really go home and get some rest. You've been babysitting me all week. It must be exhausting."

Iris looked like she was going to argue, but Joe put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. Clearly, he had gotten the hint.

"Alright, Bar," he said quickly, "If you need anything, just give us a call, okay?"

Barry smiled and nodded.

"Thanks," he said, "Both of you."

Joe gave him a small smile and then gently pushed Iris out the front door to Barry's apartment.

"We shouldn't leave yet," Iris said worriedly, as they were walking down the hall in Barry's building, "What if something happens?"

"Barry's fine, Iris," her father assured her, "And I'm getting the sense that he really wants some space right now. We've been smothering him all week because we've missed him so much, but to Barry, no time has passed, and he's probably finding it all kind of overbearing."

"Well, can he blame us for wanting to spend time with him?" Iris asked in frustration.

Her father shook his head at her.

"Baby girl, we haven't given Barry even a moment to himself for an entire week," he reasoned, "He's handling everything amazingly well, but us smothering him all the time is just going to be one more thing for him to adjust to. He's going to have a hard time picking things up where he left off, especially at work. He doesn't need us breathing down his neck through the whole thing. He just needs our support."

Iris sighed.

"I guess you're right," she muttered, even though she didn't like it.

Barry walked over to check the front door to make sure they were really gone. The apartment was empty. He was alone. For the first time since he had woken up, Barry was truly alone. He walked back over to the couch and sat down, letting out a breath of relief. Barry really did appreciate everything they had done for him, but it also felt good to finally get a moment to himself for once.

As Barry sat there, it wasn't long before he raised his hand up to look at it. It was still. Not so much as a tremor ran through it. Barry stared at it and did his best to concentrate on the limb. It shook slightly, but it was at a normal speed. He took a deep breath and then tried again. He had gotten it to work a few times now, but it was still hard to do it willingly. It was more than just shaking his hand really fast, he had discovered. It required concentration and something he couldn't quite describe.

The easiest way to do it was for him to visualize a ball of energy in his chest, a sun-like sphere of power surrounding his heart, and if he concentrated hard enough, he could redirect that energy to his hand and…

Barry gasped when his hand started to vibrate. He stared at it in wonder, still not quite sure if what he was seeing was real. Over the last week, he had wondered to himself several times if he should let someone else see it, too, in order to confirm that it was, in fact, actually happening. Something stopped him, though. He wasn't sure whom he wanted to tell about it yet. Joe and Iris seemed like the obvious choice, but if he was imagining it, then he would just look stupid or crazy when he tried to show them.

He thought about telling Dr. Snow about it, too, but she was already hell-bent on studying him for his healing capabilities. He didn't need to give her one more thing to get excited about.

No, for now, Barry was going to keep it to himself. At least, until he figured out what was actually happening to him.

Although a moment ago Barry had been looking forward to taking a nap in his freshly made bed, he now suddenly didn't feel tired. He suddenly didn't feel tired at all, as if some sort of energy had been reawakened now. A moment ago, he had been ready to pass out for an hour or two, and now he felt fidgety, like he couldn't sit still, as if remaining stationary was the most horrible pain in the world. He couldn't begin to understand why, but he suddenly felt like going for a walk or something. Maybe even a jog.

Dr. Snow had told him to take it easy, but she hadn't specifically said he couldn't go for light jog if he wanted to. He knew he shouldn't, but it was an urge Barry just couldn't shake. He always used to go for runs when he was feeling stressed out, ever since he was in high school, and when he was in college, Barry had gone for a run almost every single day. It was part of his routine, really.

Still bursting with energy, Barry quickly pulled on a pair of loose shorts and a t-shirt. He was glad he was alone in his apartment now and could make the decision to go for a run without any hassles. If he was still at Joe's house, Joe and Iris surely would have stopped him, even if he was feeling fine.

Barry grabbed his keys and locked his apartment door behind him as he left. As he walked down the sidewalk, towards the small park near his building where he usually ran, he could feel the energy buzzing impatiently through him. Normally, Barry didn't start running until he got to the park, but he couldn't help it. His body almost had a mind of its own as it pushed him to break out into a light jog down the sidewalk, trying to expend some of the pent up energy that was radiating through him. By the time Barry got to the park, he was almost full-on sprinting.

And it felt amazing!

His legs were still a little stiff from lying in a bed for nine months, and going for a run seemed to be exactly what they had been aching for. This was so much better than doing stretching exercises with Dr. Snow.

Barry had thought he wouldn't be able to run like this for a while. He thought he would probably be so stiff and out of shape that he'd waddle like a slow-ass duck when he got back into running, but he found the exact opposite to be true. His form was excellent! It was probably just as good as it used to be when he used to compete in track and cross country in high school.

The strange thing was, after all the concern Dr. Snow had expressed about his respiratory health, Barry didn't feel at all out of breath. In fact, he felt like he could run forever! He wasn't tired or winded at all! The muscles that had grown in his legs felt stronger, and his feet pushed powerfully off the ground with each stride. He wasn't even sweating yet, despite how hot it was today.

What Barry was perhaps the most amazed by, though, was his speed. Barry wished he had brought a timer or something with him because he doubted he had ever run this fast in his life, even in high school. He couldn't say for sure, but to him, it felt like he was running fast enough to compete in the Olympics or something!

Now he really wished he had brought his timer. Barry looked around him as he ran. Everything seemed to be going by him so fast, yet he could still see everything so clearly. This wasn't the first time that Barry had noticed an improvement in his eyesight since the coma. He had always had 20/20 vision, but now his eyesight seemed to be impossibly clear. Better than 20/20. Maybe it had to do with his regenerative abilities or something. [1]

As Barry looked around him, he suddenly spotted something that made him skid to a halt in his tracks. A woman was crossing the street, and she had clearly not looked both ways because a truck was barreling right at her.

"Get out of the way!" Barry screamed at her, running off the path and towards the street, towards the woman.

He was way too far away from her, though, and she clearly hadn't heard his shout. In a panic, Barry raced towards her as fast as he could, knowing it was futile. He wasn't going to get there in time. She was going to get hit. Barry saw the woman's head turn, her eyes widening when she saw the truck that was about to hit her.

Suddenly, Barry felt a strange surge of electricity rush through his entire body, crackling through his veins like lightning. A second later, he was hitting something hard. Barry felt a horrible pain in his right wrist for a split second before he felt the rest of the pain. His entire body felt like it had been hit by a truck. Maybe he had been hit by a truck!

Barry blinked a few times, his mind in a daze. It took a few seconds for the spots to clear out of his vision, but when they did, he found himself to be kneeling on the sidewalk, next to a building. His right wrist felt like there were a thousand knives stabbing into it. Curled up in his left arm, however, was a woman, who was groaning and clutching her neck.

"Are you okay?" Barry asked in concern, ignoring his own pain, which was now radiating throughout his entire body.

"Fine," she muttered, rubbing her neck, "I think you just gave me whiplash when you knocked me over."

She looked around her then and realized what had happened.

"You…You just saved my life," she said in shock.

Suddenly, several bystanders started slowly crowding around them, helping them to their feet. Barry gratefully stuck out his left arm—his good arm—and a man took it and helped him up off the ground. Barry groaned when he stood.

His legs didn't feel so great anymore. His whole body hurt like hell. He must have slammed into the side of the brick building after pulling the woman out of the way. He must have instinctively stuck out his arm to cushion the blow, but his wrist had snapped like a twig, and his body had still slammed hard into the brick wall. Thankfully, he had taken on most of the impact and the woman he had saved seemed to be fine, despite her sore neck.

After blinking a few more times and regaining his balance, Barry looked around him again. He hardly even heard the praise he was getting from the people around him for saving the woman's life. He was too preoccupied with figuring out how he had done it.

Barry had to have been a good fifty yards away from the woman, and yet, in a split second, he had managed to not only get to her and pull her out of the way, but he had run them both so fast that they had made it all the way across the sidewalk, where they rendezvoused with the wall. Barry couldn't wrap his head around it.

He had hit his head, though. It had smacked into the brick pretty hard when they made impact. Maybe he was just remembering the whole thing wrong. Barry gave himself a mental shake, and suddenly the words of the bystanders surrounding him reached his ears.

"….call an ambulance?" one man was saying.

Barry blinked at him.

"What?" he asked stupidly.

"Did you want me to call an ambulance?" the man asked him patiently, talking in a slow voice as if Barry was a four-year-old.

"No," Barry said quickly, "I'm fine. That's okay."

"Your head is bleeding," the man said, "And you seem a little dazed. You probably have a concussion. You should let me call an ambulance for you, son."

Barry shook his head vehemently.

"No, no," he said stubbornly, stumbling away from the man, "I'm alright."

"That's a pretty nasty looking wrist," a woman said suddenly, "It looks broken."

"It's fine," Barry insisted, not even sure why he was being so stubborn about this, "I'll go see my doctor and get it taken care of. I'll be fine."

Barry took a few more steps then, trying to break through the crowd that had congregated around him. Barry nearly cried out in shock, though, when he felt the sharp stabbing pain in his ankles. All the joints and tendons in his legs felt as if they had been torn apart. He must have really pushed himself to do so much damage.

Barry knew he needed to go to STAR Labs to see Dr. Snow, but he definitely wasn't going to get there on foot. He could call a cab, but he didn't have his wallet with him and wouldn't be able to pay for it. Barry sighed and pulled out his phone, dialing Joe's number as the crowd around him slowly dissipated.

He froze, though, before hitting the call button. If he called Joe and told him that he was hurt and he needed a ride to go see his doctor, Joe would go into worried father mode in an instant. He and Iris had only just left his apartment a half hour ago, and now Barry was already hurt and calling for help. They would make him move back into Joe's house for sure, thinking he was unable to spend less than a half hour alone without hurting himself.

Not to mention the fact that his wounds were already healing. Barry could feel it. His head wasn't throbbing as painfully, and the scrapes on his arm and his face were healing already. He couldn't explain that to Joe. He wasn't ready to tell Joe and Iris about the healing factor he and Dr. Snow had discovered.

Barry scrolled through the contacts on his phone until he paused on one.

Cisco Ramon.

Barry hardly knew the guy, but Ramon had told him to call if he ever needed help with anything. Barry also really liked Cisco for some reason he couldn't explain. He didn't give off the same cold scientist-like vibes that Dr. Snow and Dr. Wells did. He seemed friendly and approachable enough.

Barry took a deep breath before hitting the call button.

[1] It is possible to have better than 20/20 vision. I have 20/15 vision, meaning I can see an object at 20 feet away that most people can only see at 15 feet away.