Chapter 10 [Twenty minutes later]

Patty sat despondently beside the x-ray machine in question. To say her mind was struggling to keep up with everything proved a grotesque understatement…..

…her boyfriend was a superhero or a vigilante (depending upon one's point of view)….

…He ran around with other vigilantes…

…His friends…the seemingly normal friends…were part of the STAR Labs 'weird science' squad….

…She had to shoot the bad ass villain…Zoom as they called him….

…And Joe had known about this the whole time…he knew….

Her throbbing hands burned her back to reality. She sighed. "Wonder what I did now?" She glanced over at Caitlin. "Anything?"

Caitlin twisted her lip. "At least your hands aren't powder and jello. That was a brave thing you did, Patty." She pointed to the recently developed x-rays which sat against an enhanced white board making the former reveal their secrets. "You've got some minor breaks in the bones between your thumb and index finger in the right hand. The left hand has minor breaks between the second and third fingers in addition to an identical one as the right hand. If I can get them into splints, the bones will reset themselves. You're going to need some physical therapy though."

"Okay." Patty could at least understand that prognosis. "I guess it could be worse, right? Maybe Barry can wait on me for a bit?"

Caitlin shrugged. "You'll need to ask him that. Somehow though I don't think that'll be a problem." She opened a cabinet and fished around in there for a minute. "Yes. Here they are!"

"I just feel bad though. Barry's got enough on his plate with all of this. Still I want to understand. Hope I don't sound too judgmental, Caitlin," Patty conceded allowing a guilty and contrite frown onto her face.

Caitlin sighed. As with Felicity, she really wasn't into allowing people to fire off accusations at the people she cared for. Still, as with the blonde hacker, she empathized with the detective. "You did at times back there I have to admit. Still your worlds as cop and girlfriend are clashing. Understandable under the circumstances. Still do me a favor? Maybe tone it down just a little? Believe it or not, we're all on the same side here," Caitlin elaborated while producing several metal strips, a roll of gauze and a roll of medical tape. "It's okay to ask questions. Maybe it might have saved us a few situations?"

"You mean like shooting that other Harrison Wells?" Patty supposed.

"Yes that. We did save him although it took Jay making a really big sacrifice to do so." Caitlin eyed the other woman's hands. "I've got some pain meds if you want for those hands."

Patty shook her head. "Let's get them set. Maybe later. Thanks."

"Okay." Caitlin set the metal strips onto Patty's right hand and secured them over the appropriate places with the gauze and then the tape. "What do you mean sacrifice?"

"Jay had to take an experimental serum to be able to vibrate like Barry does. He used that to deal with the bullet." Caitlin sighed while taking another coffee gulp. "I know you have a lot of questions. We don't mind answering them or sharing information. Just give us a chance. Give yourself a chance. For what it's worth, you're hanging in there great."

"Thanks. And I'll be asking those questions if you all don't mind. I just tend to leap in with both feet and…." Patty saw Jay stumbling into the lab area. "Caitlin, what's with him?"

Caitlin turned and her eyes went wide. Her face turned white. Her heart threatened to stop as she saw Jay's condition. She managed to support him as his legs gave out. "Jay, what is it?"

"My…condition. Body's breaking down…without speed force. Need speed…." Jay muttered before he lapsed into unconsciousness.

"No! Jay, come on!" Caitlin panicked for a minute. For a brief second, she hesitated. Her own trauma over losing Ronnie paralyzing her.

"Caitlin, what's going on? We need to help him!" Patty urged in frustration. She couldn't help because of her hands. "We need HELP IN HERE!"

Cisco and Joe rushed into the room not understanding what was going on.

"DAMN!" Cisco explained as he and Joe hoisted the unconscious former speedster onto the exam table.

"What's wrong with him?" Patty wondered.

"Zoom did this. Jay used to be like Barry. Zoom stole his speed like he was going to do to Barry. We need to reverse that…like now," Cisco explained.

"And how are you going to do that?" Joe supposed with an edge to his voice. "Ask Zoom pretty please or something?"

"Something like that," Cisco noted. "Be right back." He grabbed the stretcher and wheeled it back to the table's side. "Help me get him on there." When Joe and he had done that, he grabbed what looked like a pair of needles and a long tube.

"What is that?" Patty asked.

Caitlin blinked while trying to get her own wits collected. "It's…his theory on getting Jay's speed back to him. Cisco, it's not tested!"

"Look at him! Do we really have time for a field test? He's dying! Now!" Cisco retorted.

"Cisco, we get it but maybe you might want to show some sensitivity? She was just telling me the same thing," Patty reminded him tersely. "Look. I know it's like pot calling the kettle black or something. Can we just save him? Caitlin, I don't know all of this science stuff. It's like I'm in the middle of one of my scifi shows or something! But maybe if you all have a chance, shouldn't you take it? Jay's dying. Right? Save him already. At least try."

"She's got a point," Joe noted.

"Jay and I rigged the apparatus right by Zoom's cell. We can have it up and running in a couple of minutes," Cisco indicated.

Caitlin glanced at them all. She looked down at her new boyfriend's suffering form and bit her lip. She didn't want him dying from some untested procedure. However…he probably would die anyway without it. Her mind weighed all of the probabilities. Then she conceded a nod. "Patty's right. Let's get him there."

"Sweet! Let's get this show on the road!" Cisco hustled Jay down the hall toward Zoom's cell.

"Someone needs to get that boy a chill pill," Joe muttered before heading down the same passage.

Patty slowly made her way toward Caitlin. "For what it's worth, thanks for taking me seriously just now. I know Barry really cares about you all. I can see why."

"Why wouldn't I? You're trying to empathize with us. You want to save Jay for his sake not to prove a point. I appreciate that, Patty. Thank you. Just be patient with Cisco. He's not being as crass as he sounds. He cares too. He…sometimes…gets a little too involved with the procedures."

"Like a boy with his toys, right? Guy needs a woman in his life. Seriously," Patty presumed. "Is Barry going to be okay while we're dealing with Jay and that creep down there?"

"Iris and the monitors would both let us know if anything happens, I'm sure. As for Cisco, we definitely are on the same page in that regard. He's had some bad luck lately. Now let's go and save Jay," Caitlin assured her.

"Lead on," Patty concurred as they headed down the hall toward the scene of the next drama at hand. She felt a little better in spite of everything. At least everyone took her seriously there.

Now if only she could take a serious role. That would be the question….