The next day was what Dalton would call a "Silent Day" to honor Barry. While some would argue that Silent Days are used for the dead, they are used to honor any student in the hospital as well.
Silent days basically mean all classes and practices are cancelled, and the students would make something to put in the student's dorm.
When Thad and Jeff woke up, they were not surprised to find that that day was a silent day, and that Sebastian was still asleep.
"Poor guy. Today's going to be even worse than last night for him,"Jeff said, looking at the sleeping figure.
Thad nodded. "I can't even imagine what he must be going through. They never resolved their fight from a few weeks ago, and the guilt must be killing him," he said, sadly.
Jeff nodded. "Do you want to leave him alone for a few minutes? I'm kind of hungry," he suggested. Thad nodded, then looked at the clock.
"Yea, the rest of the guys are probably down there now," he said. Jeff got off the floor, deciding to clean up later, and Thad got up as well.
Not bothering to change, both boys walked silently down to the dining hall, where, as expected, their group of Warblers were already at the table.
"Hey guys," Thad said, as Jeff went off to get in line for food.
"Hey," a few guys said back. Trent asked, "How's Sebastian holding up?"
Thad shrugged. "He's asleep right now, but probably not so well when he remembers what happened," Thad said, looking down.
"I went out to check out the area, there's caution tape all around. There's a bunch of burnt grass as well," Nick said.
Trent sighed. "Barry didn't deserve this. He's too nice," he said. Thad and Nick nodded, when Jeff came back.
Jeff sat down, but he didn't say anything. The others thought he was upset about the lightning, and he was, but he was more disturbed by the article.
Barry had PTSD? Is that why he was so interested in science?
What about this man in yellow? Why would Barry make something like that up? It made no sense!
Jeff didn't really know if he believed Barry or the media, but telling the world about an eleven-year old's PTSD is just messed up. Barry must've been humiliated after that got out.
Maybe that was why he transferred, because people in his school found the articles. Found out what he thought happened.
That was probably why he and Sebastian kept fighting as well. The article did say Sebastian wasn't there, that he believed the cops.
Jeff was brought out of his thoughts by someone sitting next to him. Jeff looked over to greet them, but this person just so happened to be Sebastian.
Sebastian's hair was all frazzled, his eyes were tired and red-rimmed, and he looked like he didn't get much sleep the night before.
"You ok?" Jeff asked, knowing full well what the answer was.
Sebastian glared at Jeff. "Do I look ok?" He snapped, his voice breaking. Sebastian then looked down and sighed. "I'm sorry, it's been a long night," Sebastian said solemnly. Thad, Trent, and Nick walked over and hugged him, Jeff joining soon after.
"Do you want me to drive you down there?" Jeff asked, and Sebastian shook his head.
"I can drive myself," he insisted. And Thad protested, "Not in this condition. Let Jeff drive you."
Sebastian pushed away. "I don't need you guys babysitting me because my brother's in a coma, alright?" he snapped.
Jeff put his hands up. "I won't even go into the hospital if you'd like, I just think you need some time to think and focus before you can drive again," he said, and Sebastian sighed.
"Fine," he said in defeat. "Visiting hours start at noon, and I want to be there as soon as that starts, so let's leave around eleven forty-five," he said, before getting up without touching his food, and leaving.
Jeff and Sebastian got there right at twelve somehow, and as promised, Jeff stayed in the car. He did want to visit Barry, but he wasn't sure what the policy was for friends was just yet.
Sebastian walked into the building and got his pass for visiting Barry, along with a look of sympathy - no, pity, from the person working the front desk.
Sebastian made his way up to the floor Barry was on to find Joe and Iris outside the door, and a bunch of doctors leaving the room.
"What happened?" Sebastian frantically asked, and Joe looked over to see Sebastian standing there.
"He flatlined again, has been all night," Joe said, and Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "And you didn't think to tell me this?" he demanded.
"We didn't want to worry you anymore," Iris defended. Sebastian sighed. He didn't feel like fighting right then. "Just… call me next time he does," Sebastian said, and the two West's nodded.
It went like that for months, but this time someone would call the other when Barry flatlined, whether it be Joe to Sebastian or Sebastian to Iris.
Eventually, Spring Break rolled around, and Barry hasn't woken up yet. Sebastian missed enough classes to have to spend overtime during spring break to catch up, if not summer school, but not quite enough to retake the grade.
The school decided Barry would've had to retake the grade, but he was in mostly advanced classes, and his GPA was a solid 4.0 before the lightning, so if he woke up before the year ended, he could move up with his class.
Which, lucky for Barry, he did.
Sebastian was doing some catchup math homework, five months after the lighting, next to Barry, when out of the corner of his eye he saw movement. He wasn't sure if he was seeing things or if Barry's waking up, but homework could wait now. Sebastian was sitting closer to Barry, watching for any signs of movement again.
After about ten minutes, Sebastian started to lose hope, when Barry's hand suddenly twitched again.
Sebastian shot out of his seat, heart beating faster, as Barry's fingers slightly moved after his hand stopped twitching.
"Doctor! Nurse! Someone! I think my brother's waking up!" Sebastian screamed down the hallway, and a minute later, a doctor and a nurse came running down the hallway.
"What did you say was going on?" The doctor asked as the nurse looked at Barry.
"I think he's waking up," Sebastian said, and the doctor raised an eyebrow. "I saw his fingers move, and his hand twitch," he continued, and the nurse interrupted.
"He's waking up, he keeps slowly moving his fingers," she said, and the doctor went over to Barry to get him ready. He sent the nurse out to call Joe, and Sebastian waited in anticipation.
Barry felt trapped. He heard sounds, people talking, but he couldn't decipher what they were saying. He couldn't open his eyes, let alone move, and it was starting to freak him out. It could've been a sleep paralysis, but even then, he could probably hear people clearly.
C'mon, move, he thought to himself, trying to move something, anything, but he felt like he couldn't.
After what seemed like forever, he finally felt his hand twitch. Progress, he thought.
A few minutes later, he got his fingers to move. Barry mentally smiled in success. Next step was opening his eyes, but he felt like they were literally glued to his face.
One and a half hours later, Barry opened his eyes, and officially woke up.
Sebastian never thought he would be so happy to see his own face, his own eyes, but when Barry opened his eyes, Sebastian started crying. Joe was there with him, Iris was still in school, but Barry was awake.
"Barry?" Sebastian asked softly, putting his hand in his twin's.
"Wh't h'pp'n'd?" Barry groggily asked, before coughing a little bit. His throat had to be so dry, it hasn't been used in months.
"You were in a coma, struck by lightning," Sebastian said softly. Barry's eyes slightly widened.
"Lightn'ng?" he asked. Barry didn't feel like he was struck by lightning. Honestly, he felt like he just drank five cups of coffee.
Sebastian nodded. "Yea, you were out for five months," Sebastian finished, before slightly squeezing Barry's hand. "I was so scared you were going to die, Barr," Sebastian said softly, and Barry closed his eyes.
"'m sorry," Barry said, and Sebastian rubbed his way too firm arm for someone who was just in a coma, and said, "No, no, it's not your fault. It's not like you got to choose whether you were struck by lighting," Sebastian chuckled, and Barry slightly smiled.
Joe walked over to Barry and put an arm on his foster son. "We missed you, kid," he said, and Barry weakly smiled back.
"'m t'red," Barry mumbled, and Sebastian said, "It's fine, you sleep man."
While Barry was sleeping, the doctors came in and moved Barry out of the coma ward after checking Barry.
His vitals were so unusually good, they were planning on an early discharge. They wanted to keep him a few days before actually letting him go, and getting him set up for physical therapy, but other than that he had no reason to be there.
Once Barry woke up in a room to himself, with less wiring on him, he decided to try to walk.
It was a terrible idea, he knew, but it wasn't like he was about to walk out of that hospital like he wasn't asleep for five months. Plus, no one was around, he needed to take advantage of this time alone.
Barry slowly and carefully moved the blankets off of him, and swung his legs over the edge. When he did that, he felt that feeling from when he woke up, like he had so much energy, and it had to be released.
Barry carefully placed his feet onto the floor, and not half a second later he crashed into the wall.
On the other side of the room.
"What the hell…?" Barry mumbled to himself, and he felt his hand slightly shaking. He held it to try to calm it down as he got up, knowing someone was probably about to drop by, when he noticed it wasn't just shaking.
It was vibrating.