"…Barry… Barry… Barry! He's not responding…" Cisco was yelling into the communication mic while Wells stared at a whiteboard. All Caitlin could do was stare at the jumping vital lines on the monitor.
Think Caitlin, think! If a stimulant is causing him to have a heart attack…no, wrong question! His heart's going too fast, how can I slow it down?
"I've got a tracker on him, Me and Cailin can take the van." Cisco said finally, voice tense and twizzler eaten.
"Caitlin and I," She corrected absently, but Cisco didn't respond; they were both too caught up in their own thoughts. Caitlin knew what he was thinking. She knew what they both were.
If Barry dies, it's our fault.
They drove in silence, not speaking much apart from Caitlin's directions.
"The problem's that he's going too fast, right? So how do you slow down the Fastest Man Alive?" Cisco said suddenly.
"That's what I've been trying to figure out." Caitlin said, focussing on the directions.
"It's not like we could stick him in mossasses, right? But getting enough would be tricky." Cisco tried to joke, but it fell flat.
"Sugar's a stimulant too," Caitlin said, trying to keep it going but failing, "it'd just be worse for him probably."
"So, the opposite of a stimulant is…" Cisco trailed off, focussing on the road.
"A depressant." Caitlin said, practically quoting her high school textbook.
"Wow, that's depressing." Cisco said with a quirk in his lips.
Caitlin groaned, "You're almost as bad as Smasher!"
"Oy! That-" Cisco began, but she cut him off.
"Glass…depressants! Alcohol!" Eyes wide, they looked at each other.
"But he can't get drunk." Cisco said, pulling over in an alley next to the bank, which was now surrounded by flashing lights.
"He doesn't need to get really drunk, just enough to offset the caffeine until it gets out of his system. I wouldn't normally recommend mixing drugs, but it might work." Caitlin explained as she got out of the van.
"I think there's a bottle shop a block away, get some Everclear*." She said, fully in doctor mode as she rushed over to the collapsed figure in red.
"What about vodka?"
"Not high enough alcohol content unless it's Spyritus Polish vodka, but I don't think they'll have that. Scottish whiskey would work too if you can find it.**" She shouted and he got into the van and rushed off.
One bottle of Everclear, a few chest compressions and fifteen minutes later, Barry was back on his feet. Maybe he wasn't feeling 100%, but he could stand.
Caitlin had her head in her hands and was muttering something about ethics and conventional solutions.
*Yeah so I did a google search and apparently Everclear is the drink with the second highest alcohol content in the world (95%). It originated from the US, so I figured it was likely to be sold in Central City.
**First highest is Spyritus Polish-made Vodka (96%) and third is Scottish Whiskey (92%), which is apparently quadruple distilled! Crazy, right? I just hope no one checks my browser history after this fic...I've googled everything from caffeine overdoses to the alcohol content in drinks...
Author's Note:
So, please please please don't try this at home. This is just a crazy author's crazy idea of based on her limited knowledge!
Anyway, Barry might be out of the figurative woods, but this is not over yet! Standby for the last chapter coming next Saturday in which Barry- ***censored*** yeah, nice try, no spoilers :)
Anyway, I haven't been getting much writing done lately (homework, limited motivation...the normal culprits), but I'll do my best to get something done today.
Anyway, have a great May Day weekend!
Trix