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Shattered
Chapter Two
Barry sat idly in the waiting area after Caitlin was wheeled away. He called Joe, then Cisco. He tried Dr. Wells, and left a voicemail. Less than twenty minutes had passed since he'd found Caitlin, but it felt like an entire day had gone by.
With nothing to do but wait, he rested his head on his hand, jiggling his knee vigorously. His eyes kept flicking between the ticking clock, and the hospital personnel milling around.
Every time a door opened, he looked up, hoping for an update. It struck him as painfully ironic, for a man who defied speed, physics, and the impossible, that waiting was torturous.
The minutes dragged by. Barry felt numb. Mystified as to how the morning's events had unfolded. The team faced danger every day, but usually there was some murmur of a warning. The emergence of a new threat. Some way of knowing what was coming for them. This time, however, there hadn't been even a whisper. The attack on Caitlin was shocking and senseless.
A young nurse stirred him from his thoughts. She offered him fresh scrubs, telling him he could clean up in the restroom. He asked for any news. The nurse, who probably fended off the same inquiry to countless friends and relatives, assured him that Caitlin was in good hands.
With that, Barry ushered to the bathroom. He moved to the sink. It was only when he looked in the mirror that he saw his face, hands, and clothes were covered in blood. Bowing his head, he turned on the faucet. He scrubbed his hands with soap and water, staring down at the clear, readily-flowing water mixing, and turning pink, with the remnants of blood.
He went about the motions of cleaning up, and changing clothes. He felt disloyal, washing away all traces of her. He didn't know whether she was going to live or die. Yet he was cleansing his skin of all traces of a woman who'd believed in him when he'd doubted himself.
Barry bit back against the surge of raw emotions. Lowering his head, he splashed cold water on his face. He breathed deeply, attempting to quell his anxiety. He couldn't afford to break, not with Caitlin fighting for her life. Not with Cisco on his way to the hospital, afraid for his best friend. Barry was supposed to be the hero. He had to be strong for his friends.
After drying his face, he moved back to the waiting area. He slumped into an available seat. Another glance to the clock, and he saw Cisco Ramon rush into the E.R. After a quick scan of the room, the young scientist made a beeline for the speedster.
"How is she?" Cisco's round face shone with fear and concern. His longish hair was tucked haphazardly behind his ears.
"I don't know," Barry told him. "She's still in surgery."
"What happened?" Cisco looked terrified for his friend.
"Someone attacked her. They stabbed her. I found her in the parking lot."
"What? Why?" The news hit hard. Cisco sank down on to a near plastic chair. "Why would anyone want to hurt Caitlin?"
"I don't know." It was hard to envision that the sweet bio-engineer had made an enemy of anyone in Central City, especially someone who would go to such extreme lengths to hurt her.
"Should we call her parents?" Barry gathered the relationship with her family was strained. Caitlin dodged the topic whenever it came up. But he figured any parent would want to know if their child's life hung in jeopardy.
"Dr. Wells might a number for them."
"He's on his way over," Barry supplied. "We can ask when he gets here."
Silence hung between them. Cisco sat in silence, staring into nothingness, his head resting heavily in his hands. It occurred to Barry that while going about the same routine, day after day, working, fitting in friends, and protecting the city, time flew by. However, with Caitlin hanging on by a thread, and him unable to do a thing to determine the outcome, time slowed to an uncomfortable pace.
Breaching the quiet, Barry turned to Cisco. "You guys, you had a Netflix night, last night, right?" Barry knew they binge-watched TV shows on occasion. It had become more ritualistic lately, with Caitlin relying on her friends more.
"Game of Thrones," Cisco nodded. "We watched a few episodes. Then I left her apartment. She was totally fine."
"She's not mentioned anyone's been bothering her? Following her?" Barry found himself asking the typical questions Joe would ask the victim's closest friends and family.
"Not to me. You?" Cisco's eyes clouded with doubt.
"Could Ronnie have done this to her?" Barry chanced the question. He didn't want to think the man Caitlin loved was capable of such an unspeakable act. But he didn't know Ronnie. He had no idea what Ronnie Raymond was capable of. Especially now that he was back and a changed man.
"Ronnie?" Cisco voice raised with objection. He shook his head. "No! There's no way Ronnie did this."
"You're sure?"
"I know Ronnie. At Christmas, when we saw him, saw he was different. He didn't want to hurt her. He couldn't. He wouldn't have hurt her and left her to die."
"I'm sorry," Barry uttered the response he'd heard Joe state so many times when asking the difficult questions. The reality was he'd never known Ronnie, but hearing Caitlin, Cisco, and even Dr. Wells talk about him, it seemed a leap to think of him as a heartless predator.
"Do you think a metahuman did this?" Cisco asked quietly.
Barry considered the question. Except for Captain Cold, and Heatwave, who'd abducted Caitlin to lure him out, the metahumans usually targeted him or Wells.
"I don't know. Something about what happened to her…," Barry couldn't explain the feeling. Something about the attack seemed odd. The attacker could have killed Caitlin outright. But he hadn't. He'd broke her phone, leaving it just beyond her reach. He'd wanted her to suffer. He'd left her alone to die. The circumstances screamed to Barry that the attack was personal. From Barry's training as a CSI, from his time at college, studying murderers and serial killers, the real psychopaths were all too real, and all too human.
"I don't know, Cisco," Barry uttered honestly. "Guess we'll have to wait till we talk to Caitlin. See what the crime scene shows… But something about this…, it just, it doesn't make sense to me."
"What do you mean?" Cisco's brow crinkled.
Barry didn't have time to answer. Dr. Harrison Wells steered into the waiting area. The once-respected entrepreneur, Barry's mentor, scanned the room, locking on to their location. He navigated the wheelchair toward the men. Behind the thick-rimmed glasses, and smart eyes, he wore a look of concern.
"Is there any news?"
"She's still in surgery," Cisco told him in a shaky voice.
"Caitlin's in good hands," Dr. Wells assured Cisco. In some ways, the S.T.A.R. Labs team served as a dysfunctional family. Cisco wasn't close with his, falling short in comparison to his brother. Caitlin didn't talk about her family. From what little Barry knew of Dr. Wells, he got the impression he didn't have anyone to lean on either.
The three of them were the closest thing to family that any of them had in many respects. The team, sharing in Barry's secret, had each other, and in the few short months Barry had spent working with them, he'd seen how much they cared for each other, and for Barry. In return, Barry had come to care for them also.
"What happened?" Dr. Wells directed at Barry. "You say you found Caitlin in the parking lot?"
"Yes. She'd barely made it out of her car." Barry felt a chilling certainty that the attacker had been lying in wait.
"We'll review the security footage. See if the cameras caught anyone."
Nodding, Barry felt the buzz of his phone. He retrieved it from the depths of the scrubs' pocket. Reading, he pulled himself from the chair.
"Listen, Joe just texted me. The police are on scene." Reluctant as he was to leave Caitlin, and Cisco, he couldn't do anything at the hospital but wait. He felt the pull to process the crime scene. See it with his own eyes. He wanted whoever had hurt Caitlin caught. The best way he could do that was doing his day job.
"Of course! Go!" Dr. Wells said with a firm nod.
Barry looked to the young engineer. Cisco was clearly struggling but gave Barry the go ahead. "I'll text you. Just find whoever did this."
"Thank you," Barry patted Cisco's shoulder.
The police were processing the scene when Barry arrived. He slowed, coming to a halt behind the vast, rounded structure. Outside, and given that the winds had picked up since earlier, the chilly air whipped at his skin, and the loose-fitting scrubs did little to fend off the cold.
He proceeded hastily to the area cordoned off by yellow tape, toward the faces he saw every day. He'd worked a few cases over his time at the CCPD, where the victim was a police officer. Those cases carried a special sense of urgency. Cops saw a lot that they'd rather forget, they dealt in life and death situations. They had each-others' backs. They were uncompromisingly loyal to one another. They took an attack on their own very seriously. Barry understood the sentiment more than ever that day.
"Hey," Joe approached him, his deep eyes registered the seriousness of the situation. "How's Caitlin doing?"
"She's in surgery. Cisco's going to text as soon as we know more."
Wordlessly, Joe collected a standardized CCPD windbreaker he always kept in the trunk of his car. He tossed it to the younger man.
Shrugging into it gratefully, Barry zipped it up to the neck to ward of the chill.
"And how are you holding up?"
Given that Joe had been a constant source of support and strength since the death of his mother, Barry didn't bother to deny he was wrestling with his emotions. His friend's life hung in the balance. Finding her the way he had in the parking lot had sparked memories of finding his own mother dead. So, instead, he dodged the question. "I've been better. Did you find anything?"
"The techs are processing the scene. We've interviewed the security guard. He didn't see anything. You'd think this place would have more than one security guard." It was no secret that Joe didn't like, or trust, Dr. Wells. "The security camera should have caught something." Joe pointed at the camera pointed squarely at the mint-colored Kia.
Glancing to the camera, Barry was instantly grateful for Caitlin's over-cautiousness. She'd chosen her usual spot wisely, and hopefully it would turn up some clue as to her attacker's identity.
The atmosphere was heavy and somber as Joe and Barry walked the scene. The evidence was being processed and catalogued. Each item of interest was marked with a letter. Though Barry went about the exact some process, it felt cold and clinical. Alien. The techs worked with a fixed detachment. Barry's eyes trailed to the discarded scarf, the broken cell, the blood, his spilled coffee. All labelled. The sad remnants of the violence that had occurred earlier.
"Barry," Joe's voice was laced with concern. "If this is too much, no one is going to think less of you."
"No," Barry planted his hands in the depths of the windbreaker's pockets. "I need to be here."
Detective Eddie Thawne stood nearby, talking with one of the uniformed officers. Eddie met Barry's gaze, and offered a nod by way of hello. Once finished with the officer, Eddie moved to Barry and Joe. "I'm sorry man," Eddie extended his sympathies. "If there's anything I can do."
"Thank you." Not long ago, Barry had seen Eddie solely as a rival. But as they worked the job together, and Eddie offered his assistance to S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry found himself liking Eddie. Eddie was a good cop, and a standup guy.
"Dinwiddie turn anything up?" Joe asked after a beat, inquiring if the uniformed officer had found any shred of evidence whilst canvassing the immediate area.
"Nothing yet," Eddie supplied. "This wasn't a robbery. Caitlin's purse wasn't touched. None of her money or credit cards were taken. The techs will dust for prints, but I doubt they'll find any."
"Could the attack have been personal?" Joe looked to Barry. "Did she mention that anyone's been bothering her? Following her?"
"Not to me. Or Cisco."
"Why would anyone want to do this to a person like Caitlin?" Eddie uttered Cisco's same words. It was those words that spun around Barry's head.
"I don't know," Barry uttered. Despite her somewhat guarded exterior, Caitlin Snow was the gentlest, most compassionate person Barry had come across.
"Has there been any metahuman activity?" Eddie weighed in.
"No, it's been oddly quiet since Peekaboo."
"And the fiancé?" Joe asked, and both he, and Eddie, looked to Barry. "The burning man? Could he have done this?"
"I asked Cisco the same thing. He seemed certain Ronnie Raymond wasn't responsible."
"But how much do we really know about him? Especially now that he's back but not really him." It was Joe's job to consider all possible suspects, and then to decide how likely or unlikely they were.
"We need to get hold of the security tapes," Eddie uttered.
"Sir, I found this thrown behind the dumpster back there." Patty Spivot, the newest CSI team member, strode over, showing them the weapon that most likely had been used on Caitlin. The tall, blonde woman pointed to the row of dumpsters at the fence's northern perimeter.
"May I?" Joe reached for the bagged evidence.
"Of course," Patty readily handed over the weapon before presenting a second baggie containing three cigarette butts. "I also found these. I'll get them tested as soon as I get back to the lab."
"See that you do. The woman who was attacked, she's a good friend of ours."
Patty bob her head in understanding, "I'll put a rush on the results."
"I'd appreciate that." He offered the keen, young officer a smile of encouragement. "Good work, Spivot."
"Thank you, Sir." Patty smiled and with that, she sauntered away.
"Huh," Eddie's eyes narrowed to study the instrument Joe held. "Not your run-of-the-mile knife."
"Let me see that." Barry peered at the knife wrapped in clear plastic. The blade had been wiped clean. He suspected that would be the case. It wasn't uncommon for criminals to attempt to wipe away all signs of evidence. But it was the jewels and the symbol at the hilt that gave him pause. "This was found here?"
"That's what she said. Why?" Joe cast Barry a curious, sideways glance.
"It's just that," Barry studied the handle closely. "I've seen this symbol. I recognize the markings."
"You do?" Eddie's interest peeked. "From where?"
"I wish I knew," Barry idly stroked his fingers against the plastic, running his index over the symbol that felt unsettlingly familiar.
Returning to the hospital, Barry had more questions than he had answers. He was certain he'd seen the knife, or at least the symbol, before, but try as he might he couldn't recall where. His mind continuously drew a blank.
"Hey, did you find anything?" Cisco asked. He remained in the same seat as where Barry had left him. His hands were curled around a barely-touched coffee.
"Just this?" Barry showed a picture of the knife that he'd taken on his phone. "Does it look familiar to you?"
"No," Cisco's eyes shadowed as he stared at the weapon. "Should it?"
"The symbol," Barry explained, "I've seen it before."
"Yeah? From where?"
"I don't know." Barry ran a hand over his tired eyes. He needed a coffee.
Before he had chance to head to the vending machines, Dr. Logan appeared before them. Dressed in surgical scrubbed he looked weary. His face was focused and neutral as he gathered Barry, Cisco and Dr. Wells together. Barry couldn't tell if he came bearing good news or bad.
"There were some complications during surgery," Dr. Logan began. Out of the corner of his eye, Barry watched Cisco's face grow pale and his eyes widened.
The doctor continued, and Barry tried to process the words coming out of his mouth. The intricate details spun in the air, and made the speedster dizzy at the very thought of them. He learned that Caitlin had needed to be resuscitated twice in the OR. She'd needed a blood transfusion.
"The surgery was a success." The words put an instant stop to his sickening worry. Barry breathed in deeply as Dr. Logan continued, "We're hopeful that Caitlin to make a full recovery, though she's not completely out of the woods just yet. She will to remain under close care and observation. The road to recovery isn't going to be easy. It will be slow given the severity of the wound."
"Can we see her?" Cisco uttered the request once the doctor had said his piece.
"You're family?" Dr. Logan asked.
"They're the closest thing to it," Dr. Wells supplied without a moment's hesitation. "Caitlin isn't close with her family."
Dr. Logan, a good man, and a good doctor, nodded toward Barry and Cisco. "Just two at a time. I'll have a nurse come and get you."
"Thank you, doctor," Dr. Wells extended his gratitude to the ER doctor who'd fought to save Caitlin's life.
Dr. Logan's reaction to Dr. Wells was one that Barry had seen many-a-time. The look of distrust and loathing flashed on Dr. Logan's face momentarily. Dr. Wells had destroyed a lot of lives with his revolutionary work with the particle accelerator. Clearly Dr. Logan wasn't someone who supported the tycoon.
"Thank your friend," Dr. Logan gestured toward Barry. "He got her to us just in the nick of time." With that, and a nod to Barry, the doctor left.
To be continued...