Chapter One
"Life has many ways of testing a person's will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen all at once."
~ Paulo Coelho
-OoO-
Screams of terror filled the air. Their echos bouncing off the cold, wet, moldy walls. She knew it was useless to scream for help. If anything, they would just come back and deliver on their promise of punishment. Although come to think about it, it didn't take much to make them come in and inflict near fatal wounds.
Suddenly, the metal door banged open, slamming against the wall behind it. A tall shadow stepped in, it's silent presence exerting a deathly vibe. After being kept in here for months Alexandria knew what to do. Don't look at them. Make yourself as small as possible. Don't speak. The screams that once surrounded the room hushed over until all that could be heard was the faint whimpers coming from the ones that were just brought into this hellhole.
Squeezing her eyes shut, Alexandria willed herself to remember the feeling of the warm summer breeze. Laughing in the park with her parents. Not living each day in fear. Just as she started to calm down, a tight unforgiving hand yanked her off the floor.
Fear filled her body as she stared up at her masked capturer. It was always said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. But this person… this monster's eyes were dead. As if there was only a ghost of a person inhabiting the body. Physically here, but not mentally.
The hand around her arm squeezed tighter, as if responding to Alexandria's line of thought. With an iron tight grip, the shadowy person dragged her out of the room. The fear that was in her body rose astronomically and she began to sob hysterically.
"No! Please! Just let me go. I won't tell anyone what happened! I promise!"
But Alexandria's cries and pleas fell onto deaf ears. The shadow continued to drag her down the dark hallway. She tried to fight, kicking and punching, but her tiny fist proved to be useless. Even so, she had to try, because if she didn't she was going to taken into the room filled with the shiny, sharp, pointy swords and knifes.
-OoO-
Alexandria jolted out of her shocked induced coma, gasping for air. Her eyes squeezed tightly in response to the unsettling memory and bright lights surrounding her. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she was aware of the chaos she found herself in the middle of. Cries of pain from the incoming patients and their family members filled the air, accompanied by the piercing wails of the ambulance sirens. Doctors and nurses were rushing around, occasionally ramming their bodies into others in their haste to treat the overrun hospital. Gurneys were haphazardly strewn around the hallway, many of them occupied.
Even with all the chaos, Alexandria couldn't help but feel utter relief fill her body. She wasn't in that room anymore. She was here, in the hospital. Grunting, Alexandria weakly pushed herself off of the gurney. Stumbling down the hallway she tried to piece together what had happened. Pushing through her hazy memory, she realized the last thing she could recall with perfect clarity was her rush towards her patient. Eyes widening, Alexandria pushed herself to her patient's room. But before she could make it she was accosted by her interns.
"Dr. Kingsley! You're up! Are you okay?"
"Of course she's okay, Nathan. She's Dr. Alexandria Kingsley."
"Anyways, what Nathan and Melinda are trying to say is, can we scrub in on some of the surgeries?"
The pounding headache Alexandria woke up with began to throb just a little bit harder as she stared at her trigger happy interns. Her eyes narrowed on their haughty eager faces. On any normal day Alexandria would've humored them, allowing them to assist in surgeries with the others until they were inevitably kicked out. But as of now, her entire being just felt exhausted and she could feel the phantom pains brought onto her when she relived her memories.
"No," she growled, "you may not. You will tell me why I woke up in a gurney. You will tell me why the hospital looks like we're trying to survive armageddon. You will go back to triage. You will use the knowledge I hoped you've learned in the last four years to treat those patients. If you even breathe on the OR floor, I will personally tell all the other nurses and doctors that you three are willing to do all of the grunt work for a month."
As Alexandria spoke, she could see the mutiny rise in their eyes, which quickly died with her threat. Along with the quickly fading mutiny was the emergence of surprise. Alexandria tried not to be too hard on new interns, since she believed that experience was the best teacher. But while she may be lenient, Alexandria knew that if she consented on this her interns would become unbearable. Believing that they could run amok with scalpels full of naive confidence. She kept her face as passive as she could, as she suppressed the urge to collapse on the floor and slight glee she felt when instilling fear into the little baby interns. Sometimes tough love was the best love. Especially when it came to these three stubborn idiots.
After a silent moment, Elliot stared back at Alexandria timidly, "Uh, well… You were trying to shock Mr. Monstic's heart. There was this light… and uh… you got knocked out...Mr. Monstic died. From what everyone coming in has been saying, there's been an accident at STAR Labs. Many people have been hurt, and we're taking most of the ones affected." As Elliot trailed off, Alexandria noticed Nathan and Melinda trying to avoid her gaze. Sighing, Alexandria realized her interns didn't have anymore information for her to wring out of them. Sharply jerking her head to the side, she dismissed the three.
As discreet as she could, Alexandria dragged her feet towards the stairwell. She rationalized that it would be the one place where she could let down her guard and grieve the death of her patient without a flurry of people running about. She briefly thought of lending an extra pair of hands in triage room, but quickly dashed the idea away. Trying to treat people in her condition would most likely harm rather than help. But before she could reach the stairwell, a team of paramedics and surgeons rushed down the hall. With them, a gurney holding a guy in his mid-20s. Alexandria noticed his deathly pale skin and frizzled hair. Right at the heels of the team was a young woman, pushing her way towards the OR doors. Her cries echoing down the hallway, begging the surgeons to allow her to be with her brother in his time of need.
Wincing at the sheer volume, Alexandria shoved her way towards the stairwells and plopped down on the first step. Grimacing in pain, she slowly put her head into her hands. If tonight was anything to go by, the accident that occurred at STAR Labs was going to become a nuisance in her once peaceful life.
-OoO-
Detective Joe West was lost in thought. After the particle explosion Central City might as well have gone to hell. Staring down at his hands, he could see the flecks of dry blood that stained his nails. Blood that wasn't on his hands just twelve hours earlier. Twelve hours earlier, he had been at a crime scene with Barry. Eight hours earlier he was having a late lunch with Iris. Three hours earlier he and his partner were getting ready to track down the Mardon brothers. One hour earlier he watched his partner gush out blood, as the perpetrators fled away on a plane. Now he was in a hospital. Not for his partner though. No. He was here because Barry, his son, was here fighting for his life. He was suppose to be at the department. He was suppose to be tinkering in his lab. He was suppose to be safe.
Joe's eyes began to prickle with tears as he let the guilt and shame run through him. He had failed them, and for the life of him he couldn't come up with a solution. Joe hadn't felt this hopeless since the time Iris went on her first date. Looking back at it now, Joe was sure he'd rather face the thought that his daughter was growing up over the reality of his son dying. No. Not dying. Fighting. Barry was, is, fighting for his life right now. He might not have a solution right now, but he sure as hell was not going to give up on his child. At the corner of his eye he could see Iris pacing down the hall, face full of terror and worry. Sucking down a deep breath Joe straightened his back and, with a heavy heart, walked purposefully towards Iris. He needed to be strong for his children. Pulling her into a hug, he sent a silent prayer to anyone who was listening to save his son.
-OoO-
Deep in the woods, a man stood staring at the mayhem that enveloped Central City. His face void of all emotion and eyes were cold and calculating. Even from his high vantage point he could hear the faint echos of the blaring sirens and screams of distress from the city's inhabitants. The destruction that had taken place would be considered as unparalleled to anything that's been witness in such a once quaint city. But not to him. The awe one felt when witnessing such destruction for the first time was completely lost to him, having witnessing decimation of cities and its citizens numerous times already. Once he deemed that he gleaned all the information he could deduce from his observation, he turned away from the hell like city. Silently he stepped deeper into the woods. There was much work that needed to be done.
-OoO-
A/N: Hello! I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far. I'm aware that it may seem slow at the moment, but don't worry I have a lot of plans for everyone soon.
As for my updating schedule, I plan to update at least once every two weeks. Although, there may be times I will update ahead of schedule, but it would depend on how hectic my daily life is.