A/N: Thanks a lot for your support! Hope that was a fast enough update. Hopefully we'll finally start seeing infos about next season appear since they're starting S3 filming tomorrow (yeah!)
''What the hell happened?!'' exclaimed Caitlin when she saw the state Barry was in. Wally told her on the phone that Barry was back from…from whatever the hell he's been for the last 5 months and that he needed help, medical help, and fast.
''We don't know.'' Told her Joe as he quickly put down the boy on the gurney. ''We found him like that in the living room. He lost a lot of blood already, thinks he's going into shock.''
The doctor listened with only one ear as the rest of her concentration was already on her patient. She hated seeing her friend suffer. Couldn't the hero catch a break for a second? They all thought he was off to somewhere he could take his mind off everything that happened, not fighting a full out war.
''Barry, can you hear me?'' She asked while forcing his eyes open, putting light into both of them, trying to see the reaction, before checking for her patient's vitals. Taking in the clammy and humid skin, as well as the shallow breathing, Caitlin spoke up to whoever was the closest.
''Help me get him upstairs. I'll need some help with him, couldn't contact Cisco.''
Without wasting anymore seconds, Joe started pushing the gurney toward the elevator, the doctor rushing to keep it up and keep her eyes at all on time on her patient, Iris and Wally just behind, worry in their eyes.
As soon as they got in the cortex, Wally volunteered to assist Caitlin while Cisco was still out of reach, knowing he was the least emotionally compromised of them all. The rest of them waiting in the hallway, outside of the cortex, Joe walking none-stop, closing to the elevator and coming back, before starting again, working hard to calm his nerves. His daughter watching him, helpless to ease his worries as she was in the same state, losing all sense of time. How long had Caitlin and Wally been in there? No news was good news, right? At least that's what some people love to say to ease their worries, their torpor was broken when their heard footsteps coming their way. Iris and Joe both turned at the same time in time to see Cisco emerged, dressed in the cleanest shirt they've ever seen him it, with an alarming look on his features.
''I'm sorry I was at a diner with my family, I tried returning Wally and Caitlin's calls, but they're not answering. They were trying to say something about Barry….''
Cisco suddenly froze in mid-sentence when he got a good look at the two people in front of him, noticing their dreadful looks and the blood, the blood on their hands and on Joe's shirt from when he carried the boy. The tone of the voices on his voicemail weren't exactly calm and reassuring, but he wasn't expecting to see a scene like this. His panic grew instantly.
''Oh god, what happened? Where's Barry?''
Joe looked down at his shirt, only noticing now the blood covering him, his son's blood staining his clothes. The sight of it almost immediately made his stomach sick. It wasn't supposed to happen. Barry wasn't supposed to be fighting Armageddon while he was away. Before any of the West could answer, Caitlin walked in from the other side, her lab coat and blue shirt underneath completely ruined by all the blood on it.
''He's stable'' she started, waiting for everyone to release the breath they've been holding before continuing. ''Whatever he was stabbed with only grazed his stomach. He had internal bleeding, but I was able to fix the damages. I had to use all the blood we had in reserve for him, he lost a lot of it. '' Caitlin waited for a second to see if anyone was going to say anything, and when they didn't, all of them hooked on her words, she continued with her diagnosis. ''I don't think he has eaten anything in days, probably more. Barry's lost a lot of weight, I got to warn you about it and he's also badly dehydrated. He's really been through hell''
Joe was the first one to talk again:
''Can you tell what did this to him?''
''Not sure. Whatever pierced him was really sharp and circular, it wasn't a knife, that's for sure. '' Caitlin took a pause before saying her next piece of information: ''I can tell you his right leg has been badly frozen, most likely a 3rd degree cold bite.''
''Snart?'' growled Joe.
''I'm not sure, I thought Snart was still out of town. We'll know more when he wakes up.''
''When would that be?'' Inquired Iris.
''Can we see him?'' added Cisco.
''You can go in there, Wally is helping me making him comfortable at the moment. I wouldn't expect him to wake up for at least hours considering how weak he is right now, but he still has his healing power, so we never know.''
''Thanks Caitlin.'' Said Joe as he put his hand on the doctor's shoulder before passing her on his way to the medical bay.
''Geez.'' he heard Cisco whispered behind him as the group spotted the fallen hero, Caitlin wasn't kidding when she said Barry lost weight. The poor boy's ribs were clearly showing under the bruise skin and now that the blood has been clean off, the group could notice how hollow his cheeks were.
***FLASHFLASHFLASH***
They didn't have to wait too long before Barry started moving in his sleep, showing the first signs that he was close on coming back to them, barely over two hours later he was found in the West's living house. Joe hadn't left his son's side for a second, he let his two other kids go out to grab some lunch, realizing only now that everyone at the labs canceled their lunch plan to come take care of the hero. Cisco was trying to kill time, and his nerves, by working on repairing the suit in the cortex, Caitlin not too far away.
''No…no…no…please, don't kill him. Please.'' Whispered, pleased the speedster in his sleep, struggling more and more on the bed.
''Hey, hey Barr. Wake up!'' Said Joe, trying to immobilize the speedster.
At first, it didn't seem like the young boy heard anything, but when Joe repeated himself, he saw his son stopped moving in a second. His eyelids fluttering, slowly opening at the detective's smiling face, winking a few times to clear his vision. But his reaction wasn't exactly the one Joe was waiting or hoping for. When the speedster finally got a clear view of who was sitting next to him, his face lost the remaining colors it still had and his breathing became more and more erratic, faster.
Barry weakly struggled to seat, fighting to get his arm under his back to push himself in a sitting position, wanting to get away.
''No, not real, you're not real.''
''Calm down son, it's me. I'm here.'' Joe turned around to see if the scientists were still in the room. ''Little help in there?''
''She killed you, you're dead.''
There was a mix of fear and confusion in Barry's eyes, like he's just seen a ghost, which was probably related to what he was saying. Joe was taken off-guard by that.
''What? I'm here, I'm ok Barry. Please calm down.''
The detective was taken back by Caitlin who pushed him away when making her way in, clearing her way to work, leaning over her friend.
''Easy Barry. Breath for me, you need to….''
Before she could finish her sentence, she witnessed Barry's eye grow wider in pure terror before trashing way harder than before, with wasn't much considering how weak he was. But, it was still enough to make Joe grunt under the effort to keep him on the bed.
''Frost, please. Let him go. Please don't do this! Don't kill him!''
Caitlin and Joe exchanged confused looks before the doctor instructed Barry's father to continue keeping the boy down as she went to her medication's cabinet. ''Got it!'' she exclaimed, taking a syringe, turning around so she could inject the content directly in the boy's tight.
It had the desired effect, the speedster's body went completely limp once again, making everyone take back their breath.
''Did I just heard him call you Frost? Like….Ki...'' Started Cisco, joining them.
''Killer Frost?'' Completed Caitlin. Cisco nodded in response.
''But I thought she was dead'' Completed Joe.
''She is, I saw Hunter kill her. On Earth 2 at least.'' As she finished her sentence, they all turned toward the sedate speedster wondering once again where he was during all that missing time. On another Earth?
The wound was consistent with something Killer Frost would do and Caitlin shivered at the thought that she would be the one hurting her friend like that even if t wasn't exactly her.
A/N: Leave a comment, don't be shy
