CHAPTER 12

There was pop silence in the hospital room until Dr. Cisco started humming again.

"So you think you can beat me, huh?" Cisco asked pleasantly as he glanced at the top of his cards on the table.

"Like all those times you won before? Oh wait, that was me," said Cisco with a smirk, proud to be winning against his patient, Barry Allen.

To this, Barry just looked up from the table and stared at Cisco, giving him an irritated look. It had been two weeks since the Mardon brothers had escaped police custody and everything had turned into a disaster in his life.

The nightmares were more frequent than ever. With captain Singh's command, there were two guards outside the room, protecting him from anything, any threat.

As every coin has two sides, Barry felt protected but at the same time, he couldn't leave the room. It's not like he could walk anyways, but sitting in the wheelchair and taking rounds in the hallway with Iris felt good. It made him forget all the bad times he had gone through these last couple of days.

"What's bothering you Barry?" asked Cisco, "You know you can talk to me. You also know that it feels good to get things off your chest, doesn't it?" said Cisco, trying to convince Barry into talking to him.

Coming back to reality Barry grabbed the pack of cards and handed them to Cisco so that he could shuffle them.

"I'm fine, there is nothing to talk about," said Barry in a stern voice, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him.

"Okay, that's fine by me. Well, if you don't mind then can we concentrate on the game? Your not-so-happy face makes me even more competitive to win the game," said Cisco with a smile.

Just as they both picked up their respective cards, Barry started speaking, placing his cards down on the table and staring at Cisco.

"So these past two weeks have been rather difficult for me because they escaped prison."

Thinking about their names gave him goosebumps.

"Okay, by 'they' you mean?" asked Cisco as he saw that Barry kept his head down like he was afraid of saying their names.

"I can't tell you their names, but I know that you know who I am talking about," said Barry quietly.

"You know what? Just forget it. Let's play," said Barry, dismissing the topic.

"No, no, you don't get to do that, alright?" Cisco said, shaking his head in disapproval, "Talk to me. I can help you out. You don't have to be afraid of them, Barry. They can't do anything to you."

To Cisco's words, Barry just nodded.

"Just answer this question of mine," Cisco said, "How to you know about the escape? I told them not to tell you."

Barry just stared at him trying to remember that horrible day.

"Dad, how the hell did the Mardon brothers escape?" asked Iris as she tried to process the information.

"Lower your voice, Iris. I don't want Barry to wake up. He needs to sleep, his body needs to recover from everything that has happened these days."

Moving away from Barry's bed Joe spoke quietly, "All this was not supposed to happen. As the police van reached the court. The Mardon brothers took the opportunity to escape, Iris. They killed all the officers and some civilians who were there at the scene. They didn't want any witnesses to this."

"Oh my God!" gasped Iris, hearing everything that Joe said. Hearing this just set a horrible taste in her mouth. The fear showing on her face as she looked at the sleeping form of her friend.

She knew that Barry hearing this would not be good for him. He would become more closed off and scared, like the past few days. She feared that all this would never get her Barry back the way he was before, happy and carefree from the world.

"It's okay, honey we are going to find them. They are not going to get away with this. I am going to do everything in my power to protect him no matter what. This is a promise that I would like to keep. For the next few days we will have to protect Barry from what's going on, but sweetie, you need to promise me that Barry should not know any of this, alright? I want to protect him from this as long as I can. Can you do that for me, Iris?"

Iris just nodded and went close to her father, hugging him for comfort. She just wanted all of this to end so that they could move on and start from a clean slate.

They both had no idea that Barry had been listening to their entire conversation. Tears forming in his eyes as he listened to everything they were saying.

He was glad that the room was dark so that they could not see him broken and scared. He had never felt so helpless in his entire life.

He was always an independent guy and seeing someone else fight his battles while he lay in the hospital bed proved Mark's words to be right, that he was nothing but weak.

He knew it in his heart that if he would have given up and died that day then Joe and Iris would be happy and safe.

"Barry you okay? Hey, are you listening to me? You look a little pale," said Cisco, worried by Barry's appearance. He definitely didn't look good.

"Sorry, yeah I am fine. So where were we?" asked Barry, looking at the cards on the table.

Cisco looked at him nervously and repeated his previous question which Barry still hadn't answered.

"I heard Joe and Iris talking. Plus the guards outside my door have the strict 'No Moving Policy' which isn't hard to miss. I am not dumb, you know? I just ... Well, I have some memory problems which are improving day my day," said Barry, picking up his cards.

"I know that you are not dumb. In fact, for someone your age you are way too smart. Also the guy who won in chess against me, is really smart. By the way it was just a fluke right?" asked Cisco with a smile as he pulled out two cards and laid it on the table "two."

"For real?" Asked Barry laughing as he dealt out a pair. "You can give me some credit here for a guy who literally had his head smashed continuously on the floor like a freaking football."

The game continued for a few minutes before Cisco grabbed some candy eating in the most childish way possible. Instead of offering it to Barry he kept it away from him so that there will be still some left for him to eat the next day.

"Dr. Derrick told me that your scans came clear. That's really good Barry. He also told me that your occupational therapy for your memory is improving. I know it's a little slow, but I am already seeing some results," said Cisco with a smile.

Barry smiled at him, looking up from the game and told him with a smirk.

"If this is your plan to make me lose by talking like a sweet pill so that I give you a chance to win, you are wrong."

He then placed the card on the table which made him win the game.

"No way! What the hell just happened? You cheated. You did, didn't you?" asked Cisco as he sat there in shock by what just happened. There was one thing that Cisco didn't like and that was losing.

Barry just laughed at Cisco. He had no idea that a therapist could be so funny. He felt good when he could talk to Cisco. He felt like someone who he could open up to without being judged.

...

Caitlin waited outside the door to his hospital room and she could hear him cursing under his breath at something. She hadn't seen him angry since that night, two days ago. She wondered what his reaction is going to be like after he sees her.

She knocked on the door to his hospital room and gave a little wave when he looked up towards me from his bed. He's propped up on a few dozen pillows flipping aimlessly through the television channels with a hospital tray in front of him full of something that resembles a bowl of soup and bright red jello.

Quickly she walks up a few steps closer to his bed and says "hey."

Instead of giving any kind of reaction, Barry just continues to struggle with eating his jello.

She looks down at his half eaten tray of food. His tray half dirty with a lot of soup spilled on it. The rest of the soup is still in his bowl.

"Do you need some help with that?" asked Caitlin as she sees him struggling with his jello as he uses his left hand to eat which is also in a white gauze.

"I don't need help, not from you or from the nurses or from anyone. So just leave me alone, alright?" says Barry, his voice cold and empty.

Hearing Barry, my heart hurts. His words stinging, causing tears to start flowing down my face.

"I am so sorry Barry for hurting you. I didn't mean any of it. It just happened. For what it's worth, I feel so guilty and sad, but you need to understand that I was going to tell you everything."

Hearing this Barry just threw his spoon on the tray, his hands shaking.

"I need you to leave Caitlin."

"Barry please, please. I am sorry. Just please listen to me to what I have to say. Please give me one chance, to prove that I love you and what happened was just a mistake. It was the spur of the moment."

"If I hadn't remembered our break up you wouldn't have even confessed. Our relationship was built on a lie. Everything, was a big fat lie, Caitlin."

"Hey you ok?" asked Caitlin as she saw Barry trying to sit up on the bed in the middle of the night, all sweaty and pale. She went next to him and rubbed his hair in a caring way, trying to comfort him from his nightmare.

Barry just moved his head away from her and said, "I'm alright. What are you doing here?"

"Are you sure? You really don't look fine to me."

Getting an assured look from Barry I continued, "I really haven't gotten to spend so much time with you these past few days. So I told Joe that I would like to stay with you tonight, and he agreed," said Caitlin with a smile.

"Do you want to watch some T.V or you can talk about your nightmare with me?" said Caitlin grabbing his hand.

"No and definitely no," said Barry as he moved his hand away from her.

Feeling hurt by his behaviour, she asked him "I don't know if it's me Barry but i feel like you have been very distant from me these past few days. Did I do something to hurt you?"

After a few minutes of complete silence Barry spoke quietly.

"You have been lying to me since the entire time I have been awake. You were cheating on me, weren't you?"

"Please, let me explain..."

"There is nothing to explain Caitlin. I remember everything. There is no easy way to say this, but I think it's time that we call it," said Barry with his head down.

"Don't do this. We can work this out," said Caitlin wiping the tears falling off her face.

"I think you should leave Caitlin. It will be better for both of us."

Saying nothing, she just turned her back to Barry and headed for the door, quietly exiting the room.

"I ... uhh .." started Caitlin.

"Sorry to disturb you, but it's time to change his dressing," said nurse Linda as she entered Barry's room.

"If you want you can stay here," said Linda as she looked at Caitlin. She then moved closer to Barry.

"No, it's okay, Linda. She was just leaving," said Barry coldly.

Nodding, without a word Caitlin left the room as quickly as she could, tears welling up in her eyes. Leaving Barry alone, deep in his thoughts.

...

"So are you ready for the showdown?" asked Clyde as he, Mark and the guy in the hood were sitting in an abandoned warehouse, planning their next move.

"Ready as ever. Just tell me when you want the fun to start," said the man in the hood.

"Very soon," said Mark with a laugh, "We need to execute this plan very slowly and carefully. Remember that there is no room for mistakes. Do you understand?"

The man in the hood just nodded and said with a smile "let the countdown begin. It's show time, hahaha."

Please don't kill me . I know its been more than two weeks . Also please don't kill me because i didn't include the brothers in this chapter . I was just teasing you all with the last part .

I actually did this because the last few chapters have been very dark and i wanted to give you all and Barry some break .

Anyway please leave a review because they always make me happy.

XOXO until next time .