Caitlin came to sometime later to the sound of low voices conversing. She blinked open her eyes lethargically, feeling the last of the anesthesia ebbing away. Looking around at her surroundings, she spotted Cisco sitting on one side of her and Frost on the other. Frost met her look as soon as she looked at her and grinned at her. "Welcome back, Sunshine."
"How long have I been out for?" Caitlin rasped, and Cisco was tilting a straw towards her mouth and soon, she was drinking a few sips of water. She felt instantaneous relief when the cool water eased her parched throat and she laid back into the pillows with a comfortable sigh.
"Several hours, Snow," came Harry's voice and she turned to watch him walk into the room, looking at Caitlin. "How are you feeling?"
"Numb, if I had to put a word to it," she mumbled, and Harry nodded in satisfaction.
"The painkillers I administered to you are strong," he said. "They'll keep your pain levels minimal while your bones start healing. A broken wrist, a couple of fingers, a fractured sternum, and some damaged ribs. You've also got a sprain in your shoulder."
Caitlin felt dizzy just thinking about it. "That's a doozy. When can I go home?"
"Stay here for a couple of days, Sunshine, then we'll talk," Frost said, looking at her with a smile.
Caitlin sighed but didn't argue the point, either. She knew that Harry, Cisco, and Frost were going to want to watch her for a couple of days; make sure she didn't send her recovery regressing. She glanced around as she heard someone enter the room and looked at Barry. Iris wasn't by him and it looked like he had been crying; his eyes were red rimmed at least. Caitlin frowned. "What's wrong?"
Barry took a hand through his auburn hair, green eyes dull as he stared at her. Caitlin suddenly didn't want to know what was wrong with him and turned to Cisco, who smiled at her. "We've got four out of the six men in the pipeline. Frost – well, you know what happened to the other woman."
Memories of pulling out the icicle from her stomach came back to Caitlin and she winced. "Right."
"It wasn't your fault, Caitlin," Harry said quietly, voice calm and patient and she drew strength from that. She nodded her head, eyes flickering around the room.
"Where's Iris?" Caitlin finally asked Barry, knowing she couldn't avoid him forever.
He sighed softly. "She went home. She needed to get changed and go to the office."
Caitlin didn't say anything to that and she saw Snow glaring at the blankets out of the corner of her eye. It wasn't hard to work out that she was mad at the other woman. Presumably still mad at Barry, too. Feeling like it was best that they didn't get the chance to dig into one another, Caitlin looked at Cisco. "Four are in the pipeline?"
"Yeah," Cisco said with a nod. "Barry and I caught up to them. The other two made a run for it but we're canvassing the city with our surveillance. It won't be too hard to catch up to them."
"I wanted to kill them all but Francisco said I wasn't allowed," Frost muttered, annoyed expression etched into her features. For some reason, Caitlin found the whole thing amusing and snorted. "Great, Sunshine, is that hysteria kicking in?"
"No, no," she shook her head, laying her good hand against her ribs as she winced. Don't move. Got it. She looked at Barry, who was frowning at her in concern, and then he was swallowing and speaking up.
"Can we get you anything?" Barry asked quietly, sounding world-weary in ways Caitlin was accustomed to feeling herself. She shook her head, then winced once more because she forgot she had a head injury.
"I'm all right," she murmured softly. She glanced at Cisco, who was staring at her in something akin to fear. "I'm all right, Cisco. Just tired."
"We need to make sure no infection sits in," he said, ands she hummed her agreement. Then fell silent. It was too much to hope that she wouldn't feel the ramifications of her time in captivity. She could feel Frost watching her and then Barry was speaking once more.
"Can we have the room?" Barry asked, looking at each individual in turn. Frost narrowed her eyes.
"You're joking if you think I'm going to leave Caity even for a minute," she snapped. Caitlin placed her good hand on her sister, stilling her movements.
"Frost," she whispered, staring at her sister imploringly. "It's okay. I can talk to him. I'll be okay."
Barry made an indignant noise that she chose to ignore as she looked at Frost. Her sister narrowed her eyes but conceded the point and stood up. "Ten minutes, Allen, that's all you get."
The rest of them filed out of the room after her and, with one last look from Cisco, the door shut softly behind the engineer and she was looking at Barry. Barry was having difficulty looking at her for too long and Caitlin wondered how he felt in that moment. She didn't have to wonder for long. "Cait…I'm so sorry."
She looked heavenward when pressure built behind her eyes. She was so done with crying. She didn't want to cry anymore. Licking her lips, she nodded her head a little. "It's okay."
"No, it's not," Barry said sadly. "And that's part of the problem. You just accept what happens to you. I-I should have been there. I wish someone had called me when you went missing."
Caitlin shifted in her bed uncomfortably. This was what she had been afraid of. She expelled a soft sigh. "I'm sorry for that, truly, but no one wanted to take you away from your vacation." Frost would have loved nothing more but she digressed.
Barry wiped his nose with the back of his hand, then carded his fingers through his hair as he sighed. "We – I – need to talk to the guys in the pipeline. Figure out what they wanted with you."
"It was A.R.G.U.S. and they wanted Frost. They just didn't realize that she and I have already split," Caitlin said, tone slightly bitter.
"Why didn't Frost find you sooner?" Barry asked, somewhat desperately.
"She tried her hardest, Barry," Caitlin said quietly, and she believed this. She knew that Frost had worked hard on finding her; that the other woman hadn't given up until she had. "I was only with them three days."
"And look what happened to you during those three days, Cait," Barry commented quietly. "You've got broken bones."
"They'll heal," Caitlin reminded him, believing in her heart that this was true.
Barry swallowed. "Are you in a lot of pain?"
"Not much," Caitlin replied. "The painkillers really seem to be working."
"Okay, good," Barry said quietly. He looked her over and Caitlin knew he was thinking the same thing as she was: nothing would be the same ever again.
Author's note: Not beta'd but would love thoughts! Xx