Paralyzer || Barry Allen (The Flash) Fanfiction

Chapter 46: Comeback

Haven's P.O.V.

I could feel it. All of it.

The moment the scalpel cut through the thin skin of my neck. The sharp edge shredding through my sinewy muscles, burrowing itself deeper into my body. I could hear the voices mumbling quietly, the consistent beeps echoing in the silence, and the clanging as metal touched metal, tool clanging against tool on the tray I assumed was being used.

In actuality, I shouldn't have been able to feel any of it, shouldn't have been aware of my surroundings in the slightest. But I was.

I was in a coma — or, at least, that's the image my rather comatose state put off. Unfortunately, the reality wasn't so simple.

My brain was still functioning at full capacity, but my body was in a sort of paralyzed state. The total use of my brain, however, was allowing me to have complete awareness of my environment while also allowing me to control my ethereal-self in small doses. However, it was a hard enough task to force my inhuman form from the Universal Force onto Earth, let alone trying to maintain that form for more than a few minutes at a time. As a result, I hadn't gotten the chance to let the others know just how aware I was before they opted to go through with this surgery.

I was seriously regretting not saying anything.

I fought to pull my ethereal form back down to Earth, to let the team know what was going through my mind, but I couldn't conjure up the being. My mind was too preoccupied with dealing with the pain to even begin to think about anything else.

So, I bore through the pain. I remember one time saying that nothing could ever be more painful than that time I'd gotten my memories back... I think I was wrong. This had to top the charts. I seriously hoped that nothing could actually be worse than this.

Finally, the pain became too overwhelming for my mind to process, and I was shut out again from the real world, back into the unconsciousness that everyone thought I was already in.

Oh, if they only knew...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Barry's P.O.V.

It had been a day since I'd woken up, a day since I'd learned of my paralysis. And now I was already beginning to get back on my feet, slowly but surely making progress as I used a cane to aide me by supporting my weight.

I still couldn't run — I mean, I was struggling to simply walk — but I was determined. Zoom had crippled my pride, had made my people see me as a weakling, a failure. Yet, I couldn't let it hold me back. I knew that if Haven had the ability, she'd be trying to get back on her feet as well. It was only fair for her sake that I at least try.

I limped out of the cortex and down the hall to where Artemis was standing outside the door I was looking for. Ever since Zoom's and the Phantom's breach into our world, we'd started taking shifts guarding Haven's body. Although there was probably nothing we'd be able to do to stop them if they did attempt to take Haven away, the least our team could do was slow them down even just a bit since Haven couldn't defend herself, of course.

"How's it going in there?" I asked with a jerk of my head as I approached Artemis, peering through the window as we spoke.

Artemis sighed. "They've been in there a while. 6 hours, I think? Then again, that's hardly any time considering they've created entirely new vertebrae for her out of depleted promethium..."

I nodded my head absentmindedly, only half-aware of the words she was saying, as I watched the three individuals in the room working diligently. Caitlin had insisted we get Haven into surgery sooner rather than later, stating that the longer we waited, the less likely her chances of moving normally again were. While Caitlin was able to deal with our smaller injuries and some more severe external wounds, she wasn't exactly skilled in performing extensive surgeries like what Haven would need to go through.