Message in a bottle

Chapter 4 - Come back to us

"Hey, Barr. I really hope that you can hear me; I need you to stop doing this to us. My old heart can't take much more of this."

For the whole evening and most of the night, Joe hadn't left his foster son, sitting by his side the whole time, monitoring his condition and looking for the most imperceptible changes. As dawn was approaching, the man had managed to mentally register every detail of how Barry's chest was rising and falling under the artificial breathes and the pattern of his weak but still beating heart on the monitor. At this moment, he was almost just as qualified as Caitlin to identify a hypothetical change in Barry's condition, not that he would know what to do about it. The detective was determined not to let a single flinch go unseen by his eagle's eyes; he was going to be there at the very first sign his son would give that he was finally ready to come back to them.

That was if his exhausted body wasn't going to fail him and drift into sleep first without his permission. His hand went for his hair as he inhaled and exhaled deeply before continuing, "at this very moment, I really don't care that you lied to me about what you saw in the future, just... just come back to us. Just come back to me."

He almost choked out on the last words, feeling his eyes filling themselves with water, he couldn't lose Barry. Not now, nor ever.

If someone was to look fast enough at the unconscious speedster, they almost could've said that Barry was just sleeping peacefully. Peace would've been good, peace is what the hero had been needing the most. Since becoming the Flash, the weight of the world had been on his shoulders, whether it had been Reverse Flash, rebuilding the city, Zoom, the death of his dad, Flashpoint or now, Savitar. The poor kid hadn't had a single break in years. Well, he looked peaceful if you didn't pay too much attention to all the wires connected to his body and the tube down his throat.

It would be a lie to say that part of the detective's worry didn't include the fact that the best chance, the best person, to protect his daughter against Savitar was down. Was it selfish to think like that when it was Barry's life on the line at this very moment? A hand suddenly landing on his shoulder jostled him.

Quickly turning his head around, he ended up facing his daughter who looked just as exhausted as he was feeling right now, even if the night wasn't even done yet. It wasn't exactly his first sleepless night, especially not since Barry started risking his life on a daily basis, but the adrenaline leaving his bloodstream after Barry's heart stopped was having quite a toll on him, physically and mentally speaking.

"Dad?" Iris asked, concern shining in her eyes as she stared straight into her father's own eyes to make sure he was with her, "I've been calling you a couple of times already, you okay?"

Joe scoffed; was he okay? Surely not. While his right elbow was resting on the bed, next to his son's too still form, he rubbed his eyes with his right hand and sighed deeply.

"Sorry, I was just...thinking," as he was talking, he didn't even open his eyes or looked at his daughter, "I just don't know what I'll do if he doesn't come back to us this time or if his condition become more...permanent. I can't do this again.'' Overwhelmed by the grim future that could be ahead, Joe buried his face between his hands.

Yeah, Iris didn't think she could do it again either. Putting on her brave face and locking away her fear and doubts for the next couple of minutes, she moved next to her dad. Gently, she took his arms away from his face and patiently waited for him to look at her. Her own heart almost broke when she saw the traces of tears in the corner of the man's eyes.

"He's strong, as strong as all of us combined," she reminded him, "he made it out and came back once, he can do it again, I know he can. Plus, don't forget that Caitlin and Cisco are among the smartest people on this planet; if anyone can figure it out, they can. At this very moment, Cisco is trying to figure out how it happened, you'll see."