Message in a bottle

Chapter 9 - When our best isn't enough

"Cisco! What happened in there? Were you able to make contact?" Asked Joe, barely able to keep control of his nerves.

"I don't understand, he was right behind me," softly whispered Cisco, keeping hold of his friend's cold hand, "come on, buddy, come on. Come back to us."

"Cisco..." Iris started, only to get interrupted by a sharp inhale from the bed as Barry suddenly took his first breath on his own power since this whole ordeal started.

It was the most beautiful sound all of them had ever heard. They just wanted to scream, cheer or cry, or all them at the same time.

"Oh my God! Barry!" Exclaimed Joe, inadvertently pushing Cisco as he rushed forward to be by his son's head and get in position for when he'll open his eyes, which was hopefully about to happen in a moment or two.

Their joy was short lived when the second breath, and the following ones, came out in a coughing fit. No, not coughing, choking, Barry was fighting the ventilator and desperately struggling to get air in or out despite the tube down his throat that was blocking his airways.

"Caitlin!" Screamed Cisco, successfully putting the woman out of her trance and back into full-on doctor mode.

"Out of the way!" She ordered, instantly clearing the needing space to work her magic, "Cisco, with me. Everyone else out!"

Reluctantly, they all complied and rushed outside. On their way out, they all heard Caitlin giving swift and specific instructions to her friend while trying to diagnose if her patient was conscious or not.

"Barry, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes for me? Cisco, go grab me the-"

***FLASHFLASHFLASH***

How long have they been waiting? Five minutes? Ten? Thirty? More? Less? Time had stopped the moment they all got kicked out of the room and got left wondering if Barry was back or if something went terribly wrong, again. A couple of hours ago, Caitlin was about to declare the speedster brain dead and throw the towel. Later, barely moments ago, the team suddenly learned that they almost destroyed the speedster in their efforts to contain the damages. Catching a break wasn't in their vocabulary. What were the consequences of having your conscious transferred into a computer and back? Could there be brain damages of any sort?

Iris' reflections came to a stop when the corner of her eye spotted the doctor getting out of the medical room to join them. Caitlin didn't have to walk too far since, once the group knew she was heading their way, Iris, Joe, Wally, and H.R. all rushed in to join her midway.

"How is he?" Asked Joe for the rest of them.

"He's awake. You can come in to see him," she answered, with a tired but relieved smile on her lips.

Her relaxed expression was all they needed to breathe out before moving in the direction of the med bay. The speedster was in a half-seated position on the bed, his back comfortably slumped against an impressive pile of fluffy pillows while his face was facing the other side of the entrance, quietly discussing with Cisco who was seated next to the bed.

"Hey," greeted Joe, knocking on the side of the room's entrance to announce himself and, when Barry turned his head to face him, the detective just smiled like he never did before in his life.

His son looked a little pale and tired, ok, more like completely exhausted, but there was no more ventilator breathing for him, nor any monitor attached to his chest. The only medical equipment's still in place were the pads on each side of his head to survey his brain waves and the finger clip monitoring some of his vitals.