Short on Time

Chapter 104

"You shouldn't be here," Barry muttered as I walked with him.

I glared at my husband, "because your wife can't handle herself?"

Barry looked at me nervously, "because I love my wife and don't want her to get hurt."

"Nice save," I told him as we walked up to the desk. "Excuse me, could you tell me where Grace Gibbons' room is?"

"One sec, let me check," the nurse said.

"You said you know her?" Barry asked me quietly.

I nodded, "sweet girl. I taught her once, as a substitute for her class. But that was a while ago..."

"Actually, yeah, she's that first room right on the right," the nurse told us.

"Great," Barry said as we walked along. We were about to walk in when we were stopped by the doctor.

"Just where do you think you're going?" The woman asked. "Into my patient's room is what I looks like."

"I'm sorry," Barry said. "I am Barry Allen. I'm with the CCPD."

The woman turned to look at me, "Ginger Allen, I taught Grace once, a real sweetheart. I don't teach much anymore since I had children, but when a fellow teacher told me about one of her old students in a coma, I thought I should stop by and see how she's doing."

"I was hoping to speak with you, actually," Barry said. "I'm looking for Grace Gibbons' parents. Specifically her father."

"I'm sorry, but the girl's parents are deceased," the doctor said.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I could have sworn I saw her parents pick her up.

"I can show you her charts," the woman said. "See for yourself. She came in with a wave of new admissions. No legal guardian listed, no next of kin. The sad truth is, our staff is the only family this little girl has left."

"Okay," Barry said. "Thank you for your help."

Barry turned around to leave, but I held up a hand. "Is it alright if I visit her? I understand you being her family, but if she wakes up, it might help if she sees someone she might know."

The doctor hesitated, "let me get you a schedule. We try to have people checking in on her."

I smiled, "thank you."

~*~

"Careful," Caitlin warned as myself and the twins watched in morbid fascination as Barry tried to not kill anything.

"I know, I know," Barry muttered.

"This is a critical time," I reminded him as the twins watched him with critical eyes.

"Okay," Barry said.

"Steady hands," Caitlin councelled.

"Yeah," Barry agreed.

"Call time of death," I told them as Barry took a step back.

"It's okay," Caitlin said. "It's a pie."

"It's not supposed to be a piece of cake," I said with a wink.

"Wow," Barry said as Caitlin laughed.

"Hey, thanks for helping," I told Caitlin as I picked up a screaming child.

"With Cicada's trail running cold, at least we have the extra day to prepare for our first Thanksgiving at the loft," Barry said.

"What about Joe and Cecile?" Caitlin asked.

"They're celebrating with Cecile's family this year," Barry said. "So, yeah, this year it's just gonna be the..."