The Scarlet Speedster's New Daughter

Chapter 7

"Good morning." Barry said walking into the cortex.
"Good morning." Caitlin answered.
"Where's...?"
"Sleeping in the med bay."
"Why?"
"She didn't sleep well last night. I thought she maybe had a nightmare but she told me she didn't and it's not the first time."
"She tell you why?"
"No. She stayed awake and I found her like two hours later on the couch asleep. I would've left her at home but she doesn't like being alone." She shrugged.
"I'll talk to her later." He said nodding.
"Okay."
"Good morning!" Cisco shouted.

Birdie was startled and fell off the medical bed. Barry rushed over to her and helped her up.

"Hey, you okay?"
"Yeah." She nodded. "I'm fine." She yawned. "Just tired."
"Yeah. We need to talk later."
"Did I do something?"
"No. Just wanted to ask you something."
"Okay." She nodded.
"Want some coffee?"
"I can't drink coffee."
"Why?"
"I get too hyper."
"Hot chocolate?" He asked smiling.
"Yeah. That can work." She nodded.
"Okay." He nodded. "You guys want anything?" He asked Caitlin and Cisco.
"I want a Killer Frost." Caitlin said.

Birdie looked around at the sound of Killer Frost's name and tensed up.

"Birdie. What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She said shaking her head.

Barry looked at her confused and went back to asking Cisco what he wanted.

"I'll have a cappuccino."
"Anything else?"
"Cinnamon roll. I can share it with Caitlin." Birdie smiled at Caitlin.
"That I can eat." Caitlin nodded.

He came back with what the others ordered and they all drank and ate in peace. The metahuman alert went off and they all gathered around the computer.

"Call Nora." Barry said.
"Ralph you're with me. You guys stay here with Birdie."

Nora met them at the site. The meta brought friends and they had beaten the shit out of Barry and Ralph and just when Nora was about to get hit on the chest with a metal shard, Birdie came out of nowhere and it stabbed her in the back.

"Birdie." Nora said rushing to her.
"Nora. It hurts." She cried.
"I know. We're gonna get you out of here okay? Just hang in there."
"Nora?" Barry asked walking towards her.
"Dad!" Birdie screamed in pain.
"Birdie?"

He saw his younger daughter on the floor bleeding and his heart sunk to his feet.

"What happened?" He asked.
"I was gonna get hit and she came out of nowhere."
"It's okay Bird. You're gonna be alright okay? Just hang in there a bit longer yeah?"
"Yeah." She whimpered.

He picked her up softly and she yelped in pain.

"Caitlin. Birdie was stabbed in the back. She's bleeding a lot and she's in too much pain."
"Okay. The med bay's clear."

He sped over with Birdie and placed her down.

"I can't give her any anesthetic." She said.

Barry rubbed his face and thought for a second. "Do whatever you have to do. We can't wait much longer."
"Okay. Put her on her side."

He kneeled beside Birdie so she could look at him.

"Hey sweetheart. We're gonna take that shard out of there so it won't bother you anymore. It's gonna hurt but the anesthesia won't do anything in your system. I'm gonna give you this to bite on it and I'm gonna hold your hand the whole time okay?"

She nodded and looked into Barry's eyes. He could feel her pain, he had been hurt many times and he knew how much pain she was in.

"Just look into my eyes." He said caressing her cheek. "That's it."

He looked at Caitlin and nodded. Everyone left the room so it was just the three of them. Caitlin started to extract pieces of the metal from Birdie's spinal chord while Barry calmed his daughter down.

"Okay. Just two more to go." Caitlin said.
"You're doing great." Barry said.
"These are gonna hurt a bit more." Caitlin said softly.
"Do it."
"I'm sorry pretty girl." Caitlin said. "I'm sorry." She said looking at Barry.
"It's okay." Barry said looking at Caitlin. "Hey Birdie. Look into my eyes. Dad's right here. I won't leave you. Just think about yesterday and all the songs we sang."

He kept on talking to her until Caitlin was done.

"Okay we're done." She said stitching the last part of the wound. "I'll give her some medicine for the pain."

"It's okay. You're all done." He said rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.

She stayed awake a little longer while Caitlin gave her some pain meds but fell asleep soon after.

"Nora, what happened?" Barry said walking into the cortex.
"I was gonna get hit in the chest with the metal shard and Birdie came out of nowhere and pushed me."
"I'm sorry Barry." Cisco said.
"We were supposed to watch her and she-."
"Don't worry. It wasn't any of you guys' fault. I'm gonna stay with her. You guys can go home." He said looking at the team.
"Yes sir. Call me if you need anything." Ralph said.
"Same here." Cisco said.
"I'm gonna hang around for a little while longer." Nora said.
"I'll go home but call me when she wakes up." Caitlin said.

He nodded at his friends and they all left.

"Dad. I'm sorry." Nora said walking up to Barry.
"It's fine Nora. It wasn't your fault."
"I'm scared that something can happen to her because of me."
"Caitlin said she'll be alright. It'll just take a while to heal."

She nodded and Barry side hugged her.

"Well, I'm gonna go home. Mom will be worried."
"Yeah okay."
"Goodnight dad."
"Night hon." He said kissing her temple.

She sped off and he walked into the med bay and sat beside Birdie. She looked peaceful while sleeping.

"I don't know how you've been able to just keep going after everything that's happened to you." He whispered.

He played with his phone for a while and after he was sure she wasn't going to wake up, he grabbed one of the white blankets from the med bay and fell asleep on the chair besides Birdie, holding her hand.