Alliance {The Flash/Arrow}

Twenty One

The steady beat of an EKG machine rang in my ears as I sluggishly regained consciousness. I internally groaned at the incessant noise, hating the fact that this was the second time in a little over two months that I'd regained consciousness to that annoying noise. That horrid beeping sound was quickly becoming my least favorite sound in the world, and I was praying that I would no longer have to wake up to it screaming at me to come to. This was a new personal record that I was hoping that I wouldn't ever have to beat. As I slowly became more aware of the world around me, I could feel the bandage that was taped over the gaping hole in my side. I could vaguely remembered what had caused the painful wound, and I shuddered internally at the thought of the evil man that had nearly taken my life from me for the second time. Thankfully, any pain that I would have normally felt was numbed by whatever drug was currently pumping its way through my system. I wasn't entirely sure where I was since I had yet to open my eyes, but I was hoping that I was back in S.T.A.R. Labs. I didn't want to be in a real hospital right now, especially so soon after going through a horribly traumatic experience. I wasn't sure how my psyche would hold up if I were in a hospital, and I was hoping that Oliver had used his brain and remembered how much I truly hated those institutions. I also found myself yearning to be in a familiar setting, and S.T.A.R. Labs, while it wasn't my number one place to be, was a familiar setting, and I would be more than happy to be there as opposed to a hospital.

After what felt like hours of listening to the steady beat that was shrieking at me, I was able to pry my eyelids from one another, thankful that the light in the room was dim enough to where it didn't burn my retinas. That was one of the worst things I'd experienced when waking up from a comatose state, and I was glad that whoever had taken care of me had guessed or known that fact about me. I blinked a few times in an attempt to focus my vision, and I was relieved at what I saw surrounding me. I was back in S.T.A.R. Labs, and I couldn't have been happier that I wasn't in a hospital or some back-ally ICU. I trailed my eyes around the room slowly to certify that I was here I thought I was, and when I looked to my left, I saw Barry slumped back in an armchair that lived in Caitlin's lab. I'd woken up to many different people sitting in that chair, and I was undoubtedly happy that he was the person that I had woken to this time. His eyes were closed, shielding his beautiful green eyes from the world around him, and his chest was steadily rising and falling as he slept soundly at my bedside. He looked ridiculously adorable, and it made my heart flutter. After a small moment of debate, I elected to let him rest, knowing that he was probably more exhausted than he'd been in a long time. Who only knows how much energy he went into getting everyone to and from Earth-2 along with trying to maintain everything that was due at work. He needed to rest, and I didn't want to be the person who got in the way of that. Sadly, it wasn't long after I came to that he woke up from his small nap, his surprised eyes still heavy with sleep as he looked at me. I smiled weakly at him, feeling sore in every single part of my body as I shifted slightly to look at him. He smiled back as he sat up, pulling his chair towards the bed slightly.

"Hey." He greeted softly, his voice raspy from sleep. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been wrapped in a warm, fuzzy blanket." I answered honestly, making him laugh. "Morphine does that to me."

"It's troubling that you've had morphine enough times to know how it makes you feel." He chuckled, and I shrugged with a smile. "Are you in any pain?"

"A little, but it's nothing that I can't handle, especially after going through the tremendous amount of physical torture that Zoom put me through." I said, my voice a tad bit upbeat considering my situation. His eyes looked panicked, and I immediately spoke. "Don't think too much into it. It sounds worse than it really was."

He shook his head before looking at his hands. "I just wish that this wouldn't have happened to you." He said softly. "I feel like that if I had been quicker then none of this would have happened and you wouldn't have been hurt again."