Message in a bottle

Chapter 2 - Coma

"No!" Iris yelped in obvious distress, "Caitlin, do something!" She screamed, not that she really needed to say anything as Caitlin was already in full doctor mode, taking a closer look at her patient's other vitals.

"How did this happen?" asked Cisco on the verge of a panic attack. Did he just kill his best friend by taking him in the future? It couldn't be his fault, there's no way. This never happened before... unless it was his fault? Just the possibility had his stomach turning upside down.

"Not now, Cisco! Give me some damn space to work." Caitlin snapped aggressively, as she pressed her fingers against her unresponsive friend's wrist, silently searching for a beating. She sighed in relief; it was weak, but it was there. ''Come on, Barry, don't do this.''

A sudden bang just behind the group had Iris screaming in surprise and turning around at the sparks of electricity now surrounding the computers that were used to follow Cisco and Barry's vitals. The monitor went completely black in the next moment, smoking and crackling. Like they didn't have enough problems now... thank God for the fact that both Barry and Cisco were now disconnected from the monitor.

Barely glancing at the malfunctioning equipment, Caitlin tilted Barry's head back and opened his mouth before breathing two times in his lung. While doing the resuscitation manoeuvre, she was closely watching the hero's chest rising and falling for a moment before returning just as still as before. Was all of this because he hit his head, twice, during his seizure? Or was it something more? Whatever it was, the questions could wait until Barry was breathing again on his own. Repeating the manoeuvre another time, the doctor's nose creased at the new odor suddenly hitting it. Was it... smoke? A fire?

Taking her eyes off her patient, just for one quick moment, she turned around to witness H.R. running to grab to closest extinguisher in the room while there was indeed small flames and more smoke coming out of the ruined computer. Caitlin growled in frustration; not exactly in the best environment to revive someone who couldn't take a single breath on his own. Pressing once again her delicate fingers on the CSI's skin, she gasped in horror.

"His heart stopped!" She screamed in a rising panic.

As if on cue, a yellow trail of lightning appeared and stopped at the door of the breach room. Wally.

"Dad's upstairs and he's..." whatever he was about to say died in his throat when he became aware of all the action in the room, "what's..."

"Medbay, now!" Screamed Caitlin to the youngest speedster.

She barely had the time to finish what she was about to say before she suddenly found herself standing up exactly where she wanted to be with her patient lying flat on the bed right in front of her. Caitlin also mentally thanked Wally when she noticed the speedster had somehow taken the beige jacket off her patient.

"Come on Barry. Fight!" She ordered as she felt her heart pumping violently in her chest. Seizing a pair of scissors from the table and hurrying the last step that was now separating the doctor from her patient, she frowned as she noticed what looked like a burn mark on the side of the young hero's head. It was exactly right where he had his headset moments earlier.

Examining that wound will have to wait for later as she returned to her task of cutting away the shirt and starting compressions, counting them aloud. 1... 2... 3... 4... 30. Rushing back to Barry's head, she gave him once more two artificial breaths as she felt her throat starting to burn with fear and doubt.

What if they couldn't resuscitate him?

"Let me help." Cisco's voice came from behind her, almost causing the doctor to jump out of her skin; when'd he enter the room?