The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive (Male Reader Insert)

8.8 Everything Changes

The team were all gathered in the medical bay. Y/N was lying down with his eyes closed on a hospital bed. IV bags and a heart monitor had been hooked up to him. A red mark lined his bare chest where the lightning bolt had hit him. He was still badly injured, but stable.

Judy was sitting down in a chair next to her father. Joe sat next to her. He put his arm around her and rubbed small circles into her back. The teenager's eyes were red from how much she'd been crying, but she had no more tears to give. Her voice was meek and hoarse, broken like a fractured record.

Judy: I'm sorry... I didn't mean...

Joe: It wasn't your fault. It's alright. He'll be alright. He's survived much worse.

Joe pulled her in close and rubbed her shoulder. Judy leaned into his chest and closed her eyes. Across from the two of them, Caitlin and Cisco checked Y/N's vitals and replaced his IV bag with a fresh one. Caitlin looked down at her fallen loved one. She brought her hand up to his and gently ran her thumb across his knuckles.

Caitlin: Oh, speedy. How many times are we going to do this?

Her tone was only partly joking, but still laced with concern. She wiped her nose and brought her hand back, going back to checking Y/N's vitals.

Barry: How long do you think he'll be out?

Caitlin shrugged.

Caitlin: Hard to say. Normally I'd say just a few hours. But with more of his speed having been drained, I'm not sure how strong his healing is. It may take some time.

Caitlin looked across from Y/N. She saw Judy and how upset she was. Caitlin felt bad, both for her daughter and for herself. She knew the young girl was sad, but she wasn't quite sure what to do or how to best comfort her.

She decided to slowly bring her hand out across the bed. Judy brought her head up and saw Cait reaching out to her. She brought up her own hand and held onto her grasp. The two women's fingers grasped onto one another, holding on for comfort and reassurance.

Snart and Mick stood by the door into the medical bay. Both looked at the comatose speedster and the family of friends around him. Neither said a word, wishing to allow everyone to let the situation sink in.

As the hours passed by and Y/N still refused to wake up, the friends all walked off one by one to deal with their own tasks. Caitlin and Judy were left alone with their family member. Caitlin got up from beside the bed and walked over to grab a fresh IV bag and apply new bandages. Judy continued to stare at her father. Her mind went back to about a year ago to her, back to when their positions had been reversed.

Judy was sitting in the medical bay of S.T.A.R. Labs. She had just suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of a new metahuman criminal. Martina and Thawne had just performed the necessary check up on her, although Caitlin had also entered the lab and pushed them out the way to do it herself.

Now Judy was lying down in a medical bed with a cast on her leg. Her mother checked her statistics one more time before kissing her on the forehead and walking away. Y/N was sitting down next to Judy, checking over her and keeping her company. Soon, the two were the only ones left in the med bay.

Y/N: Don't worry. We'll get you back up and out there in no time.

Judy looked down at herself. Her leg still hurt and she had a bruise on her elbow. Her black eye was tender to touch. But none of those were what was bothering her. She felt defeated and humiliated after her first major loss. People could have gotten hurt. She could have ended up far worse than she was.