Crimson

squabbles are never fun

"Oliver,"
She warned, narrowing her eyes at his faintly grinning features.
He switched the channel, a pillow smacking him in the head.

"I never get to watch the shows I like."
Felicity pouted, Pippin rolling her eyes.

"That's because no one likes your shows."
She croaked out, pausing when everyone turned to look at her.

"Pippin!"
They all scolded in unison, Barry's eyebrows crinkling in concern as she tried to rub her aching throat discreetly.
She sank lower on the bed, narrowing her eyes at them all.

"I'm sorry I've gotten tired with the Etch-and-Sketch."
The notepad bounced off the side of Oliver's head, definitely not affecting his frown which deepened.
Barry coughed back a chuckle while Felicity openly grinned, her smile quickly falling when Oliver shot her a look.

"Is no one else bothered by the fact she might lose her voice if she keeps talking?"
Oliver crossed his arms in that annoying way he did, Pippin rolling her eyes that were barely visible by the covers she had pulled up to the bridge of her nose.

"Let's keep the Etch-and-Sketch until you're better."
Oliver placed the notepad and the pen on Pippin's lap, a triumphant smirk lingering on his features at the lack of an argument on Pippin's part.

The door suddenly flew open, all four of them craning their necks to the newcomers that rushed in.

"Surprise!"

Cisco almost stumbled under the amount of flowers, teddy bears, and cards hanging from his arms, followed by hand-locked Caitlyn and Ronnie.

"Barry finally gave us the thumbs-up to visit."
Caitlyn immediately rushed to Pippin's side, squeezing her into a hug the blonde hadn't expected.

"I know how much hospitals suck."
Ronnie added, giving her another hug that she wasn't expecting.

Cisco dumped the gifts that he held at a mildly surprised Oliver, rushing to give Pippin a hug.
There seemed to be a trend going on.

"I-we were really worried."
He asserted, pulling away from Pippin sheepishly.
Pippin cracked her mouth open to speak before Barry pushed the paper and pen into her hands.

'Thank you.'
Was all she could think to write on the pad, completely taken by surprise by everything that had just occurred in the past five minutes.
Cisco plopped on the hospital bed, stealing a few of Pippin's fries with a sheepish smile.

"Is the hospital food as bad as I think it is?"
He whispered to her.
Pippin glanced at Oliver who was chatting with Ronnie and Felicity who was crying over the show with Caitlyn.

"It's worse."
Pippin felt Barry tap her arm with a smile, pretending he hadn't heard her.
She felt his fingers slip down to her palm, capturing her hand in his.
A smile crawled on to her lips despite her attempts to stop it.

"How's the lab?"
She whispered, hoarsely, her throat aching.
Barry squeezed her hand, concern filling his eyes.

"There hasn't been too much going on."
Cisco answered, Pippin narrowing her eyes at him.

"Fine," he mumbled, stuffing another fry into his mouth.
"Minor crimes, Barry's been at the hospital with you and we didn't want to bother him."

Pippin turned to Barry, who smiled sheepishly.
His free hand ran through his hair, staying on the back of his head.

"Cisco."
He hissed, trying to shift the blame to the tanned man who had now taken Pippin's fries in his hand.

"She fixes me with 'the look.'"
He protested, his words muffled from the amount of fries in his mouth.
"I can't resist it."