My eyelids are heavy, but eventually, I manage to open them. I'm in my room. I try to move my arm to rub my eyes, but I end up groaning in pain. My door opens.
"Cara." Barry? What's he doing here?
"Where's Ben?" I ask in confusion. He comes and crouches beside my bed.
"He's at work. He had to do a late-night shift and he probably won't be back until tomorrow night." What? My own brother can't be here? This is all too familiar.
"I--" I cut myself off, unsure of what I was even going to say. Tears threaten to fall as I realise that nobody in my family is here to care for me.
"I told Ben I'd spend the night and make sure you have everything you need. Cisco said you really just need to sleep." Barry tells me. Cisco? No, I bet it was Caitlin that told him that.
"You know Cisco?" I ask, pretending to be confused.
"Yeah. He was one of the ones taking care of me while I was in my coma. I sorta became friends with him and two others from STAR Labs after I woke up." Barry explains.
"Oh." This is really not what I had in mind when I always thought about spending time with my fantasy crush.
"So, uh, what happened tonight? Cisco said something about some guy with a gun." Barry says. I don't get why he wants to talk about this; it'll make me upset to think about it and he was there anyway.
"Some guy in a blue Eskimo jacket had this gun that shoots ice, and he, um... He hurt me. He threw me around like I was some doll, laughing in my face and telling me to scream." Images of Snart's smirking face flash through my mind and I shiver involuntarily.
"Wow. Sounds scary." Barry says.
"Yeah, can we, um... I don't want to..." I can't even form proper sentences with the memories of tonight going through my head over and over.
"Yeah, I get it. Uh, I'm just gonna be watching TV if you need me." Barry says hurriedly. He feels awkward and somewhat guilty. These are the things I know as a Flash fan.
When Barry's gone and my door is shut, I sigh and ready myself, then slowly push myself into a sitting position. I hold in any hisses and groans that try to get out.
You were lucky.
"And you were useless." I whisper angrily. Robin's meant to be my protector that can't let any harm come to me, and yet it just sat there and watched me suffer.
You must know.
"What now? Another memory?" I ask in frustration, still keeping my voice quiet.
You are different.
"Yeah, I know; I'm kinda from a whole other world."
You misunderstand. Cara was different too.
"What're you talking about?"
She didn't know, but you do. You can already do it.
"Do what?"
You have a gift.
"What?" I have no idea what it's talking abo-- wait, maybe I do. "You mean I'm a..." I take a deep breath. "I'm a meta?"
Correct. You have already used the gift.
"What is it? Can I talk to animals or something? Is that why Wolfgang only listens to me?"
You are the key.
"What? Please stop speaking in riddles for once."
Anyone else would not have been able to unlock the door with pins and lock it again without even trying.
"Wait, so you're saying that I can unlock things? You aren't the one that locks the door behind us whenever we leave?" Robin nods.
You are getting stronger, too. Even your thoughts are locked now.
"So you can't read my mind anymore?"
No, we cannot.
"Why're you telling me this now? Why couldn't you have said it before?"
The time is right. You are ready. Elise, your world calls you.
"You mean I can go home?" I haven't really thought about that since I got here. I mean, sure I've missed my parents and Patty, but I never even considered that I could go home. I guess when Robin first said that I'm Cara and Cara is me, I thought it meant permanently.
It is time to see. You are ready. Use your gift. Open the draw.
Robin points at the desk, and I immediately know it's talking about the locked drawer.
I pull myself into my wheelchair painfully, then make my way over to the desk.
"I don't have my hair pins with me." I realise.
You do not need pins. Put your hand to the lock and open it.
I rest my fingers on the cold metal and it immediately reminds me of Snart's gun on my forehead. I try to focus on the lock, thinking about how this could possibly work.
After about five minutes of me sitting there with my hand on the lock, I sigh and look up at Robin, folding my arms over my chest.
"It didn't work."
Elise, your brain is too active. Stop thinking and start feeling. Try again.
I feel like I'm the karate kid and Robin is Mr Miagi, teaching me things by using riddles.
I take a deep breath and put my hand on the lock again, closing my eyes. Don't think, feel. Feel. Feel. Feel feel feel.
I sigh again and throw my hands up in frustration.
"Still nothing. This is ridiculous. Just let me go get some food in my belly and I'll try again." I really just want a break, that way I can maybe distract Robin and it won't keep pressuring me to do this.
You have gum. Stop thinking, start feeling.
"I feel hungry. I want actual food, not gum."
You must open the draw. It is needed.
Oooh, it's needed. I guess I'd better do it then. Not.
"Look, Robin, I don't think you're understanding me here; I want to go and eat food and talk to Barry, then I'll come back and try again later when you aren't pressuring me."
We do not need MJ or Levi anymore. We do not need Ben. We could always ash them all.
"Are you... Threatening me?"
You are correct.
I sigh in annoyance and grab a piece of gum, shoving it into my mouth before putting my hand back up to the lock.
Do not think. Only feel.
I hold in every snarky comment that comes to mind, not wanting to risk the lives of my friends and brother. I take a deep breath, focusing on the lock.
After about a minute of silence and deep breathing, I know the mechanisms are moving and I finally hear a little click.
I did it.
Robin doesn't comment, so I take that as permission to open the drawer and look inside. Slowly, hesitantly, I pull the draw out and peek into it.
The first thing that catches my eye is a familiar brown leather object. My favourite jacket from my world is neatly folded, and when I pull it out in awe, I realise my Flash shirt and skinny jeans are underneath it. My favourite outfit has been in this draw the whole time.
I put the clothes aside and find my matching red converse, which I put with my clothes. Unexpectedly, the next thing I find is a small pile of hardcover books. Upon closer inspection, I realise it's all of the books I had in the car on the night of the lightning strike.
And the clothes were the same ones I'd grabbed as back-ups.
Everything in this draw must've been brought here with me when the lightning hit.
I peek back into the draw with the look of awe still on my face, but a grin takes over when I find my pile of comics. These aren't just any comic books either; these are all Flash ones. I put them aside with everything else and look in the bottom of the draw to see if there's anything left.
My purse and car keys are there, as well as a Mozart CD that Mum must've left in the car, a box and my phone. I realise my phone won't work, so I go for the box instead.
It is needed.
I glance at Robin, then back at the box in my hands. Slowly, I open it, gasping quietly when I see what's inside; my mum's favourite necklace. It has a silver chain, with a small Garnet pendant, and that's it.
Without hesitation, I put the necklace on, finding comfort in the familiarity of something so small.
This is the tie to your world. You must keep it on at all times. It will help you get home.
"Why do I need to go home? I've been fine staying here. I could just find Patty and anyone else I want to be with, then it'll be basically the same as my world."
Patty is not here. She is gone.
"What?" I open the Mac where it sits on the desk. I go to Facebook and search for Patricia Bead. Nothing comes up. I search her name in the Google bar and still, nothing comes up. "Where is she? Why can't I find her?"
Her family moved to Gotham many years ago, and Patty was killed by a mugger.
I stare at Robin in shock. My best friend is dead here? Cara probably never even met her.
The phone, Elise. It is needed.
"Yeah, of course." I shake my head to get rid of thoughts of Patty, then reach into the draw to pull my phone out. Not thinking anything will happen, I try to turn it on.
It works, and I have full cell service here.
"What the heck? This shouldn't work here. Logically, there should be no reception, and the battery should've died anyway."
Logically, the phone shouldn't even be here and neither should you, yet here you are.
Touché.
The phone vibrates in my hands and I look down at it to see what's happening. The missed call symbol has popped up in the top corner, and so have the new text and message bank icons.
I unlock the phone and go to the missed calls first. There are literally hundreds of them. I check my texts, and there are only two since most people know I don't like texting. These are both from Hank, sent the night we met.
Hank:
Hey Elise!! :D
Hank:
Grant's eager to meet you.
I'll call to organise properly.
Hank :D
I then go to message bank, and instead of the prerecorded voice telling me I've got a hundred unheard messages, a list comes up with the most recent messages at the top. I scroll down to the very bottom and find a message from Patty.
"Hey girl, just thought I'd call to tell you about what Todd and I did after dinner, but I guess you've gone to bed. Call me when you get this. Love you, Elly!"
Tears well up in my eyes and I frown as I try to hold them back. It's nice to hear Patty's voice again. The next message is from Mum.
"Hey, Sweetie. Just calling to ask if you'll be home tonight or if you'll be staying with Patty. It's getting a bit late so I'll just lock up and head to bed. Kisses."
My mum's voice sends me over the edge, and tears start to roll down my cheeks. I try to distract myself by playing the next message, which is from Hank.
"Hey, Elise. I know it's late, but I just got off the phone with Grant and he said he's got a whole day free next weekend so if you wanna call me back when you get this, we can arrange it all. Okay, goodnight!"
I smile slightly through my tears and play the next message, this one from Patty again.
"Dude, what's up? Your mum's texting me with questions about where you are. I told her you were here, but I'm getting kinda worried; you haven't texted or called me. If you're with Hank, I totally get it, but please let me know so I can stop lying to your mum. Okay, love ya El. Bye."
My best friend's concern makes me smile slightly. I press play on the next one, which is from Hank again.
"Hey, El. Is everything okay? You haven't replied to my texts or calls. You can just tell me if you don't wanna talk to me or meet Grant or anything. I'm sorry if I did something wrong."
The next one's from Hank as well.
"Elise, where are you? Patty just called saying you never went home last night and she hasn't been able to contact you. Please call one of us as soon as you get our messages."
That call was made at almost midday the day after I got hit by lightning. Had nobody found me yet? Had they just not contacted my family and friends? Was I burnt so badly that they couldn't recognise me?
The next message is from Mum, left two hours after Hank's.
"Sweetie, I just got a call from the hospital. Please pick up the phone and tell me that you're okay. Please answer my calls."
Mum's voice goes shaky and I hear her sob briefly before she ends the call. My heart just about breaks all over again. The next message is from Patty.
"Dude, I swear if you and your mum are teaming up to prank me in some twisted, Flash-referencing way, I will not hesitate to kill you... After I hug you because I'm so worried."
The message ends there, and I play the next one. It's Hank again.
"Elise, please tell me you were not hit by lightning. I know you love Flash, but that's a little extreme even for you, don't you think?" A hollow laugh echoes through the phone, but then it stops. "I'm on my way to the hospital now. Todd and Patty are meeting me there. I guess I'll see you there too, huh? I... I just hope you're okay."
Surprisingly enough, the next one is from Ben. His message was received an hour after Hank's.
"Hey, Elise. Mum called and told me what happened. I guess I wanted to call to prove her wrong, but it looks like you really are in a coma. Um, yeah. I guess I'll talk to you when you wake up. I, um, I love you."
I can't listen to any more. I just-- I can't.
I lock the phone and put it down, staring at the blank screen. To them, I'm in a coma, not in some other world living life relatively normally.
"I want to go home." I tell Robin.
We cannot show you how. You must figure it out. These things take time. You are still needed.
"I don't care if I'm needed here. This isn't my world or my life. I'm needed at home. I'm needed as Elise, not Cara."
You are needed here. We cannot help you get home. You must seek assistance elsewhere if you want to go back.
I'm about to question Robin more when my phone rings. Not Cara's, mine. I stare at the screen. Mum's calling. I desperately want to talk to her right now. I'm about to answer the call when the phone is plucked from my fingers.
You cannot talk to Debby Quick. To her, you will not answer because you are in a coma.
I don't comment because Robin's right. I can't talk to my own mother while she comforts herself by talking to my message bank. I'm unconscious for them.
Robin gives the phone back when it's no longer ringing, and I open the unheard messages again. This time, I don't scroll down to the older messages, I pick the one before the message Mum just left. It's from Hank.
"Day seventeen. No improvement. Patty's still living in your room, only leaving for food, the toilet and an occasional shower. She's been sleeping in one of your hoodies. Debby's never really left the hospital either. She doesn't really talk to anyone except the nurses and your message bank. We all do this now.
"Your Dad left yesterday to get back to work. He wanted to stay but he knows someone has to keep working to pay off the hospital bill. Todd and I both offered to help again but the answer was still no." Hank sighs. "Please wake up soon. Grant says he'll come visit you as soon as you wake up, no matter what day or time that is...
"We're all worried about you, Elly. The doctors told us this morning that they can't justify keeping you alive for any more than a total of eight weeks. That's five and a half weeks from now. Please wake up." Another sigh. "We all miss you so much. Seeing you just lying there is so weird, and it almost feels like you could wake up at any second and everything's gonna be okay again.
"We all wanna see you open your eyes again. I wanna see you smile again. I wanna hear you laugh again." Hank takes a deep, shaky breath. "I wanna hear you say my name again... Five and a half weeks. That's all you've got. Please don't wait until the last minute." Another sigh. "Hopefully the next time I do this, it'll be to your face and you'll be awake for it. Until then... It's Hank."
I lock the phone and put it back in the draw quickly, shoving everything else back in too and locking it as I think.
I need to get back, and if Robin won't help me do it, there's only one option left.
I'll have to get help from Team Flash.