Three days. 

Three long, agonising days of waiting. Waiting for all of this to make sense. 

Joe constantly sat in Barry's hospital room, teary at the sight of his traumatic injuries, the sight of him lying peacefully yet conscious triggering memories of his coma he'd only woken up from a year before. He hadn't mentioned this to Iris yet, which was probably for the best. However, I couldn't help but wonder when I'd have to reveal myself to her. Hopefully I wouldn't have to. 

I felt like an intruder. Being brutally honest with myself, I already was. Everyday of Barry's admittance I sat outside on a make shift bed, which was really just four waiting room chairs lined into a bearably comfortable position, checking in on the Allen-West family every minute or so. I refused to eat or sleep, I barely drank. It seemed unfair that I was allowed these simple pleasures while Barry, lined head-to-toe in bandages and wires, wasn't. 

Davenport had covered for me. Told the family that my 'long-lost twin brother' had been found in a serious state and that I had to stay in Central City for a while longer as I waited for him to recover. They seemed to take quite well to the lie, as I had received a numerous amount of messages expressing concern and sympathy from Bree.   

The closest hospital we could take him to was a four hour drive outside of Central City, in a small town that was seemingly in the middle-of-nowhere, to avoid any questions on why there were two Barry Allens. For now, we were just twins. The perfect lie in this scenario. However, it did cause almost every hospital staff member to talk to me for ages about "how sorry" they were and "how hard it must be to see your twin like this". It was the worst time for my introvert side to kick in, all I wanted was to be alone. 

Today was no different. 

I sat slumped in the uncomfortable waiting room chair, my arms folded and my eyes closed. The sight of the pristine white and blue hospital halls sickened me,  reminding me too much of the lab I woke up in that caused this whole nightmare to start. 

"Chase?" A voice cooed softly from beside me. 

I opened my eyes swiftly, turning my aching body with a grunt to face the owner of the voice. I was met with a smile, Caitlin standing next to me, her hand on her shoulder. 

"You know you don't have to stay here if you don't want to," she said bluntly. "You have family, don't you?"

I shrugged. I knew what she was trying to say: we don't want you here. "It's fine. I want to be here. Besides, my family won't care". They hardly do these days. 

She gave me a sympathetic smile. "I'm just going to take Joe out for some fresh air. He's hardly been out of that room". 

I nodded, agreeing. 

"We'll probably be an hour, maybe two if things go well. Let me know if anything happens?" 

"Of course".

She gave me a smile of gratitude before heading back into Barry's hotel room. 

I watched as she spoke with Joe for a while, Joe seeming pretty reluctant to leave his son's side. However, Caitlin must've presented a pretty solid argument, as, minutes later, her and Joe emerged, one hand on his back and her other rested on his shoulder as she slowly led him down the halls and out of the facility. 

I don't know what came over me, but a sudden feeling of caution sounded in my heart and I needed to be by my look-alike's side, to be there for him and to make sure he was alright.

I slipped into his room, slinking myself into a slightly more comfortable variation of the waiting-room chairs, and watched the heart monitor rise and fall with each beat of his broken heart. I had heard a rumour that his heart rhyt hm had fluctuated several times, but the others had told me not to worry about it. Something about his speed. 

I couldn't help but think about what this person would be like when he woke up. Would he be like he was in my dreams? Broken, both emotionally and physically, angry and vengeful, on the verge of insanity yet past the point of being saved. Or maybe he would be something entirely different. You could never tell. Near death experiences can do strange things to people, change them in such ways that you can hardly recognise them anymore. Take it from me, I would know. 

"So it wasn't just a nightmare..."

I jumped at the sound of a hollowed voice. I glanced over at the clock on the opposite wall. 15:48. I'd been deep in thought for nearly thirty minutes. 

"I wish it was too," I replied with no acknowledgement to the man I was talking to, looking down at my feet. I noticed that I had been wearing the exact same outfit for three days straight now and made a mental note to get changed as soon as I could. 

I heard a sigh.

Despite every muscle in my body telling me not to, I forced myself to look at the occupied hospital bed, biting my lip as I did so. Barry looked frail; his skin a sickly white and his lips blue, his eyes bloodshot yet the green pigment of the iris' were piercing. 

Poor guy, was all I dared to think to myself. 

"I heard the doctors were having a hard time with you," I said quietly, forcing conversation to break the dreaded silence. He glanced over at me, his eyebrows slightly raised with interest. "Your heart kept beating too fast. Caused the monitors to flatline a couple of times".

He grinned slightly, an action that seemed forced and painful as his lips cracked and specks of blood slid down them. 

We sat in silence for a while longer, neither of us knowing what to say.

"Thank you". 

The statement caught me off guard. "For what?" 

"You were the one that told my team where I was. You saved my life. Thank you". 

I smiled. It had been ages since I heard a sentence like that, and it felt good. A wave of sorrow washed over me as I thought back to my past, saving people with Adam and Bree, the gratitude received when we'd done well, the feeling that came with it... 

It was a feeling I didn't think I'd experience again. 

"It's o-"

"Bear?" 

We both looked up simultaneously as Joe ran in through the door, eyes tearful and grin gleaming with joy as he sprinted over to his son and wrapped him in his embrace. 

I glanced over at a smiling Caitlin and made eye contact, mouthing "what happened to two hours?" 

"What happened to letting me know when he woke up?" She mouthed back sarcastically. 

I laughed, gripping the chair handles and using them to heave myself to my feet. I walked over to her. 

"Thank you," she said softly, nodding her head in the direction of the father and son, still holding each other in their embrace. 

I smiled warmly at her, our eyes still locked with one another. 

He stood there, holding each others gaze. It wasn't awkward like you'd expect it to be, yet warming, comforting. Something was there. An unspoken connection that I couldn't put my finger on. I felt a tingle down my spine and leg. 

Which was, in fact, from my phone.

I quickly broke eye contact and fished my phone out of my pocket, feeling it buzz another time. 

"I-," I started, looking up at Caitlin as I held my phone up slightly for her to see. "I have to take this". 

She nodded and briskly stepped out of the way, allowing me to pass and enter the unoccupied hall once more. 

I quickly checked my phone. Four missed calls and three texts in the past hour, presumably all from the same person. 

I sighed as I began to read the messages, ignoring the voicemails for now. 

With each word scanned, my breathing became shallower, more frantic, my mind aching as all the worst case scenarios came rushing to my head.

Received 3:25pm. Bree Davenport: Hey Gav, just checking in on you.

Received 3:42pm. Bree Davenport: Something's wrong. Please call me ASAP. Really need to talk. 

Received 3:59pm. Bree Davenport: I know your secret.

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It's been nearly a year... I'm such a horrible updater. I'm so sorry.

Hope that chapter was alright. I've had massive writers block for it for ages so I'm so happy I finally got through it. Let me know what you'd like to see happen in coming chapters :)