I've Got Soul but I'm Not a Soldier

Open Biopsy

It takes six long hours before the doctors are willing to release Barry, according to West. Lisa is with Iris, but won't give Len any details save for 'he'll be okay', which really doesn't help Len's nerves any. Neither of them are giving him many details, and he needs to know what's happening.

When he gets the call that Barry will be released within the hour, he immediately heads to STAR Labs. It's empty, but then he knew it would be since Cisco and Caitlin are with Barry right now, where he himself can't be. He knows how to get inside; it's not the first time he's done it.

He waits for them in the Cortex, pacing back and forth which is very unlike him, but he's a ball of nerves and he can't help it. When they finally do arrive, it's nearly eight at night, and they push through the opening into the room with Barry leaning against Cisco, looking out of it. He's pale, too – whiter than he's been since Len's known him.

The kid's glazed eyes land on him. Len's hands clench into fists at his sides as he bites his lower lip, keeping still as Cisco leads Barry into the medical area. Barry has the audacity to smile at him as they walk past.

"Heyyyy, Lenny," the kid slurs, and Len frowns.

"He's, uh, pretty out of it," Cisco says as Len follows them into the medical area.

"How?" Len can't help but ask, because the kid's metabolism eats through everything, right?

"They gave him a lot of – well, let's just say they realized his metabolism was eating through everything so, uh... well, Caitlin made something that can slow his metabolism for a little while, so he wouldn't have to be completely without painkillers when she gets the lung sample, but, uh... so we gave him something to calm that down, then they gave him something to make his heart stop racing, and, well – that's not exactly good for him, so we're going to fix that," Cisco rambles, depositing Barry onto a bed. Then he continues like Len's head isn't spinning. "But it was the only way they would release him to us, if his heartrate was normal, so..."

"Lennyyy," Barry says, lifting his head from the pillow to smile at Len, "I loooove you."

There's this airy cadence to his voice. Len takes in a breath and sits on the edge of the bed when the kid's fingers reach for him. He entwines their fingers, feeling Cisco's eyes on him, but he doesn't care about that. Barry's skin is cold. "You'll fix this?" he asks.

"We'll fix it," Caitlin says determinedly as she enters the room. "First we just need to flush his system."

She starts grabbing IVs and jabbing them into Barry's arm. Barry blinks, wincing slightly, but otherwise gives them no notice, focusing instead on Len. It's this wide-eyed look like Len's the only thing that matters in the room.

After a moment, those eyes droop and finally close.

"He's probably exhausted," Caitlin says, writing something down on a clipboard, and for a moment Len's reminded of a real doctor in a hospital. "He's had a very long day."

"Do you know what's wrong, yet?" Len asks, looking back down at Barry, who seems to be sleeping.

Caitlin is quiet for a long moment. He glances up to see her and Cisco sharing looks. His jaw clenches.

"Tell me."

"We won't be sure of anything until we get a sample," Caitlin says gently. "We'll worry about it then, okay? Right now, let's just flush his system and let him rest. You look like you could use some rest, too."

Len scowls; he's fine.

"Ah-ah," Caitlin says, poking his chest with a finger, "no arguing with me, Mister. I'm the doctor here. Get some rest; we'll talk more in the morning."