Arrow: Reckoning Part 2

Early Release

The rapid tone from the heart monitor mirrored the frantic pace at which the room was operating. A somber tone shrouded all the occupants gathered around their wounded friend, reality quickly taking grasp of the situation as they rushed into action to save Barry's life. Oliver pressed his hands down over Barry's wound, doing his best to slow the bleeding. He looked down at his crimson covered gloves and fought to keep the image from implanting in his memories, to act as another reminder of what came to those around him. Caitlin hovered over Barry's lifeless body as she looked over the entirety of his figure, an uncontrollable fear paralyzing her from thought. The sight of the blood running down his red suit ripped at her internally, snatching the air from her lungs and halting her brain from rational thought. Her eyes froze on Barry's weakly pumping chest, unable to pull away from the lightning bolt emblem on his chest above his wound.

"We need to stop the bleeding." Oliver stated, switching out the blood soaked towel with a suitable replacement. The words passed by Caitlin, unheard to her preoccupied ears that only relayed the sound of the heart monitor to her brain.

"Caitlin?" Felicity began, waiting for the most medically qualified person in the room to take charge. The words once again failed to break Caitlin's terrified look away from their quickly dying friend. Felicity firmly grabbed ahold of Caitlin's arm, snapping her back to reality and the severity of the moment.

"What'd you need?" She asked, looking Caitlin in the eye as she kept ahold of her. A wave of possible treatments and appropriate responses to Barry's condition flooded Caitlin's mind as she sorted through them and focused on finding a way to stop the bleeding first.

"Take his jacket off." Caitlin ordered as she turned to retrieve the nessecary utensils and tools to begin her task of saving her friend's life. Oliver and Cisco quickly and gently removed Barry's jacket, allowing for the large incision on his chest to become clearer. Caitlin went to work on inspecting the internal damage done by the blade as she said.

"I'll need to patch any internal bleeding, hold him down." The others tentatively complied, firmly pressing Barry downward toward the operating table as Caitlin made a large incision to allow for access to the internal damage. Barry's body jerked around as the last strikes of pain passed through him before he passed out, weakening his pulse in the process as the blood in his body rushed to keep the damaged organs from failing. Oliver backed away for a moment, feeling completely helpless and lost as he looked over his wounded partner lying before him covered in his own blood.

The sunlight broke through the tree tops as Oliver carefully moved along the path, following the trail of footprints that had doubled back this way. It was unknown who had made the tracks or why they were on the island, but Oliver wasn't taking any chances. The past four years had shown him many gruesome and deadly things about life and what was really lurking within the shadows. The sound of voices beyond the treeline caught his attention as he neared a fallen tree and hunkered down to remain hidden from the unknown presences. He peeked over the rotting tree and spotted a group of men standing on the beach near a small campsite. The assault rifles hanging from their shoulders and the way they carried themselves lead Oliver to believe they were most likely pirates, perhaps resting from sea for a short while or searching for something of value on Lian Yu. They didn't appear to be aware of Oliver's presence on the island, most likely expecting no one to be crazy or unlucky enough to be inhabiting the God forsaken place. A few crates with flashlights and crude mining gear sat near the edge of the camp, a single man quickly sorting through it while the others went over what appeared to be a map of the island. Oliver continued to observe the men, picking up pieces of their conversation through their rough dialect. They spoke of the isolation that the island provided and how interagal that was to their current task. A second boat stopped beside the first, this one carrying more pirates and two captives. Oliver watched as the prisoners were forcibly thrown to the beach and secured to a nearby tree. The two men were shackled to a chain stretching across the base of the tree, each looking extremely affected by malnutrition and severe beatings. The pirates appeared to be setting up a base on the island to hold the prisoners until their ransom was paid, most likely somewhere in the cave system not too far from their current location. Oliver knew he was outnumbered and ill-equipped to combat the pirates, but he couldn't stand by as they held two people against their will. He studied the men as he slowly pieced together a plan to rescue the captives and stop the pirates before they could hurt anyone else.