MISS COSMIC ϟ The Flash

Chapter Forty - Not My Kind Of Shot

As soon as I walked into Mum's hospital ward, I knew something was completely off. The nurses and doctors all looked at me pitifully, as if they didn't envy being in my position right now. My head was quiet, which was extremely unusual for Mum since she stayed awake for me when I always came at similar times.

"Oh, Emily? Could I have a word?" Angela, the friendliest of the nurses, asked me as she pulled me into her office before I could reach my mum's room.

"Yes, sure. How can I help?" I replied, a concerning expression sweeping its way across my face.

"We've recently taken some scans of your mother's brain and, well, perhaps you'd like to use your expertise in this field to have a look for yourself," Angela explained, mumbling as she slid her x-rays across to me.

I studied the black and white cranial scans, my eyes going blurry as I tried not to see what I thought I was seeing. "I, uh, are you sure?"

"We've done further testing and it's positive. We've informed your father, and he's let us know that he'll be visiting soon to consult you on his decision."

"I see," I sighed, wiping under my eyes to stop the tears from smudging my makeup.

"We're terribly sorry, Emily."

"I need to go. Thank you, Angela," I trailed off, biting my lip as I turned on my heel and walked out of the door.

I nearly tripped down the long flight of stairs leading to the back entrance to her ward as tears clouded my vision and freely fell from my face as I made no attempt at stopping them. There was no way that I could do my superhero business without her to visit when I felt like nothing was going my way. I knew that when she did pass away that she would join the plethora of others in my head, but it was never the same as seeing her, even if she hadn't smiled at me for seven years.

I decided that my best plan was to give my dad a call, considering I needed some sort moral support and gathered that he would too. Even if he says he's moved on, I know for a fact that he still has feelings invested in my mother, even if they are because she's dying. I didn't feel mad at him anymore for ditching Mum and finding another woman. Since I've been living my life on the edge as of late, I had come to realise that life's too short to be staying mad at people and I felt like it was time to move on from it.

Before I even had a chance to phone my dad's mobile number, his contact picture came on screen in the form of a text, letting me know that he was on the train to Central City and would be arriving late this evening and that he had booked a hotel and that he would try and meet me tomorrow.

I needed to let Barry know what was happening since I had a bad track record for letting him know things like this. It was always hard to tell Barry news like this as I didn't want to burden him with my worries since he was in despair about his dad being kidnapped by the Trickster and his apprentice.

I had calmed down enough to determine myself able to drive as I made my way through the traffic of Central City to go to S.T.A.R Labs.

Peeking my head around the corner of the Cortex, I could see no sign of Barry. Using a little mind mapping, I quickly found him in one of the prison pods just off of the main part of the labs. I rounded the corner to see him sat on the floor looking sorrowfully at the circular doors in front of him.

"Do you think my dad is still alive?" Barry asked as I sat beside him and laid my head on his shoulder as he circled his arm around my waist to pull me closer to him, signalling that he appreciated the comfort.

"I think the Trickster knows your dad is more valuable alive than dead. The biggest mistake I made was thinking he was stupid. There's nothing that we wouldn't do to try and get him back, B," I consoled.