Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash. None of the characters belong to me. Only the plot is mine.

Barry woke with a start. His back ached so horribly he almost felt like screaming. He know he probably needed his painkillers, but didn't want to wake the sleeping form of Cisco next to him. Cisco and Caitlin had stayed with him, even with his insistent remarks about them needing to go home. They had compromised by deciding they would go home off and on throughout the day. Iris and Joe were at home, and Harry was renting a small apartment, near the lab, but spent nearly every night at S.T.A.R Labs anyways, working on some sort of new tech, very often being found asleep by Cisco.

Currently, it was about 2 A.M. and Cisco was asleep on the cot next to his bed. He was sincerely touched and, to be honest, relieved, by the fact they stayed with him, particularly since at least once or twice every night he would wake up in terrible pain and, though he desperately hated it, needed his pain medicine. It had been three days since Zoom had broken his back, which was currently screaming at him, and he actually wished for his medicine. In an effort to distract himself, he decided to scroll through his phone contacts. Almost instantly, he found the number he was looking for:

Oliver Queen (Ollie)

He tapped it and waited, hearing the phone dial and hoping Oliver wasn't out punching somebody right now. If anybody knew anything about injuries it was Oliver. At last, he heard the gruff, semi-deep voice answer.

"Hello?" Barry didn't answer for a moment.

"Barry?" Oliver prompted. Barry cleared his throat quietly, not wanting to disturb Cisco.

"Hey, Oliver," Barry replied, "I - uh - sorry - I guess I just needed to chat."

"Well, as someone who spent five years on an island, I'm not really one to 'chat' so," Oliver said, prompting Barry to continue.

"Uh, yeah, okay. Well, haveyoueverhadyourbackbroken?" Barry asked extremely quickly, his speedy talent ebbing into his voice.

"Sorry, what?" Oliver asked, startled. Barry sighed. He was almost regretting making this call. He wasn't extremely close to Oliver, but felt that he was close enough and desperate enough to call him. Also, they hadn't talked in about two months.

"Okay, the other day I got in a fight with a speedster. We call him Zoom and we don't know who he really is. He, uh, he b-broke my spine." Barry finished resolutely, his voice very close to breaking. Oliver was silent for about five minutes, and the only thing that told Barry he hadn't hung up, was that he could still hear Oliver's breathing. Barry was quiet also, apart from the occasional sharp breath that came when he shifted in bed.

"Barry, I - I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry. I don't even know what that would be like. Are you going to - uh - be okay?" Oliver asked. He was trying not to sound concerned for his friend, but he failed at it.

"I - yeah - I think so. Caitlin says that I should be fully healed within a few days," Barry responded, sounding a bit depressed.

"It just sucks, you know. I can't run anymore. I can't even walk." Barry's voice almost broke again and he swallowed thickly. He heard Oliver click his tongue, wondering what to say next.

"Barry, I - I want to tell you something. When I was on that island, so many things happened to me. I was injured so many times and I have been hurt so many times since then. But I never let that get me down. I'll get depressed and sometimes I'll get angry, but I never stop. I let myself heal and then I get back out there and do my job, because if I don't, if I just sit around and stay depressed, people get hurt when I could've been stopping it. So don't give up, but don't push yourself past what your body can handle. Trust me, it'll only make things worse."

After a few minutes of silence after Oliver's speech, Barry cleared his throat again.

"Thanks, Oliver. That - uh - was really helpful. You know, you've always been there for me and - well - you know," Barry stuttered, and he heard Oliver chuckle.

"Yeah, Bar." Silence stretched for a few more seconds, then they said their goodbyes and hung up.

Barry fell back asleep and when he awoke the next morning, Cisco and Caitlin noticed something different about their friend and patient. He was perkier and slightly more chipper than he had been the past few days. He was still in much pain but he didn't let that get him down. He struggled to walk, but he did and succeeded and he was the Fastest Man Alive again.