Part Three
They passed through the doors and into a spacious, well-lit lobby. The nurse behind the counter glanced up as they entered, greeted them with a cheerful smile, then turned back to her book. Lois looked around, taking in the bright tiles, comfortable-looking sofas, and the small fountain bubbling in the corner. “Nice place,” she commented.
“It's specifically for patients who would be out of a normal doctor's league,” Jordan told her, leading her down a hallway. “If the regular doctors don't know what to do, they send them here.”
Lois continued looking around as they walked. “So, it's a hospital for Kryptonians?” she asked as they passed a door marked 'Solar Therapy'.
“Sort of,” said Jordan. “Kind of. Not exclusively. It's mostly equipped for people like us, but the doors are open to anyone with special needs. There have been people with rare disorders, and I think every member of the Justice League has been checked in at least once.”
“Justice League?” Lois asked, perking up. “What's the Justice League?”
Jordan just smiled at her, his eyes twinkling.
Lois wanted to sock him. “So, where did you get Kryptonian doctors?” she settled for asking. “Or whatever kind of specialists you have, here? Are they all family members?” She wished she had a notebook...
“Well, Isabelle—remember little Isabelle? She *is* in med school now,” said Jordan, “and she comes in on weekends.” They turned down another hallway. “But really, it's all a new field. Most of this building is actually laboratories; they do a lot of research and experimentation.”
Lois stopped in her tracks and gaped at him.
“I know what you're thinking,” he said, turning to face her. “It's not like that. In fact, that was part of the reason for founding this place...” They resumed walking. “Every single test is done with informed consent, no matter how small or harmless it is. If you're not comfortable with it, they don't run it. No one who comes here will ever have to be afraid of being turned into a guinea pig against their will.”
Lois frowned. “How do you make sure they don't? I mean, if you give scientists access to a Kryptonian and a scalpel, what's to keep things from getting ugly?” She shuddered.
“Numbers,” Jordan said, grinning at her. “There's a lot of us, Grams, and we vote.” They stopped in front of a door. “It's one thing to go after someone who's alone and an alien. It's another thing to target someone with relatives.” He opened the door and motioned for Lois to precede him.
“I guess it doesn't hurt if your relatives can also bend steel,” Lois quipped as she entered the room. It seemed to be some kind of office; a sofa ran along most of one wall, and in the corner, Lois could see another of those futuristic terminals that she'd noticed at the Daily Planet. “Where are we?” she asked.
“My office,” Jordan replied, closing the door behind them.
“And why are we in your office?”
Jordan's expression became serious. “Because I wanted to show you Bobby Clark.”
Lois' eyebrows raised.
“I know Owen was probably only talking about the hospital,” Jordan continued, “but...” He trailed off, and Lois followed his gaze to a picture that was hanging on the wall. It showed a much younger Jordan and Agnes, holding a little boy between them.
“He got sick when he was four,” Jordan said softly, tapping the image so that it zoomed in on the boy's face. “We didn't know what was wrong with him. Agnes wanted to take him to a hospital, but I was afraid; I thought it would be risking too much on a crap-shoot. We argued about it everyday.” He sighed. “Finally, Agnes had enough and decided to just take him there herself. By then, it was too late: by the time she got him into the car, he was dead.”
“I'm so sorry,” Lois whispered, not sure what else to say.
Jordan stared into the picture. “I probably don't have to tell you what happened next,” he continued. “You saw how I was living when you met me. If things hadn't changed...” He turned to face her. “I owe you a lot, Grams. Thank you.”
“You're more than welcome,” she softly replied. Her attention returned to the boy in the picture. “He's beautiful.”
Jordan smiled at her. “I wish you could have met him, Grams. You would have loved him.”
Lois was considering having a word about this with Mr. Wells—whenever she finally found him—when a shrill noise from the corner cut into her thoughts.
Jordan winced. “I have *got* to change that ring-tone,” he muttered, crossing the room to the terminal and tapping something Lois couldn't see. “Yes?” he asked. “Uh huh. Yeah. Okay... What?!” He bristled, then sighed. “Hang on; I'll be there in a minute.”
He tapped at the terminal again and turned back to face her. “Grams, I'm sorry; I've got to take care of something real quick. Just stay here for a while, okay? I'll be right back.” With that, he literally vanished out the door.
Lois rolled her eyes. Did he actually expect her to just stay put when she was in the middle of a futuristic super-hospital? Clearly, some important facts about Lois Lane had been lost to time.
She decided to go looking around while he did whatever it was he'd left to do. It wasn't like it'd be hard for him to find her again; he had Clark's powers, after all, so he could probably locate her in seconds once he realized she wasn't in the office anymore. With one last look at her late great-great-grandson, she left the office and started off down the hall.
To Be Continued
