2/15
Tick tock. Tick tock.
The second hand on Perry's collector's Elvis clocked moved at what felt like slow motion as Lois stood behind him, placing a supportive hand on his shoulder. Perry leaned back in his chair, looking at him in concern. Their voices echoed around him.
Tick tock. Tick tock.
Another minute had gone by. Another minute he could have already been closer to Smallville. Helping his mom.
“Take all the time you need, son,” Perry said to the young man.
“I’m going with him, Perry,” Lois interrupted squeezing his shoulder.
“No, I can handle it this alone,” Clark intervened turning his head to look at Lois.
He had a lot to handle at the farm and he still had his Superman duties. He needed to help his mom also. He couldn’t make the arrangements he needed to while trying to take care all of that and make sure Lois was comfortable in Smallville. Lois was never comfortable when they visited Smallville and he wasn’t sure how long this trip was going to be. The Kent farm that had been in the family for centuries needed to be taken care of. It meant the world to his dad – he wasn’t going to let him down. No, he would take over the farm, even if it meant giving up everything he loved here in Metropolis.
“Thank you, Chief, I’ll keep you updated,” Clark stated getting up from his chair and leaving the office.
***
Lois stood there for a second dumbfounded at what just happened. She couldn’t believe that Clark didn’t want her to come with him to Smallville. If it were one of her parents, he would be right beside her. He wouldn’t leave her sight. After last nights tragedy Clark had been different. The apartment fire and now his dad’s heart attack... What else could the Man of Steel take? He needed to talk to someone, not shut her out.
“Chief, I would like to take the rest of the day, please,” Lois begged. “I know Clark doesn’t want me to go with him, but I really think he is making a mistake. He needs me.”
“I don’t disagree with you, Lois,” Perry agreed shaking his head. “I’ll expect you to be back in the morning unless you let me know otherwise. The two of you have earned enough vacation time as it is. Now get out of here and take care of him.”
“Yes, Chief,” Lois replied before rushing out of the office.
When she exited Perry’s office Clark was already gone. She knew he wouldn’t waste any time getting to Smallville, but she hoped he would have the decency to say goodbye to her first.
***
Lois was back at Clark’s apartment knocking frantically on the door. She could see the light on his apartment and his shadow through the glass door.
“Clark, I know you are in there. I can see you. Let me in,” Lois shouted knocking harder. “If you don’t let me in, I will break the door down.”
With those words, Clark walked up the stairs to the door opening it. He was standing there in blue jeans and t-shirt already out of his charcoal suit from earlier. Lois pushed past him marching into his loft. Clark closed the door and followed her down the stairs.
“Were you going to just leave without saying goodbye?” Lois asked turning around to confront him.
“Lois, they don’t know if he is going to make it. Do you know how far the farm is from the nearest hospital – thirty miles? I could have gotten him to the hospital in minutes. Instead, I was at that apartment fire last night. All those people still died, while I was saving them... My dad needed me and I wasn’t there.” Clark clarified frustrated at the events of the previous night.
“Clark, I’m sorry,” Lois whispered taking his hands in hers. “You tried your best last night, I know you did. You got there as fast as you could, just like the jewellery store. You can’t be everywhere. You can’t save everyone.”
“Tell that to my mom. She hasn’t left the hospital since dad was bought in. The nurse said she hasn’t moved from dad’s side.”
“That is why you need me to come with you –“ Lois pointed out, “and before you tell me no, let me tell you why it’s a good idea. I can check in with your mom at the hospital make sure she is being taken care of and still help you at the farm.”
“Lois, I know you mean well, and I love you for it, but please, just let me go. I need to do this by myself, first. I need to get things organized at the farm and see what needs to be done. Then I will come back for you in a couple of days if I need you.”
Lois couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He didn’t want her to go with him. They were supposed to be in a relationship. They had even talked about marriage, he had proposed just a few weeks ago. Now he didn’t want her with him when his dad was in the hospital after a major health crisis. She wasn’t just hurt – she was heartbroken.
“Fine,” Lois uttered. She didn’t like it, but she was going along with it at the moment. “Please, call me with updates. Your parents have always been wonderful to me; they mean the world to me.”
***
“I love you,” Clark said cupping her cheek with his hand like just as he had done several countless times over the course of their relationship—more so since they started dating a few months ago. He stared into her eyes, seeing the vulnerability reflected back at him. He wanted to memorize this moment, knowing all too well it could their last.
“I love you, too,” she replied reaching up to kiss him. Clark pulled her closer to him deepening the kiss, not knowing when he would see her again. This would be their goodbye, although Lois didn’t know it.
***
The intensity behind the kiss surprised her… he was kissing her like he was never going to see her again and that scared her.
***
An hour later Clark landed behind the barn of his family home in Smallville as Superman. He could never fly to Smallville as Clark these days afraid that he would be seen, so it was always as Superman. He spun back into his jeans and t-shirt from earlier then walked through the yard towards the empty house.
He unlocked the back door entering through the kitchen. Instantly he saw the mess from the previous night, it looked like his dad suffered his heart attack right before dinner. His mom must have been cooking dinner when it happened and dad walked into the kitchen and collapsed.
There was IV wrappers, used gloves, and lead wrappers all over the yellow tile floor that the paramedics had used. The table had been moved and the chairs were pushed aside against the wall. Clark stood there for a couple of minutes taking in the scene before him. He wasn’t sure what to do. Images of his dad on the floor and his mom crying next to him flashed through his mind.
“No,” he pushed the image out as quickly as it came.
He moved around the kitchen finding his dad’s coffee mug broken in half on the floor from where it fell. The smell of burnt chicken in the air. His mom never burned a dish a day of her life…
“NO! NO! NO….”
He couldn’t seem to stop as he moved at super-speed frantically trying to put everything back in its place. Erasing the image of what had occurred here. He didn’t want his mom to come home to this. When he had finished in the kitchen, he went back outside to feed the few cows and chickens they still had left.
Over a century ago, the Kent’s had owned over a hundred acres. The farm had been handed down to the eldest living son generation after generation. Over the years his father had sold some of the acres because it was getting to difficult to handle all of the crops with it just being his mom and dad on the farm. Clark was their only child – adopted child and he was never interested in staying in Smallville. His father never put that burden on Clark like other fathers would have or like his father, Hiram had.
***
Clark finished on the farm within record time then drove the 1980’s red Dodge Ram pick-up to the hospital. He decided to drive because it had been months since he had taken the time to enjoy the scenery through Smallville. He needed time to think about his future if his father didn’t make it and as much as it hurt, leaving Metropolis might be the answer. Leaving Metropolis meant leaving Lois and he wasn’t sure if he could leave her behind.
He parked in the visitor’s hospital parking lot, taking forty-five minutes to reach the hospital. Clark walked inside the front entrance recognizing some of the residents’ of Smallville instantly. It wasn’t that big of a town; everyone knew everyone, especially when your family lived in the town for centuries.
He got off the elevator on the second floor walking down the hallway down to his dad’s room. He’d taken down his dad’s room number when the nurse had called him this morning. He knew exactly where to go. When he got a few rooms away his super hearing picked up some unmistakable voices.
“Martha, he hasn’t showed up for his last three check-ups. And he hasn’t refilled his medication in the past two months,” Dr. Wilson, his dad’s cardiologist, told his mom.
Clark listened to the conversation with his super-hearing, stepping aside of the hallway not to be in any one’s way. He could not believe what he was hearing.
“If Jonathan had gotten to the hospital earlier, even fifteen minutes could have made the difference. As of right now, he is going to need bypass surgery and after a few days in the hospital he is going to have to take it easy,” the doctor informed her.
“You don’t know Jonathan very well,” Martha stated. “The man doesn’t take it easy.”
“Take a vacation then or have Clark come back to Smallville,” the doctor said.
“Clark has a life in Metropolis. I could never ask him to do that. He is happy for the first time in years. He has finally settled down. I won’t do it. He even has a girlfriend there. For the first time, my son is in love, and I would never ask him to give her up. If I have to Jonathan and I will sell the few acres we have left of the farm and move into a smaller place or just keep the two acres the house sits on.”
‘Few acres?’
Clark couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
‘Sell the farm?’
No. He couldn’t let that happen. He would do everything he could to make sure the family farm –his dad’s legacy-- stayed in the family. No matter what it took, he wouldn’t let his family lose everything.
***Notes***
I have to thank folc4evernday for beta reading this for me and helping me with editing with descriptions and emotions.
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