Hi, everyone!
Well, Thursday's here, so as promised, here's Part 14. Please let me know what you all think. I want to thank Darcy and Sheila again for all of their help with this story. You guys are awesome! I also want to thank everyone who's been reading and leaving fdk!
From Part 13:
“Ms. Lane? Please, let me give you a sedative, it’ll help you to calm down.”
Lois stared at the doctor through her tears, her heart squeezing painfully. “What?” she asked confusedly. Why was everyone so concerned about her when Clark was the one who needed help? “But Clark…he needs me.”
“I know, Ms. Lane, but I can’t allow you to see Clark if you’re hysterical. Let me give you a sedative,” Dr. Dunn urged softly.
Lois nodded numbly, and Dr. Dunn beckoned for the nurse to administer the sedative. Several moments later, she felt a needle prick her in the arm.
“The sedative is mild but fast acting,” Lois heard the nurse say just as a surreal wave of sudden calmness flowed through her. She welcomed it, wished she could drown in it. Anything was better than the agonizing devastation she’d felt only a moment before.
Lois drifted into a hazy fog as she felt someone pick her up off the floor. She was floating in a sea of fluffy clouds, and they surrounded her, moving her along to a more tranquil place. It reminded her of flying with Superman—with Clark.
His name ran through her mind, warming her soul like sunshine on a hot summer day as the lights dimmed and oblivion claimed her.
********************************************
Part 14:
“Lois?” The soft feminine voice tickled her mind, urging her to open her eyes. Lois groaned as someone gently shook her. Instinct told her that she’d be happier staying where she was, her mind enfolded in this dark, protective layer of fog.
She was floating in numbness and knew that the moment she opened her eyes, allowed herself to become fully conscious, the fog would lift and the numbness would disappear. And all that would be left was fear and grief.
“Lois? Come on, wake up, Honey. There isn’t much time.”
Not much time for what?
“The doctor needs to speak with us. Come on, Lois, wake up.”
Lois groaned again as she forced her eyes open. Martha was standing over her, and Jonathan was standing behind her, a hand resting on her shoulder. Perry and Jimmy stood off to the side, both of them looking at her with identical expressions of sadness and concern.
At that moment, everything came rushing back to her. Clark being shot, her struggle with Lex and his subsequent suicide, and the ambulance ride to the hospital. She remembered her fear as she waited for Clark to come out of surgery—remembered her overwhelming feelings of grief and despair when the doctor told them that Clark wouldn’t survive without a blood transfusion.
<There isn’t much time.> Martha’s words rang in her mind, and Lois knew that she couldn’t let her grief overtake her again. Clark didn’t have much time left, and she could tell by everyone’s expressions that the doctor had something important to tell them.
“How long was I out? And where’s Clark?” she asked as she sat up, realizing for the first time since she’d opened her eyes that she’d been lying down on a cot in a small room.
“You haven’t been resting too long, not even an hour,” Jonathan told her. “They just moved Clark to his own room. You can see him, but first the doctor wants to speak with us.”
Dr. Dunn entered the room at that moment. “Good, you’re awake, Ms. Lane.” The doctor sighed tiredly as he shut the door behind him and sat down in a chair, his eyes settling on everyone in the room. “Look, I wish that I had good news, but Clark’s condition is deteriorating. We’ve put him on a ventilator, and at this point, it’s the only thing that’s keeping him alive. He won’t likely regain consciousness, and soon his vital organs, such as the liver and kidneys, will shut down.” The doctor paused, and Lois sensed that he was giving them a moment of silence to think about what he’d said. “I know how difficult this must be for all of you. I know how difficult this is for me, and I’m only his doctor. But I must tell you that by keeping him on the ventilator, we’re only prolonging the inevitable—prolonging his suffering.”
Lois gasped, choking back tears as the doctor’s words sank in. He was suggesting that they take Clark off the ventilator. Lois hadn’t known that it was possible to shed so many tears in one night, but she was unable to stop the downpour of salty drops as they fell from her eyes yet again.
When no one said anything, the doctor continued. “It’s your decision, of course, Mr. and Mrs. Kent. I know that you are all anxious to see him, so if you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to his room.”
Lois slowly got up from the cot, still feeling a little woozy from the sedative, and followed the others as they all left the small room she’d been resting in. They entered his room just moments later, and Lois stared at all of the tubes coming out of him, stared at all of the intimidating looking machinery he was hooked up to. A heart monitor was making a steady beeping sound, and the ventilator was making another sound that Lois couldn’t quite identify.
Lois crossed the room and sat down beside Clark’s hospital bed. Taking his limp hand in her own, she watched the rise and fall of his chest. She tried to ignore the fact that the use of a ventilator was the only reason he was still breathing at all. Lois swallowed past the lump in her throat as her eyes took in his pale face.
He would never open his beautiful eyes again.
Martha took a seat on the other side of Clark’s bed, and Jonathan stood behind her, always nearby, always silently offering his unconditional comfort and support. Perry and Jimmy stood at the foot of his bed, their sorrowful eyes trained on the man who had become their friend and their protector.
“Martha, you know what Clark would want,” Jonathan spoke quietly, almost reverently. “He wouldn’t want…this. He wouldn’t want for us to see him like this. He would hate the thought that we were suffering while waiting for the end.”
Martha stifled a sob behind her fist as a tear escaped one eye. “I know, Jonathan. I know.”
Lois searched Martha’s tear-filled eyes, and her heart dropped at the look on the other woman’s face. “No…please, not yet,” Lois pleaded.
“Lois…it’s time.” Martha’s softly spoken words tore at her heart. “We have to let him go.”
Perry cleared his throat, the sound grabbing Lois’s attention. She looked at her former editor and realized that in all the years she’d worked for him, she’d never once seen him this choked up. “Uh, I think I’ll go see if I can find some coffee. I’m sure you guys would like a little time alone with Clark.”
“Yeah, uh…I’m going to go check on Jack.” Jimmy averted his eyes, but Lois saw the tears in them anyway. “I’ll be back soon,” he promised before following Perry out of the room. No one said anything as they watched them leave.
Lois settled her eyes on Clark again, taking in the sight of him, committing every detail of his features to her memory. How would she ever be able to let him go? “It’s so unfair. It should’ve been me.”
“No, Lois. Don’t ever say that.”
Lois looked up, her eyes bright with tears, and found Martha’s teary-eyed gaze again. Jonathan had taken his wife’s hand in his own, and Lois could see how strong he was trying to remain for Martha’s sake. She suddenly felt very alone. “I can’t help but feel that way. He didn’t deserve this. This was all because of Lex’s sick and twisted obsession with me.”
“No, Honey. Lex was just as obsessed with Clark—or more accurately, Superman—as he was with you. No one is to blame except Lex Luthor. Clark wouldn’t want you to go on carrying this guilt around.”
“Deep down, I guess I know that.” Lois turned back to Clark’s still form as he rested in the hospital bed. She couldn’t help but hope that some amazing miracle would strike, and Clark would open his eyes again. She couldn’t help but hope that the absence of kryptonite would be enough for his body to recover—be enough to make him super again in time to save his life. Lois knew that it was a pipe dream, though. He’d been exposed to the kryptonite too long, had become too weak, and now with losing so much blood…
<He won’t likely regain consciousness, and soon his vital organs, such as the liver and kidneys, will shut down.> The doctor’s words entered her mind, and Lois wanted to sob at the unfairness of it all. Her mind knew what the doctor had told them, had even understood it, but her heart refused to believe that he was going to leave her. She just couldn’t accept that he was going to die. He’d always been larger than life in her eyes.
Lois suddenly stood up, letting his hand fall from hers. “I’m sorry…I need a moment alone.” She left the room before either of the Kents could say anything. Tears fell down her cheeks as she fled through the hospital’s sliding doors. As soon as the crisp early morning air hit her face, Lois closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Tomorrow would dawn in only a few hours, and Clark wouldn’t make it long enough for one last sunrise.
She wasn’t ready. How could she walk back into that hospital and watch as they pulled the plug?
Lois started walking, her pace slow and her steps taking her nowhere in particular. As she walked, thoughts of Clark entered her mind. She just couldn’t escape the memories. Her head was so full of him, of every moment spent with him for the past year they’d worked together.
Why had it taken her so long to realize how she felt about him? He’d been there all along, right under her nose. She realized now that Clark had always worn his heart on his sleeve. Had she been paying more attention to him, rather than to Superman or Lex, she would have noticed how he felt about her. Possibly, she would have even recognized her own feelings.
But she’d been blinded by a red cape. She’d been blinded by flattery and charm. She’d been blinded by fear. Lois knew that she’d made many mistakes, and it tore her heart in two to know that Clark was now paying for them with his life.
Loving her was his only mistake.
Lois changed direction and started to retrace her steps back to the hospital. There wasn’t time for wallowing. She needed to be by his side. She knew that it was going to be the hardest thing she would ever do, and the most heartbreaking, but her place was by his side.
It was time to let him go.
Lois wiped the tears from her eyes as she re-entered Metropolis General. She ignored the tired and bored-looking woman who sat behind the counter in the lobby, and continued to walk through the cold and empty halls of the hospital. All too soon, Lois found herself standing just outside the door to his room. She gathered her courage and stepped inside.
“Honey, how are you holdin’ up?” Perry was standing near the door, a cup of coffee in his hand. He reached down and picked up a Styrofoam cup from the table before handing it to her. “I thought you could use a cup.”
“Thanks,” she mumbled as she took the steaming cup into her trembling hands. A couple drops of the hot liquid spilled over before landing on the bare skin of her hand. Lois barely noticed.
The beeping sound of the heart monitor rang in her ears, and Lois fleetingly noticed that his heart rate seemed faster than normal. But what did she know? He was Superman, after all. Maybe it was normal for him to have a fast heart beat.
Lois shook the errant thoughts out of her mind as she sat down next to him once again. The coffee was forgotten as she set it on the bedside table. She took his hand in hers and flinched at how cold his skin had become. He was growing colder…more pale looking.
He was already leaving her.
Lois swallowed past the lump of despair that had lodged itself in her throat as her eyes fell on his chest again. He was still breathing, the ventilator working hard to keep him alive. She couldn’t even begin to comprehend what it would be like for her when his chest stopped moving, when he died right before her eyes.
“I can’t do this,” she said suddenly, her voice interrupting the eerie silence that had fallen upon them all. “I can’t just sit here and watch him die. There has to be something that *someone* can do!”
The door suddenly opened, and everyone’s eyes fell on the person that stood in the doorway. “Oh, dear, I see I made it here without a moment to spare.”
Lois stared at the man in confusion, wondering if she was supposed to recognize this odd person wearing a bowler hat. “I’m sorry…who are you?”
“Ms. Lane, my name is H.G. Wells.”
“H.G. Wells? You’ve got to be kidding me. I can’t deal with this right now.”
“Ms. Lane, I’ve come to save Clark’s life.”
That got her attention. “You can help Clark?” Her voice was hopeful.
“No, dear, *I* can’t, but *he* can.”
Lois stared in confusion at the man who called himself H.G. Wells, and a mere second later, her eyes widened in astonishment as someone stepped into view behind him—someone wearing a very familiar blue spandex suit and red cape.
He had Clark’s gorgeous dark eyes, his bright smile, even his dark hair. It was like looking at an exact replica of Clark—only with one startlingly big difference. There was something missing in this man’s eyes, something that only *her* Clark had.
Blinking back tears, Lois shot up out of her chair. “What kind of sick joke is this?” she cried, her voice breaking. “Why are you doing this? *Who* are you?”
The man who looked like Clark—who looked and was dressed like Superman—glanced at H.G. Wells, and it seemed to Lois that he was asking a silent question. H.G. Wells stepped forward. “I will answer all of your questions, Ms. Lane, but right now there isn’t time. Clark doesn’t have much longer to live.”
“I think you’d better start talking then, Mr. Wells,” Jonathan spoke up. “We don’t find this very humorous.” Lois watched as Clark’s father stepped forward with obvious anger in his eyes. Martha placed a hand on Jonathan’s shoulder, the gesture visibly calming him.
“Listen, I know that you all have been through a terrible tragedy. But H.G. Wells brought me here to help. Helping is what I do—you all should know that by now.”
The sound of his voice rang through Lois’s ears—so familiar, yet so different—and she couldn’t hold back her despair any longer. Lois fell back into her chair with a sob. It was all too much! Why were the fates torturing her? Her eyes fell on Clark, still unmoving in the hospital bed, before shifting to the replica of him that had just entered the room behind H.G. Wells. She silently watched as he shut the door, cordoning them off from any prying eyes or ears.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve comin’ here at a time like this! You’re no more convincing than a bad Elvis impersonator,” Perry exclaimed.
“I’m not an impersonator, or an imposter, and I’ll prove it to you,” the man who looked like Clark backed up his words by levitating three feet off the floor.
Lois, Perry, and the Kents all stared at him, speechless for a long moment. Lois opened her mouth, struggling for words. “H-how?”
“I’m from an alternate universe. I guess you could say that I’m an exact clone of your Clark—only not really a clone. I can donate blood to save his life, since we both have the same blood.”
Hope came alive inside of her at his words. It bubbled up, overflowing until she grinned with it. “Really? You can do that?”
Superman grinned back. “Yes, Lois,” his voice was soft, and the way he said her name made her feel like it meant something to him—like he *knew* her.
“How do you know so much about us—about Clark?”
“Because where I come from, I *am* Clark. I am also Superman, as you can see. Our worlds aren’t that much different.”
“Ms. Lane, there are many different worlds. I’ve visited quite a few,” H.G. Wells explained.
“How is that possible?” asked Martha.
“I created a time machine many years ago. Just recently I was able to create another device—one which allows me to visit the different universes.”
“How did you know to come here? How did you know that Clark needed help?” Lois asked.
“My dear, I’m from the future—a place called Utopia. It is a wonderful place, full of peace and harmony, a place where people live by the ideals and morals of Superman’s descendants. The future where I live turned very dark suddenly—it was madness! So I did a little research and found that Clark Kent had died following Lex Luthor’s suicide. I’m not sure what caused such a startling change in history, but without Superman and his descendants, the future of this world is not a bright one, I’m afraid.” H.G. Wells paused for a moment, and Lois could see the intensity in his eyes. “There isn’t much time. But before we call Clark’s doctor in here, does he *know*…everything?”
“He does,” Jonathan told H.G. Wells. “We had to tell him. We felt that he could be trusted.”
“Well, I suppose we should have a word with the doctor then.”
“I’ll go get him,” Martha said before opening the door and disappearing through it an instant later. Silence settled in the room after the door shut behind her.
Lois stared at the man fully dressed as Superman, and she had to remind herself that Clark—her Clark—was still lying in the hospital bed, unmoving. You couldn’t tell the difference between them, other than the eyes, that is. This man was different on the inside. Lois could tell that he still had the same compassion, the same unwavering caring for humanity as Clark, but he wasn’t the man she was in love with.
Lois sighed as her eyes rested on the love of her life before settling on the machine that was keeping him alive.
“He’s going to be okay, Lois,” Superman assured her.
“Am I in your universe?” She wanted to laugh the moment the words left her mouth. Was she actually buying into this bizarre story of parallel universes and a dead fiction writer who could leap through time? Was she losing her mind? “I mean, is there a Lois Lane in your world?” Obviously, she *had* lost her mind. Then again, no one had believed that men could fly until Superman arrived on the scene.
“Yes, although, she’s Lois Lane-Kent now. We were married three years ago.”
“Now, it is best not to reveal too much,” H.G. Wells warned.
Lois couldn’t help it. Her jaw dropped. If it had been possible, it would have hit the floor. “M-married?” she stuttered, suddenly feeling green with envy for her counterpart. She’d give anything to see Clark open his eyes, to see him strong and healthy, to see him slip a ring on her finger.
At the thought, the large chuck of rock that adorned the ring finger of her left hand suddenly became very heavy. Lois’s heart dropped as she realized that she was still wearing her wedding rings. God, she was a widow now! She quickly took the rings off, unable to stand wearing them a moment longer, and went to slip them into her purse when she realized that she didn’t have it with her. In fact, she didn’t even have pockets—she was still wearing her bloodied wedding gown.
The sight of the hideously enormous rings angered her. They were a symbol of Lex’s forced claim on her, they were a reminder of him—a reminder that she didn’t need. Lois wanted nothing of Lex’s, least of all his wedding rings.
If she could drive the very memory of him from her mind, she would.
“Honey, I’ll keep those for you. You shouldn’t have to deal with that right now,” Perry offered.
Lois dropped the offending pieces of jewelry into Perry’s outstretched hand, and nearly jumped out of her skin when the door suddenly opened. Martha stepped inside, and Dr. Dunn followed, entering the room behind her.
The doctor’s eyes fell on Superman before landing on the unmoving form of Clark lying in the hospital bed. His eyes wide in shock, he asked, “What’s going on here?”
“We know how you feel, Doctor. It was a shock to us too,” Perry said.
“Dr. Dunn, you probably wouldn’t believe us if we told you, but this man here,” Lois said, her hand pointing to Superman, “is able to donate blood to save Clark’s life. They have the same blood.”
“Are…are you twins?” the doctor asked, his eyes narrowed in obvious confusion.
“I guess you could say that we are.”
Dr. Dunn sighed before running a hand through his hair. His eyes were tired and weary. Lois imagined that he hadn’t had much of a break all night. “I shouldn’t be surprised by anything regarding this case. I mean, we’re talking about Superman here. But even if he does have the same blood type as Clark, he can’t donate enough blood to save his life. Donating the amount of blood needed would be life threatening.”
“I’m aware of that, Doctor,” Superman said. “But I can donate a unit and wait while my body rebuilds those lost blood cells. A human would have to wait fifty-six days before donating again; it shouldn’t take longer than an hour before I’m able to.”
“Okay, considering your unique biology, I suppose that could work. Normally we would test your blood type and cross match it with Clark’s to make sure that they are compatible, but there just isn’t time. Are you positive that your blood is compatible with Clark’s?”
“Positive. It will be like doing an autologous transfusion—donating my own blood to myself—Clark and I have the same blood.”
Dr. Dunn stared at Superman, his expression incredulous. “How is that even possible? I mean, I suppose it would be true of cloning, but…you’re not a clone, are you?”
“No, I’m not a clone, and like Lois said, you wouldn’t believe us if we told you. Please, just trust that all of us want Clark to survive—this *will* work.”
The doctor sighed before nodding. “We should start immediately then. We’ll have to do a direct transfusion; there isn’t time to separate the donated blood. Even if time was on our side, I’m not positive that your blood could be separated anyway. This is entirely new territory to me.”
“If I may ask…how many people besides you know that Clark is Superman?” H.G. Wells asked the doctor.
“Well, I haven’t disclosed that information to anyone else. But it has been all over the news for a week now.”
“Yes, I’m aware of that media fiasco, another matter to be taken care of,” H.G. Wells murmured. “But right now, Doctor, we must focus on getting Clark healthy again. You must proceed with the utmost discretion. No one can know that Superman is donating blood to save Clark’s life.”
“I don’t understand. Clark *is* Superman…right?”
H.G. Wells smiled, and Lois suddenly saw where he was going with this. He was going to save Clark in more ways than one.
“Not anymore, Doctor. Clark and Superman are very much two separate individuals.”
“Excuse me?” the doctor asked, his eyebrows raised in disbelief. “I was told just today that Clark and Superman are one and the same.”
“What H.G. Wells is saying, Dr. Dunn,” Jonathan chimed in, “is that as far as the public will know, Superman is *not* Clark Kent. But we feel that we can trust you. At least, we hope that we can.”
“You have my word, Mr. Kent. Clark’s secret is safe with me. I owe him more than I could ever repay.” The doctor looked like he wanted to say more, but instead, his eyes fell on Superman. “There isn’t much time. If you’ll come with me, we’ll get started.”
“There’s just one problem,” Superman said, halting the doctor’s movement toward the door. Everyone looked at Superman, waiting for him to continue. “We need kryptonite. My skin is invulnerable. You won’t be able to draw blood without it.”
Lois’s face went pale at his words. This man was more like her Clark than she’d ever imagined. He was going to expose himself to the one thing in the world that could hurt him in order to save Clark.
She realized that it was the only way, though. “I can get it. Lex has a chunk of it in his safe,” Lois told him. “But I’m not going to let you go through this alone. I want to be present, so you can…you know, squeeze my hand, or whatever else you might need. You’re doing this to save Clark, it’s the least I can do.”
“Thank you, Lois. I can take you there now to get it.”
Lois nodded, and he scooped her up. She settled into his arms, and he carried her over to the window of Clark’s room with ease and familiarity. As they took off through the window together, it dawned on Lois that he must fly with his Lois often.
TBC...
