Table of Contents
From part 8:She nodded. It was about as bad as she’d expected. By the time the results came back, it would be mid-afternoon and she’d be lucky if she could see straight. “Come on, Clark, we’ve got work to do.” She slid off the gurney, glad again of her partner’s steadying arm.
“You really should stay here, Ms - ”
“What, and lie around waiting for you to tell me that the next batch of results are a big fat zero too? Wait for you to keep guessing and coming up with the wrong answers? Not a chance. My partner and I are going to find the guy who did this and
make him tell us what it is and how to fix it.”
Adrenalin, and a bravado she didn’t feel, carried her through the curtains, Clark right behind her. But, as she took his arm to walk to the ER exit, the sliver of doubt that had been getting progressively more insistent all morning reared its head again.
But what if you can’t find him? What if it can’t be fixed?*********
Now read on...Lois was so right. What the hell
point was there to all these doctors and scientists with their years of training if they couldn’t pinpoint what Lois had been poisoned with?
Come to that, what the hell point was there to him? What use was Superman?
There was absolutely nothing he could do to help Lois. He’d never felt more impotent.
Why wasn’t she yelling at him too? Telling him that he was useless, that he should be doing
something - anything - to save her?
At least one of the nightmare scenarios was ruled out now. Anthrax. For all the good it did them. Something was still killing Lois.
And it could be ricin. He’d seen someone dying from ricin inhalation once, in Afghanistan. The guy’s face had been blue and his eyes had bulged as he’d fought for breath. His entire body had contorted, arms and legs wheeling crazily, spine arched upwards, vivid signs of the dying man’s vain struggle for life.
To think that could happen to Lois...
And that was exactly what could happen to her. If it was ricin and they didn’t find out until it was too late...
How could he bear it? Standing there, beside her, watching her struggle for every tiny breath? Dying in agony. With nothing anybody could do for her. Nothing
he could do for her. Except beg for someone to end her misery before she literally choked to death...
Stop it! Imagining the worst wasn’t helping.
Why hadn’t that
moron Sutton thought of running the ricin test earlier? Why had he needed to be told what to do by the poisons expert Clark had suggested bringing in
hours ago? His inaction could cost Lois her life.
Outside, back behind the dumpsters, he spun into the Spandex again and reached for Lois. At least his powers were good for something. He’d have her back at the Planet in seconds.
Big deal.
Unless...
He hesitated. It was an idea. Probably a stupid one, but an idea nonetheless. And one he hadn’t heard Sutton, or anyone else, discuss.
“Lois, stay here for a few minutes, okay? I won’t be long.”
She gave him a puzzled look. “What are you doing? We need to get back!”
“Five minutes,” he promised. “That’s all it’ll take. And then I’ll have you back in the newsroom in seconds, okay?”
She shrugged. “I guess it must be important... Does someone need rescuing?”
“No.” He shook his head. Actually, he’d ignored another call for help just ten minutes earlier, while holding Lois’s hand in the examination room. “I just want to talk to Dr Sutton for a minute. Wait here, okay?”
She shrugged, and he turned and headed back into the hospital. Heads turned once again as he walked past in the Suit, cape swishing behind him, but he ignored them. Sutton was in the ER, speaking to a young woman in a short white coat - medical student or intern, probably. The doctor’s thinning grey strands were now neatly combed over his bald patch.
Uncaring of good manners, Clark went up and tapped Sutton on the shoulder.
“Wha- Superman? Is there something I can do for you?”
“Yes. I want to talk to you for a minute.”
Looking surprised, the doctor glanced around. “In here.” He indicated a cubicle Clark could see was empty. “So, you wanted to talk...?”
“Yes. This poison, whatever it is, was injected into Lois’s bloodstream, right?”
“Correct.”
“And it’s infected her blood.”
“Yes, as well as having an impact on her central nervous system - and, for all we know, it could be beginning to affect her vital organs. We’re running urine tests as well as the blood tests to try to establish that.”
“Yes, I understand that. What I was thinking was that, if her blood is infected, couldn’t she have a transfusion?”
Sutton blinked, and his eyes widened behind the large lenses of his glasses. “Superman, it’s not as simple as that. We would be mixing clean blood with infected blood. Imagine putting good apples in a bag with rotten ones - the good ones would decay too. It wouldn’t solve anything. It isn’t as if we could simply drain Ms Lane of blood entirely and give her a fresh supply. Transfusions - the human body - simply do not work like that.”
So any new blood would quickly become infected. “I see.” He took a deep breath. “Then what if we used my blood? I mean, if it’s compatible with hers. I’m invulnerable, so...” It could work. Surely it could work!
Sutton looked as if his eyes were about to pop out. “Superman, you really don’t understand medical science. Apart from anything else, even if your blood were compatible with Ms Lane’s, it wouldn’t help unless it had some sort of miraculous healing properties. Otherwise the poison would still be in her system. And anyway, giving someone a transfusion of blood which doesn’t match their type could kill them. Well, unless it’s O-negative, which is the universal type. But that’s beside the point. Have you ever had your blood tested? Do you even know if it’s compatible with human blood?”
No. He hadn’t. He didn’t.
God, he felt so stupid. He should have known that. He hadn’t thought. Of
course the poison would still be in Lois’s system even with a transfusion! And anyway, hadn’t Sutton intimated that the poison had spread beyond her bloodstream by now?
He was an idiot. And he’d wasted vital minutes.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered, turning on his heel and pushing the curtain aside.
“I understand, Superman,” Sutton said from behind him. “You want to help Ms Lane. But you’re already doing everything you can.”
He couldn’t be. If he was doing everything he could, Lois would be cured. Or on the way to being cured. She wouldn’t be dying right in front of him...
There had to be something he could do. There had to -
“Lois!” He’d almost crashed into her. She was standing just outside the cubicle. “What are you doing here? I asked you to wait outside!”
She raised an eyebrow at him. Keeping her voice very low, she said, “And since when did I start doing what you told me to?”
He couldn’t help it. Despite everything, he rolled his eyes. She’d got used to treating Superman as Clark pretty darned quickly. “I don’t know why I ever expected you to.”
“I don’t either.” She hooked her arm through his. “Come on, spaceman, take me back to the Planet.”
“Spaceman?” He raised an eyebrow at her, leading her through the ER exit and around the side of the hospital building.
“Can’t exactly call you Farmboy any more, can I?” She gave him a grin and stuck out her tongue.
He glanced around cautiously. But no-one was around. And Lois had spoken quietly, too. Okay, so he was being over-careful.
“Guess not,” he agreed, reaching to pick her up.
She held up a hand, forestalling him. “That was quite an amazing thing you just did.” Her voice was soft, her expression... awed. Not the kind of awe she’d shown Superman on so many occasions, but something different. A kind of emotional wonder.
“What?” He shook his head, puzzled.
“Going to Sutton, offering your blood to save me.” She ducked her head.
He scooped her up and took off; they could have this conversation in the air just as easily. “It was stupid. If you heard what I said, you heard his answer. I should have known it wouldn’t work.”
“It was... very touching.” He could hear the lump in her throat. “Thank you, Clark. It means a lot to me that you were willing to do that.”
He almost stopped flying, the shock was so great. Did she really have no idea how much he cared about her? That he loved her and that knowing she was dying and that there was nothing at all he could do to save her was tearing him apart?
“Lois.” He had to halt. His voice was thick and threatening to crack. “Lois, don’t you know that I’d give
anything to make you well? All my powers, everything I own...”
He felt as well as heard her gasp. It was several moments before she spoke. “Clark... I don’t think anyone’s ever cared about me that much...” There was moisture against his neck, where she’d buried her head.
He tightened his arms around her. “I don’t know why it’s a surprise to you. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said you were special to me. You are, Lois. You have been from the moment we met. If you die...” He took a shuddering breath. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
She sniffled. “I... that’s so... I can’t tell you how that makes me feel... I’ve never...” Breaking off, she hugged him.
And then she stiffened, and there was a catch in her voice when she spoke again. “You said... You don’t think I’m going to make it, do you?”
Oh god... What was he supposed to say? How could he tell her about the despair eating him up inside? That gut-wrenching conviction that he was going to lose her - that even now he could see her slipping away, inch by inch, from life? From him?
He glanced up. Puffy clouds drifted just above them, and he brought them upwards, through the clouds and into the blue sky above. Floating then, he shifted Lois so that she was ‘standing’ in front of him. She raised her head to look at him. Tears shimmered brightly in her eyes.
“Lois.” He couldn’t disguise the huskiness in his voice. “Lois, I swear to you that I will do everything I possibly can to stop that happening. If I lost you, it’d be like losing a part of myself. You think I wouldn’t do
anything to prevent that?”
Tears snaked a slow path down her cheeks. His heart lurched and his stomach twisted.
Impulse made him lower his head to bring his lips to hers. Just a soft, gentle kiss - of reassurance, testament that he meant what he’d said, or something like that. That was the intention, anyway.
With a choked cry, Lois pressed herself against him, parting her lips and returning his kiss. She clung to him, her tears falling onto his face and mingling with his own. And he kissed her, held her, poured his soul out to her, as if he had to take and share a lifetime’s worth of kisses in just these few minutes.
After all, maybe he had.
*********
How had he known how much she’d needed that kiss? She hadn’t known herself, but it felt so right. So necessary.
She felt comforted. Cherished...
Alive.
And, if she let herself get carried away, she could even begin to believe that she was loved. That in that intense kiss had been unspoken words of love.
But, even in this state, she was too sensible not to know the truth. After all, how could Clark possibly love her? After the way she’d treated him ever since their first meeting? No. Of course he wasn’t in love with her. But he did care about her, a lot, and the kiss had been all about showing her that. Comforting her.
That was Clark all over. Always there for her when she needed a friend. Something she’d never before shown any appreciation for, of course.
“Clark.” As he raised his head, she stared up at him. “I... thank you.”
Shaking his head slowly, he said, “For what?”
“For... I don’t know. Everything. Being here for me.” The words came out jerkily, but she didn’t care. Nor did he, it seemed; he waited, silent, simply holding her, watching her with concerned brown eyes, as she continued awkwardly. “Caring about me. Making me feel that at least someone would miss me if I don’t... And for dropping everything to help cure me.”
His hand slid to the back of her head, pressing her face against his neck again. “How could I do anything else?” His voice was close to breaking-point, which brought a lump to her throat. He really did care about her. Clark - Superman, the most powerful man in the world - the guy she’d trampled on from the moment of his arrival at the Planet, cared about her. “Lois, it’s as much for me as for you - I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”
“Oh, Clark!” She tried to laugh, but it came out as a choke as she blinked away tears again. “You’ll do just fine without me. You don’t need me, anyway - you never did! You’re Superman!”
One hand found hers, and his fingers twined around hers. The comfort of his touch warmed her and, after a moment, she was able to take a deep breath and chase away the tears. Crying wasn’t going to help.
“Don’t underestimate yourself, Lois. I’ve learned a
lot from you as a partner - and Superman owes you far more than I could ever repay.” After a moment, he added, “But it’s more than just that. Much more. You’re my best friend, Lois. And now that you know about Superman, you’re even more - you’re someone I can really talk to about all sorts of stuff I could never tell anyone before.”
She was? That made sense. After all, if no-one knew... well, other than his parents, probably. Then, yes, it would make a difference to have someone who would understand.
“Yeah, I can see that. I wish you’d been able to tell me before, but I guess I can see why you couldn’t.”
“Yeah. But I wanted to.” He paused again, and then took a breath, as if he was about to say something else. But he didn’t; she heard him close his mouth again. And, a few moments later, he said, “We should get back.”
He was right. There was so much to do. And, dammit, he was right about the rest, too. She
wasn’t going to give up. Not when she had so much to live for!
*********
He’d almost told her that he loved her. But, thankfully, he’d stopped himself in time.
Oh, it clearly meant a lot to her that he cared. That didn’t make sense - that Lois would be surprised that she’d be missed. That she mattered so much to someone that he’d be lost without her in his life.
But love? Was she ready to hear that? Or would it just scare her out of her wits? Or maybe even just remind her of everything she stood to lose, everything she’d never get to experience.
Or, worse still, if she didn’t feel the same way, if the very idea appalled her, it would make it so very difficult for them to work together. Today, more than any other time, he just couldn’t take that risk. This needed both of them, working together, if they were to have any hope of saving her.
Besides, the conversation had been emotional enough as it was. If he’d confessed his love, he’d never have been able to hold it together sufficiently to get them back on track - back to finding a way to save her life. He’d been close enough to tears as it was. There was far too much at stake for him to get emotional, especially as he could see that Lois was relying on him to keep her together.
Time to get back to the Planet. There had to be something they’d overlooked, some name that should have stood out from the pile. There was Griffin, of course. Maybe it was him.
It
had to be him.
“Sorry, Lois,” Henderson said when they asked him. “Griffin’s out of the frame. He’s been in court in Miami for the past two weeks - the DA down there sub-poenaed him to testify in a case against yet more loyal citizens caught selling weapons to terrorists.”
“Yeah, doesn’t the pledge mean anything to anyone any more?” a youthful officer standing nearby commented.
“If they don’t value human life, it’s not too likely patriotism’s going to be big on their agenda.” Lois’s tone was sardonic. “So Griffin’s out? There’s no way at all he could have masterminded this?”
Henderson shook his head, hands stuffed in his pockets, his expression regretful. “Doesn’t seem like it. He’s been under strict observation for the past couple of months in preparation for the trial. All his mail’s been read, phone calls taped, visits observed. Though it seems the only person he has regular contact with is his father.”
“Yeah. Guy’s a toy-shop owner, apparently,” the young officer elaborated. “Small businessman, nice guy, makes a decent living. Makes you wonder what happened to the son.”
Clark shrugged. Although Lois claimed that he had - to her - an irritating tendency to want to see good in everyone, he’d had more than enough exposure to the seamier side of human nature to know that there was just no explaining some people’s commitment to a dishonest way of life. Some people just didn’t have redeeming features. Take Lex Luthor, for instance.
Although Luthor did appear genuine in wanting to help save Lois...
That wasn’t important. “Okay, so Griffin’s out. What next?” There had to be more options. They couldn’t just have reached a dead end...
“Lois, phone call!” It was Jimmy.
Lois swung around, and immediately lost her balance. Clark shot out his hand and caught her before she fell. She leaned heavily against him, obviously needing his support. When she met his gaze, her face was white, and beads of sweat showed on her brow. “Thanks... felt dizzy...”
“I’ve got you.” Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he guided her towards the conference room.
“What about the phone call?” Jimmy asked. “Guy says it’s important.”
“Who is it?” Clark asked.
At the same time, Lois said, “I’ll take it in the conference room.”
“Wouldn’t give a name,” Jimmy said. “Just that he heard you were looking for information about a hit.”
Over Lois’s head, Clark met Henderson’s gaze. The brief nod the inspector gave him told him that he was on the alert. It could be nothing, of course. Just one of Lois’s sources with scant information which wouldn’t pan out. On the other hand, it could be just the break they needed...
In the conference room, Clark guided Lois to a chair. She slumped into it, took a couple of breaths, then reached for the phone. At first, she fumbled, seeming unable to grip it properly. He curled his hand around hers, steadying her; after a few moments, she recovered and held the receiver to her ear. He pulled a chair up and sat next to her.
“Lois Lane.”
There was a pause, and then she said, suspicion and alarm lacing her voice, “Who is this?”
Instantly, Clark focused. The voice on the other end of the line was male... maybe. It was muffled, out of focus.
“Who do you think it is, Lois?”
He signalled to her; she looked at him, her eyes wide, and gestured to the phone. He nodded, then tugged at his ear. With luck, she’d understand that he was listening in. After a moment of puzzlement, he saw enlightenment dawn and she nodded. Motioning with his fingers, he urged her to talk. They needed to keep this guy on the line.
“Oh, I don’t know...” she said, drawling her words. “Someone wasting my time by refusing to give me their name?”
“Oh, you don’t need my name, Lois. You already have something to remember me by... don’t you?”
She was white again, and shaking. Clark reached across and caught her free hand, holding it in his. Her fingers entwined with his felt cold and clammy.
But she caught his gaze. There was determination in her eyes. She wasn’t giving up yet. That was his Lois.
“I do? You’re going to have to refresh my memory.”
“I asked how you’re feeling, Lois,” the muffled voice continued. Muffled with what? Some kind of electronic device? Or something as simple as a Kleenex? “On top of the world? Or maybe just a little under the weather? A few dizzy spells, perhaps? Sweating a lot? Having difficulty seeing?”
The conference-room door opened quietly, and Clark glanced around to see Henderson in the doorway. He nudged Lois gently; she looked up. Henderson moved one hand around in circles and Lois nodded, indicating that she understood. Henderson wanted her to keep the guy talking. With any luck, the cops might be able to trace the call.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Clark turned his attention back to Lois. Her face was pale and he could see that she was having difficulty gripping the phone. She was slumped back against the chair, and he could tell by the grasp of her hand in his that she was very weakened. And yet she could lie to her assassin; she could find enough strength from somewhere - god only knew where - to keep her voice steady and even in order to pretend that she was fine.
God, how he loved her!
She was the most courageous person he’d ever known. Anyone else, surely, would be ranting and raving at the bastard, cursing him, demanding to know what he’d done to her, pleading with him to tell her what he’d injected her with so she could live. But not Lois. She’d die rather than let her murderer have the satisfaction of knowing he’d hurt her.
“Oh, Lois, you lie so prettily,” the caller said. “Almost as beautiful as you looked as you were being carried into the ambulance. Pale skin makes some women look washed out, but on you...”
Clark saw her flinch, and squeezed her hand. They’d known the guy was probably watching them. All the same, getting confirmation of it was...
Chilling.
The bastard’d been watching them as Lois was loaded into the ambulance! Why hadn’t he seen? Where had his brains been? Why hadn’t he been looking around, watching for strangers, curiosity-seekers, anyone suspicious? He should have noticed!
And had the guy been following them all day? Was he camped outside the Planet, watching for comings and goings? Or was he lurking around the hospital, talking to staff, getting his kicks from watching what was happening? Maybe he was even disguised as a member of hospital staff.
Maybe he’d been right under their noses all the time and they’d missed him.
Anger on her face, Lois opened her mouth to speak, but then she halted. Took a deep breath. Then, in a voice as saccharine as artificial honey, she said, “It really is very kind of you to take such an interest in my health - whoever you are - but it’s not necessary. As you can tell, I’m fine. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a job to do...”
Henderson moved suddenly, shifting into their line of vision. His expression urgent, he motioned again for Lois to keep the conversation going. She shrugged faintly, as if to say that she’d do what she could.
“Oh, yes, the great Lois Lane, award-winning investigative reporter. So how are you doing today? Half of your twenty-four hours gone already, and you’re no further forward, are you?”
Half... Clark’s gaze shot to his watch. It was precisely 3:15pm. This guy was even sicker than he’d thought.
And he was still talking. “This is the investigation of your life, Ms Reporter Woman. The only problem is, if you don’t get the story this time it doesn’t just mean you lose out on a headline. Screw up on this story and... you die.”
Lois swallowed and said nothing. The sound of cruel laughter echoed down the phone, and then there was a click. The dial tone echoed mockingly in his ears.
Slowly, gently, Clark eased the receiver from Lois’s hand and replaced it on the cradle, then pulled Lois, now shaking uncontrollably, into his arms.
**********
...tbc
