[Chapter 13: Effects]"Are you comfortable?" Darlene asked.
/Yes, thanks/ he said.
And he was, at the moment anyway.
He was strapped down on the bed at his waist, upper chest, ankles, wrists, biceps, and forehead. Lead blankets were also secured over him, and they had altered one to drape around where they worked to further minimize his exposure once they started. His IV line was in and secured at the crook of his arm for the saline drip. Coupled with those preparations, the special camera and heart monitor were set up with the screens positioned for easy viewing so they could keep an eye on his vitals and aura while they worked.
A part of himself still couldn’t believe he was in this position, but he really had no other option. Not if he wanted to get back to his life.
He took a deep breath, his gaze on the top corner of the room due to how his head was turned so they could get to where the black trailed down his neck.
/I do feel a little . . . confined though,/ he said, before realizing how silly that sounded. Of course he felt confined! He was strapped down and covered in heavy blankets! /My aura I mean,/ he quickly clarified.
Klein hummed thoughtfully, looking at the screen. "I had wondered. I can still see your aura, but it's much closer to you and not as dense. Especially where the blankets are. Can you move it?"
It expanded after a moment, thickening, before relaxing back to how it had been, just a few feet around his form.
/Yeah, it just takes a little effort. It's like pushing through wet sand instead of air,/ he explained.
"Alright. It's no doubt because of the lead blankets. Well, I think this is actually good. It'll limit your exposure to the kryptonite more," Klein reasoned. He adjusted a dial.
Hammond gave a nod. It was time.
"Ready, Kal-El?" Dr. Klein asked as they gathered around the bed.
Dr. Hammond would be focusing on debridement and addressing any uncontrolled bleeds that might occur. Sara and Denise would assist and Dr. Klein would have control over the kryptonite and keep a critical eye on his aura.
/I am./
“We’ll start slow. Let us know if you need us to stop,” Klein said, doing his best to remain collected.
/I will./
"Alright. Removing the kryptonite now," he said.
Red light ebbed forth as Klein lifted it from the lead box. It was secured to a long medical clamp so it could be easily maneuvered. Carefully, Klein brought it closer to Kal, his eyes on the screen.
Kal slowly inhaled, trying to decipher what exactly he was feeling. At first, he didn’t think he was really feeling anything, but then, like a trickle at the edge of a creek, he could feel . . . something.
“Kal?” Bernie asked.
/I’m okay. I’m feeling something, but it’s faint,/ he said.
Klein resumed bringing the stone to the area Hammond had selected: the bottom edge of where Ta’peel’s pinky had touched, which was at the side of Kal’s neck, a few inches beneath his jaw.
“I’m seeing movement in your aura, but no visible change yet. I’m going to bring it closer,” Klein said.
When it was less than an inch away, he felt a sharp jab of hot power pulse at the side of his neck. He gasped and closed his eye. Klein pulled the shard away and closed it in the box as Hammond instinctively moved.
Kal strained against the wide bands holding him down to the bed as he felt searing heat curve up along where he knew the black skin was.
“Remember to breathe,” Darlene all but ordered as he felt something metal prod close to his throat.
What he couldn’t see was Dr. Hammond guiding a shriveling black strand away from closing flesh as Darlene dabbed away blood that was slowly seeping from capillaries materializing from tissue that had just revitalized before their eyes. The impossible continued up beneath his ear, following where Ta’peel had touched, branching to the palm region.
“Sara–” Hammond indicated.
“Got it.”
She removed the black splinter, all that remained from that section of ruined cells, and placed it into the debris bin.
The throbbing moved up into his cheek and grew in its intensity. Hammond moved quickly to keep up, preventing the remnants of the black mass from getting trapped in the healing muscle as it became clear that Kal’s body was somehow converting what it could from the marred remains into renewed and unblemished facial tissue.
His breath quickened and he couldn’t hide the anguish he felt, but he knew they couldn’t stop. The healing was like a river. His arms trembled against the straps and he prayed they would hold.
“Almost there,” Hammond said, lifting the peeling ebony. "You’re doing great."
He gave a grunt of acknowledgement even though he wanted to cry.
The ebb suddenly stopped and he felt Hammond’s concern spike.
“Klein,” he said as the amount of blood became concerning. “Sara, up the drip,” he ordered. There was too much open flesh with suddenly no sign of healing.
Klein opened the box again, and red shined down. As that occurred, Sara increased the saline flow. It wouldn’t replenish his blood, of course, but it would help with the volume, and thus his blood pressure.
Kal felt tingles pepper his right cheek, dancing over areas he hadn’t been able to feel since he had woken in the hospital. A cold trickle squirmed faster into his arm from the IV site. The red vanished again. He felt dizzy as Hammond removed the last of the fragments of shadow. He could smell sweat and hear the rush of blood in their veins.
“Kal, how are you doing?” Klein asked.
/So-so,/ he answered.
The light from the ceiling was annoyingly bright and the dull hum of electricity prickled his skin.
“Should we continue?” Klein asked.
He wanted this to be done. Wanted to go home. Wanted to be with Lois. Wanted to feel her cheek on his so badly. There was only one way to do that.
/Please,/ he begged.
He didn’t care that he felt their question and concern, their hesitancy.
/I can continue,/ he pressed, trying to sound certain. Confident.
He was confident he didn’t want to stop. He wanted to be able to go home. Tonight if at all possible.
The strap on his forehead loosened and then he felt Darlene’s hand gently turn his head as another pair of plastic covered hands prodded his new, sensitive skin, examining it for any issues and finding none.
"Amazing. All in fifteen minutes," Hammond breathed. "I'm alright to continue, as long as you all are."
Kal's relief pulsed when everyone agreed.
He didn’t resist when Darlene guided his head again so his newly healed cheek pressed into the sheet of the bed. She secured the strap again.
There was a buzz in his head as the red returned, and this time when the pain came he readily embraced it. Welcomed it. This was the way home. He could endure it.
Hammond resumed his work, expertly pulling the necrotic tissue as Darlene aided in his efforts by soaking up blood that freely flowed from veins and arteries that grew like vines through flesh reknitting. The red dimmed and disappeared, allowing Hammond to keep up with the progress as Sara wiped Hammond’s damp forehead before then turning to replace the swabs Darlene was using to keep the site clear so Hammond could see where the clusters of dead cells held fast.
How long had they been there? Why was the bed moving? His head swam as their hearts pumped in such an odd cacophony.
“Kal?”
Who was talking to him?
“Kal-El?”
Why was his face . . . wet? It felt wet. Sort of.
“I don’t like what I’m seeing from his aura. It's erratic. We’re not exposing him any further if we can help it.”
What?
“Kal-El, can you hear us?”
He felt concern and more than a little fear.
“Sara, hold this there.”
/Zara?/
Why was Zara there and what did she want? They better not want him to have another meeting with the Council.
“Kal, how are you feeling?”
/About what? The Council?/
Did he just hear someone curse in Irish?
/Can you please have them stop bowing?/ he complained. /It’s driving me crazy./
An odd heat encompassed his right cheek bone.
/Ow./
Why couldn’t he move?
There was another curse word. And another, both in Irish.
For some strange reason he felt amused by it as he imagined what his mother would say, latching onto the brief distraction from the pain.
/Rud maith duit nach bhfuil mo mham anseo,/ he commented, pretty much saying, 'Good thing for you my mom isn't here.'
"I certainly agree," the man said, too busy and focused to be baffled by Kal's comment or fluency.
Hammond, right?
There was shuffling movement.
The heat became hotter, moving over his left eye.
/Hot. It's too hot,/ he gasped.
“Klein, we need it!” a voice shouted.
Red burst forth, and then was instantly smothered.
A blinding white light blared into his left eye and it felt as if fire was being poured into it.
He screamed and his aura cried out his anguish. It was joined by a chorus of hundreds of fibers snapping and the rip of fabric. He heard the groan of metal.
"Kal, hold on! We're almost done! Don't move!"
New pressure was on his arm, holding it down with the remains of reinforced weave.
His aura rushed around him, seeking the one who spoke.
Bernie. He was terrified, but he was trying to help. The others with him too. Distantly, he recalled their purpose. They were helping him. Helping him to be able to get home, back to Lois. Despite the pain and swirling confusion, he could remember that much. This would bring him home.
The pain continued to flow but the intensity began to decline.
It was so hard to think, but he remembered, between gasps of breath, that for some reason he had to stay still. He had to stay still, even though he knew, he knew, he could easily break free now if he tried.
"His IV is out!" Sara declared. "The saline is dripping onto the floor!"
"Blood?!" Hammond asked, afraid there was now an open, gushing vein.
"No. No blood," she answered, relieved.
The brightness slowly dimmed and what he didn’t know was that his blackened eyelid that had crumpled and been removed by Hammond was being replaced by new skin. It expanded over his still healing eye as the incomplete and discolored iris flashed red.
"Doctor?"
"I don't know."
The pain dropped again, though there was now an odd itching sensation in his eye. He blinked and looked up but quickly closed his eyes again due to how bright everything was.
"Kal? Please talk to us," Klein pleaded.
He carefully opened his right eye and saw four faces staring down at him. Within a moment, he recalled their names and began to remember what they had been doing.
"Hey, Bernie. That was awful," he couldn't help but point out.
They all heaved a sigh of relief and released nervous chuckles of agreement.
"Are you okay? Are you in any pain?" Klein asked as Sara swiftly cleaned the remaining blood from his face and began removing the forehead strap.
"My eye is itchy, but other than an odd hum in my head, I think I feel okay now. It was really strange for a bit there," he admitted, before noticing he could move his arm and leg a bit. The straps had torn and the metal frame it was attached to was bent. He also found the other side was drenched in saline. "Whoa. Sorry about that."
"No harm done. It held as well as it needed to," Hammond assured as Darlene and Sara began removing the lead blankets and belts.
With the blankets off, he sighed and instinctively stretched out his aura. It felt antsy and bunched up, but extending it brought huge relief.
"Wow. That's better," he said, also rubbing his freed wrists before carefully touching his face and marveling at the renewed skin. His fingertips touched his left eyebrow before going down to his eyelid. It felt so much better.
"How does your aura feel?" Klein asked, glancing at the screen with some concern.
"I don't know how to describe it. Strained, I guess? But not bad. I actually think more of my powers have returned. Why?" he asked, before looking at the screen as well. "Oh."
The outer edges of his aura seemed to be rippling, shivering. As if in shock.
"I do feel jittery," he admitted, still keeping his left eye closed.
"We'll watch it, but it seems to be leveling off," Klein said, becoming more assured and looking to Hammond.
"Could you open both of your eyes?" Hammond asked, having removed his soiled gloves and retrieved his ophthalmoscope.
Kal carefully opened his left eye, wincing at the intense glare before blinking a few times.
He didn't need to look in the mirror to know something was wrong.
All he could see from his left eye was a blinding white haze with extremely faint, blobby shapes.
There was no definition of any sort. No means of differentiation. Barely any color.
He looked right at Dr. Hammond and instantly felt his apprehension as he met his gaze. Klein, Sara and Darlene stilled and their emotion mixed with Hammond’s. It wasn’t good.
O o O o O
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