“You didn’t need to get groceries,” Clark said, suddenly. Then he paused, realizing all of the other little things she had done for him lately. “Thank you, Lois, for calling my parents and taking care of them. I know this isn’t easy.”

“Easy for me?” Lois asked, tilting her head slightly as though she was surprised with his assessment. “Clark, I’m doing all of this because of what you’re going through. I’m trying to help you with the disaster I created.”

“You keep saying that, but if I’d been honest with you in the first place…” He trailed off, realizing it was his secret that had caused a lot of the problems he was now facing, not Lois. “Just…thank you. I’d better go.”

“What time?” Lois asked.

“What?” Mrs. Cox seemed confused or annoyed or both.

“What time?” Lois demanded, moving even closer to Mrs. Cox. “What time did Clark leave?”

Mrs. Cox backed away, forgetting that she was on the stairs, and she started to fall backwards. Lois reached out to try and grab ahold of her but couldn’t reach, and Mrs. Cox tumbled partway down the stairs, hitting her head hard. Lois looked down in horror. She could see blood trickling from the woman’s head.

“You said ‘was’…” Lois said quietly. “Are you saying you don’t love me anymore?”

“Maybe it’s not enough,” he said as he turned to face her again. “I don’t know if I can trust you anymore.”

Before Clark could react to Lois’s admission, there was a knock at the door. Lois tried to stand up, but Clark waved her off. He spun quickly back into his regular clothes and walked to the door.

“Captain Benson.”