TEARDROPS

Clark awoke when the bright light shone to his pale face through the blinds. He squinted briefly and rubbed his tired eyes.

"Mom?"

Martha had just left the room a few minutes ago to get some fresh cup of coffee in the cafeteria. Clark sat up slowly and brought his feet down to the cold hospital floor. He was annoyed with the blinding, bright light. Ever since being admitted to the hospital he rarely went out. Martha insisted on bringing him out for some fresh air but he refused. He felt so miserable being dependent on his mom and now his new best friend, the blue, metallic, wheelchair.

The distance between his bed and the blinds was only a mere two metres apart but Clark was so weak, even standing up was pushing him for maximum effort.

"Days of bench pressing a tractor are so over. I felt like a 100 year old man now" Clark thought.

It took him some wobbly, baby steps before he reached his target. By the time his hand caught the controller, his vertigo returned, accompanied by a terrible wave of nausea.

"Ugh. Not now."

Clark felt really sorry for the hospital attendant who always had to clean up his mess. After the countless incidents, he was glad that a week ago one of Dr. Bryce's anti nausea trial had finally worked on him. Today though, he's not too sure.

Suddenly, his legs just couldn't support him anymore and Clark's reflex was to grab hold to the blinds to keep him from falling. But the flimsy apparatus wasn't strong enough so Clark accidentally pulled the whole thing down as he felt mercilessly to the floor on his back with a thud.

The golden sun shone brightly through the large hospital windows as the blind fell to the floor. The light fell on to the unconscious Clark from head to toe with a gleam.

"Clark, wake up honey. I bought some muffin for you. I know it's not the same as my…Clark!"

Martha was juggling a bag of muffins, a coffee and a newspaper while opening the door when she saw the room. She dropped everything unceremoniously and ran to Clark.

"Clark! Wake up, Clark!" she said over and over and patted Clark's face.

"….M..mom?" Clark opened his eyes and was so relieved to see his mother.

Martha helped her son to sit up. He looked a bit different. Wait. She only had left him about 20 minutes ago. Clark's face had some colour. His lips weren't dry anymore and she swore she could see the twinkle in his green eyes again.

"Clark. Are you ok, honey? What happened? Here, let's get you back on the bed." Martha said calmly while brushing his unruly bangs to the side.

Within the next few weeks, Clark's condition improved gradually. Every morning he would stand by the window, enjoying the rays of light and looking through the window to see the hustle and bustle outside the hospital.

Martha sensed that the sun might have given her son some strength back physically and mentally. Although his abilities hadn't returned, Clark's appetite had improved and he preferred to be out of bed now, walking around the ward slowly with his IV in situ and Martha by his side.

Dr. Bryce was amazed by the remarkable improvement and was making a theory that Clark's own immune system might be responsible to clear the meteor element from his body. It was only a theory so although Clark's condition was getting better, Dr. Bryce was still monitoring his progress regularly, in case of a relapse.

"Oww. Is this still necessary?" Clark raised his eyebrows to Dr. Bryce and later pouted.

"Clark…" Martha gave 'the look' to her son.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude, Dr. Bryce, but I feel better now. So maybe we can do the blood test say…once a week?" Clark said flashing his famous boyish grin.

Dr. Bryce chuckled," You're a special patient, Clark. We're all glad that you're much better now but it's important to monitor your progress at least for another few weeks. After that, if everything sails smoothly, we might even do the test once a month."

"I can go home then. Can't I?" Clark asked full of hope.

Martha watched the kind doctor left with two vials of Clark's blood. She prayed Jonathan will forgive her for revealing a part of Clark's secret. She hoped Dr. Bryce kept his words.

"Two more marks from Mr. Nelson and I will get a C+. I'm officially toast!" Pete sighed.

"C'mon, Pete. That's not that bad." said Chloe trying to cheer Pete who's looking rather solemn after the Math quiz's results.

"I wish you're my mom, Clo." Pete grinned mischievously.

"Ever since my quiz master here is not around to tutor me, my marks have kaboomed. So, I blame solely on him." Pete poked Clark playfully and then laughed.

The three best friends were glad to be around each other. They joked and laughed about everything while enjoying some French fries and burger. Clark was so delighted to be able to munch those greasy foods again. He savoured every bit of it slowly. He remembered the time when Jonathan and Martha brought him to the fast food outlet when he was 5. There were so many kids and games and a funny costumed man dressed as a chicken. He was so happy because they went as a family. A family…Sigh.

Clark missed his father deeply but he knew life must go on. He didn't have his special powers now but that didn't matter to him anymore. He wanted to be strong emotionally for his mother. She had suffered enough.

"Clark. You okay?" Chloe asked worriedly as she noticed Clark just stared through the window absent mindedly.

Chloe's voice startled him," Huh? Sorry, I was thinking how much I missed the burger. I'm stuffed. Be right back".

As Clark went to the bathroom, Chloe looked at Pete. Like having a telepathic power, Pete nodded his head. They both knew that wasn't what Clark was thinking.

Nobody mentioned Lana. Chloe had warned Pete not to bring up the issue. Since Lana left to Metropolis to live with Aunt Nell, Chloe felt a bit lonely. She missed having a roommate. She and Lana had grown so close, they're officially like sisters. Lana told her that she decided to go because of Clark. She didn't explained more, but Chloe understood. The day when Lana came to visit Clark, he was so happy. But his joy was cut short when Lana told him she's moving away. Since then, Clark never talk about Lana.

Clark walked out from Smallville's Medical Center's exit with his mother. He closed his eyes and just held his head high absorbing the energy from the afternoon sunshine. He was so happy to go home. He could continue his life, a normal and ordinary life. No more Jor El or meteor freaks. He's human now.

It was 1am and all the guests had gone home. Chloe stayed up to help Martha for the after party but she sent her home later as the girl looked like she needed some rest. Lex offered on professional help but Martha insisted doing it the traditional way. Chloe with the help of her father, Gabe Sullivan, the Ross's, Lex and Martha threw a surprised welcome home party for Clark a few days after he returned. Clark was delighted to receive presents but winced when Chloe said his biggest present were his massive schoolwork and homework that he'd to do to catch up. They laughed at this but secretly, Clark was glad that his speed reading and good memory were still intact. Perhaps, these were his real capability himself, not just some super power material.

Martha watched her son sleeping peacefully on the couch. He must have fallen asleep there. Martha took a red, wool blanket and covered him. She's glad everything's over. The case file of the explosion in the farm that started all this was closed. It was found that it accidentally occurred through a wiring faulty along the cable line that ran through the barn. It was also found that the barn's underground was scattered with meteor fragments. Not much but when combined with an explosion, the fragments just shattered to tiny even microscopic fragments.

Dr. Bryce had given an all clear. At the moment, a once a month outpatient check up would be enough to monitor Clark's progress. Although, Dr. Bryce warned that Clark should be brought to the hospital if there's any slightest changes in his health. He had to be careful, because he said Clark was 'different'.

Martha rested on the rocking chair beside the fireplace. She looked at Jonathan's picture and smiled. All is well.

"Mrs. Kent! Mrs. Kent! Quick Mrs. Kent!" Pete called out. His voice panicking and he opened the kitchen door hastily. No! She's not here. Outside!

Martha had just returned from her produce delivery when she saw Pete running towards her as fast as he could. One look at Pete's face, Martha whispered subconsciously,"Clark…"

"Clark! Please…answer me! Clark!" Chloe was shaking and sobbing at the same time while trying to wake her best friend.

Clark could hear Chloe's frantic voice and he tried to answer, but nothing came out.

"….."

Chloe saw Clark trying to open his mouth to speak but there was no voice, only a very shallow, ragged breath. Ten minutes ago, Chloe and Pete were discussing their summer projects with Clark when he started coughing. Chloe patted and rubbed him at the back for ease and Pete offered to get some water. The next thing they knew Clark fell from the chair and coughed out dark, red blood with a tinge of green. Cough progressed to breathlessness and Clark was clutching his chest writhing in pain. Then he stopped moving. His eyes closed, and his mouth slightly opened with a trickle of bright and dark red blood flowing down slowly. That was when Pete pulled a sprinter to find Martha.

The pain and the breathing difficulty were gone. Clark barely hears his mother's voice calling for his name repeatedly. He was now walking in a tunnel. There were two sides. Both had bright lights but on one end he could hear the faint sound of his mother's voice but on the opposite end, it was really quiet. Clark ran towards the voice but his legs stopped halfway. He tried to move them forcefully and frantically but he couldn't. A sudden force pulled him towards the other side.

"No! No! Nooo! Mom!" terrified, Clark screamed on top of his lungs, his body pushed deeper and deeper into the other end.

"Nooo!" Clark screamed and woke up. He sat up quickly, confused.

"Take it easy, son. Here, lie back slowly" Jonathan Kent guided Clark back to the soft, white pillow.

"D…Dad?" Clark stammered. He was so confused. His head hurts. Where's Dr. Bryce when he needed him. He felt so tired. Clark quickly fell into a deep, restful slumber.

"His brain activity is spiking up again, Dr. Garner." a lanky, thirty-something bespectacled brunette addressed the famous neurologist at the Summerholt Institute.

"Double the catalyst, Sheng . I don't want Clark to go into a random, mixed or false memory. We need to bring his memory back to …."

Dr. Garner was interrupted by a phone call.

"Yes. Yes. Hmm. No. It will be done but the catalyst acts as…No.…hmm…side effects…it's minimum. He's doing fine. "Dr. Garner replied confidently and hung up. He took a small medallion he secretly wore under his lab coat and looked at the small embedded picture of his 10 year old son.

"Don't go overboard with your subject, Dr. Garner. I want him alive."

Clicked. She hung up with a smirk. Dressed in a long, black Christian Lacroix haute coutre with 4 million dollar worth of diamonds as jewellery, Lana Luthor sashayed gracefully towards the Metropolis Grand Hotel's ballroom to meet her husband.