When they arrived at the hospital, Chloe's chest constricted a little. She hated hospitals, every single one of them. She'd just as soon never walk into one again. But, as Clark walked on ahead of her, she realized that dream would not come to fruition any time soon. She trailed behind him, glancing around at the people sitting uncomfortably in the waiting area, the TV in the corner all but neglected as a segment about eating organic food came on the screen.

She let Clark do the talking at the front desk. He found out that Lex had been moved to a private room. No surprise there. They were allowing visitors now, so they headed towards his room. As they came around the corner, Chloe collided with something white and human shaped. Clark grabbed her arm before she could lose her balance completely, and nodded to the doctor that she had run into, acknowledgement in his eyes.

"Dr. Hiedman," Clark said, "How is he? Is he alright? Did he wake up?" Chloe reached out and placed her hand on his, squeezing. He was babbling, and we'd never get any answers if he didn't shut up long enough for the doctor to talk.

"Mr. Kent," the older man greeted, his face tired and withdrawn, "Mr. Luthor still hasn't woken up, but it may do him good to hear a friendly voice. His father was just here a little while ago, and I'm no stranger to the relationship between the two." Now there's a one-sided conversation I would have liked to have heard, Chloe thought. Lionel may have a lot of people fooled that he's seen the error of his ways, and has become a better man for it, but he hasn't fooled this chick.

Lex she could believe could change. Lionel, on the other hand, was a completely different story. Now, she may be biased in this assumption seeing as to how he tried to have her killed and all, but it had nothing to do with that. It had more to do with the fact that Lex wouldn't even be the way he is if it hadn't been for his father being the exceptional role model he is.

She must have lost track of the conversation between Clark and the overstressed doctor, because they were both looking at her as though they should book an adjacent room for her across from Lex.

"Are you coming, Chloe?" Clark asked her, for what was probably the fifth time.

"Yeah, of course, sorry. A little recreational thinking," Chloe apologized, smiling up at Clark and the doctor. Clark smiled back at her, shaking his head. They continued along their course after Dr. Hiedman went on his way. Before they could reach for the door handle, a voice yelled at them from down the hall.

"Hey, guys wait up!" Lana nearly yelled as she picked up her pace down the hall.

"Geesh, they give personal information out to anyone here, don't they?" Chloe growled. Why was Lana here? Didn't she have a hair appointment to go to, or something?

"Chloe…" Clark warned, giving her a stern look that he almost pulled off. His head snapped back up to grin at Lana. As she reached them, he pulled her into a tight hug.

"I was at the Talon when I heard what happened," she explained, squeezing him tightly, "I can't believe that Mason guy went all crazy on Lex like that. How's he doing?" Although she was certain Clark believed in Lana's sincerity, Chloe knew better. She was only here so she could be in the know. If Lex happens to wake up while she's here, she'll no doubt think she was the key to his recovery. It took an insane amount of willpower to not roll her eyes straight out of their sockets.

Clark explained what was going on as Chloe put on a pleasant face and waited impatiently for them to hurry it up with the lovey dovies and get this show on the road. She was curious to actually see how bad a shape Lex was in for herself. After a few more moments of tender looks and nauseating 'I love yous', they went inside.

Lex looked horrible. Not as horrible as she'd thought, but still cringe worthy none the less. He must have a wicked gash on his head, but for now it was covered up under the deep layers of gauze wrapped securely around his head. She couldn't tell the extent of his injuries where the rest of his body was concerned because it was covered up by a thick cashmere blanket by the looks of it. Clark had told her on the way over that he had a couple of cracked bones, and quite a few bruises. He had some tubes coming out of his arms, and a larger one coming out of his mouth, which Chloe tried to not focus on too much. He was slightly pale, but he looked comfortable.

I thought hospital beds were supposed be stiff and tortuous? Lex must have had this one custom made, and stored for instances such as these. It was larger and thicker than the average cot, and Lex's motionless body seemed to melt into it. The room itself was even nicer, and that's saying something. A leather couch sat along one wall, and a flat screen TV, twice as big at the rest of hospitals', sat on a wooden entertainment center. An article was already forming itself in the recesses of her mind. 'Lavish Luthor room at expense of dying patients.' Nah. But, she'd think up something good, she always does.

"Oh, Lex," Lana sighs, grabbing Lex's hand while never releasing Clarks' with her other, "He looks so peaceful, doesn't he?" Clark nods, looking at anything but the man resting before him. Chloe knew he was thinking the same thing she was. It wasn't the best idea to have Lana here if Lex woke up and started immediately blabbing about what he saw. She was more scared of Lana learning the truth than of Lex.

"He'll pull through this," she sniffs. 'Oh, pulease,' thought Chloe.

"He's strong, and been through much worse," she continued on in that monotonous murmur of hers. She knows she shouldn't be so hard on her, but it's hard to help it sometimes. Chloe hated it when she butted in and tried to take control of a situation. She didn't need to be everyone's little tag along cheerleader.

"Clark, why don't you say something to him," Lana asked, sending puppy dogs eyes his way, still never letting go of either of their hands. For some reason, this irked Chloe even more than her incessant droning. Hold Clark's hand, yeah, that's just fine, she didn't care. But, she was pretty sure that if Lex were awake, he wouldn't be allowing Lana to coddle him like that. At least, she hoped he wouldn't.

"Hey, Lex, buddy, it's Clark" he began, looking nervous and uncomfortable. Chloe felt bad for him. What was he supposed to say to someone who could quite possibly destroy his entire world? "Um, we're all here for you, you know? Just take your time getting better, and then I'll be here when you wake up." Real subtle, Clark.

"Yeah, Lex," Lana went on, taking charge of the conversation once again, "And, I'll be here. It's Lana, of course. And, don't worry about the Talon; I've got everything under control there. And, we'll all be rooting for you to make a full recovery," then she added, looking pointedly at me and my lack of coddling, "Even Chloe." Then, she yelped. Seriously, it sounded like a little dog had gotten its tail stuck in the door.

"He moved!" she said, staring down at him in awe, "His hand twitched in mine as I was talking. He must be responding to us, Clark. Let's keep talking to him."

Chloe couldn't take much more of this. "Look, Lana, I highly doubt a twitch of the hand is him responding to us. It more likely has to do with his hand losing circulation due to how hard you're holding…" She had planned on going into more detail as to how ineffective this all was, when Lex's head slowly rotated her way, ending up facing her. His eyes were still closed, but his eyelids were fluttering.

They all stopped what they were doing, and watched. It was a minute before they even breathed, it seemed. Lex remained unconscious, and his eyes began to still. Lana talked to him a little more, even Clark. But, Chloe stayed silent, watching the exchanges without comment. It was so weird to see him lying there, unable to respond to anything, to not be able to smirk when someone (Lana) said something that might be construed as self-indulgent, or to even rip his hand out of her never-ending grip.

Throughout it all, Lex didn't 'respond' to them anymore. Lana eventually let go of his hand, and her and Clark began to discuss what they would be doing later today. As Clark and Lana kept looking into one another's eyes, and seeking condolences for how hard this was on them, Chloe found herself at a loss for what to do. Walking closer to the bed, she glanced down at his hand lying limply on his stomach. On impulse, she reached out and enclosed it in her own hands, rubbing small circles over the back of it.

"Now look who's holding his hand, Chloe," Lana said sweetly, smiling at her before turning back to Clark. He just grinned at Chloe encouragingly as she glared at her, and went back to his conversation with Lana. Chloe was about to say the hell with this, and just walk out on them. But, then Lex's hand squeezed hers.

It didn't twitch, it didn't contract and release, it wasn't for only a moment. He gripped her hand tightly, and he held it. At first she thought about yanking her hand away, but something stopped her. It might have been the little crease that appeared between his brows, or the tiny sigh that couldn't seem to escape his lips. It might have even had something to do with the fact that the feel of his hand wrapped around hers wasn't altogether unpleasant. Actually, it was very pleasant, and she felt herself tighten her hold on his.

Regardless of the reason, though, she held on. After a few minutes, his grasp began to loosen, and his face relaxed. As his hand went completely limp in hers, she stroked a few more circles into it before releasing. Clark and Lana were saying that they were going to go catch lunch together, and she felt uncomfortable staying there by herself. She didn't let Clark and Lana know what had happened. If they had happened to look over at the two of them, all they would have seen was Chloe trying to comfort Lex in some small way.

She had no intention of getting Lana started up again by announcing that Lex had reacted to her. Chloe and Clark together probably wouldn't be able to drag her out of there. And, Chloe had no intention of leaving her alone with Lex. She kept telling herself that it was because she didn't want Lana to be there alone when Lex woke up so he wouldn't spill to her that he knew about Clark. But, as she glanced back at Lex before closing the door, seeing him lie there so peacefully against his pillows, she remembered the feel of his hand wrapped around hers, and she began to wonder…