"Is this better?" Clark asked. He sat down on the couch, resting Chloe in his lap.

"Last time. Easier." Chloe confessed.

Clark didn't doubt it. From what he could see, she was struggling terribly. She was on a long, painful road to recovery. Her legs and arms were still gray dead limbs. The flesh around her heart and face was improved. That was good. Her heart pushed the blood into the critical areas first. Clark guessed that Chloe would be fine, as her blood circulation moved outward, renewing the tissues.

He x-rayed her face again and confirmed his suspicion. He saw blood moving in the arteries and veins within her head. He switched his eyes back to regular vision and grinned. She looked almost pink and so much better sitting up, her infrastructure working with gravity, supporting her vascular system.

Her eyes found his.

"Chloe, I missed you."

Chloe was silent. She looked bewildered, trying to move her head, searching for rest.

"Chloe, talk to me."

"Clark, I want to lie down." Chloe said, struggling against the support of his arms.

"No." Clark said, concerned. He was convinced she should sit up. "Chloe, you'll lose the ground you made in the last few minutes."

"Please." Chloe said, in a voice Clark had never heard before. She was begging him.

"No." Clark said firmly.

Chloe looked at him with her soft green eyes and tried to lean away from him. He held her head and back upright. He didn't need his super-strength to stop her. His hands were large and she was very small and fragile.

"Why?" Chloe asked. "Why are you doing this?" she panicked.

Clark felt her blood pushing into the dead areas of her neck and shoulders, pain waxing beneath her gray skin.

"Because your skeleton can help you if you're vertical."

"It hurts Clark!" Chloe erupted. "It hurts! Let me down, please! Please Clark. Please!"

"I'm sorry." Clark said. "I'm so sorry. If I could do this for you I would."

Chloe dripped large, thick tears and stared through Clark as he denied her the relief she wanted. He could feel her spirit break, cracking under the excruciating pain that comes from regeneration.

"I'm sorry." Clark said again.

"You're such a bastard. I hate you."

Clark couldn't believe anything could cut him so deeply.

"The pain must be ebbing away right now if you can speak at all. How are your eyes? Can you see me?"

"I see you're one big ass." Chloe said, lifting her hand. She stopped in mid-motion. Her hand painfully tingled. Then, she tried to lift the other hand. She looked at the blurry limbs, amazed as new pain flowed into them.

"Clark, not again! Make it stop." She bit her lip in agony and let one hand flop on Clark's chest as she drifted off.

Clark touched Chloe's hand.

"Chloe!" Clark said, horrified that he didn't notice sooner. "You are freezing."

Clark reached around for the couch's blanket and wrapped it around their bodies. He then shot rays of heat into the orange fireplace. The logs exploded in flame and kicked out a lot of smoke.

Chloe didn't notice his mistake and he didn't care. All Clark could think was to get her warm. It was up to him. Maybe that's why she was in so much pain. Clark focused on his own internal thermostat. He was resilient to hot and cold, because he instinctively calibrated himself to environmental extremes. Now he wanted to override his comfort, to what Chloe needed.

He sat there, holding Chloe, concentrating, until he broke a sweat. The heat of his body seemed to help. Chloe's breathing smoothed out slightly as he mastered the trick. The struggle he felt under Chloe's skin lessened, but the pain continued to travel away from her heart into different parts of her body. It would eventually exit her through her feet.

"Clark," Chloe moaned.

"Yeah."

"I itch."

"That's good." Clark sighed. "Your body getting the blood it needs. How are your feet? Can you feel them?"

"They're cold."

Clark exhaled another pocket of heat on her feet. Chloe sort of balked a bit, a little surprised, but then she smiled.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I'm sorry I called you a bastard ass."

"Well, it was a nice change from big dumb alien."

Chloe's voice sounded more like her. The pitch was right, the timbre was closer.

"I don't hate you, Clark."

"I know." He was surprised at his alleviated hurt.

Chloe felt like she should say something more than "I'm sorry". She was now aware of what was happening and why. Her brain just couldn't comprehend before, the process crippled her mind. Clark was holding her, almost caressing her. He was tender. It felt good, so warm. She could feel how focused Clark was, keeping himself quiet and still, using that amazing body of his to keep her warm, to ease her pain.

"Have you ever heard that near death experiences make you horny?" Chloe asked.

"I have." Clark swallowed.

"It's a total lie." Chloe melted as she said that. "You've got to try something different next time you want me in your lap."

It was so Chloe. Trying to make him laugh and make things less serious. He looked directly in Chloe's face and softly agreed.

"I'll remember that."

Her spirit recovered, her body was still a problem. He looked into her eyes again, wanting to check her retinas, but instead, he got lost and forgot himself. His lips brushed hers. He blushed and turned his head to the fire.

"How much?"

"How much what?"

"How much, do you love me?" Chloe clarified.

Clark's answer was stuck inside of him.

"On a scale from one to ten?" Chloe continued.

"How are your feet?" Clark interrupted, "I should help you stand, for your legs' sake."

"I feel them tingle now, yes."

"And you're not as cold?" Clark said hopefully.

"Not when I've got my own Kryptonian heating pad."

"I've never been so motivated to learn something new so fast." Clark admitted.

"Clark. You're the best. I almost feel pliable."

"Good."

"But you won't answer my question." Chloe observed. "I guess, because… I guess I don't know why. We don't have secrets anymore. Tell me."

Clark nodded. Chloe had given her life in the last twenty-four hours.

"How much do I love you?" Clark repeated. "What do you think?"

"A six or seven."

Clark shook his head in disagreement. He pushed Chloe's blonde bob off her check and let his finger trace her jaw line.

"There's no number high enough Chloe. It doesn't exist."