Chapter 7
They silence between them dragged on for while as they travelled down the hall. Clark pulled her into the lift pushing the button for the floor which he presumed the morgue would be on.
"Do you think they would have stopped us if you weren't wearing scrubs?"
"Don't know"
She turned round, looked him up and down. "It makes a change from plaid." She smiled at him as the lift stopped.
"Lois! Do you ever shut up?"
A frown appeared in place of the smile as she whipped her head around.
"Lois." She didn't respond. "Lois. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry." He crouched down beside her. "Lois…"
"I just don't uncomfortable silences. Oh god, déjà vu."
The door opened at that moment.
"What?"
"Hospital. You. Me talking a lot."
He stood up and pushed her out the lift. The corridors were slightly darker than the upper floors. A sign directly in front of them showed that they were on the correct floor with the morgue to their left.
"Do you remember?"
"The memory gets vaguer the more I think of it. But yeah I do."
They went along in silence with the ominous approach of death. They came to a stop at the double doors where cold air seep through the small gap.
"This is it," she turned to look at him as he stared at the closed doors. "You don't have to come. I can do it on my own."
"I'm coming in" He tapped the button by the door so they swung open.
The room was frosty from the temperature and the atmosphere. No one was around as Clark pushed into the centre of the room. To their relief there was no bodies lying around. The wall to the left of the room was covered in square metal doors with labels just underneath. He moved away from Lois as he started his search looking at each label. Meanwhile, Lois looked around the room. She had never been to the morgue before.
She was sitting with Lucy when their father came out the hospital room. Lucy was singing s silly little kiddy song while Lois looked out the window. She looked up at her father as he watched them. She noticed his pale complexion, the red puff eyes. At the moment her heart dropped. She didn't know where it went to. She would have sworn that it disappeared altogether. She didn't feel for along time after that moment. She jumped from her seat and ran passed the General as he made a grab for her. The room's size seemed to engulf here in darkness. The bed towered over her. The sounds which usually passed through the room were gone. Nothing was working now. Hundreds of tubes and wires seemed to cover her mum's body. She climbed on the chair which was beside the bed. It was still warm from when her father had been sitting. She leaned over, resting her head on her mum's chest. She felt her father place as hand her back.
"Lois come one."
But she didn't move.
"Lois"
"No!"
"No? Are you alright?" Clark looked from across the room. She had yelled the word leaving an echo floating around the room. She gave him a little smile before he turned back to his search. After a moment he stood up straight and walked back to Lois. Wheeling here other to where he had been standing and grabbed the door handle of the near by body bay. "I know there's no point in trying to change your mind but are you ready?"
"Yes." Clark was surprised that she still kept her confidence. He opened the door and pulled out the draw. A large lumpy bag lay in between them. Slowly he began to unzip the bag, pulling back the sides to reveal her face. The blood from before, had been wiped away from her face but was left cemented into her once blonde hair. Bruises covered most of her face with small cuts.
Clark tore his eyes from Chloe. Lois didn't let a sound pass her lips. Tears streak down her cheeks. She rose from her chair shakily as he grabbed her arm to support her. She gently pulled away to lean on the drawer. She tentatively began to stroke her cousin's hair. A small smile lingered on her lips for a moment before she leaned in to kiss her cousin's forehead.
"Bye cuz." She sat back down and looked back up to Clark, letting out a heavy sigh with one of her awkward smiles. "Ok. I'm done." With her response he felt his eyebrows rise with confusion.
"Lois..."
"Don't say it Clark. I don't want to talk at the moment. So just leave it"
He didn't want to argue with her down here but he didn't want to leave the subject. He zipped up the bag and pushed the drawer into its crevice, closing the door behind it. He approached her and crouched in front of her.
"I'm fine. Honestly."
"Liar. But if you don't want to talk about it now," he took her hand in his, "I will be here when you do want to talk".
"I'll be fine," prising her hand from his. "I want to go back. I need to sleep."
She kept the lie up so well that he thought that she might actually believe it to be true. Maybe it was best to let her believe it until she couldn't lie any more. Maybe she needed the lie to cope with everything.
He got up and slowly took her back to her room.
