A/N: Firstly, I'd like to apologize for Chapter 8. Clark's leaving Jason behind had made an impact in many readers, and I'm sorry if it made you upset or shocked. Clearly, I had not considered all the "what-ifs" of the incident.
Thank you to those who have read and reviewed the previous chapter—mamaXunicorn, Shannon K, ClarkR, framework4, countryLexluv, and repmetsyrrah. Thank you for your understanding. Also, your comments helped me realize my mistakes.
A BIG thanks goes out to Wahoogal06 for telling me to hang in there.
Okay, so Clark's apology is in this chapter, although I don't know if it's good enough. As said in the reviews, what he did was unexcusable, but oh well...
Chapter 9: He Opened His Eyes
Clark sat at the chair beside Jason's hospital bed, his eyes never leaving the sight of the fragile-looking little boy sleeping on the bed. He was keenly aware of the beeping sound of the heart monitor situated at the other side of Jason's bed. He was told by the doctors that the monitor was just a precaution, and that Clark should not worry about Jason being hooked up to it. Clark glanced at his watch—6:20 PM. He had been at the hospital for about two hours now, and Jason had not yet woken up.
"Please, Jason," Clark whispered. "Please wake up."
Ring, ring.
He took out his cellphone from his pocket, and checked who was calling. He had expected it to be Lois, she had called to say she and Richard were flying to Chicago and would be there at around half past six. He was surprised to see his mother's name on the caller ID.
"Ma?"
"Clark? How—?" Martha began, but Clark answered before she finished.
"He's fine, Ma. The doctors said he hit his head badly, but there wasn't any internal bleeding or something like that. He's got a scrape on his forehead, though. At least it wasn't a cut, so he didn't need stitches. He hasn't woken up since I brought him here, but one of the doctors said that since Jason's color and breathing are normal, he should be allowed to sleep." Clark heaved a sigh after reporting to his mother about Jason's status.
"I was going to ask about how you were doing, Clark."
Clark paused. "Oh."
Clark had called his mother as soon as the doctors were finished examining Jason. Martha had never heard her son so frantic before, and did her best to calm down her son over the phone. Now, she was just wondering how her boy was doing. "So? How are you, dear?"
"I'm...I'm..." Clark replied, but he couldn't find the words to describe the guilt and uneasiness he was feeling. He realized his hands were shaking as he held the phone closer to his ear. "I...d-didn't...I should've..."
"Oh, Clark..." Martha's heart went out to her son. He was beating himself up over the accident.
"I knew I should've stayed with him...but I didn't. And it almost cost him his life, Ma." After a pause, he said, "I'm a bad father."
"Son, that's not true. One mistake does not make you a bad person, you know that."
Clark remembered his conversation with Jason earlier that day, while they were at the ice cream parlor. Martha's words seemed to echo his earlier statement to his son.
"I know, Ma. But it was a big mistake—" Clark cut his sentence short when he heard a male's voice behind Martha's.
"Clark, I'm sorry but I have to go. Ben's here. We had plans to go to town today."
Clark's heart seemed to ache more. Ben Hubbard was his mother's friend—well, now it seems they're more than just friends. He sighed. "Alright, Ma. Take care. I love you."
"I love you, too, Clark. And don't worry about Jason—if he's anything like you, he's a strong little boy. He's going to be okay."
Clark hung up and set his phone on the bedside table. He continued his vigil on Jason, remembering the events that took place two hours ago, knowing full well that Lois would want to know what happened to Jason.
"JASON!" cried Clark, rushing to the park and making his way through the crowd. He knelt down and looked at his son, lying on the ground with his face down, unconscious. He looked at the crowd. "What happened?"
A concerned young mother standing behind him replied, "He fell. He was climbing to the highest bars and he slipped."
Clark made a quick scan of Jason's body to check for any fracture. When he was sure that there was no broken bone in Jason's body, he scooped up his son and ran past the people to the direction of the hospital just a block away.
Panic-stricken, Clark rushed to the emergency room of the hospital. A male nurse approached him. "I need a doctor," Clark pleaded. The nurse gazed down at the limp form of the little boy. Clark explained, "He fell from the jungle gym at the park. He was at the highest bars."
The nurse nodded in understanding. "I'll get a doctor, sir. There's an empty bed to your left, you can put him there. We'll take care of him." The nurse took off and paged a doctor. Another came to assist in putting Jason on the bed, and to ask Clark questions.
The five minutes that it took for a doctor to check on Jason were the longest five minutes of Clark's life. His heart beat rapidly and he was pacing back and forth in the ER. All the other patients, all the chaos of the emergency room were lost to him as he focused on his son. "I don't know what to do," he told himself, letting the tears he had been holding back for so long to just flow. "I don't know...God, tell me what to do." He felt as if his heart was going to burst with the emotions he had inside him.
"Sir?" a man with graying hair called Clark's attention. Clark stopped pacing and looked at him. "My name is Dr. Austin Sanford. I'll be the doctor in charge of..." he read the file on his hand, "...Jason."
Clark simply nodded.
Dr. Sanford continued. "Upon physical examination, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him, except for an abrasion on his forehead. Just to be sure, we'd like to perform a CT scan, and we need parental consent—"
"I'm his father," Clark stated.
"Clark?"
The familiar voice of Lois Lane shook him out of his reverie. He looked up and found Lois and Richard standing in the doorway. He nodded. The pair entered the room, and Lois ran to Jason's bedside, brushing a lock of her son's hair away from his face and kissing him on the cheek. Tears began to flow down her cheeks and she buried her face in her son's chest. Richard walked up to Lois and whispered something in her ear, then he helped her sit on a chair beside Jason's bed.
Clark was at a loss for words. He had never seen Lois so distressed. He quietly said, "The doctors said he's okay. He just needs sleep." He proceeded to tell her and Richard what happened—or at least, as close to what really happened. "I was, um, I just finished fixing my article and I was walking, um, a-around when I saw a crowd gathering at the park. And, well, uh, you know, being a reporter...Well, uh, I recognized Jason im-immediately and I, uh, I decided to bring him to, uh, here to the hospital when I didn't see either of you with him."
"He was with...a cousin," Richard quickly blurted out, knowing Lois had not thought about what excuse to tell Clark, though he and Clark secretly knew why Jason was in Chicago in the first place. "Apparently, said cousin disappeared all of a sudden." Richard's tone was cold and bitter, and his eyes darted to Clark.
Lois gave Clark a weak smile of gratitude. Clark smiled back. When he looked at Richard, though, all he could see in his eyes were anger. After a moment of silence, Richard spoke, "Lois? Would you be okay here? I need to speak to Clark for a minute. Clark?"
Clark didn't object nor gave any outward sign of worry. His face was expressionless as he followed Richard out of the room. They headed for the elevators and Richard pushed the "Roof deck" button.
"What the hell happened, Clark?" Richard shouted at Clark the minute they stepped onto the roof.
"Richard..."
"I leave my son with you for two hours—two hours—and he ends up in the hospital! I can't believe you! What did you do? Oh, wait, I know! You had to go and save some bimbo who had a gun aimed at her boobs! You left Jason unattended to rescue a damsel in distress! What, are you telling me that some random girl on the street is more important to you than Lois' son? Damn it, Clark! Lois' son! You know he's the most important thing in the world to her, and you almost managed to take that away from her! He could've died! He could've been kidnapped! He could've received more than just a scrape on his forehead! A hundred things could have happened to him! Did you even think about that?"
Clark had not said a word, letting Richard rant and rant. He understood that it was Richard's way of letting out the tension he felt after nearly losing Jason. Clark heard Richard sigh.
"I'm not like you, Richard," Clark said quietly, his head bowed, not wanting to meet Richard's eye. "I'm not...I-I don't...I don't know how to be a father. I had dismissed that thought a long time ago, when I learned that I was the last son of Krypton. I'm sorry. I made a lapse in judgment that nearly cost my son's life. My biological father, Jor-El, told me I was sent here to be the people's savior. Ever since I learned that, it's all I've ever done. I'm good at it, at rescuing people. But this—being a father, looking after my son—I'm new at this...I'm new at this."
Neither of them spoke afterwards. They silently made their way back to Jason's room. Richard stopped in front of Jason's door. His voice was barely audible—yet the coldness was evident—when he said, "If I remember correctly, Clark Kent was raised by a good farmer in Kansas. Why not follow in Jonathan Kent's footsteps? None of us were born good fathers, Clark. We work our way to become one."
Before Richard could turn the knob, Clark stopped him. He could hear Lois inside, and he knew she needed time alone with Jason.
"Hey, buddy," Lois said, talking to a still-unconscious Jason. Tears continuously streaked down her face. "I'm really sorry for what I said to you this morning. Mommy didn't mean any of it. I was not feeling well, and I took it out on you and I shouldn't have done that because it wasn't fair to you. Please wake up, sweetie. Mommy misses you so much already. I love you."
When Clark was sure he and Richard could come in, he gently knocked on the door and went inside. They found Lois still sitting beside Jason's bed, her shoulders hunched as she leaned on the bed, holding her son's hand. She looked pale and wan. Richard drew close to her. "Lois, how about we grab something to eat, hmm?"
"No. I can't. I have to stay here."
"The doctors said Jason's gonna be fine. You need to rest. C'mon, we'll just have a quick bite at the cafeteria. If anything changes, Clark will let us know immediately."
Richard gently tugged at her arm, and she reluctantly stood up. She kissed Jason on the cheek and whispered, "I'll be back soon, sweetie," and then she walked towards the door, Richard following close behind. Before closing the door, Richard gave Clark a knowing look, to which the latter responded to with a nod.
Clark sat at the chair Lois had abandoned. His gaze fell upon Jason's hand. For a moment, he hesitated, but then proceeded to hold Jason's small hand in his. He stayed like that for some minutes, just holding his son's hand and watching Jason's chest rise and fall.
"Jason," he whispered. "I'm sorry I left you at the park. I shouldn't have done that. I just...I was wrong. I was very wrong, and I'm sorry that you had to pay the price for my mistake." He paused. "But I promise you, it won't happen again. I know better now. I'll be there for you, buddy. For you and your mom...and even for Richard. You're very important to me. I really hope you can hear me, because I want to tell you that...I love you, Jason." He then stood up and kissed Jason lightly on the cheek.
Clark sat down again and bowed his head, holding back his tears.
"Mr. Clark?" a faint voice whispered.
Clark's head snapped up. He looked at the boy on the bed. Cerulean eyes met cerulean eyes. Clark stood up, disbelief etched on his face. Jason sat up and wrapped his arms around Clark. "I heard. I love you, too." At those words, Clark let tears of joy flow down his face as he wrapped his arms around his son.
A/N: I finished typing "A Father, First" a few weeks ago. So far, I've got twenty-three chapters, but I'm planning to add a chapter or two maybe, just to make a more fluid transition between chapters. Also, with Superman and Richard going behind Lois' back, it's going to take some time before Lois forgives these two. Anyway, no teaser for Chapter 10 today. My A/N for this chapter is long enough, I think.
