Emmeline, Pete, Chloe, and Lana were all at the Talon talking about the upcoming charity benefit. The tension was still a bit thick with Pete and Emmeline in the same room, but it was certainly better than it had been for the past couple of weeks.
Clark came through the door carrying a box of different items.
"Clark, hey, I thought your mom was bringing over the prizes for the raffle," Lana said.
Clark put the box down on the table. "She was, but she came down with something this morning. My dad's at the hospital with her."
"Hospital? It sounds serious."
"Do they have any idea what's wrong?" Pete asked.
"We're still waiting on some test results," Clark told him.
"Well, they have to know something," Chloe said. "I mean, what were her symptoms?"
"What is this, an interview?"
Chloe looked away from him, slightly stunned by his abruptness.
Clark seemed to realize how short he was and said quietly, "She stopped breathing, okay?"
"You know, this whole event was your mom's idea. Maybe you should just postpone until she's back on her feet," Lana suggested.
"No, I appreciate the thought, Lana, but she's going to be okay, and she'd be really disappointed if we cancelled."
Chloe looked at him sadly. "Clark, I didn't mean to just…"
"It's okay, Chloe. I'm gonna get back to the hospital."
Everyone at the table looked at one another. Clark had never seemed so downcast before, and that was really saying something.
The next day, Emmeline received several pieces of news. Martha was expecting a baby! But no one could celebrate because Lana had witnessed Clark collapse, and he was exhibiting the same symptoms as his mother.
Clark Kent never, ever got sick, so whatever was going on was extremely serious, and everyone was worried.
Emmeline was watching TV, anxiously awaiting news on Clark's condition. Jonathon had promised to give her a call if something happened.
She got up from the couch when someone knocked on the door. She opened it to find Chloe sobbing on her porch.
"Chloe!" Emmeline exclaimed. "What's wrong?"
Chloe stepped inside and just hugged her as she continued to cry.
"Chloe. You can tell me. What happened?"
Chloe pulled away from her, and it broke Emmeline's heart to see her best friend so upset.
"I went to Clark's house," she finally choked out.
"Is he okay?" If anything had happened to Clark, she didn't know what she would do.
"He's fine, considering the circumstances. He was asleep on the couch, so I pulled up a chair and sat next to him. I pulled out a piece of paper, and I read to him exactly how I felt about him. It felt good too. I was finally able to pour my heart out to him. He stirred for a second, and a part of me hoped that he had heard what I said, just to see how he would respond. Instead he said a name. Lana's."
"Oh…Chloe." Emmeline wrapped her arms around Chloe tightly and gently rubbed her back as she continued to cry. "I am so sorry."
"I don't know what else to do, Em. As long as Lana's around…I don't think any of us have a chance. He only has eyes for her. I'm never going to be good enough for him."
"Chloe, if Clark doesn't see you for who you really are, then he's stupider than I thought he was. He would be lucky to date you."
Emmeline led her into the living room and guided her to the couch.
"I think this is the perfect time to break out the double chocolate ice cream my dad is hiding in the freezer."
Somehow in the span of a day, Martha and Clark both made a full recovery against all odds. How that happened, no one really knew, but it was Smallville. Things happened without explanation every day.
Emmeline and Chloe were creating the next issue of the Torch when Lana walked into the office.
"'Attack of the killer mold spores'?" Lana asked as she read the latest headline.
Chloe laughed. "Yeah. I'll never look at blue cheese the same way again."
"I couldn't bring myself to go back and visit Clark when he was sick. Does that make me a horrible person?"
"No."
"It's okay, Lana, I couldn't go see him either," Emmeline told her. She left out that the reason she couldn't see him was because she had spent the majority of the day comforting Chloe after her whole visit took a turn for the worse.
"I guess it just really scared me to see him like that," Lana said.
"Me too," Chloe answered.
"Kind of makes you realize who's important in your life."
"Yeah. And who's important to Clark."
Emmeline looked at her best friend sadly. Unfortunately, she was right. As long as Lana was in Clark's life, he wouldn't even think of dating anyone else.
"What do you mean?" Lana asked.
"Nothing. We're gonna head home and finish changing for the benefit."
She and Emmeline started heading out the door.
"Oh, are the programs ready?" Lana called before they left.
"Yeah, they are. They're right behind the desk. We'll see you there."
"Thanks."
Emmeline laced her arm through Chloe's as they walked out of the school.
"I know it's not her fault, but there's this part of me that just wants to hate her," Chloe said.
"I completely understand. I'm so sorry. I know this whole situation with Lana has been really tough on you."
"You're just lucky you're feelings transferred over to Pete."
Emmeline let out a sarcastic laugh. "Not so lucky now…"
"Yeah, whatever happened between you guys? It drops 10 degrees when you guys get near each other."
"Remember that parasite in the caves?"
"Ugh, I try not to."
"Okay, well…I know Pete was under its influence, and it wasn't completely him, but…he hit me. Hard. And…I don't know, I guess I'm having a hard time getting over that."
"Pete hit you?!"
"I was trying to get him to a doctor, but he refused, and he got violent."
"No wonder you're so upset."
"Every time I try to tell myself that it wasn't him, all I can think about is his fist flying towards me and hitting me on the face."
"I'm so sorry."
"Don't worry about it. Things will work themselves out in time."
The two of them headed to the Talon for the benefit, and as soon as they walked in, Clark came over to them.
"Hey, Chloe," he called. "My dad said you came to visit when I was sick. That was really sweet of you. Thanks."
Chloe tried to force a smile. "Sure. What are friends for? Um, I'm just gonna go buy a raffle ticket before the drawing. I mean, what could be more poetically just, me winning a computer?"
Chloe walked away towards the drawing table.
Clark looked at Emmeline. "Is she okay?"
"It's kind of hard to explain," she answered. Then she wrapped him up in a tight hug. "I'm really glad to see that you're okay. We were all really worried."
"I'm glad I mean so much to you."
"Of course you mean a lot to me! You've saved my life on multiple occasions. Any person who does that automatically means a lot to me."
Clark smiled warmly. "How's your mom by the way?"
"She's getting her last round of treatment tomorrow."
"That's great!"
"Yeah, we're all really excited. Looks like both of our moms are doing well."
Lana arrived and began talking with Clark, so Emmeline went back over to Chloe. She was watching Clark and Lana's interaction with a heartbroken expression on her face.
Emmeline encouragingly touched her shoulder. "Everything will be alright. Maybe not for a while, but it'll be okay."