Part 10 - Superman's Doctor
Daily Planet
Perry could not believe what he had just seen.
That power is beyond reason, he thought, but then continued, but aren't they all?
"That was the coolest thing ever!" Jimmy gushed. "Um, no pun intended," he finished while Lois' eyes were still glued to the screen where the news caster was talking.
'That was unbelievable! I bet he never has problems blowing out his birthday candles,' he said before his co-host continued.
'As you can see from the replays, Superman just froze the whole tanker, one that was in the process of blowing up! Amazing…'
"No doubt," Lois said, just as she heard Perry call her name.
Before even turning to him, she already knew what he wanted.
He wanted her to get a Superman interview pronto.
O o O
Superman landed on a high, out of the way building, noting that some roofs were better maintained than others as he made sure he was alone.
As he had flown away from the accident site, his thoughts remained away from chocolate filled donuts covered with colored sprinkles and onto something more important, namely his parents.
They had to have seen what he had done. It was all over the news. He knew – he could hear countless stations retelling his actions.
Taking his thin cell phone from the belt pocket his mom had ingeniously sewn in, he dialed home.
It didn't even ring one full time when it was answered.
"Clark?"
"Hi mom."
He then heard her shout for Jonathon to pick up the other phone in the other room.
"Did you see?" Clark asked, attempting to imagine what his parents might be thinking.
"Of course we saw, Clark, but what did we see? Are you alright? On the TV it sort of looked like that had taken a lot out of you."
"I'm good, Mom, I was more surprised than anything else."
"You and me both, son," Jonathon said, joining the conversation.
"Clark, how did you do that?" Martha asked.
"I don't know, I've never done that before. Sure, I've blown big things over and stuff, but I've never frozen anything before. But I do know one thing, I'm going to go talk to Dr. Price soon."
"Go talk to him now."
Clark and Martha were both shocked into silence.
Jonathon had said that.
"What?" he asked, wondering why it had become so quiet.
"Jonathon, we just never thought we would ever hear you say such a thing," Martha gently replied.
Clark could almost hear her smiling.
"Alright, Dad, I'll go now."
"Tell us how it goes," Martha quickly added before saying good bye. Clark headed to the hospital.
O o O
Landing on yet another roof, the roof of Saint General's to be exact, Clark paced a little, trying to decide how exactly he was going to do this.
Meeting Dr. Price as Clark was out of the question. It would be too risky – he might discover the truth – but at the same time, he couldn't just walk into the hospital as Superman. That would just cause way too many questions.
But then it came to him.
Taking out his cell phone, he called the hospital. If this cell was recorded as being used, he could always say Clark had loaned it to him. It wouldn't be a lie.
"Saint General Hospital, front desk, how may I help you?" a voice asked, sounding mildly bored as far as Superman could tell.
"Uh, would there be a way for me to talk to Dr. Eric Price, please?"
"Alright, are you one of his patients?"
"Well, actually, that was what I needed to talk to him about."
"Alright, just a moment." There was a pause before she came back on. "You're in luck sir, he's on break, and lucky for you he takes front desk calls. Usually other doctors just make us take messages."
"Thank you, I guess it is my lucky day," Clark replied.
"However, he does request the person asking for him to identify themselves, so sir, what's your name?"
He was momentarily caught off guard, suddenly wishing he had gone over what he was going to say before making this call.
You dodo, did you think they weren't going to ask that and that you'd be allowed to speak with him without them knowing anything about you? He chastised himself.
"Uh, Ms…"
"Mrs. Jones."
"Mrs. Jones, I would really rather no one know I'm calling…"
"Sir, we operate under a very strict confidentiality policy here, not to mention a doctor-patient one, but I'm going to need to give him a name or he won't take this call. That is one of his rules. I'm sorry."
"Couldn't I just give him my name?"
"No, I need to."
He could not believe it. This was turning out to be a lot harder than he had initially thought.
I might as well have walked in there, it'd have been easier, he told himself.
"Could you just make an exception just this once, please? I just can't have anyone know I want to talk to him."
Mrs. Jones was suddenly very taken by his tone. It had this mysterious quality to it that she couldn't explain.
This guy is serious. Who is he? What has he got to hide? she wondered. What has he got to be afraid of?
"Alright, I'll try sir, but don't get mad if he says no."
"He won't."
Or at least he better not… he silently pleaded as she picked up another phone.
He then heard the intercom go on, and he gave a thankful sigh as he heard it requesting Dr. Price to line four.
O o O
Dr. Price heard the request over the speakers and so went to the closest phone, which happened to be in a quiet portion of the hospital, near the snack area. Picking it up, Mrs. Jones greeted him.
"Hello, Dr. Price, there is a very determined 'patient' currently on hold who wants to talk to you. And he seems very adamant in speaking to only you."
"Alright, who is he?"
"Well, that's just it, he won't give me his name."
"You did tell him that's the one thing I request."
"Yes, it didn't really help. I guess he just doesn't want anyone to know anything about him, or that he's seeing you, whoever he is."
"I see." He paused for a moment before talking again. "Well, I've got nothing better to do at the moment, and who knows, maybe this guy is really important. Go ahead and connect him."
"Alright, Doctor."
O o O
Superman was about to start humming when he heard Mrs. Jones get back on.
"I'm switching you over to him now, sir," she stated.
"Thank you so much. You have no idea how grateful I am."
"Yeah yeah, save it, he still might hang up on you," she replied before pushing the number four, connecting him to Price.
"Hello, Dr. Price?" Superman asked.
"Yes, I'm Dr. Price. And who might you be? I was told you were not being very cooperative with Mrs. Jones at the front desk."
"Yes, I'm sorry about that, but I think you will understand why I had to do that."
"Alright then, tell me."
Superman x-rayed the hospital, finding Dr. Price by following his voice.
"Good, you're alone…" he muttered thankfully.
"How do you know I'm alone?" Price asked suspiciously. "Who are you?!" he questioned, getting a little annoyed.
It was now or never, so Clark answered.
"Technically, my name is Kal El, but I am better known by another name. . . Superman."
He waited for the bomb to drop.
If Dr. Price had not been so good at catching liars, he would have laughed, but he knew this was Superman.
The person who had brought David, who had gently laid his body on a gurney, and who had tenderly closed his eyes.
The being who had withstood a ground shaking explosion within a vault, and the one who had just recently displayed a new power.
He was now speaking to the most powerful being on earth, and over the phone no less.
"Dr. Price?" he asked, now that a long moment had gone by.
"Oh! I'm sorry, Superman, this is just just a little much to take in."
"Yes, I suppose it is," Superman agreed with a light chuckle.
"I must admit, I never would have believed I would be talking to you over the phone. So what can I do to help you? Is there something wrong? Are you still feeling okay after that incident at the bank?"
Price still could not comprehend that. If he hadn't been there, he might not have believed it.
"No, there's nothing wrong, and yes, I'm fine," he answered, smiling at the concern Price was displaying for him. "I just need to talk to you about a few things. I won't go into details here, but there is one thing I need to ask you. After recent events it has become clear to me that I want certain questions about myself answered, and the only thing I could think of to do that would be to find a . . . personal physician."
Once again a long silence followed, but not as long as before. Dr. Price managed to compose himself, but his voice was not able to become as steady as he had hoped.
"You want me to be your doctor?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"You don't look at me like a god," he replied simply, but the feeling behind it was anything but.
Price was spellbound, unable to say anything after that statement.
"So, will you be my doctor?" Superman asked quietly, knowing after his previous statement, there was nothing that could be said to that.
"I definitely will," Price answered without a moment's hesitation.
Price heard a sigh of relief from Superman before he spoke again.
"Thank you, Dr. Price. Well, I'm sure you have patients that need your attention. Perhaps we should meet sometime tonight to discuss this further…say, on the hospital roof?"
"Sure, that would be great. Let's make it 10, that's when my shift ends today."
"Alright. Thank you, doctor."
"You're welcome. I'm honored to be the one you asked."
Hanging up the phone, Dr. Price breathed out, trying to grasp what had just happened.
I'm Superman's doctor…
He didn't know if he should be excited or petrified, but that soon didn't matter, for he heard his name being called. He was needed.
O o O