Part 14b - Humanity
6:57 pm General Hospital
Clark silently opened the window to room 402, closing it tightly behind him, grateful that no one was the wiser about him being there.
He looked around the dimly lit room, suddenly wondering why he had insisted upon coming early, even though it was just a few minutes.
Why do I torture myself?
The room was decently sized, had an examination table, and a jointed metal lamp which extended from the wall beside it. Stepping forward, the creepy feeling of foreboding seemed to immerse the room; but before he could even think about sneaking back out the window, the door opened and in stepped Dr. Price. He turned on the light as he closed the door behind him.
"Superman, right on time." He put down the clipboard that he had come in with on the side table and turned to face him.
"Sorry I didn't leave the light on, but having a light on in an empty room would be a little suspicious."
"I understand, it's not a problem. I can see in the dark," Superman said dismissively.
"Really? Wow. Well, I just learned something new about you, and we haven't even really started."
He motioned to the examination table.
"Do I just sit then?" Superman asked, taking a baby step toward the intimidating table.
"Well, before you do that, go ahead and take the top half of your uniform off."
"Alright."
With a quick spin that was over soon after, he stopped before Price, shirt and cape neatly folded in hand, his unblemished and chiseled chest shaded slightly by the angle of the lights in the room.
"Learned to do that the first week in the suit," Superman said upon seeing Price's stunned face.
After shaking himself from his shock, Price spoke.
"Well, let's start. Go on and hop up on the table…um, gently," he added upon an afterthought.
Putting half of his suit aside, Superman got on the table by floating up and descending upon it.
He was a little nervous and couldn't help but fiddle with his hands for a moment before realizing what he was doing, quickly forcing his hands to still.
"Nervous, Superman?" Price asked, hiding his amusement.
"Am I that obvious?"
Price smiled. "I've seen worse," he replied as his hand paused before taking Clark's wrist.
"I'm taking your pulse," he informed him, firmly placing his fingers on the side of his wrist. Clark was about to say something, but Price silenced him.
"Don't move, I want to get a good reading.
"Hmm." Price suddenly looked puzzled.
"Something wrong, doctor?"
"Well, I can't find your pulse," he admitted, sliding his fingers around, still in search.
"That's what I was going to tell you. I don't have one on my wrists. It's right here." He moved Price's fingers up into his palm, placing them gently but firmly slightly below his palm's midpoint.
"When I was little I found it…m- someone," quickly correcting himself, "had tried to find it once. To be honest, I was a little freaked out about the fact I didn't have one, so I spent nearly the whole day in search of one that wasn't at my neck."
Price was quiet for a time, trying to understand why Superman didn't know more about himself, and why, if he was little, the people who were caring for him didn't know.
And then it came to him.
He grew up here…
"Superman, we have doctor-patient confidentiality. What you tell me is safer than Fort Knox. You understand that right?"
Superman nodded, unable to help the odd feeling that suddenly swept through him.
"Yes, Doctor, I understand. Thanks."
Dr. Price finished measuring his pulse and then grabbed his stethoscope and went around to Superman's back, placing the metal circle on his unbelievably warm skin to listen to his lungs.
"Trust is very important. I have to trust you in that you will tell me the truth about what you know so that the tests I run won't hurt you or others. And you have to trust me to keep what we learn to myself."
"I trust you."
"Good, because I trust you. Breathe in."
Clark breathed deeply.
"But still leave some air in the room,would you?" Price joked before adding, "Alright, now breathe out."
Walking back around, he jotted some things down.
"Well, one thing's for sure, you have an amazing lung capacity, and your heart rate is slower than the average human's. Yours is 60 beats per minute, while for us, say me, it would be mid 70s."
"I can change my heart rate when I want to though."
"You weren't messing with it then were you?"
"No. But if I wanted to, I could match up with your heart rate."
"You can do that?"
"Yeah, it's not hard. I just listen."
"So you can hear my heartbeat?" Price asked, truly intrigued.
"Yeah."
"Do you hear everyone's?"
"I can, but I choose not to. I can focus on one and block out the others if I concentrate."
"Interesting." He started scratching down some more notes.
After a moment of intense writing, Price looked up.
"Well, let's take your temperature. To be honest, I'm a little curious about this. Nearly everyone you bring in here has mentioned how warm you are. Our nurses always ask the patients you save what they remember about you, and they immediately mention how warm you are."
Clark couldn't help but blush at that. He couldn't help that he naturally radiated heat about him. Price placed the thermometer in his ear and quickly got a reading.
100.6
"Hmph, not as warm as I would have guessed. Just two degrees above normal."
"You expected me to be hotter?"
"Well, considering the fact that you give off as much heat as you do, I reasoned your internal temperature would have been higher."
"Oh. I guess I haven't really thought hard about that."
Price pulled a stool up to him and sat across from him.
"I think that's all the examining I can do right now, but I'd like to get some more information from you so that later I can have tests ready."
"Okay, what do you want to know?"
"A list of your known powers, how far you've pushed them, and things that you would like to know more about."
"Okay. Um. Powers…"
Dr. Price decided to just hand him the clipboard and so Clark took it, followed closely by the pen.
Superman thought for a moment before putting the pen's tip down on the page.
Price could only stare as he watched the blur of a hand and pen ripple across the page.
"There, that's all I can think of at the moment."
Price took it, rather eagerly to be honest, and quickly read to himself, muttering under his breath as he went.
"Hearing, x-ray vision (and other enhanced visions), speed, strength, flight, ice breath, invulnerability…"
He stopped, now looking up.
"So you're completely invulnerable?"
"So far…"
"So you've never felt pain?"
"When I was little I wasn't as invulnerable, but I healed really quick."
"So you grew into that power, just like now you're still developing some of the others."
"Yeah, I suppose that's right."
"Do you sleep? Do you eat?"
"Yeah, though I don't need a lot of sleep. I'd say I'm fine with three hours, but I usually get more, just because of habit."
"Do you ever get tired?"
"I did once. I had stayed up for three days straight, had flown to China and had gone to a few other places, but that was when I was younger…"
He suddenly looked like he had just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"So… before you were Superman?" Price asked, slowly meeting his eyes.
You have the brain of a peanut, Clark…no, scratch that, you don't even have one.
Clark forced himself to breathe, internally beating himself.
Idiot, Idiot, Idiot!
Price was suddenly a little concerned.
Why did I say that! Why didn't I just let that one slide like the last one? Why did I need to freak the poor kid out? He's already nervous as all get out! But nooo, I had to be curious!
Meanwhile, Superman was doing his own internal thinking.
He's safer than Fort Knox…
Nothing is completely safe.
If you can't trust him, who can you?
Clark closed his eyes for a moment, slowly deciding to make the step of no return.
"What the world doesn't know about me is that I didn't just recently arrive," he muttered.
"Superman, you grew up here didn't you?"
Clark's eyes shot up so fast that Price immediately knew the answer as Clark then lowered his eyes.
It was both terrifying and very nice to share this with someone.
Someone he could trust.
"Yes, I grew up here. I was… adopted."
"Adopted?"
"I was raised by a loving couple. It wasn't until later I discovered I was Kryptonian."
"When was that?" he asked, unconsciously leaning forward.
"A few years ago actually."
"When you were younger?" Price asked knowingly.
Clark nodded.
"After I left home… the only home I ever knew, I traveled the world. I immersed myself into every culture I could reach and sunk myself into the fabrics of humanity."
"What amazing stories you must have," Price said absently.
"I have some."
Superman fell silent, and Price was utterly spellbound at trying to determine what he was thinking about, but before he could ask, Superman answered.
"Mankind is the most amazing creation. Capable of so many things. Great and Incomprehensible…both Good and Evil.
"I have met men and women who have survived the Impossible, the Intolerable, and the Horrible… and yet they are still here. Not about to let that slow them, not about to give in.
"I have watched many people rise together, lifting what even I couldn't: each other's Spirits.
"I have watched countless sunrises and sunsets. I have flown over all of the oceans. I have peered deeply into the night sky. I have walked through jungles and forests. But nothing can compare to the Human Spirit.
"After seeing the things I have, after being to the places many can only dream of, I am continually in awe of Humanity."
Price could not immediately reply to what he had just heard.
This man before me, this kind of god on Earth, could rule us all if he wanted to, and yet he is in awe of us!?
"How it must be to be you. To see the world through your eyes. In a way that is somehow uncorrupted. I pray your Humanity rubs off on the rest of us, even just a miniscule amount.
"Many of us are missing out on the bigger picture in life, too busy with our own lives to look around at others' without becoming judgemental. You are definitely here for a reason."
Price got up and picked up the other half of Clark's uniform.
"Next week, same time, just at Star Labs. I'll call your friend, Clark Kent, and tell him which room when I know. He is your friend right?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, see you then," Price continued, not seeing Superman's unsure face as they both looked down at the folded cloth, the S shield laying boldly in his hands.
Price handed it back to him, feeling the cool slick cloth leave his fingers.
Price looked up, meeting his eyes.
"Oh, before I forget, Nurse Schmitt wanted me to tell you she's talked to the hospital administration. Just give her a time and she'll let them know. As you can imagine, they're ecstatic," he told him after Superman had spun back into his suit.
"They do know I don't want this to be a media circus, right? I'm doing this for the kids."
"They know. But come on, this is Nurse Schmitt we're talking about," Price reminded him, a smile on his face as Clark opened the window.
"True, she is a great director. I know, she directs me."
Price chuckled, shaking his head as Superman turned back to the window.
"Goodnight, Doctor."
"Goodnight."
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