Part 19 - Decoy
Children's Ward, Saint Andrew's Hospital; 9 am
Leah watched as May extracted a vial of blood from her arm for testing. May smiled gently as she put a Narnia band-aid on.
For the longest time Leah would always have to look away, but now, she barely felt it. She was almost used to it.
"I'm going to go down to the Lab and have this checked out, alright?"
"Okay," Leah replied.
May left, taking a glance back at the children within the Ward.
Some were sitting around a bed playing a board game, others were drawing or reading, and a few were sleeping.
She looked over at Jack who had asked Superman to lift his bed.
She couldn't help but wonder how David would be now.
Would he have been here already?
Would he have been one of the children around Maggie's bed, playing the board game, Trouble?
With sad resolve she let the door swing shut behind her, focused once again on the task at hand.
O o O
Lois made her way to the roof. She'd decided she needed a breather.
It was a slow news day and Perry wasn't making it any easier.
The mafia had gone silent, and Bobby was unable to get anything for them.
It was discouraging and annoyibg.
The only thing that was going on today that was newsworthy was the moving of Greg Sarkov and his men to a higher security prison to await trial.
Standing in the bright morning sun, a part of her hoped that Superman would show up.
Stop dreaming, Lois, he's probably out there saving lives, maybe on the other side of the world. Why would he stop what he was doing just to talk to you, even if you two are friends? she asked herself.
She gave a heavy sigh as she felt the wind shift slightly.
"Hello, Lois."
She turned around so fast she was in danger of whiplash.
"Superman! What are you doing here?"
"Well I saw you up here, and I thought I'd drop by."
He mistook her silence.
"Is that alright?" he asked, afraid that she had wanted to be alone and that he was intruding.
"Yes, yes of course. I'm sorry, I just…"
"What?" he asked, walking toward her.
"Thought you'd be busy. I'm sort of surprised, that's all."
"Oh. Well… Lois, I don't save people all the time."
"What do you do then? When you're not saving people?"
You had to open that big fat mouth of yours didn't you?
He was about to attempt a vague answer, when he heard it…and felt it.
Boom…
It was from the direction of the hospital. The sounds of falling and crushing metal and wood soon followed, though only he heard it.
"What was that!?" Lois gasped, just as Superman heard the screams.
'It's falling!'
'Superman! Help!'
'I don't want to die…'
"No," Superman breathed before his sonic boom roared over the city.
O o O
Andrew's Hospital; 9:35 am
Nurse Schmitt put a patient's clip board back down after marking that the patient had taken his medications.
She was in the east wing of the hospital, the opposite side of where the Children's Ward was, when she heard it.
At first she didn't know what had happened, then she thought a vehicle had somehow whammed into the hospital, but she quickly learned that that wasn't the case.
Smoke filled the place at an alarming rate, everyone scrambling about to get the patients out. People were screaming and shouting that something had happened on the other side, and that now the fire was quickly spreading over to where they were.
On the other side?! But that's…
Schmitt dashed forward, ignoring the firemen who were now entering the building and those around her shouting for everyone to get out. She only had one thought, and it was to get to the children.
O o O
The smoke was horrible, and the roar beyond the fallen ceiling and door was terrifying.
Jack, who was the oldest in the ward, shouted for everyone to get on the floor, everyone coughing from the smoke.
Maggie, looking out from under the bed because she had followed the order of Jack, could see that the ceiling had caved in right in front of the door where May had exited from, the crackling of fire just beyond.
The smoke was so thick, visibility near nonexistent with the sound of coughing drowned out by the growling monster beyond the door.
"Help! Somebody!" a voice pleaded over the unyielding rumble.
O o O
Superman went as fast as he could, the smell of ash already coming to his nose before he even caught sight of the hospital, but as he did, his heart froze.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
The west side of the hospital, completely shadowed by smoke, had fire rearing up near where the wing connected to the main area of the hospital. The children's ward was right against it, so close to where the merciless demon now rose.
Firemen and other rescuers looked up when they heard the sonic boom crack overhead, but then had to turn away as the air began to shift.
Those who had managed to see watched in awe as a red and blue blur seemed to engulf the flames, the sound of pressurized air being shot forth quickly silenced the roaring flames that had dared to venture out of the rubble.
The figure in red and blue then disappeared, going into the inferno within that he had been unable to snuff out from above, charging in as if this was now a personal vendetta.
O o O
Jack was flat on the floor, not knowing whether or not being on the floor was much different than being in his bed since the smoke was everywhere.
Those still conscious tried not to gasp as a divine hush seemed to pass over, the monster beyond the door being slain.
Jack somehow looked up toward the door when he heard metal grinding and shifting.
Light swam down, breaking through the smoke, and those who were able to see found him standing under it.
"Be still," he ordered, his face forced into a passive state while his voice remained soft and gentle despite the flatness of it.
Superman inhaled, the smoke quickly being drawn in.
The smoke now gone, Superman went forward, never minding the fallen 'I' beam behind him along with the large portion of the ceiling.
"Superman," Maggie sobbed, crawling out from under a bed.
"Are you all alright?" he asked them, the soot covered children slowly getting up and progressing toward him as he scanned them and the room.
His heart all but stopped, his eyes coming to rest on that which he had prayed he'd never have to find.
"Leah," Superman whispered.
Her form was slumped to the side in front of her horse and book covered shelf.
"Leah!" Jack gasped, running past a few of the children to stand beside Superman, who was now kneeling down and lifting her.
"Is…is she?" Jack choked.
Superman didn't answer.
He didn't know.
He checked for a pulse and listened for her heartbeat.
He vaguely heard some people shuffle in, but his focus was on Leah. The entrance was now straight ahead of him. Though in shambles, it now allowed entry. He had moved Leah away from the bed and shelf, still kneeling, his knees resting on the once clean white hospital floor.
He didn't register that there were now several more eyes upon him as he slid his arm further under Leah's limp form, cradling her with her head resting back into his left hand. With his right hand, he gently pressed at the side of her throat, searching…
Searching for any signs of life, but in vain.
No…nonono…please…no…
He suddenly felt a large hand on his shoulder as he closed his eyes which were now burning with held back tears.
O o O
Miguel Brunacini, the large Fire Chief, stepped into the now frosted hospital ruins, being followed by stubborn Nurse Schmitt and determined Dr. Johnson.
Entering the rather quiet children's ward, what he found made even him hesitate.
Superman was kneeling down, holding a young child.
It didn't take long for him to see they were too late as his instincts kicked in and he went forward.
Kneeling down to Superman, his knees too now meeting the floor, he placed his hand on Superman's shoulder, knowing there was nothing else he could do.
He watched as the Man of Steel had to close his eyes to prevent tears from escaping, the children around now quietly crying.
The adults who had entered stayed silent, watching as Superman leaned forward and touched his forehead against Leah's, his right hand now resting on her little shoulder, her purple cap discarded on the floor.
They were still, too unsure to move, but then one of them did.
Leah.
Superman felt her shudder in his arms as the most amazing sound met his ears.
Thump thump-thump…
Her heartbeat.
Superman pulled back, hoping to find her eyes looking into his, but they were shut.
"Superman, what…what is it?" Nurse Schmitt asked, seeing, like they all had, his surprised face.
"I hear her heartbeat. She's alive," he answered, meeting Miguel's eyes.
May appeared beside him, feeling Leah's pulse for herself.
"We need to get her on oxygen, she's not out of the woods yet," she told them.
Superman gently stood up, holding her frame in his arms, and he couldn't help but think back to David as several more people made their way in.
"Superman."
Superman glanced up to find that Henderson and some police had now joined them.
He was about to ask if there was something they needed help with when one of their radios cut in.
"All units, please respond, prisoner transport van has come under fire on 5th and Main. Several criminals now at large: Gregory Sarkov, Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, Vladimir Kumarin…"
Superman closed his eyes for a moment as the report continued, everything becoming so clear.
This was why this explosion happened.
They had planned this, they had done this…
Anger rose within him to a level he had never felt before.
Pure rage rippled through him as he opened his eyes.
Henderson held his breath as Superman met his gaze.
It was like two red rubies, pulsing with utter power, staring back at him. Superman's jaw clenched, as did Henderson's.
He had seen this before, but not to this degree, and he knew what it meant.
Superman was Furious. Outraged.
Miguel offered his arms to take Leah, all others unable to really move; the raging fire visible within Superman's eyes was frightening.
"Take care of her," he stated, gently passing her to Miguel before becoming a blur and disappearing out of the hospital, his sonic boom thundering over.
O o O