As Ransom walked away, Clark withdrew, shivering, to the corner of his cell that he'd chosen as the spot to sleep. There was no bed, no mattress, but somehow it was just a bit comforting to be there.
Lex's voice had sounded unchanged but...cold. Maybe that was why he was shivering even harder. Ransom hadn't said how much he was asking for but he seemed greedy. Maybe it was too much. Maybe Lex didn't love him any more. After all, even though he didn't know how long he'd been there, it had to have been a long time. Long enough for Lex to find somebody else. Maybe even forget about him. It might even have been years.
He fought tears again, not even sure why he fought them. Sometimes he wondered if he had only so many tears in him, and they all had to be shed before he could die. And he was increasingly afraid that he would die. His mind kept wandering. Every part of him ached. The last time they'd let him wash, his skin started to peel as though he were sunburned. He couldn't keep down food any more, even the tiny amounts they gave him. His metabolism had slowed to accomodate it. That was part of why he was so cold and felt so weak.
They weren't deliberately cruel. Going hungry was easier than having more pieces of meteor embedded under his skin to keep him weak. They'd even put a space heater near the cell and given him a blanket when they saw how he was shivering. But only at night--they took it away each morning so he couldn't hide anything under it, the same reason they only let him wear shorts. As if he was given the chance to find or steal anything. As if he could use anything to escape.
They even eventually told him what they were finding out about him, though they'd at first laughed at him when he asked, thinking he was playing ignorant. They told him they thought they narrowed his homeworld down to one solar system. Then they told him that it was destroyed when the star went supernova. They were focusing all their energies on scanning that part of the galaxy for signs of life. He used to hope there was something there, but now even that seemed unreal.
All he could hope for was Lex. If Lex would save him. Maybe, even if Lex didn't love him any more, he'd at least set him free, let him go back to his parents. At least he knew they still loved him. If they were still alive. If he was dying, he didn't want to be so desperately lonely. Kind eyes looking at him. Caring arms holding him tight.
Or maybe he wasn't dying. After all, until now, he didn't have any experience in being sick. Maybe Lex was in time and would save him and take him home. As ritualistically as though they were prayer beads, he summoned up images of faces. Mom and Dad. Pete. Lana. Chloe. And finally, Lex.
Lex's voice had sounded unchanged but...cold. Maybe that was why he was shivering even harder. Ransom hadn't said how much he was asking for but he seemed greedy. Maybe it was too much. Maybe Lex didn't love him any more. After all, even though he didn't know how long he'd been there, it had to have been a long time. Long enough for Lex to find somebody else. Maybe even forget about him. It might even have been years.
He fought tears again, not even sure why he fought them. Sometimes he wondered if he had only so many tears in him, and they all had to be shed before he could die. And he was increasingly afraid that he would die. His mind kept wandering. Every part of him ached. The last time they'd let him wash, his skin started to peel as though he were sunburned. He couldn't keep down food any more, even the tiny amounts they gave him. His metabolism had slowed to accomodate it. That was part of why he was so cold and felt so weak.
They weren't deliberately cruel. Going hungry was easier than having more pieces of meteor embedded under his skin to keep him weak. They'd even put a space heater near the cell and given him a blanket when they saw how he was shivering. But only at night--they took it away each morning so he couldn't hide anything under it, the same reason they only let him wear shorts. As if he was given the chance to find or steal anything. As if he could use anything to escape.
They even eventually told him what they were finding out about him, though they'd at first laughed at him when he asked, thinking he was playing ignorant. They told him they thought they narrowed his homeworld down to one solar system. Then they told him that it was destroyed when the star went supernova. They were focusing all their energies on scanning that part of the galaxy for signs of life. He used to hope there was something there, but now even that seemed unreal.
All he could hope for was Lex. If Lex would save him. Maybe, even if Lex didn't love him any more, he'd at least set him free, let him go back to his parents. At least he knew they still loved him. If they were still alive. If he was dying, he didn't want to be so desperately lonely. Kind eyes looking at him. Caring arms holding him tight.
Or maybe he wasn't dying. After all, until now, he didn't have any experience in being sick. Maybe Lex was in time and would save him and take him home. As ritualistically as though they were prayer beads, he summoned up images of faces. Mom and Dad. Pete. Lana. Chloe. And finally, Lex.