"Goodbye, my dear. You're going home to your family, where you belong. You'll get better even faster there, I know. William couldn't be here this morning but he'll miss you, too, though we're very happy, very happy, that you're going to be with your family and that your friends will be with you, too." Martha, though still concentrating on making sure she thoroughly understood the workings of the heart rate monitor and had gotten the trick that opened the battery compartment, could hear the other woman's voice clearly.
Carola came out and joined her. Martha opened her mouth to thank her, but she'd turned away with a muttered, "I almost forgot about something," and fished a flat, dull grey box from under the sofa. From the way she lifted it to the table, Martha suspected the box had to be lead and that it had to hold something made from Kryptonite. The psychiatrist's expression of distaste worried her. "The various...tools that were used on him. They're all made of that substance. We hoped that destroying them in front of him would help him understand that it's over, but he clearly had such associations with the sight of them that I was afraid he wasn't able to perceive more than that they were here." She touched the box with a fingernail, as if further contact would carry contamination. "Perhaps later it would be beneficial for him."
"What are...no, I don't want to look at them." Just Carola's tone and her own imagination had made her stomach clench.
"As long as they're kept in lead, he can't see or be affected by them, according to the various notes."
Martha nodded. "Clark called it Kryptonite. He can't see through lead or feel it through lead."
"Hmmm. I wonder why, what's in the composition of lead...we thought it just blocked radiation but..." Her voice trailed off.
Martha hesitated, then decided that she would ask the question that had persisted in her mind. "Dr. Arkins, I hope you won't be offended, but...you've done so much to help him, to protect him, this can't have been at all easy, why did you both go to so much trouble? For us, well, we're his family, but..."
If she hadn't heard the amusement in Carola's voice, Martha would have had no idea what to make of her expression. "Just because my brother and I happen to think that he has the right to decide who he tells what about himself and when, that doesn't mean that we both wouldn't give an arm and a leg to know more." By the time she finished the sentence, her face was twenty years younger with enthusiasm. "An alien, a living being from another planet, and so human? What more could an astronomer or a psychiatrist both ask out of life?" She shook her head ruefully. "No, we'd have done it without that inducement--God, after what he'd gone through, just as representatives of this sorry species we owed him that--but we certainly didn't mind imagining what things he might want to tell, or what it would be to ask him about himself...It would have been like a miracle."
"He's been that for us every day," she answered, and judging from Carola's quick smile, Martha knew that she had understood all the thanks that lay beneath the statement.
"The car is ready," Jonathan announced, coming back into the apartment. "Clark," he continued, entering and crouching near the bed. "Son, do you think you can get up?" There was no motion or sound. "Okay, let's try this, and if you aren't ready for walking yet, we can carry you." He raised a passive Clark to a sitting position, then draped one of his son's arms across his shoulder. "Here we go." As he rose, pulling Clark up with him, the alarm that monitored Clark's heart rate began to shriek.
Jonathan froze and Martha could see in his face the same anger and pain and fear that had made her gasp. But instead of lowering him back down, Jonathan, still supporting Clark's weight, turned him so that they were facing one another. Clark's head was bowed but the height difference let Jonathan still look him in the face, and then pull him closer. Knowing exactly what he was doing, she crossed to stand next to them, making sure that Clark could see her, and silently stroked Clark's back. She had no clear perception of how long it took, but gradually the sound grew softer until it was just a buzz.
She slipped her arm around his waist as Jonathan tentatively started walking towards the door. The height difference didn't let her support much of his weight and she felt a stab of misery in her guts again as she saw that while he wasn't resisting, he wasn't trying to walk, either--he was simply letting himself be dragged.
Carola gathered up the lead box and the monitor and led the way out.
***
"We're going to be outside again in a few seconds, Clark. It might be hard on your eyes for a bit, at first." Martha looked up at Clark's face but his eyes had already been veiled and distant, revealing nothing. As they walked outside, she saw Lex's and Pete's expressions change, through, from anticipation to quiet disappointment, and she realized they'd both been hoping, like she had, that there would be some kind of breakthrough at being outside and with them.
Lex and Jonathan gently helped him inside the limousine and Pete put his arms around Martha. "He'll be okay," he said, and Martha nodded.
"I'm sure that being home will make all the difference." Hope was something they seemed to be passing around themselves like a salt shaker.
"It's got to," he answered, fiercely.
She heard Lex murmuring something to Clark and he got out. Pete stuck his head inside and managed to sound cheerful. "Hey, Clark, see you soon."
Lex was looking longingly back at the limo and Martha kissed him on the cheek. "We'll *all* be waiting for you Saturday." As she got in, she looked back at Lex and Pete, two of the most important political figures in the world, and then at her silent alien son, and she couldn't help the tears from coming to her eyes.
***
*it's too much to think about too much too much*
*running so quickly what was a pebble is a mountain*
*there's nothing I can do but I'm not I'm not I'm not I'm not*
*is there are shortcut to figuring out the square root I hope there is*
*this day's sun has only a few minutes left to live so it's trying to go out in fire in fire all over*
*so dark and everything smells like it's decaying being folded back in so quietly smells so quiet so peaceful even the water bugs across the surface don't disturb it brown and green and grey*
*would you just tell me how much the mortgage is I know you want me to think about other things but I want to know*
*don't worry I won't let them see I don't have a belly-button*
*stay here stay a while here it's dark and quiet like the pond*
*please I'm not human I know I know but please you don't listen*
*protect him and deliver him from evil*
*all those tongues licking my blood off the knife those tongues they're the size of my hand*
*no please please please I thought you wouldn't hurt me but I'm scared I'm scared please no I promise I'll be good never tell anyone my secret*
*like lions to the slaughter that makes sense too*
*pulling it up around me like a blanket dark and quiet and warm here where nobody can find me but still a thread a silver wire that won't be cut cut like a baby's cord I forget the name*
***
A/N:
I think there are about two chapters left from here but what do I know?
Carola came out and joined her. Martha opened her mouth to thank her, but she'd turned away with a muttered, "I almost forgot about something," and fished a flat, dull grey box from under the sofa. From the way she lifted it to the table, Martha suspected the box had to be lead and that it had to hold something made from Kryptonite. The psychiatrist's expression of distaste worried her. "The various...tools that were used on him. They're all made of that substance. We hoped that destroying them in front of him would help him understand that it's over, but he clearly had such associations with the sight of them that I was afraid he wasn't able to perceive more than that they were here." She touched the box with a fingernail, as if further contact would carry contamination. "Perhaps later it would be beneficial for him."
"What are...no, I don't want to look at them." Just Carola's tone and her own imagination had made her stomach clench.
"As long as they're kept in lead, he can't see or be affected by them, according to the various notes."
Martha nodded. "Clark called it Kryptonite. He can't see through lead or feel it through lead."
"Hmmm. I wonder why, what's in the composition of lead...we thought it just blocked radiation but..." Her voice trailed off.
Martha hesitated, then decided that she would ask the question that had persisted in her mind. "Dr. Arkins, I hope you won't be offended, but...you've done so much to help him, to protect him, this can't have been at all easy, why did you both go to so much trouble? For us, well, we're his family, but..."
If she hadn't heard the amusement in Carola's voice, Martha would have had no idea what to make of her expression. "Just because my brother and I happen to think that he has the right to decide who he tells what about himself and when, that doesn't mean that we both wouldn't give an arm and a leg to know more." By the time she finished the sentence, her face was twenty years younger with enthusiasm. "An alien, a living being from another planet, and so human? What more could an astronomer or a psychiatrist both ask out of life?" She shook her head ruefully. "No, we'd have done it without that inducement--God, after what he'd gone through, just as representatives of this sorry species we owed him that--but we certainly didn't mind imagining what things he might want to tell, or what it would be to ask him about himself...It would have been like a miracle."
"He's been that for us every day," she answered, and judging from Carola's quick smile, Martha knew that she had understood all the thanks that lay beneath the statement.
"The car is ready," Jonathan announced, coming back into the apartment. "Clark," he continued, entering and crouching near the bed. "Son, do you think you can get up?" There was no motion or sound. "Okay, let's try this, and if you aren't ready for walking yet, we can carry you." He raised a passive Clark to a sitting position, then draped one of his son's arms across his shoulder. "Here we go." As he rose, pulling Clark up with him, the alarm that monitored Clark's heart rate began to shriek.
Jonathan froze and Martha could see in his face the same anger and pain and fear that had made her gasp. But instead of lowering him back down, Jonathan, still supporting Clark's weight, turned him so that they were facing one another. Clark's head was bowed but the height difference let Jonathan still look him in the face, and then pull him closer. Knowing exactly what he was doing, she crossed to stand next to them, making sure that Clark could see her, and silently stroked Clark's back. She had no clear perception of how long it took, but gradually the sound grew softer until it was just a buzz.
She slipped her arm around his waist as Jonathan tentatively started walking towards the door. The height difference didn't let her support much of his weight and she felt a stab of misery in her guts again as she saw that while he wasn't resisting, he wasn't trying to walk, either--he was simply letting himself be dragged.
Carola gathered up the lead box and the monitor and led the way out.
***
"We're going to be outside again in a few seconds, Clark. It might be hard on your eyes for a bit, at first." Martha looked up at Clark's face but his eyes had already been veiled and distant, revealing nothing. As they walked outside, she saw Lex's and Pete's expressions change, through, from anticipation to quiet disappointment, and she realized they'd both been hoping, like she had, that there would be some kind of breakthrough at being outside and with them.
Lex and Jonathan gently helped him inside the limousine and Pete put his arms around Martha. "He'll be okay," he said, and Martha nodded.
"I'm sure that being home will make all the difference." Hope was something they seemed to be passing around themselves like a salt shaker.
"It's got to," he answered, fiercely.
She heard Lex murmuring something to Clark and he got out. Pete stuck his head inside and managed to sound cheerful. "Hey, Clark, see you soon."
Lex was looking longingly back at the limo and Martha kissed him on the cheek. "We'll *all* be waiting for you Saturday." As she got in, she looked back at Lex and Pete, two of the most important political figures in the world, and then at her silent alien son, and she couldn't help the tears from coming to her eyes.
***
*it's too much to think about too much too much*
*running so quickly what was a pebble is a mountain*
*there's nothing I can do but I'm not I'm not I'm not I'm not*
*is there are shortcut to figuring out the square root I hope there is*
*this day's sun has only a few minutes left to live so it's trying to go out in fire in fire all over*
*so dark and everything smells like it's decaying being folded back in so quietly smells so quiet so peaceful even the water bugs across the surface don't disturb it brown and green and grey*
*would you just tell me how much the mortgage is I know you want me to think about other things but I want to know*
*don't worry I won't let them see I don't have a belly-button*
*stay here stay a while here it's dark and quiet like the pond*
*please I'm not human I know I know but please you don't listen*
*protect him and deliver him from evil*
*all those tongues licking my blood off the knife those tongues they're the size of my hand*
*no please please please I thought you wouldn't hurt me but I'm scared I'm scared please no I promise I'll be good never tell anyone my secret*
*like lions to the slaughter that makes sense too*
*pulling it up around me like a blanket dark and quiet and warm here where nobody can find me but still a thread a silver wire that won't be cut cut like a baby's cord I forget the name*
***
A/N:
I think there are about two chapters left from here but what do I know?