Disclaimer: Not mine. Just saying.

-

Hiding in the Mansion

"Where are you taking me?" Chloe demanded. The nurse who was pushing her wheelchair was rolling her towards a black limo. Not what she had expected. She was expecting her friends and her father waiting for her to take her home. But none of them showed up. Not even Clark.

A uniformed chauffer stood at the back door, waiting for her. When she reached the car he pressed a button on the remote he held in his hand. At once the door opened and the leather seat slid out, allowing her to easily get inside. Chloe stared. How would have a car like this?

Lex.

No one else in Smallville would have such a useless, expensive feature in a limo. No one else had a limo.

"Tell Mr. Luthor that I can get home on my own." Chloe told the driver flatly.

"Mr. Luthor said you would react this way. I'm afraid he has the full cooperation of your friends and family. This is your only way home."

Chloe sighed. It looked like she had no choice.

-

"You're going the wrong way!" Chloe yelled at the driver. When he pulled out of the hospital parking lot, he had turned in the opposite direction. They were headed to the outskirts of town. Towards the Luthor mansion.

She was right. Fifteen minutes later they pulled up in front of the imposing structure that Lex called home. And he was standing outside waiting for her. She felt that familiar clutch in her heart. Every time she saw him she felt it, along with the warmth and the fear.

"Well it's about time." He said as the driver helped her out of the car into her chair. She was so humiliated that he had to see her like this. She felt like crying.

"Lex, why am I here?" she demanded.

Lex was unfazed by her anger. He knew she would be upset. He was prepared for it.

"You're staying here." He answered calmly.

"What!" she shrieked.

"I've discussed it at length with your father. I've taken care of the medical bills, arranged for a personal physical therapist when you need it, and have a private doctor and nurse on staff." He told her as if it were the most logical thing in the world.

Chloe couldn't believe it. How had he talked her father into this? She glared at him as the driver wheeled her up the new ramp into the mansion.

-

"You have to eat." Lex said crossly.

"I'm not hungry." She told him stubbornly.

"I know you're mad at me, but you can't starve yourself." He replied firmly.

"I just want to go to sleep."

"Fine. I'll see you in the morning." He said as he quietly shut the door.

Chloe sighed. This was her worst nightmare and greatest wish all rolled into one. Being around Lex all the time was sweet torture for her. She looked around at the gorgeous first floor suite he had had built for her. Everything was easily accessible to her, and he had brought her things so she would feel comfortable.

She rolled into the bathroom to get ready for bed. It was much easier than she'd expected. Probably because everything was built so low that she could reach it from her chair.

She climbed into bed after struggling into her pajamas. How was she going to do this? Stay her, with Lex? What if he brought one of his latest playthings home with him, would she be expected to entertain them while Lex was working? That would kill her. The thought of seeing him with someone else caused fresh tears to spill down her face.

-

"How is she?" Clark asked Lex the next week.

"The same." Lex answered tiredly from behind his desk.

Clark nodded. For the past week Chloe had stayed in her room except for her therapy. For that she and the therapist worked in a large room that Lex had set up with all the latest equipment down the hall from his office. She ate in her room and refused to let anyone in. Her father, Lois, Lana, Clark, and his parents had all come to see her several times. But she turned them all away.

Lex was worried about her. This was not the girl he knew. The Chloe he had met was feisty, full of life, and unafraid of everything. But this accident seemed to have stolen more than her ability to walk. It seemed to have stolen her spirit.

Clark was worried, too. He had known Chloe for a long time. And something was wrong with her. Had been wrong for a long time, and it was more than this accident. Clark bade Lex goodnight as he headed back. Both men prayed that by the end of the summer, their Chloe would be back.

-

"Do you want to go out to the gardens?" Lex asked Chloe a few days later. She was sitting at her desk, typing on her laptop. She looked up at him. Lex thought how much she had changed since she had come here. She was pale and drawn. She had to have lost at least ten pounds. There were circles under her eyes from lack of sleep, and her eyes had lost that sparkle they had once held. He knew he probably looked the same. He was so worried about her that he ate and slept as little as she did.

"I don't think so." She told him.

Lex felt anger surge up within him. He would be damned if he let her waste away any longer. He marched over and pulled her chair back form the desk and continued to push her out to the garden.

"Lex! What the hell do you think you're doing?" she yelled.

"I'm not going to stand by and watch this anymore Chloe. You are going to get better. I won't allow you not to." He told her stubbornly.

She opened her mouth to protest but he held up his hand to silence her. "No. You can't fight me on this Chloe. I care too much about you to let you give up on life."

Chloe fought back the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks. Why did he have to say that? Why did he have to remind her that he cared about her, it only reinforced the feeling that she would never be enough for him.