Chapter 3

Finally aware that they had been hugging for several minutes, Lois let go of Clark and said awkwardly "So, Smallville. Since you obviously don't want to tell me where you were - and I don't see any injuries on you, so I'm just gonna assume you weren't kidnapped - why don't you do something productive and visit your father?" Then, adding softly, "He's worried about you."

Clark noticed it was the first time she called him Smallville since he got back. He hadn't realized how much he missed it.

Outside his father's room on Smallville Medical Center, Clark was trying to muster up the courage to go inside. His mom had said she could talk to Jonathan and tell him everything that had happened to Clark, but he wanted to do this himself. His dad deserved it.

Finally getting inside, he saw his father sleeping and sat in a chair beside him.

Jonathan had various scars on his face, neck and hands, and Clark could only imagine how he must have looked on the day of the meteor shower. "And I was off in the Artic when my family needed me". He was surprised to realize that Lois really had become a part of that family, even before this all happened. And the way she helped Martha, being with her in the hospital... Clark knew the hospital atmosphere and the wait for Jonathan to get better must have brought painful memories from her own mother. It awed him even more.

"Clark?" his father said, sounding confused and hopeful at the same time.

"It's me, dad." Clark said, choking up as he saw tears in his father's eyes. "I'm so sorry. I should have been here..."

"I told you to do what you had to do, didn't I? And it wasn't your fault. What happened?"

Clark sighed and told his father everything he had already told Martha.

Leaving the hospital, Clark felt a little better. His father still wasn't entirely convinced that Jor-el was a good guy, but he hoped it really was true, and was happy that all the knowledge of the stones hadn't fallen into the wrong hands.

When he was telling his mother how he had gotten the second stone, he remembered Lana, and how she seemed to be in trouble, but he had forgotten all about her when he went to talk to Lois. Now, after retelling the story to his dad, he was determined to find Lana.

To be continued