Hurt

Lana woke up the next morning feeling happier than she had ever felt and yet something was missing. As she turned to the other side of her bed, she realized that she just wished Clark could have stayed there and woken up beside her. But that was just a small complaint. The future, for the first time in a very long while, felt brighter. She got up from her bed with a big smile on her face, and strolled happily to Laura's bedroom.

She was still sleeping peacefully like an angel. She sat on the side of her bed, stroked her hair lightly and kissed her cheek. "Sweetie…" she said softly.

Laura stirred in her sleep and turned to look at Lana sleepily. She mumbled something incoherently and turned to her other side, wanting to continue her blissful sleep. Lana chuckled and let her continue her sleep.

She went to the kitchen and started preparing a breakfast for Laura.

Oh my God… I'm acting like a love-struck school girl… I can't stop grinning… But to hell with that… what's wrong with being happy? … I'm happy… Last night was wonderful… Why did he have to leave? … Maybe soon he won't have to leave… I mean… Laura seems to like him a lot… maybe she will accept him sooner than I think… But am I rushing this? Is he really ready to get mixed up with someone with a child? I men he just got divorced… No he didn't… It's been almost 7 months… But I still don't know if he is truly ready… he seems like he is though… But let's face it… I'm not 20 anymore… I can't have relationships just for fun anymore… Not with Laura in my life… What the hell am I thinking? This is Clark we're talking about… It could never be just another relationship with him… I just hope he feels the same… It just feels so right when we're together… and he is so wonderful with Laura… I don't think anyone who saw us could tell that she wasn't his daughter… Besides… Laura didn't get anything from Clive… she's all me! Thought Lana with a mischievous grin.

Absentmindedly she turned on the TV and kept on going about her business.

But apart from that, I have to find a job. I'm running out of money fast and we can't have that… Right now the only solid offer I have is from Lex and Clark told me to stay away from him for the time being… I trust him enough to know that something is going on… Clark wouldn't have told me to put off a potential great job offer if he didn't have a very good reason… Let's just hope that whatever the situation is it's resolved quickly, cause I won't be able to even get food for Laura in a matter of months… Maybe I should start looking more actively for something else… Which means that I'll have to get someone to watch over Laura from time to time… But could I really afford her right now… Ugh… It's so frustrating… Maybe I should talk to Clark about…

Her mind stopped and she froze as she saw her TV screen.

"This is from an amateur video camera, of some tourists who happened to pass through the area just a couple of hours before… In the background you can see Superman hovering over an area inspecting a strange cloud that slowly expands as you see… Below him you can see that something is on fire which probably caused the cloud… and here… here you can clearly see Superman using those energies that emit from his eyes, shooting them straight into the cloud… the cloud then seems to dissipate a little but before it completely dissipates… here… here you see Superman using his breath to quickly lower the temperature of the cloud that was gathered and … look at that it seems like it's snowing in Nevada… well… at least over that specific spot anyway… But here is what caught everybody's attention… wait… here… here you see Superman plummet to the ground for some reason."

As Lana saw that she dropped the cup of coffee that she was holding in her hands, and a horrified look was planted on her face. She felt nausea take over her senses and she stumbled to her couch. She then frantically searched for her mobile as she turned up the volume of the TV to hear what else was being reported.

"… are still sketchy as to what exactly happened, in Nevada this morning. What was that cloud? What did Superman do? Why did he plummet to the ground afterwards and if he still is alright are questions that we yet don't know. The tourists who filmed this thought of going to where Superman fell but then decided it was best not to do that, since they had no idea what that cloud was. The FBI has already sealed off the area and are investigating what happened. They had no comment to make, however one of the agents told us that when they arrived Superman was nowhere to be found in the scene."

Lana dialed Clark's mobile but she kept on receiving the message that it was turned off. She was on the verge of crying. Up till now she had never actually seen something happen to Superman and she had created this idea of invincibility in her mind, that the image of Superman plummeting to the floor, had just shattered.

For Clark to fall like that, it must mean that something serious happened to him… oh God… Please let him be alright…

"Some whispers say that this must have been some kind of secret government weapon test, which would explain FBI's immediate intervention to seal off the area. However other's claim that it was an alien form of a virus and that is why Superman knew about it, and knew how to stop it. If that is the case however, it seems that Superman might have caught this… E.T. flew himself." Said the reporter with a sly smile, satisfied with the joke he just made.

A pillow was immediately thrown at the TV, as Lana looked in sheer anger at the TV. You insensitive asshole! Yeah… that's hilarious… Ha… ha…

Lana got up and started pacing in her living room. Come on Clark… Call me… call me… I know you're tougher than this… Oh God please… not now… don't let anything happen to him…

As Lana was pacing and crying softly, she saw her little daughter standing at the edge of the living room, looking at her with a troubled look. "Mommy… whas wrong? Why you cry?"

Lana stopped and looked at her daughter trying to smile. "Don't worry sweetie… It's nothing… everything will be fine… " said Lana as she kneeled down and opened her arms. Laura run to her and hugged her tightly.

Lana tried hard to hold back the tears. She was starting to hope for the future, that it was possible for her to have a happy family with Clark and Laura and that future was now threatened.

To be Continued...