Chapter 13

Harmony paced the halls of Smallville Medical Hospital as she waited for Lex to come out of surgery. He'd been in there for hours. She and Pete had dropped him off at the doors of the emergency room, then sped away, back to the mansion, where they feigned shock when they heard that he'd appeared. Pete wasn't entirely sure why they had to pretend to not know how Lex had been recovered, but he played along.

Now, Harmony simply paced. All the training in the world would do her no good in the fight to remain patient while the doctors tended to Lex. Clark had not returned yet, and that, too, worried Harmony. The party at the mansion had relocated to the hospital with Harmony, and they waited in the lobby.

Finally, nearly four hours after Harmony and her friends and family had come to the hospital, a doctor emerged from the operating room. "Are you Harmony Kent?" he asked, looking at Harmony.

"Yes," Harmony stepped toward the young doctor urgently. "How's Lex?"

"I'm Doctor Merick," he introduced himself before continuing. "Lex woke up early in the procedure just long enough to tell us to speak to you rather than his father, then we were forced to sedate him so we could operate. He's had multiple broken ribs, severe head trauma, and some broken teeth."

Harmony gasped, but Dr. Merick wasn't finished. "His jaw was cracked. Not broken, luckily, so it'll heal, but it'll take time. He also slipped a disk in his back. I have no idea how he was able to walk at all. His ankle is broken, as are at least three of his toes, and he has a dislocated hip. He took quite a beating, Ms. Kent. He's lucky to have survived, much less come out of it without any organ damage. And with the amount of head damage, I'm surprised there's nothing more severe than a concussion. Lex Luthor is quite a fighter, in and out of the boardroom."

Harmony stared at Dr. Merick, unsure what to do or say. She was stunned. She knew Lex was in bad shape, but she didn't know it was that bad. "What about his eyes?" she finally asked. "They were swollen almost totally shut, weren't they?"

"Superficial," Dr. Merick answered. "He'll have a couple black eyes for a while, but they eyes themselves are fine. No damage done."

Harmony heaved a sigh of relief. Finally, some good news. "Can he talk?"

Dr. Merick shook his head. "Not yet. He's still under from the anesthesia we gave him. But you can go see him if you want, as soon as they move him into ICU."

"When can I have him sent home to be cared for?" Harmony asked. "Money isn't an issue. I want him sent home as soon as possible. I know he'll agree to pay for a nurse to come to the house to take care of him, and have a doctor come out there. Whatever you guys want."

"I don't know about that, Ms. Kent," Dr. Merick looked skeptical. "He's really banged up."

"At least tell me he gets his own room and a security detail," Harmony protested.

"That, I can agree to, and arrangements are already being made."

"So, when is he going to be moved?"

"Soon," Dr. Merick held his arm out to Harmony, gently steering her down the hall to a room that already had a guard standing out front. Harmony noticed the LexCorp Security logo on the guard's jacket. "I took the liberty of calling Lex's own security company, just to be safe."

Harmony nodded, grateful of the doctor's thoughtfulness. She looked around the room, eying the location of the bed to the door, the window, and the cameras. "Just the one camera?" she asked.

"That you can see," the guard spoke up from behind Harmony.

"What's your rotation schedule?" Harmony asked him.

"Not to be discussed, and changes at random," was the quick response.

Harmony was impressed. Lex certainly made sure her security personnel were thoroughly trained. "Ok," she quietly left the room. "Please inform me when Lex has been moved in here."

She hurried from the room, unable to think that soon, a broken and battered Lex Luthor would be lying in there, and she would be unable to help him.

In the lobby, Martha and Jonathan waited with Pete, Chloe and Lana, but Clark was still not there. "How is he?" Martha asked.

"Pretty beat up," Harmony answered, unwilling to relay the grizzly details the doctor had shared with her. "They'll be moving him to ICU soon."

Lana and Chloe opened their arms to her, and she collapsed into them, grateful for the support. She was exhausted from the day. True, Lex had not even been gone 24 hours, but she hadn't been fast enough to save him from horrible torture because of her, and it was eating at her conscious. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes as she thought about the video of Lex being kicked and thrashed, just because someone wanted her dead.

Pulling herself away from Chloe and Lana, she angrily wiped at her eyes. "This is my fault," she snarled. "If I didn't care about him, they never would have taken them, and this wouldn't have happened."

"Don't say that," Jonathan was the first to speak up, surprising everyone. "You and Lex have a very special relationship. No one has the right to take advantage of that. You shouldn't be ashamed of how you feel, no matter what anyone says or does. How do you feel about Lex, exactly?"

Harmony couldn't stop a half-hearted laugh at her uncle's comically suspicious tone in his question. Still, she was a little surprised to be getting encouragement from him regarding her relationship with Lex. "You're ok with me being involved with Lex?" she asked.

"No," Jonathan answered honestly. "But like you said, I'm not your father. I do care about you, and I'll be keeping a distant eye on you, but that's all I can do. If he makes you happy, I have to support that. Whether I like it or not, I'm forced to admit that I was way out of line for speaking to you the way I did."

Harmony blinked, more shocked than she'd ever been. She glanced over at her aunt, who was looking at the floor with a slight smile. Harmony figured Martha must have had a sound talking to with Jonathan, and sent her a silent thank you. To Jonathan, she wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, "I love you, Uncle J."

"I love you to, Harm," Jonathan whispered back, then they heard someone clear their throat. "I think it's for you." Jonathan let Harmony go.

"This way, Ms. Kent," Dr. Merick turned. "He's stable, but sleeping. You can see him for a few minutes."

"Thank you, Doctor," Harmony hesitated for a moment at the door, then pushed it open.

Lying on the bed, wrapped in bandages with needles and tubes sticking out of his body, Lex looked horrible. What skin wasn't pasty white was horrible shades of black, purple, green and yellow, or bandaged. Harmony sobbed, unable to control herself. She collapsed on the bed.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Lex, I'm so sorry."

She stared at his face, stitched together in places. His lower lip was battered to nearly twice its normal size, as was most of the right side of his face. Both of his eyes were so swollen that Harmony knew they wouldn't open even if Lex were awake. The top of his head sported plenty of stitches of its own. Harmony was glad to see that his ears were untouched. Taking a deep breath, she scanned the rest of his body, trying to assess how badly hurt he was.

It seemed the doctor had forgotten to mention damage to Lex's right shoulder, severe enough to require his arm to be taped to his body. There were the heavy bandages holding the broken ribs in place, and his chest was cut and bruised. Under the sheet, Harmony could see the brace supporting his dislocated hip, and the cast around his ankle and foot. What did they do to you? She thought angrily. They'll pay for this, too. Her vengeful nature was as powerful as Lex's, she was quickly realizing. His other foot was also plastered. Toes broken there, too. Her eyes wandered back up his body, but she saw no other major damage, beyond plenty of bruises.

When her sight returned to his beat-up face, the tears returned, as well. "Oh, Lex," she sat back down next to him, reaching up to gently touch his face. "Please forgive me. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You didn't."

Harmony jerked. She didn't mean to, but Lex startled her when he spoke. "Lex?" she spoke his name softly. "You're awake?"

"I think so," he tried to chuckle, but his face wrinkled into a grimace. "That hurt."

"Lex, I'm so sorry." Harmony rushed. "I didn't mean for this to happen to you. They were after me. If it weren't for me, they wouldn't have had any reason to come after you at all."

Lex grasped Harmony's hand in his own. "Hey, calm down," he soothed. "It's not your fault. Whoever you sent after me was definitely payback enough for any possible way this could be blamed on you. I know you were behind my rescue." That time, he managed half a smile on his good side.

"Lex," Harmony grinned, kissing his fingers. He didn't know she was the one who actually did rescue him. She pushed the thought from her mind. "You'll be ok."

"I know," he slid his fingers across her face, feeling the curves of her lips, then up to her nose, eyes, and around to the side of her head. "As long as you're here, I'll be fine."

Suddenly, he jerked, and the heart monitor screamed. Harmony leapt from the bed. "Lex?" she cried. "Lex? Someone! Someone help!"

Nurses rushed into the room. The monitor beeped wildly.

"You'll have to leave, Miss," one of the nurses rushed Harmony from the room.

Harmony stared at the door, then collapsed to her knees.