Chloe slammed out of the hospital, her face drained of all color, breath coming in deep gulps. She dropped her shoulder bag and ran her hands through her hair, trying to put together what had just happened. Once outside, she looked up at the window where her mother had been sitting. Sarah was looking down, looking concerned, watching as Chloe gathered herself on the wide marble steps.
"Not possible, not possible. The nurse said it, and the doctor just said it." Chloe paced, ticking the facts off on her hand. "atrophied vocal cords, schizophrenic tendencies. Not possible – lucid speech is not possible. " Chloe stopped and looked up, making eye contact with her mother. ""But I HEARD you. Clear as a bell. That was no gibberish." Her hand fluttered to the crystal Clark had given her. Chloe bit her lip and nodded, going back into into the hospital, her footsteps echoing through the halls. Chloe ran past the nurse's station on the second floor, ignoring the cries from the nurses there and went to her mother, thrusting the crystal into her mother's hand.
"Mom. Look at me." Chloe panted. "Look at me and think anything, anything at all."
"Chloe…..baby….."Sarah's voice, as if coming from far away touched Chloe's ears like a gentle kiss. "How…?"
"A gift." Chloe closed her hands around Sarah's. "Mom, when you called me Angel Heart, how did you know about that?"
"He's there….." Sarah pulled a hand free to point at an empty chair. "The Kiwatchee man. He….calls….you….that….." Her eyes widened in fear. "Protect…the fledgling….."
"Mom?" Chloe craned her neck to look into her mother's face. "Who is the Fledgling?"
"Baby bird…." Sarah sing songed, dropping her hand. Chloe held the other tightly to the crystal. "Baby….bird….flies….season….short…..fly….away….from….home……"
Sarah pulled her hand free, and covered her eyes, rocking in place. Chloe gathered her in her arms, and rocked with her. Two nurses appeared in the common room doorway, and stopped seeing mother and daughter embrace. Chloe heard them speaking, and then one, the nurse from earlier came to them quietly.
"I'm glad you came back, Miss Sullivan." She whispered, resting a hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Stop at the nurse's station when you're done, okay?"
Chloe nodded, and the nurse retreated, giving them a fond backward glance.
Sarah broke the hug, and smiled faintly, patting Chloe on the cheek before she turned away. Chloe looked at the empty chair her mother had pointed at and shuddered. Ever since her experience with Mikey the crazy orderly, Chloe didn't take ghost talk easily.
"Bye, Mom" Chloe whispered, and Sarah nodded, looking out the window, humming a tune Chloe barely recognized, a song called "Blackbird". She walked out of the common room, tucking Clark's necklace inside her shirt, hoping to avoid questions. The nurse was waiting at the desk, her hand on a stack of leather bound journals, all very similar to the one Lois had given Clark for his birthday. Chloe smiled, wondering if Lois had been the one supplying her mother with them as well.
"Miss Sullivan, I wanted you to see this." The nurse, whose id tag named her "Jan", opened one of the books and gave it to Chloe. "Your mother can't speak, and sometimes goes off into a world of her own, but she's been writing in these books for years. If Dr. Millar knew I let you look at them, he'd have my head. But I think you need to see them. You've gotten more of a reaction from Sarah than anyone else could have."
Chloe took the book and read it. Mixed in with small, strange drawings of impish figures, Sarah had scrawled her thoughts. They were completely random, but Chloe felt her breath catch reading them.
"She went to prom. Gabe says prom queen…our girl…." "Baby is at the Planet.." "Lois keeping an eye out for her….came to see me……Ella….like Ella." Chloe looked up at Jan, and the older woman smiled, nodding.
"She's never been completely out of it, Miss Sullivan. Not as long as I've been here, and I've been here nearly as long as she has." Jan held her hand out for the book. "She sees things, and she can't speak anymore, but she knows."
"I can't tell you what this means to me." Chloe closed the book and handed it back. "How hard it's been not having her. All these years, and then not knowing…"
"You're a big girl now, Miss Sullivan, and you have a right to know." Jan looked around, and then handed Chloe a manila folder. "This is a copy of your mother's medical records, and her treatment here. If you were my child, I'd want you to know." Chloe took the chart and stuffed it into her large shoulder bag.
"Thank you." Chloe said, and the nurse smiled, putting on her glasses again.
"Thank you, hon. And don't be a stranger. Your mother needs you." Jan picked up the journals and hugged them. "Next time you come, I'll have copies of these for you. I'll make sure to clear it with your Dad, just to keep us both out of hot water. That chart? That's between you and me, okay?" Jan's voice was a soft whisper.
"Thanks." Chloe whispered, and quickly walked out of the ward. She pulled out her cell phone and called Clark. It rang once, and Chloe could hear the domestic goings on of the Kent's house before a voice spoke.
"Hello?" Kara answered, her mouth full of cookie dough. "Chloe! Are you going to help me with 'Pride and Prejudice'? " She licked her fingers and Chloe grinned at the sound. "Hold on. Clark! It's CHLOEEEEEEEE!" The phone dropped with a clatter, and Chloe then heard Clark grumbling about yelling girls and broken cell phones, and did not resist the urge to giggle a little.
"Hey, Chlo'." Clark said, picking up the phone and frowning at the sticky fingermarks left by his cousin. "Where are you?"
"I'm at the private hospital Mom is in, you know, just outside Granville. Can you come meet me? After the afternoon I've had, I don't think I can drive to Smallville alone." Chloe replied, looking up at her mother, who stood in the window again. "If you're busy…"
"Never busy for you, you know that. I'm on my way." Clark's voice was reassuring. He hung up, and Chloe slid her phone into her pocket. A familiar gust of wind blew her hair away from her face, and when she looked up, Clark was there, his green eyes full of concern. He smiled and Chloe wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly.
"Chloe." She felt his arms go around her, and feeling safe for the first time all day, Chloe sighed happily. "Come on, Mom's got dinner on. Fried Chicken." He kissed the top of Chloe's head, and then tipped her face up to gently kiss her lips. "Tell me about what's going on in the car on the way home. "
"That's my plan." Chloe said, handing him her keys. In her memory, Chloe heard her mother's voice, "Trust him…." Smiling, she turned and waved up at her mother, who was smiling widely at them. "Bye, Mom…."