Clark was awakened by the sound of the truck pulling into the familiar gravel driveway. Peter saw that he was now awake but his was still groggy and Peter knew he was going to need some help getting him inside the house.
Martha was in the kitchen cleaning up while Jonathan was reading the newspaper in the living room. She looked out the window when she heard the truck drive up but didn't think any more about it until she heard Peter voice call out in a worried tone, "Mr. Kent. Mrs. Kent, you need to come here." Martha looked over at Jonathan and they quickly rushed out the door to see Clark unsteadily getting out of the truck.
They rushed over to him, the worry evident on there face. "Clark, are you alright?" Martha questioned cautiously. She then spied the cut on the side of his face as the porch light caught it and gasped. "Clark, you're bleeding."
"I'm okay, mom." Clark tried to smile to reassure her but it was just too much effort. "Really, I'll be okay. I just need some rest."
Martha tried to hide the fear and worry as she and Jonathan starting helping Clark inside the house. Peter had stood behind the open truck door watching the family scene and grunted from the effort it took to close the door.
Jonathan turned around at the sound of the noise and saw that Peter was moving very slowly and holding his side as if he was in great pain. "Martha, you take Clark inside and get him cleaned up okay?" Martha nodded and continued guiding Clark to the door.
Jonathan walked over to Peter with a quizzical look on his face. Peter answered the unspoken question, "I'm not quite as invulnerable as your son." Peter saw the look of concern on Jonathan's face. "I'm fine you need to go and take care of Clark."
Jonathan crossed his arms, "Oh, really. Then why couldn't you close the door without grunting."
"Okay, so you have a point there." Peter said wryly.
"I have a feeling that you are again the main reason my son came home." Jonathan said before continuing. "This makes you family and we take care of family. There will be no discussion otherwise."
Peter smiled. "Alright, I couldn't fight you right now if I wanted to."
"What seems to be wrong?" Jonathan asked as he put Peter's arm around his shoulder and helped him inside.
"I think I have cracked some ribs." Peter said.
"I'll get an ace bandage for you to wrap around that," Jonathan said. "No more heroics for the rest of the week. Understood?"
"Scouts honor." Peter quipped back.
Martha had gotten Clark seated on the couch and had left to get a warm washcloth to clean up his wound. She came back and gently started dabbing at the wound. She was going to have to find out what happened, but that was going to have to wait, because she could tell that Clark was in no condition to be answering question now. She could tell he was exhausted by the look on his face.
"Now, if you want to just stay here on the couch tonight, you can. Or if want your father to help you the stairs to your room he can." Martha said while finishing up.
"I think I will just stay right here." Clark replied exhausted.
Clark saw Jonathan help Peter in and sat him down in the nearby recliner. "I know this may not seem like the best place to sleep but with those ribs it would probably be best." Jonathan then got up to go and get the ace bandage.
"I'm going to go get a sheet for you okay?" Clark nodded in response as Martha got up to leave the room.
"Here is the ace bandage," Jonathan said as he walked over to Peter. "This is going to hurt but you are going to have to lift your shirt and take a deep breath for me to wrap this around you."
When Peter lifted his shirt Clark could see that there was already a big bruise forming. Peter winced as he lifted up his shirt. He took a deep breath and groaned as Jonathan started tightly wrapping his injured ribs.
Martha came back with a sheet and pillows for both Clark and Peter. "Here you go." Clark normally would have said something about his mother fussing over him so but in a way it was comforting.
Martha took off Clark's shoes as Jonathan helped Peter with his. After they were satisfied that both boys were comfortable they left the room and turned off the light.
Martha started getting ready for bed though she knew sleep was not going to be coming tonight. She finally walked over to the bed still very worried. "Jonathan, did you see how bad that cut was? What happened to them?"
Jonathan put his arm around her to try and comfort her. "I don't know. I'm sure they will tell us in the morning. They are safe now, so try and get some sleep."