Lex woke up suddenly. He turned to look at his bedside clock, it shone 3:12 AM, in bright, red digits. He turned his head to the other side and looked at Lois. She was sleeping, with that silly eyeshade covering her face. He smiled softly, and looked back at the ceiling. He tried to remember why he had awakened. He laid there for a few minutes, suddenly not feeling sleepy at all. Lex decided he would make some warm milk. He remembered his mother used to give him warm milk, with honey, when he would wake up at night, unable to go back to sleep.
Lex walked through the dark halls of the penthouse apartment, his footsteps muffled by the soft padding of his slippers. His satin robe made light rustling sounds. He entered the kitchen and turned on the overhead light. The sudden brightness caused him to shield his eyes, but they soon adjusted.
Lex reached into the cabinet next to the sink for a mug. He went to the pantry, hoping to find some honey. He was in luck, it was right in front, a full bottle of honey in a bear shaped container. He pulled out the honey then walked towards the refrigerator to get the milk. As he crossed the kitchen, he paused, thinking he'd heard something. He listened, but heard nothing other than the steady hum of the lights above him, and the refrigerator in front of him. He laughed silently to himself. Get a grip Lex, he thought.
He placed his right hand on the fridge handle, the cool aluminum warming immediately to his touch. Before he opened the fridge door, he noticed a perfect hand print on the front of the freezer door, right at his eye level. He made a mental note to have Glynis wipe down the appliances tomorrow.
Lex stared at the handprint. He looked down at his own left hand, opening it palm side up. He looked back at the print on the freezer. He slowly raised his hand to lay it over the top. The handprint on the freezer door was bigger than his entire hand. Must be from one of the security guards, he thought.
Lex remembered why he was in the kitchen in the first place and opened the fridge. He reached into the top shelf and had grabbed the milk when he noticed what felt like a sticky substance under his feet. He looked down, and for a moment he couldn't move.
He was standing in a huge puddle of what appeared to be blood. He calmly wondered how he didn't notice it before.
Lex looked all over the floor, trying to find the source of the pool. He noticed drops of blood on the bottom shelf of the open fridge.
Lex slowly crouched down, still holding the carton of milk in his hand, and looked into the bottom shelf of the fridge.
His eyes widened with shock, and he worked his mouth, but no sound escaped him. He dropped the milk carton and it spilled all over the kitchen floor, mixing with the blood, forming a pinkish fluid. He fell back, hitting his head hard against the knob of a cupboard door on the island behind him.
He couldn't stop staring at what was in the refrigerator.
Inside the fridge was the severed, eyeless, partially decayed head of Lionel Luthor.
Suddenly the head opened its mouth and spoke.
"You did this to me Lex. You let them get me. Now I'm going to make sure they get you. Be careful, son," the head spoke in a gravelly, menacing tone, with a toothy grin. The empty black sockets where the eyes should be were holding Lex hostage, he couldn't look away. The head held the evil grin for a moment, then started laughing; a loud, hysterical, laugh of a maniacal madman.
Lex finally found his voice.
"STOP LAUGHING! SHUT UP! STOP! STOP! STOP! STOOOOOOOP!"
Lex opened his eyes. Lois was kneeling beside him, shaking him.
"Lex!" She looked completely terrified.
Lex quickly turned his head to the left, looking at the open fridge, ready for the terror to start again. There was nothing on the bottom shelf but half a watermelon.
He looked back up at Lois, and sat up, putting his hands on the floor. They landed in a huge puddle of spilled milk. Lex saw the milk carton lying not far from the edge of the open fridge. He stood with the help of Lois and immediately the blood rushed from his head, and he started to black out. He reached out to Lois, who still looked terrified, and she steadied him.
The feeling of faintness faded, and he turned to look around the kitchen. As he turned his head, he felt dampness on the back of his neck, and a painful heat radiating from the back of his head. He reached back to touch his head, and when he brought his hand back to his face, he saw it was covered in blood. He leaned heavily against the edge of the island, his strength suddenly leaving him. He started to feel a more intense pain from the gash on his head.
"My God, Lex! What happened to you?" Lois said at the sight of the blood on his hand. The blood had started to flow freely, down his neck and around his shoulders. She grabbed the towel from the kitchen sink and applied pressure to the wound. Lex winced as she pressed down, trying to stop the flowing blood.
"I was dreaming?" he asked himself. He felt he was still reliving the feelings he'd had seeing his father's severed head in his fridge. It had felt so real. He looked behind him, on the island sat the mug from the cupboard, and the honey from the pantry. Lex slowly turned his head forward, and reached out and shut the door of the refrigerator. As it closed, he caught sight of the hand print on the freezer door. He reached up to match his own to it, and it was a perfect fit.
"I must have made it myself," he said distractedly.
"Made what?" Lois asked, also distracted, trying to assess the wound on the back of Lex's skull. "You might need stitches on this. It looks really deep," she looked at his face. He wasn't listening to her.
Lois guided Lex to the kitchen table. She gently made him sit, and then told him to keep pressure applied to his head. Lex followed her instruction. Lois crossed the kitchen and picked up the phone.
Lex sat alone at the table, his hand holding the kitchen towel against his bleeding head. He was still trying to make sense of what had just happened. He remembered waking up. He remembered looking at the clock and seeing what time it was.
He looked at the clock again, on the microwave, 4:22 AM, it read in bright green digits.
"I guess I fell back asleep," he said to himself. He couldn't understand why he felt so groggy.
"Thank you, Doctor," Lex heard Lois say, and then the phone clicked back into the cradle.
"Dr. Andrews has agreed to come out here and make sure you don't need stitches. I didn't want to drag you into Metropolis Memorial Hospital," Lois reached up and replaced Lex's hand with her own, and she continued to apply pressure to Lex's head wound. He sat silently, his thoughts still moving in slow motion.
"He said head wounds bleed a lot, so it may look worse than it is. But he's coming anyway," Lois kept the pressure. She wasn't a doctor, but it had looked pretty bad to her. The wound was at least half an inch in length, and who knew how deep. She scrunched her face, imagining it must hurt like hell.
Lex grabbed her arm, suddenly, shocking her from her morbid curiosity about his bleeding scalp.
"I dreamed my father's head was in our refrigerator," He looked at her, his eyes wide. "He told me it was my fault he was dead. And that he would make sure they got me next," Lex had a mad look in his eyes Lois hadn't seen before.
"Maybe you should go stay with Chloe for awhile," He added, and looked away. "It's not safe here." His eyes darted around the kitchen, like he was looking for the danger to appear.
"Lex, I'm not leaving. It was just a dream, and no one's out to get you," she kissed his head, and then rested her cheek on the top of his head. Lex's face relaxed a bit.
Awhile later, security buzzed. Lois walked to the nearest intercom, next to the kitchen phone, and pressed the talk button.
"Yes?"
"Dr. Andrews is here," the voice from the Doorman bounced off the walls of the silent kitchen.
"Let him up please," Lois responded, then pressed the button that unlocked the penthouse door to the elevator lobby.
A few minutes later, Dr. Andrews was examining Lex's scalp, his medical bag open, his instruments laid out.
"It's a good thing you called. He does need about seven stitches." Dr. Andrews pronounced.
"I have no anesthetic, so if I do this here, it'll have to be without numbing the area," He added, as he moved around in front of Lex, looking for his permission.
Lex looked up at him, and nodded, his mouth set. Lois made Lex a tall glass of scotch, and Lex downed it in one gulp.
"Ready," Lex announced, holding tight to Lois' hand.
After Dr. Andrews sewed Lex's head, he applied a large gauze bandage and instructed Lex to visit him in five days so he could remove the stitches. Dr. Andrews gave Lois instructions on how to clean the wound, and he left her with some extra gauze.
"Thank you Doctor, so much," Lois walked Dr. Andrews to the door, and told him just to bill them for his house call.
Lois walked back to the kitchen. Lex wasn't there.
Glynis, having arrived at her normal time that morning, was already cleaning up the spilled milk, and the drops of blood that crossed the kitchen floor. Lois left the kitchen in search of Lex.
"Lex?" Lois called gently, walking down the length of the penthouse, checking all the rooms as she went. The last room on the right was the bedroom. Lois walked in and found Lex asleep on the bed, bloody robe and all.
Lois approached him, and gently covered him with the extra blanket from her side of the bed. She glanced at the clock again. Only twenty minutes until her alarm would sound. Lois turned off both alarm clocks, and started to prepare for her day.