Chapter 4:

Martha slowly made her way up the stairs, her mind trying to comprehend what her logic was screaming at her. Lana gave Clark mononucleosis, also known as "the kissing disease". It perfectly explained why Clark felt so tired all of the sudden, yet the only question that lingered was how her son, the most invulnerable man alive, could catch a common virus. Rounding the stairs, she caught Jonathan exiting their son's bedroom. "How is he?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Jonathan felt a thousand pounds heavier since that morning. Nothing was making sense. He felt it was his duty to protect his family from whatever fell their way, yet how could he do that when he didn't even know the cause of the sudden illness. "We were talking, and in second's time he fell asleep," the father the father answered, furrowing his eyebrows.

Once having mono when she was in high school, Martha was quickly familiar with the symptoms. Extreme fatigue, chilliness, fever, sore throat...with endless others usually formed from the chaotic disease. "Well...that's expected," she shrugged, remembering how she used to sleep at least half the day away when the virus attacked her system. Seeing the look of confusion on her husband's face, Martha quickly explained, "That was Lana on the phone. She has mono, and she wanted to warn Clark to watch out."

"Martha..." Jonathan sighed as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "This is Clark we're talking about-"

"I know," Martha interrupted, knowing exactly where her husband was heading. "But the timing is just too perfect. It can't just be coincidence."

"It must be though," Jonathan stated a bit too firmly. Part of him was still hoping that maybe his son wasn't truly sick; that maybe it was just the start of a new power developing. Yet, the hope was quickly dwindling away with the slowly passing seconds. Sighing, Jonathan relented, "Even if it is mono. It shouldn't have erupted so quickly...right?" He'd hate to admit it, but Martha definitely had more knowledge on the disease, since he was lucky enough to have never caught it.

"Yeah..." Martha muttered as she leaned against the wall. "It took a week for me to realize I was sick and not just tired. Plus, I never fainted like Clark did earlier." Martha quickly rubbed her face with her hand. Nothing seemed to piece together. Part of her even hoped it was mono, because at least then she knew it wasn't life threatening.

Jonathan slightly glanced at his watch, knowing noon had already come and gone. "I have to go feed the cows. I'll be back as soon as possible," he stated as he headed for the stairs.

"Okay..." Martha muttered as she glanced at her husband's retreating form. Martha stood for a moment, trying to collect all her jumbled thoughts before entering her son's room. Opening the door, she quietly stepped into the dimly lit room. Her heart slightly broke at the sight of her only son sleeping as the noon sun peered through the closed blinds. The mother slowly walked towards her boy and placed her hand on his heated forehead, wishing she could somehow just take his pain away.

Glancing around the small room, Martha eyed the computer sitting next to the wall and quickly made her way towards it, praying the answer to her thousands of questions could be found through modern technology. She grabbed a discarded notepad and pencil as she waited for the slow dial-up to sign her on. The moment she noticed she was connected she quickly typed 'mononucleosis', praying it was spelled right, and searched through the millions of sites on the web.

An hour later, Jonathan came through the front door, wiping the dirt and bits of food off his hands with an old rag. Before he got three feet within the house, he heard frantic footsteps come down the stairs almost two at a time. "Jonathan, thank God!" Martha exclaimed.

"Martha, what's wrong? Is it Clark?" Jonathan asked as he headed towards the stairs.

The mother quickly shook her head. "No. He woke up for a second but he just fell back asleep. But I think I know what's wrong," she answered as she held the notebook out in front of her. "First of all, mono is a virus, so, unlike the common cold, it attacks your system and can't be cured with antibiotics-"

Jonathan instantly cut her off. "But Clark has never caught a virus before either, even the flu."

Glancing at her husband, Martha stated, "I know. That's because his immune system fights it off before it even affects him. But Mono grows within the lymphocytes, the white blood cells that form part of his immune system. See it's all right here." She pushed the notebook towards him with the sketchy notes she'd been jotting down for the past hour.

Glancing at the notebook, Jonathan ran a hand through his sandy hair. "I don't know. It still doesn't explain why Clark's symptoms are so extreme."

"Clark must have super-charged white blood cells...which is why he can heal so quickly," Martha quickly explained, already thinking everything though. "Think about it. If a disease attacked those blood cells and manipulated them in some way, wouldn't the illness become 'super-charged' too?" she questioned, raising her eyebrows with concern. Her tone of voice instantly took a grave tone, "Jonathan, I'm worried. If I'm right, then anything goes. Mono already has over a dozen symptoms to begin with, and now...considering this...we have no idea what can happen."

Jonathan and Martha's eyes locked for a moment, fear for their son overwhelming them. Their silent conversation was abruptly interrupted by a thud sounding from upstairs. "Clark!" Martha exclaimed as she rushed up the stairs. As she opened the door, she felt her heart drop her stomach. Obviously having fallen from the bed, Clark was clumsily trying to pull himself up using the nightstand.

"Clark," Martha breathed as she rushed towards her child. She grabbed Clark's shoulders, trying to keep him still so she could help him. Not noticing her until then, Clark looked up at her at wide, glassy eyes until a look of recognition washed over his face. Martha bit her bottom lip as she got a better look at Clark. His face was pale, almost translucent, and calmly. There were dark circles surrounding his blood-shot eyes. And even though he was looking right at her, it seemed as though he was staring through her.

Trying to keep her calm, Martha placed the back of her hand on his forehead. She let out a slight gasp at the intensity of the heat radiating off of it. Noticing Clark fidgeting under her grasp, she asked, "Clark, honey, what's wrong?"

His breaths coming in short spurts, Clark glanced away from his mother before whispering, "They're coming..."

"Jonathan," Martha called to the man behind her, "He's delirious!" She whipped her head around towards her husband, looking for some type of answer. Wordlessly, Jonathan rushed to Martha's side.

"No," Clark quickly stated, his eyes glazed over. "They know...they know my secret."

Placing a calm hand against the boy's shoulder, Jonathan stated, "Whatever you saw was a nightmare, Clark."

Adamantly shaking his head, Clark continued, "No, I saw them. I..." he paused for a moment and furrowed his eyebrows, as if he was trying to remember something. "I'm tired..." he muttered under his breath.

"Okay, well let's get you to bed then," Jonathan said as he wrapped his arm around Clark's back for support. He steadily stood up and motioned Clark toward the bed. The boy was almost asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Speechless, Martha tucked the sheets around her son, trying to make him as comfortable as possible.

"I'll go get a damp cloth," Jonathan stated as he walked towards the door.

Martha just nodded, praying her son's body was stronger than the virus.

To Be Continued...

AN: I, in no way, have ANY type of a degree, much less a medical one. Please do not sue me for any misleading information. I can barely feed myslef, much less pay for you ( but my cousin is a Harvard graduate so you would probably lose;) )
All, information was from http/ www.indiana .edu/ health/ mono.html
If anything I said was wrong, please tell me so I can fix it. I would rather edit it than sound stupid.