CHAPTER 6: Awakening

Smallville Medical Center-2007

Chloe came round in a room which wasn´t hers, surrounded by the constant bleep of medical equipment and the pervasive smell of disinfectant, and a feeling of déjà vu seized her. She felt as if someone had been playing football with her body and, when she tried to sit up, the world around her started to spin.

¨Easy, ¨said a masculine voice near her, putting his hand behind her head to help her lie on her back again.

¨Lex? ¨mumbled Chloe as she tried to focus and stop seeing blurry.

¨It´s Clark, Chloe. ¨

¨What´s happened? ¨she mumbled, touching her head and looking for the gauze she was almost sure would be there- but it wasn´t.

¨You had to be operated on, ¨said Clark, but she could hear another voice in her mind. ´There was an accident, Chloe, ¨ said the voice calmly, and she could even see a pair of blue-grey eyes and a look she couldn´t decipher but which made her stomach tie up in knots.

¨You mean an accident, ¨she stated, touching her arms, looking for the lacerations, the cuts and the bruises, but there were none.

¨An accident? No, Chloe, there´s been no accident. ¨¨

¨But... I... ¨she stammered suddenly breathless.

¨Chloe? ¨asked a panicky Clark, seeing her eyes brim with tears and a look of desperation appear on her face. ¨Chloe? ¨repeated Clark, extending a hand to comfort her only to see her cringe.

¨Oh, my God! ¨she sobbed and let out a scream of anguish which reminded Clark of a wounded animal.

He tried to wrap her in his arms to soothe the pain which seemed to be consuming her, but she resisted his efforts until the doctor and a nurse entered the room and sedated her.

¨What´s wrong with her? ¨asked a blanched Clark to the doctor.

¨You´d better leave, Mr Kent, ¨said Chloe´s physician.

¨But... ¨

¨There´s nothing you can do here, young man, ¨insisted the doctor, and Clark had to leave the room reluctantly.

¨Mr Luthor, ¨said the doctor on the phone, ¨there´s been an unexpected development. ¨

¨Is she all right, doctor? ¨he asked.

¨It depends on what you consider to be all right, Mr Luthor. The operation has been a success. But we need to talk, ¨said the man gravely.

¨Has she regained consciousness, doctor? ¨he asked with a tremor in his voice.

¨She has, but we had to sedate her. She had a severe panic attack when she came out of the anaesthesia. ¨

¨Do you think that she might remember anything? ¨he asked, gripping the mobile tightly.

¨The mind´s a complex and amazing piece of machinery, Mr Luthor. I wouldn´t rule it out. ¨

¨But you aren´t sure, right? ¨said Lex, pacing up and down his study.

¨We won´t know for certain until the sedative wears off, and that is if she´s willing to talk. I really can´t predict her reaction, Mr Luthor. ¨

¨Give me an hour, doctor, and I´ll bring you something that´ll help. ¨

¨Mr Luthor... I don´t think...¨

¨She mustn´t remember. ¨

¨You´re asking me to do something morally reprehensible. ¨

¨You´ve made an oath to protect the life of your patients, doctor, and I can assure you it´ll be better this way. ¨

¨We aren´t God, Mr Luthor. ¨

¨Haven´t you heard God has a complex of Luthor, doctor? I´ll take the whole responsibility. ¨

¨Why are you doing this? ¨

¨You know why. You convinced me to go into her room because of it. ¨

¨I still don´t understand. ¨

¨Forget you´re her doctor for a minute.What would you do if you were in my shoes? ¨

¨Tell her the truth. ¨

¨I´m afraid that´s a luxury we can´t afford at the moment. ¨

Lex snapped the mobile shut and let himself fall with a thud on the swivel chair. He brought his hands to his temples and massaged them with his fingertips. He had developed a splitting headache and the muscles of his neck and shoulders were coiled up in tension; he hadn´t foreseen this new scenario and felt the walls of the mansion suddenly asphyxiating.

¨What have you done to her? ¨boomed an irate Clark Kent, storming through the doors of Lex´s study.

It took the billionaire a few seconds to come down of wherever his mind had wandered to focus his energy and eyes on his former best friend.

¨The days when you were welcome in this house are over, Clark. And I´m afraid I don´t know what you´re talking about. ¨

¨That little act may work on those who don´t know you as well as I do, Lex, ¨said Clark through clenched teeth, planting both hands on Lex´s desk for leverage.

¨What horrendous deed are you now accusing me of? ¨asked Lex tersely, getting up of his chair and walking to the bar to pour himself a long-needed drink.

¨I know you were with Chloe yesterday morning. Several people saw you both arguing outside The Talon when she collapsed on the pavement, ¨pressed on Clark, standing haughtily in the middle of the room.

¨Is this supposed to be news? I called to inform you about Chloe´s condition, ¨said Lex, cocking an eyebrow.

¨Yes, you called me but when she was already in the operating room. ¨

¨What´s this, Clark? A jealous lover´s routine? ¨he said wryly, taking a sip of bourbon.

¨Why did you wait so long? ¨

¨Why don´t you say what you´ve come here to say before I have security kick you out of my property? ¨

¨First it was Lana, and now my best friend. Can´t you just let it rest, Lex? ¨

¨Do you actually think my life revolves around you and your inconsequential life, Clark? I must appear more bored and pathetic than I thought, ¨he said ironically.

¨What is it that you don´t want Chloe to remember? The experiments you and your team of Dr Frankensteins submitted her to at 33.1? ¨

Lex´s mind was working at full speed, wondering for the umpteenth time how it was possible for a common Kansas farm boy- well, not common, there wasn´t anything ordinary about the guy- to be always at the right place at the right time. It was an asset when you needed to be rescued, but an

utter nuisance when it interfered with your plans. How on earth did he get wind of his private conversation with Chloe´s doctor when he had just finished hanging up the phone?

¨Experiments? And what experiments would those be? ¨ he asked coldly, keeping his mask firmly in place.

¨You´ve almost killed her, Lex. ¨

¨Why would I want to kill Miss Sullivan? ¨he answered, taking a large gulp of bourbon and telling himself Clark had just hit on the nail. Chloe had almost died because of him, but not in the circumstances Clark was accusing him of.

The procedure at 33.1 had been necessary to protect the chemical balance of her body after the tragic events of that summer four years before but hadn´t put her in any danger.

¨She knows you inside out, Lex. She stumbled upon something big and was going to expose you on the front page, and you just needed to silence her. That´s the reason you had them implant that device in her shoulder and made her into a walking bomb, right? ¨

¨What the hell are you talking about? ¨exploded Lex.

¨I saw it, Lex. I took it with my own hands. She was freaking out when I arrived at The Talon and was ready to cut herself up with a knife, for God´s sake! Do you remember that night when you ordered the termination of all those meteor freaks you´d had kidnapped and taken to 33.1? ¨

¨I see, now I am a mass murderer, ¨hissed Lex, feeling a sudden clench in the gut when he realised what had brought about Chloe´s medical emergency. He hadn´t counted on that. He had believed his team of scientists had failed, but now he knew the problem wasn´t the device hadn´t been working properly- it had been removed.

¨You were tracking them with the implants, Lex. Chloe and I saw the lights disappear on the map... ¨

¨You´re delusional, Clark. I understand what you feel for Chloe. Believe me, I do.¨

¨I won´t let you hurt her, Lex. ¨

¨You aren´t the one to talk about hurting other people, Clark. You´re ready to pass judgement on me, but you seem to forget you were the person who hurt her first and one of the reasons she almost died four years ago. ¨

¨What´s that supposed to mean? ¨

¨I can´t believe you´re that naïve, Clark. Why do you think she fell prey to my dad so easily? She knew what he was like and if she hadn´t been so heartbroken, she would have seen through him. ¨

¨You used her. ¨

¨I protected her the best way I could. ¨

¨You used her and then dropped her. She was a different person when she came back. She was broken. ¨

¨I accept my share of blame, but you weren´t an innocent pawn in this game. ¨

¨Don´t try to twist the facts, Lex. You won´t succeed at making me feel guilty, I´d never led her on. ¨

¨You hadn´t? That´s not the impression I got when she came to me. ¨

¨Is that the reason you took advantage of her vulnerability that summer? ¨

¨I don´t like what you´re suggesting, Clark. And remember Chloe is the woman we´re talking about. ¨

¨As if you cared... ¨he mumbled through clenched teeth.

¨How dare you? I do! I do care! ¨snapped Lex, instantly regretting his outburst.

Clark eyed him as if he had suddenly grown two heads, and the air in the study- which had been sparkling with energy and barely repressed hatred- became almost impossible to breathe. Clark could feel the tension and pain emanating from Lex in crushing waves and looked at the man with a stupefied expression. The young farm boy was most of the times clueless about the things around him; he was too simple and innocent to see beyond the surface of things, and Lex had always been too complex for him to read properly. However, on this occasion the billionaire´s feelings were too raw and exposed not to be interpreted even by the most simpleton.

¨Get out, Clark! ¨barked Lex.

¨Lex, I... ¨started Clark.

¨I want you to leave, ¨said the younger Luthor coldly.

¨What have you done to her, Lex? What did you tell her before she entered the operating room? ¨

¨Haven´t you heard me, Clark? I´ve got nothing to say to you. Just leave. ¨

¨Your name was the first thing that came out of her mouth when the anaesthesia started to wear off. Why? ¨

¨How the hell should I know? I was the last face she saw, that´s all. ¨

¨What happened before she came back to Smallville four years ago? ¨

¨I´m calling security, ¨hissed Lex, picking up the receiver.

¨That won´t be necessary, ¨responded Clark calmly. ¨33.1 isn´t the thing you don´t want her to remember, is it? ¨

¨Clark.. ¨answered Lex threateningly.

¨You should have seen her face when she woke up, Lex. I´ve only seen that look once. When I was ten my father and I found a young colt tangled in some barbed wire... It was in such a bad condition ... ¨

¨That´s enough! ¨ Lex cut him off, trying to hide the anguish behind a controlled mask.

¨Your dad robbed you of a good portion of your life, Lex. I remember to what extremes you went to get it back. I won´t let you do that to Chloe. ¨

¨I´m protecting her, Clark. ¨

¨Kidnapping her, submitting her to invasive procedures... Is that the way to protect someone you claim to care for? ¨

¨You don´t know the rules of the game, Clark. ¨

¨Why don´t you enlighten me, then? ¨

¨You lost the right to ask me to open up to you a long time ago, ¨he said grimly, and the conversation came to a sudden stop when Lex´s mobile rang. ¨Luthor, ¨snapped Lex, answering the call. ¨I´ll be there in ten minutes,¨ he added, swallowing the lump in his throat and keeping his back to Clark.

¨Is she OK? ¨asked Clark with a strangled voice.

¨She´s woken up again. Her vital signs are stable and the wounds are healing just fine, ¨ he responded no longer wondering how the farm boy had known the call was about Chloe.

¨That´s good, isn´t it? ¨

¨Yes, of course, it´s good, Clark, ¨he stated, putting on the jacket he had tossed on the armchair when he had come back from hospital.

¨You don´t seem pleased. What is it she shouldn´t remember, Lex? ¨he insisted.

¨You´re pushing your luck, Clark, ¨he said, grabbing the keys of his Porsche.

¨Do you love her, Lex? ¨asked Clark with a calm voice, and Lex stopped suddenly at the doorway.

¨I´m incapable of any such feeling. Wasn´t that what you said not so long ago? ¨ he responded without turning around. ¨You know the way out. ¨