CHAPTER 7: Facing the Music

Lex parked his silver sports car outside Smallville Medical Center. He killed the engine and kept his shaky hands on the steering wheel, trying to pull himself together before stepping out of the vehicle to face the music.

Clark´s storming into his study had prevented Lex from getting a vial of the experimental drug they had been using at 33.1 to erase the patients´ memory. Now, he´d have to face her and he was far from ready for the confrontation.

¨Mr Luthor, ¨Dr Philips greeted him.

¨Doctor, ¨he answered curtly.

¨There´s been no need to sedate her again. But I´m far from satisfied with her psychological state. The only word she´s uttered so far´s your name. I couldn´t get her to talk. Maybe you... ¨

¨What is it that you want me to do? You´re the doctor. You´re the one with a diploma. ¨

¨Don´t patronise me, Mr Luthor. I´m not one of your employees. ¨

¨I´m one of the largest benefactors of this hospital, Dr Philips. I pay your salary. ¨

¨You may pay my salary, but I owe myself to my patient. She needs you in there. She needs to hear the truth. ¨

¨You´re a gynaecologist not a psychiatrist, doctor. ¨

¨I know pain when I see it, Mr Luthor. And that woman´s going through hell. Get down of your high horse and do something about it. You´re the one who holds the key to what her mind´s been repressing, ¨he said matter-of-factly, turning the knob of Chloe´s private room. ¨Get in there and show her she´s been wrong to judge you the way she has these past four years. ¨

Lex looked at the doctor with daggers in his eyes. A lesser man would have shrunk and recoiled in fear but not Dr Philips; he was a force to be reckoned with and, despite his feelings of impotence, Lex couldn´t help but admire the man for standing up to him and for trying to do what he thought was best to help his patient.

The door closed behind Lex and the young billionaire found himself trapped in a hospital room with the only woman apart from Lillian whose love he had wanted to be worthy of. She had been his and he had been hers- he still was- but destiny had got in the way; destiny and a man who shared his surname.

¨Where is he? ¨whispered a defeated voice he hardly recognised as Chloe´s.

Lex looked at the fragile young woman connected to the monitor and he avoided her gaze, incapable of bearing the naked pain in those green orbs he loved so much.

¨If I know Clark well, he´ll get here soon, ¨he stated.

¨I´m not talking about Clark, Lex, ¨she said throatily. ¨Where is he? I want to see him. ¨

¨Chloe... ¨said Lex with a strangled voice.

¨Why can´t you look at me, Lex? ¨

¨I´m looking at you, ¨he answered, turning around and fastening his eyes on a point around her shoulder.

¨You aren´t looking at me in the eye, Lex. It´s not like you. What have you done, Lex? ¨

Lex´s hands were clenched into two tight fists in the pockets of his expensive black trousers. He didn´t know what to answer because he couldn´t bring himself to ask who ´he´ was.

¨He´s dead, isn´t he? ¨she asked with tears in her eyes, and the sudden movement of her hands gave Lex the response he didn´t want to hear.

¨Chloe, baby, ¨said an anguished Lex, sitting on the bed and trying to reach for the blonde reporter.

¨Don´t touch me! ¨she sobbed.

¨Chloe, ¨he whispered, feeling the pricking of tears behind his eyelids. ¨I had no choice. ¨

¨Liar! ¨she shouted, slapping his face with such force that Lex had to wipe a trail of red off his mouth with a hand.

Chloe´s lips started to tremble uncontrollably and the tears welled up in her eyes.

¨I couldn´t lose you, Chloe, ¨he said with a hoarse voice, caressing her cheek with a gentle hand, and the dam broke loose.

¨I wish I had died, ¨she hiccupped. ¨Why? Why didn´t you let... me die? ¨she cried in wracking sobs as Lex´s arms wrapped around her, and he cradled her like a child.

Clark stood outside Chloe´s room watching Lex soothing her as if she were the most valuable of his possessions, and he felt an indescribable sense of loss in his chest. He saw his former friend rock her like a baby, kiss her tears away and whisper words of comfort. The farm boy felt the urge to use his super-hearing to understand what had brought about such a sudden change in the relationship between two people who had been the bitterest of enemies for four years, but couldn´t bring himself to do it. He stopped as soon as he heard the barely repressed tears in the voice of an in appearance unflappable Lex Luthor.

The sun had already set when Chloe stirred in Lex´s arms. She had cried herself to sleep and the nurse had entered the room twice to check the monitors and her drip-feed. Lex had remained awake the whole time, too overwhelmed by emotion to close his eyes, too afraid to risk her being snatched away from him.

Lex noticed the change in her breathing and knew she was waking up. He tried to brace himself for what was to come because the emotional scene of four hours before had been just the tip of the iceberg. She was so pale that she almost looked transparent. If it hadn´t been for the steady beating of her heart, which he felt against his own chest and which was being monitored by the hospital equipment, he´d have thought she was dead.

Her eyelids fluttered open and Lex found himself looking into a pair of haunted green eyes. He saw them glaze again and slackened his hold on her when she squirmed in his arms. Although he didn´t want to let her go, he understood her need to protect herself from pain.

¨Chloe, ¨murmured Lex close to her ear as she turned her back to him.

¨Now I understand, ¨she said shakily.

¨What is it you understand? ¨he asked with a controlled voice.

¨Why you hate me, ¨she sobbed.

¨I don´t hate you, Chloe, ¨he responded, combing her hair with his fingers.

¨Don´t do that... please, ¨she cried, straining to get away from him.

¨Chloe... ¨

¨I deserve everything. Everything you´ve put me through these four years. ¨

¨Everything I´ve done has been to protect you, Chloe. You must believe me. ¨

¨Why did you save me? ¨she whined. ¨Why? ¨

¨I wish things had turned out differently but... the injuries to your body were so extensive, baby, ¨said Lex, tucking a few strands of blond hair behind her ear.

¨Don´t ... don´t call me that. ¨

¨Why not? You used to... ¨

¨Lex, I can´t. I´ve been hating you... for four years. ¨

¨It´s OK for you to hate me. If it hadn´t been for the Luthors, none of this would have happened. ¨

¨I was the one who entered the bargain with your father. ¨

¨Yes, but if I had been more careful... I thought nobody had followed me to the safe house. ¨

¨I should have listened to you, Lex. You warned me. I should have never left the house to get that witness´ testimony. My dad didn´t want me to leave either. He got into the car... because I was as stubborn as a mule. He wasn´t supposed to be there. Why did you make me believe it was you behind the wheel? ¨

¨You had gone through a lot, Chloe. I couldn´t allow you to blame yourself for your father´s death on top of everything. ¨

¨Where is he, Lex? ¨she sobbed. ¨They didn´t let me see him. I need to see him.¨

¨When the time´s right, ¨he answered, wrapping an arm around her waist and spooning her from behind as she convulsed with wracking sobs.