Chapter 9

Christina stood still. She didn't know what to do next. All she knew was that she had to stop Jonathan from getting to Lionel Luthor. And now that she had, it felt like everything inside her had just shut off.

"Are you alright?" Jonathan asked, concerned. Christina just stood there, not knowing what to do or how to respond. Little did she know that what she was doing was actually perfect for her situation. Jonathan slowly approached her.

"I'm going to take you to the hospital, okay?" He told her softly. He guided her to the truck. "Are you hurt? What's wrong?" Still, Christina could not respond. "Don't worry. You'll be okay," Jonathan reassured her as he drove to the hospital.

At the hospital Jonathan sat in the waiting room while Christina was being checked out by the doctors. He was concerned about her. She hadn't been responding to any of the questions the nurses and doctors were asking her. He didn't know why, but he felt a connection to her. As he was waiting, his phone rang again. It was Lionel.

"Jonathan, or should I say, Mr. Senator? I would assume that the newly appointed senator of Kansas would not ignore such an important meeting."

"What do you want, Lionel?" Jonathan asked, irritated.

"Well, I had something very important to show you. But I will no longer waste my time waiting for you."

"What is it you wanted to show me Luthor? It has to have been important for you to call me."

"Oh, indeed Senator Kent . . . it's very important."

"Well then just tell me."

"Well I was just wondering what the people would say if they knew their newly appointed senator was keeping a very big secret from them? Something or should I say someone, beginning with the letter C."

"What the hell are you talking about . . . you son of a . . ."

"Careful, careful, careful, Senator. Don't forget, you and I have a, uh, common interest. One that, oh... both of us would, uh, protect with our lives. I have nothing but respect for a man who would deliberately hurl himself into the spotlight with such a . . . dangerous secret that must stay hidden."

"I won't let you destroy my family Lionel!" Jonathan loosens his tie and sits down to calm himself. "We can withstand anything you bring down on us . . ." He takes a deep breath, "because we have each other. That's what will always separate the Kents from the Luthors."

"Well that's very true senator, but the question is would you still be that strong if say somebody let this secret out?" All that remained was the dial tone.

Jonathan felt his heart constrict at Lionel's words. He felt like he couldn't breathe. He stood up to try to get some fresh air, but he got light-headed and began to sway. One of the nurses noticed him.

"Mr. Kent? Mr. Kent, what's wrong?"

"Can't . . . Hurt . . . Help . . ." Jonathan managed to pant out just as he collapsed onto the floor.

Christina was standing by the window wondering how she was going to get out of the hospital without causing suspicion. All of a sudden she heard someone yell out "Code blue! Get a doctor, quick!" She ran around to where the noise was, ignoring the doctor trying to get her to lie back down. When she reached the noise she was upset to see the doctors and nurses surrounding her grandfather.

"No, no, no, no, please no!" She sobbed into the arms of the doctor who had chased after her.

Clark, Martha, Lois and Chloe and everyone else were still celebrating when Clark's mobile started ringing. He excused himself and went outside to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Is this Clark Kent?"

"Yes, it is."

"Mr. Kent my name is Doctor Ryan Williams. Now please don't panic but we have your father, Senator Jonathan Kent, here."

"Oh my god!"

"Mr Kent it looks like your father has just suffered a heart attack. All I can tell you at the moment is that he is in getting tests done. But if you can get here it would be appreciated."

"Yes definitely, we'll be right there." He walked inside saw his mum talking to Lois and Chloe and walked over to her. When the three of them turned and saw his face they all knew something was wrong.

"Hey Smallville I told you to turn your frown upside down, don't make me do it myself." Lois joked. But as soon as she saw his face, she realized it was serious.

"Clark what's wrong?" she asked concerned.

Clark took a deep breath and leaned and whispered in to his mum's ear. Martha's eyes grew wide in shock and she ran outside. Clark decided to tell Lois and Chloe, and then they went after Martha and drove to the hospital.

When they arrived, they were told to wait in the waiting room and that someone would be with them soon. They saw a few policemen going from room to room and idly wondered why, but were mainly worried about Jonathan. Clark stood by the window looking outside; Lois walked over to him and entwined his hand in her own to comfort him. Martha sat patiently with Chloe, keeping herself calm, hoping that she wouldn't lose Jonathan, but also wondering why he had been here in the first place.

Christina was hiding in and out of rooms while the policemen continued to look for her. She managed to duck inside a closet just in time as one of them opened the door to the room she was in. It was another half an hour before the police gave up searching for her. She decided she wasn't leaving the hospital until she knew about her grandfather's health.

"Clark, the doctor's coming," Lois pointed out. Martha stood up as the doctor approached them, but he instructed them to sit back down. Clark and Lois sat down hands still entwined. Martha and Chloe sat down slowly after them.

"Mrs Kent, Mr Kent, I'm Doctor Ryan Williams. I want to tell you straight off that Mr Kent is going to be fine, all his tests came back positive; we'll know a bit more when the blood test results come back. At the moment he is being moved into a room, once he's settled you can all go in and see him. Do you have any questions?"

"What was my dad doing here?" Clark inquired.

"He brought in a young girl he almost hit. Apparently she was in the middle of the road."

"Oh my god! Is the young girl alright?" Lois asked concerned.

"Well we we're very concerned, when he brought her in. She wasn't talking or even responding to anyone, but when Mr Kent was being attended to she broke down and now. . . she's disappeared." Doctor Williams said shaking his head.

"Is that what the police are here for?" Chloe asked.

"Yes we're very concerned for her health; hopefully we'll find her soon. Please don't tell Mr Kent that she has disappeared, we need him to stay calm. Depending on what the blood test results say he will probably be able to go home tomorrow." He shook Clark's hand and walked off. A few minutes later a nurse came and got them and led them to Jonathan's room.

When they entered his room he was hooked up to machines. Martha walked over to the bed and grasped his hand in hers and kissed his knuckles softly. His eyes opened slowly to see four sad faces looking at him.

"Shhhh . . . relax sweetie your in the hospital, you had a heart attack, so you need to stay calm." Martha said in a soothing voice.

"Yeah dad you gave us quite a fright." He said with a nervous chuckle.

"You become the new senator and end up in the hospital all in one night. Good one Mr Kent, but I'm glad you're going to be alright." She smiled at him and he smiled back. In a fleeting moment of spontaneity, Clark leant down and kissed Lois on the cheek. They were both shocked about it at first, but Lois decided to just go with her gut feeling and smile and Clark. He smiled back at her.

Jonathan coughed and Lois and Clark broke the look they were sharing. "There was a young girl I brought in . . . does anybody know how she is?" Jonathan noticed that they became tense and uncomfortable. "What? What is it? What's wrong with her?" Just as Martha was about to answer a sweet young voice answered from the door.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm fine." She said as she walked in and quickly shut the door.

"Well I'm glad to hear it." He said smiling at her.

"And I'm glad to see you are going to be alright Mr Kent." She said smiling back at him. She walked over and tenderly held his hand in her own, both oblivious to the stunned looks that the other three were giving them.

"Well I have to be going now Mr Kent, my parents are waiting for me. Take care of yourself." She gave his hand a squeeze before she left.

TBC