A/N - Thank you for the wonderful reviews...this fic is truly hard to write...but I press on...so, please r/r

The Wild Memories – Chapter 2

Clark entered the darkened ICU room. He remembered the last time he had been there. He remembered nurses and doctors rushing in and out of the room setting up equipment and hollering different acronyms at each other when his father had his heart attack. He shuttered looking at all the monitors and tubes flowing around the room. Sitting down in the chair next to the bed, he sighed, putting his head in his hands.

Lex's heartbeat was steady and his breathing was regulated by a very large ventilator. His normally bald head was now covered in a turban-like bandage. His right jaw was a darker shade of purple and seemed almost out of place. His right eye was bandaged and his right cheekbone was bruised. His lips, usually a calm pink color, were almost gray. The inside of his elbows and right wrist were turning red and tender from the IV's. Looking at him closer, Clark could see his ribs were also bandaged. He had done this – he had put Lex in this position. Maybe Lana was right to hate him; Lex didn't deserve this regardless of the reason.

Closing his eyes, he touched his friend's hand. "I'm so sorry. If I could have stopped it, believe me Lex, I would have. I guess between my jealousy over you and Lana becoming closer and my insecurities that I took Simone's hypnotism a little too far." Clark paused and pondered his thoughts. "Wish we could go back to what we were before." Leaning back in the chair, he stared at the ceiling in thought.

"My father warned me about you – about the Luthor name and I just ignored it. You were one of my best friends. I remember the day I pulled you out of the car. You probably still think that you hit me with your car – and never stopped investigating me. At least you did help me get rid of Perry White, at least I think at the time you were honest with me." Leaning forward in the chair, Clark watched as Lex's eyelids moved slightly.

"Remember when I came over to the mansion and you gave me Lana's necklace back in that lead box. I should have handled that so much better with her. You said, give it to her and she would be mine. And somehow I screwed that advice up. And then the time that you married Desiree. That was a riot. I remember us laughing about that several times. You were so into her it was almost disgusting, talking about how she and you had 'been' in every room. Wow. Always the ladies man."

Clark almost laughed when he saw the heart monitor jump three or four times, thinking Lex was having the same thought. "I remember how surprised my father was when you bought our farm – I don't think I had seen that look on his face since the time I first lifted a car. And then when your dad had you committed after you found about his killing your grandparents. Lex, you really worried me – I didn't think I would ever get my true friend back from that." Sighing again, he sat silently for a minute.

"I guess what really hurt is that you ran against my father. I had hoped that we had a chance of getting closer after that little incident at the stripclub that you got me and Lois out of. Instead, you went full on into the Senate race and lost. Just because my father beat you didn't mean for you to drink yourself into a blackout." Clark stopped, reliving finding Lex after Lana had called him. "We were all really hoping that some kind of middle ground could have been found. Instead you and your arrogance got the best of you. I guess that night everything between us was really over. I mean how do you forgive a friend that throws a bottle of scotch at you and tells you and your family to go to hell."

Clark took a deep breath and stopped. His anger got the best of him. Getting out of the chair, he walked around the tiny room, looking at the different flea market art on the walls and trying to calm down. This was not the time to be mad; although Clark really felt maybe Lex deserved to die. Clark continued watching the monitor and listening to Lex's heartbeat hoping that he get another reaction from him. Nothing – Lex was motionless, eerily quiet and peaceful.

"Lex. I am so sorry that we have grown apart in the last year. But you can't blame me for all of this. You've become bitter and angry – you can't deal with your failures the way you do and be happy. There are people that want to help you, but you just scare them off or force them out of your life." Clark took a deep breath in closed his eyes.

"Another thing. You should have just come out straight and told me you had a thing for Lana. After thinking about it, you always have – from the moment you bought the Talon and ran Jason out of her life. I should have seen it coming. She has a thing for you too. When you get better, I promise to stay out of the way. I haven't made her happy and I know that – maybe you'll have better luck."

"So, here we are – I really hope that things get better. I hate to use this as a turning point in our lives but hope something good comes out of this. I really do miss you." Clark stopped and thought about what he had just said. I hope that we can be friends again.

He looked around the room, trying to find the source of the sudden beep. He squeezed Lex's hand a bit harder noticing that his heart rate had leveled off again. Letting go of Lex's hand, Clark leaned back in the chair and fell asleep to the pace of the ventilator.