Surgery – Chapter 5

Martha gently nudged Lana as the nurses entered the room and turned on the overhead lights. Lana quickly looked over to see Lex's eyelids once again flutter with the change of the light. Martha took Lana by the shoulders and moved her out of the room into the waiting room from a few days ago. There, the team of doctors was already briefing Jonathon and Clark on the status of the surgery.

"Upon further examination, Mr. Luthor has a sizable hematoma to be removed that is affecting his temporal lobe. The surgery is very risky and could cause some brain damage if not repaired precisely." Clark, Chloe, and Lana all looked in horror when the doctor said brain damage. Lex was not exactly a saint but he was the smartest, most cunning person they had ever met and couldn't imagine having anything less than the Lex they knew and either loved or hated. "The best doctors in the world are here but there are never any guarantees. I just want to you to be prepared in the event of." The doctor didn't continue.

Clark looked over at his mother as she was discussing what he could only understand as legal issues with an attorney. Lex's attorney. Clark stood next to Chloe as he told her to quiet down. Listening in, he couldn't believe what he had heard. "Ma'am I am quite sure this is no mistake; the documents were signed in my office by Mr. Luthor himself. The general business dealing of Luthorcorp are in the hands of his board, the plant in Smallville is under control of one Gabe Sullivan, and you have power of attorney in the event of his incapacity. He noted that you were father's favorite assistant and his best friend's mother. Now, after the briefing with the doctors, you need to be prepared to make the decision on his personal dealings. Here's the copy of the power of attorney in the event."

Jonathon has since joined Martha and looked over the paperwork. "Dad, what's it say?" Chloe stood next to Clark as Lana paced in the waiting room, not wanting to hear.

"It says," he exhaled, "that in the event of life saving measures, he's left the decision in your mother's hands." Jonathon bit his lip and slapped the paperwork against his leg in frustration. He handed the partially crumpled paperwork back to his wife and started out of the waiting room to the waiting media circus that had engulfed the hospital in the last two days.

"Clark, Lex left your mother in charge?" Chloe shot Clark a look of shock.

"Seems that he felt that she was the one that had always been true to him regardless of what he ever did to the rest of us." Clark looked at his mother as she continued to talk to the attorneys and go over paperwork that seemed to take forever.

Chloe walked over to Lana and held her hand. "You know, he's going to get through this."

Lana looked over at her with tears in her eyes and tried to crack a smile. "I hope you're right. I mean we have so much to talk about. I mean I was going to tell him that Clark and I were over and that I was…" Chloe watched as Lana slowly stopped speaking, realizing that she had just confessed her love for Lex to Chloe. Lana knew that was the last thing Chloe cared to hear. Than again maybe the first. On the one hand, she had just opened the door for Chloe to confess her love to Clark without having to worry about herself being in the picture. On the other, she knew that Chloe could care less that yet another man in Smallville was possibly interested in her.

"Lana." Chloe waved her hand in front of Lana's face. Popping her head up, Lana knew she had spaced. "It kind of sucks when you spill your guts and the person you spill it to doesn't respond in kind huh?" Lana looked over at Chloe and sat down with her. "When Clark was sick that one time, I confessed my love for him. And…he said …your name in return. I knew then just to back off."

Lana looked at Chloe in shock. Chloe had given up pining for Clark to make room for Lana from the very beginning. "I'm sorry Chloe – I didn't know. I mean I did but I never realized that it hurt you that long. You always said you were over it." Chloe nodded her head in discontent. Lana knew now that she had been lying all that time.

The family sat silent in the waiting room avoiding eye contact for what seemed like days.

After 8 hours a doctor appeared at the door, "Well, we can say that for right now that the surgery was a success. We will know in a few hours when he regains consciousness. He's in recovery and will be moved back to the ICU in a matter of hours. We'll let you know when we get him stabilized." The doctor left as the group all looked at each other and smiled weakly. There was still a lot of time for things to go terribly wrong.

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