Author's Notes: Thanks again for your patience… ^_^

Remember, The Roads Not Taken features three time lines – 2003 (bold); 2004 (italics); 2011 (normal). Pronouns/sentences/paragraphs that are really important to the story will be underlined. This is an AU story.

Warning: Always be prepared.

Chapter 10: Dusk or Dawn

Kansas (2004)

The young man was standing in front of the sea, watching seagulls flying. His sighs were aligned with the waves of salty water. The saline morning breeze enabled him to start another day without her; months had passed since the last time he saw her gorgeous eyes and heard her voice. God knew his feelings for her never faded and definitely would stay forever. Day after day, he missed her so much – she had the lovely face he needed to see with the sunrise and sunset. 'How are you Lois?' He whispered beyond the soft waves of the sea. He held the last thing he had from her, the only thing that reminded him he couldn't forget that one special person. His life depended on it.

It was daybreak; soon the sun would fully shine. He breathed in and out. Someone hugged him from behind. "Good morning Clark."

He patted the arms clinging on his waist. "Good morning Lana." He turned around and kneeled before her. She was too thin, her lips were pale and her face was almost white. She wasn't the same lively and spirited woman whom he met and loved when they were teenagers.

"Are you cold?" He finally said. He removed his jacket and put it on her.

"It's a beautiful morning Clark! I wish I could witness more mornings like this." She exclaimed as she pointed out the sun about to rise. "Look Clark, dolphins!"

He followed her direction, but he also noticed the gray bruises on her arms.

She knew what he was looking at, though she heard him say "Yes, they seem to be celebrating."

"Clark, it's normal… the discoloration. They're going to disappear soon."

An uncomfortable silence sunk between them. He sat on the white sand beside her wheel chair.

"Clark, who's Lois?"

He looked at her, surprised by her question. "How do you know about her?"

She smiled. "You called me once by that name. You never intended to and I see now that you barely noticed it too."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

He silently drew a line on the fine sand. "She was my brother's girlfriend." He simply answered as he grabbed a pebble and threw it to the water.

"Jerome? I remember him as the naughty one." Lana smiled. "Hey, did you remember how hard I cry when he put bubble gum on my hair? We were barely six years old back then. Your Mom didn't know how to stop me from crying."

He chuckled, maybe today was the time of confession. "I was the one who did it actually."

"You were?" Lana's eyes widened at his statement.

He smiled at the memory. "I really had a crush on you when we were still kids… But that was the first and last time I did that. I was kinda afraid of what I did seeing you crying like that, my brother covered up for me."

Lana giggled. "After all this time, now is the only time you step forward to that bubble gum history."

Clark smiled at her. He realized how altruistic his older twin brother was. How he wished he could be at least half of that man.

"And Clark I remember something."

He gave her a sideway glance.

"On that day, when your Mom was trying too hard to remove the bubble gum on my hair, she said something like… you were his favorite that was why she nicknamed you as Clark and not Joseph."

He felt little pinches on his heart; he never expected his mother would say something like that about him. "Clark was her middle name." He admitted. "Mom was always fair to me and Jerome. She never showed she had her favoritism."

"Parents are always like that whether they admitted or not – they always had a favorite son or daughter. I guess, I'm lucky 'cause I don't have a sibling – or maybe not because it was too lonely growing up without a sibling whom I could count on. I actually envied the closeness you had with your brother. It was like you and Jerome were inseparable."

Clark nodded in agreement and lost in his own thoughts.

Lana broke the silence. "Back to your brother's girl friend, what happened to her and Jerome?"

He hesitated for a moment if he would tell Lana about Lois, but decided to tell her right after. "Before he died, he made me promise to find her and to give her the bracelet, which I did."

She nodded.

"That was the last time I saw her, when I gave her the bracelet."

Behind the sound of the waves, another batch of silence consumed them.

"If I don't make it through today..."

"Sssh Lana… Don't say that."

"Clark there's no guarantee from the doctors about the percentage of my survival."

He assured her, though he felt scared too. "The bone marrow transplant can save your life."

"What if it doesn't? I don't want to leave you alone. Find her, Clark."

"Trust me Lana; you're going to survive the operation."

He gently placed her on his lap. She was growing thinner every day. He witnessed how painful the disease was on her. Clark couldn't contain the hurt he felt everytime she needed a blood transfusion.

"I want you to be happy." She said in a weak tone, though he could sense the sincerity in her voice.

"I'm happy, Lana, because you're here with me. Don't let go yet. We already found a donor. And it's a perfect match."

"I know. I just mention the possibilities. As much as I want to be with you, Clark, you can do greater things than taking care of me."

He put his chin on the top of her head. "You're going to survive. Promise me you won't give up. Please, do it at least for me."

He could feel her nod. It was frail, but she did agree. "Tell me a story, Clark. I don't want to sleep yet. It's too early."

He held her hand, it was very cold. "Do you remember that time you said you wanted to live near the beach because you'd loved to see the sunrise and sunset with me?"

"Yes, I remember, it was my sixteenth birthday. Thank you for fulfilling one of my wishes."

"Our first dance in high school, do you remember it too?"

She slightly nodded.

"Are you dozing off into the outer space already?" He chuckled.

Lana shook her head as she grasped his hand. Clark continued speaking, "You saw me practicing with my Mom. You heard me say, 'I don't want to step on your feet', which I successfully did anyways."

"The song playing was 'You and Me' by Lifehouse." He smiled knowing she could still remember the song. It was his first dance. She was his first love. He wouldn't want to change that particular part of his life. It wouldn't be the best, but it also made him for what he was. He cradled her while thinking on the special things that had happened between them.

"How about the Bugs Bunny movie? You said you love his two front teeth… that you find him cute. You always smile whenever you see him."

He expected her to move, but she didn't. Her hand was still within his grip. He almost choked with his next question. "Do you want to watch it again?" There was still no response. He shook her gently. "Lana, you don't need to sleep yet. It's too early, like you had said. Am I too boring? Or maybe not. "

He waited for a single reaction, nothing. But then a liquid fell on his arms. Blood. Horrified with what he had seen, he immediately carried her and super sped to the hospital.

He carried her like paperweight. It wasn't easy for him seeing Lana like this, a candle almost losing its light. It wasn't fair because she had so many dreams, which he promised to himself, he would help her to achieve. Today was different; he was just so scared, just like her. He squeezed her hand as the doctors took her into the operating room. "It's going to be okay." He whispered before the door closed behind him.

Hours had passed. This had been a very long day. He was waiting for news while occasionally going outside the hospital to do minor saves. He was crying because he couldn't do anything to remove her pain, her sufferings. He placed his hands on his forehead as he put his elbows on his knees.

"Mr. Kent."

He looked up at the lady doctor in her mid-forties speaking before him.

"How is she, Doctor?"

"She's in coma."

TBC

Reviews are welcome!

Cloisers, there's no excerpt for the epilogue, please forgive me for not posting – I'm going to spoil how wonderful the ending will be….

'Til my next posting… ^_^