- - - Chapter Thirty-Two
The news, muted in the background and all but forgotten, was telling those still up to listen just what was happening in Metropolis. The Justice League, though nobody knew to call them that, was taking care of Metropolis and Superman had just been dropped off at Metropolis General by none other than the Martian Manhunter. The view on the TV shifted to show the damage to the city; the streets were littered with still-growing kryptonite, buildings had large, flaming holes in them, and the rain was doing nothing to quench those fires. Batman and the Green Arrow could be seen moving around at street-level clearing away debris and helping emergency personnel where they could. The military, specifically a newly established wing of the army led by General Lane, was active as well, gathering all recovered kryptonite into one place and preparing to transport it back to their base. Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter were in the skies. J'onzz bringing chunks of kryptonite up from the street and giving it to Wonder Woman to throw back into space. Aquaman couldn't be seen, but his presence was obviated by the lumps of kryptonite that appeared out of nowhere on the docks.
Richard was too distracted to notice what was happening on his TV, though. He flipped it off and offered Georgianna something to drink, bringing out steaming mugs of coffee for the both of them and sinking into the chair across from her. He had a nice apartment, a bit spartan, but comfortable. One bedroom, one bathroom, a small kitchen, a small living room, a huge window looking out at the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. It was foggy tonight, having rained in the afternoon; the view a little spooky.
"Where... how did you get these?" Richard asked, changing the question when he realized the 'where' was obvious. Georgianna sipped her coffee, smirking, while he looked through the pictures in the envelope. She hadn't even brought everything she'd gathered, wanting to keep a few things to herself just in case, he had be close to Lois once, after all.
"I had one of the Planet photographers follow her for quite a while."
"One of the Planet photographers? Perry let you do that?!"
"No, Mr. White didn't know what was going on until my photographer slipped up. Mr. Kent caught her and told Perry, getting me fired."
"So you brought these to me," she nodded and he looked at her carefully. "Why?"
"I thought you'd be interested in them."
"I am, but..." he shook his head. "What did you expect me to do with them?"
"You, Mr. White, still work for a newspaper."
- - -
There was a crowd at Metropolis General's front door again when Lois arrived, Martha and Jason in tow.
She had passed Batman on her way into the city, sharing a significant look before the Dark Knight returned to his work removing the kryptonite from the streets. Gangsters and crime lords were picking off chunks of the meteors in hopes of holding on to some of the thing that could hurt Metropolis' guardian, something that could buy them the time they needed to rob a bank or 7Eleven. Batman was using much more force than necessary when he took those with kryptonite down.
Jason had been visibly shaking from kryptonite exposure when they parked, so Martha was carrying him. He'd spent all afternoon in the sunlight, taking a nap in the uncomfortable patio chair. Martha had made both of them lunch, insisting Lois stay out there with him for the babies' sake; they were just as Kryptonian as Jason and the sunlight would probably benefit them even while inside of her, especially after being so close to raw kryptonite. Lois was trying not to think of what it could mean for them to be so young and exposed.
"Thank you for being here, Martha," Lois said softly as they made their way through the crowd. Like last time, the people parted like the Red Sea.
"I wouldn't be anywhere else, darling," Martha said softly. Somewhere behind those doors was her son, lying on a hospital bed in a hospital gown, probably in pain. It was the last thing she wanted to see, and the thing she needed to see most. She squeezed Jason a little closer, holding him more firmly to her hip, and continued to march forward.
"Mrs. Kent," the officer looked like he'd like to deny them access, but the looks on their faces were enough to get them through. The crowd surged back into place behind them, muttering about the silver-haired woman carrying the Kent boy, wondering who she was.
"This way," the doctor said, just like last time. He glanced at Jason, staring into his blue eyes, looking for something but not finding it. "Mrs. Kent, I think it would a good idea if you came with me alone for the moment."
Lois looked at him like he was crazy, trying to read his face. She'd seen him here before, interviewed him with Clark; he was a good guy. Older, probably just a few years past sixty, but still perfectly capable of doing his job. He had floppy grayish hair, a tanned and wrinkled face, large wire-framed glasses that somehow managed to stay on his face no matter what, and a very slim build. He looked like a grandfather and probably was. Something in his face told Lois that she was in for an unpleasant afternoon, one that shouldn't start with her son and her mother-in-law seeing whatever she was about to see. Martha seemed to get the same impression, putting a gentle hand on Lois's shoulder and smiling wearily.
"We'll wait right over there, honey," Martha said gently, and Lois nodded.
"Be good for Grandma, munchkin, I'll be back in a little bit."
"Okay," Jason said, he still looked unsteady, but his eyes were clear and almost calculating, reminding Lois of the man she was here to see.
"Okay," Lois whispered back before turning and following Doctor Larsen, the familiar doctor, down an all but deserted hallway to an observation room. "Surgery?" Lois asked, recognizing the wing he had led her to.
"There were shards of kryptonite embedded all over him," Doctor Larsen almost sounded scared. Lois looked at him with worry. "Mrs. Kent, there's something I need to give to you before we go into that observation room."
"Okay," Lois said again, turning to face him. She was standing perfectly still, watching him fish around in his coat pocket for something. Her face paled when he pulled a gold band out of his pocket. Clark had forgotten to take off his wedding ring when he'd gone to 'fight' the meteors. He'd been flying with Jason and probably hadn't thought he would be in the public eye. He hated not wearing the ring. Lois swallowed dryly a few times before reaching out to take the ring, biting her lip.
The doctor's eyes opened a little wider when he saw the ring on her finger, seeing the exact same design scratched into the metal; it was a group of Kryptonian symbols that Clark had had engraved on both rings, his one admittance to his heritage. There were three symbols, resting at the base of the ring on the palm side so that nobody would notice them. Three symbols that she had never quite mastered saying; their meaning seemed stronger when said in Kryptonian: love, loyalty, eternity. The design almost looked random when seen out of context, unfortunately the doctor standing before her had context. She suspected he had spent awhile staring at the symbols on the ring he'd pulled off of Superman before any of the others noticed its presence. Doctor Larsen was no fool; he knew what it could mean for Superman to wear a wedding band, and what it meant that Lois Kent had the exact same symbols engraved on her wedding band.
"Please, don't…" she trailed off, still biting her lip. The doctor just nodded and turned around, continuing to lead her towards the observation room as though nothing had happened. Lois was grateful for the man's quick thinking, but knew he would be making a visit later to ask the innumerable questions flying through his brain just then. Instead of worrying, she followed him to the observation room and turned to look at her husband on the operating table.
There were four doctors gathered around him, each with sterile tools resembling needle nose pliers or tweezers, the sized varied from doctor to doctor. Each was focusing on a shard of kryptonite. Clark was sitting up on the table, gripping the edge of the bed so tightly that the metal was bending. His face was a mask of pain, his eyes squeezed shut. It occurred to Lois that human sedatives or painkillers wouldn't work on him, so he had to endure this for himself. Lois blinked back tears, knowing the last thing he needed was to see her cry.
Damn hormones!
His head shot up, eyes opening and staring right at her, as though he had heard her thoughts. He checked her over in a brief second, and for that second he didn't seem to be feeling anything that the doctors were doing. It was only her face behind the glass he wasn't supposed to be able to see through.
At least that means his x-ray vision is still there, that's a good sign, she was breathing shallowly as though she was trying to ward off hyperventilation, and she was, not that it helped. That was her husband down there, the father of her children, the guy who couldn't even stub his toe properly, Superman sitting on the paper-covered bed while surgeons pulled glowing green shafts of geologic poison out of his flesh. She bit her lip again and could've sworn she saw him smile.
"It's not funny, Clark," she mumbled to him harshly, which only made his grin a little more dominant on his features. She smiled a little but it was quickly replaced by worry. The humor had left his eyes as one of the bigger splinters had been pulled from his back, making him gasp in pain.
His concentration was on the people around him again, but she knew he was listening. She knew it was her heartbeat he was focusing on to keep himself from crying out, and that thought alone brought the tears out of her eyes and onto her cheeks. Doctor Larsen had cleared the observation room of all personnel, it was just the two of them now and he was watching her carefully.
Twenty minutes later the doctors below were all but done. Leaning her head against the cool glass window, Lois sighed with relief. With the kryptonite out of him only time and sunlight, sunlamps at the moment, until Superman would be back up and running. The doctor was still watching her and it was beginning to ride on her nerves. Yes, I married Superman, okay? Get over it, bucko; I'm tired, hungry, said husband is in pain, and my little boy has the stomach flu on top of kryptonite poisoning.
"Oh my gosh, Jason," Lois remembers, standing up straight. Below her, Clark's eyes shot open, immediately peering through the layers of walls to find his son. A worried look passed over his face and sent Lois waddling out of the room, Doctor Larsen in tow once again. "Jason, honey, how're you doing?" She asked upon approach.
"I'm okay, Mom," Jason shrugged, not looking okay.
"His stomach has been acting up a bit," Martha said, eyes on her daughter-in-law.
"How is he?" Jason asked, cutting his grandmother off from asking the same question.
"He's going to be okay," both people in the uncomfortable waiting room chairs relax visibly. "You could come see him now, I think," Lois glanced at the doctor behind her and received no response. Sighing, Lois decided to ignore him.
"Let's go!" Jason was on his feet again in a hurry, looking better already just because of the enthusiasm in his features.
"Follow the doctor," Lois said, but Jason was already walking quickly, almost running, down the appropriate hallways. "Jason Kent," she said with enough harshness to make her son turn around and look bashful, "you were already watching, weren't you?"
"His breathing was funny and his heart was too fast," Jason whispered urgently back to her. The sad look on his face was enough to melt any anger in Lois's heart.
"I thought you two had a talk about peeking like that," she sighed, getting a smile from her son.
"About looking at the babies, Mom, not looking at him."
"Yes, well, just privacy in general, Jason," they'd arrived at the observation room, so the conversation stopped.
Clark was still sitting on the bed, his famous suit stripped away down to his waist. The top half and cape lay crumpled on the defibrillator in the corner. His eyes were closed, concentrating on not letting the pain he was in carry up to his family in the observation room. The doctors were cleaning out the wounds, putting gauze and tape over them and adjusting the sun lamps. The kryptonite had disappeared, taken out of the room by one of the nurses.
"He's going to be fine," Doctor Larsen assured them. Lois nodded distractedly, concentrating on the pain that shot through her abdomen. Jason was looking down at his father, still pale from the human sickness. Martha had a hand over her mouth, not hearing a word. The doctor jumped when Clark's eyes shot open, focusing immediately on Lois, his expression worried. The doctors in the room with Clark looked up at the reflective observation window, only seeing themselves, looking back at him with confusion until they realized he was probably seeing right through the glass. Everybody in the observation room turned to look at Lois just in time to see her water break.