Chapter 5:

Clark was just sitting outside of Lois' room. He had stopped pacing once the doctor came out and told him that she'll be fine and all is going as expected. He replayed the events of the last half and hour back in his head.

"I NEED HELP" he yelled as he came crashing through the hospital doors, causing a number of nurses and a doctors to come rushing to his side.

"What happened?" the doctor asked.

"I… I-I don't know, I m-mean I just found her car leveled, th-then I just b-br-brought her here as fast as I c-could… is she gonna be alright? She has to be…

"Well son we cant tell you that until we exactly find out what kind of damage has been done to her…"

"She has a severe concussion, two broken ribs on her right-hand side, and a few bruises here and there!"

"How do you know this?" the doctor questioned him, shocked that at what Clark had just told her.

"It doesn't matter how I know, all that matters is that she gets the best medical attention, and you guys have always done that in the past please don't ruin your reputation now!"

The doctor studied him for a while trying to figure out if she should trust the information Clark had given her or not.

"Well in that case we better get her to the medical emergency room immediately" she said with a warm smile. "Okay people let's go we have a patient suffering with major concussion get her to the ER room immediately"

"Yes doctor!" one of the nurses replied as they hurried to get Lois' stretcher to the elevator.

"Doc, is she gonna be alright?" concern evident in the shakiness of his voice.

"Well since we don't have to waste any time trying to figure out what's wrong with her, the chances of her survival have been boosted exponentially. If you are right and the foremost problem with her is a concussion then the chances of her making it out of here without permanent brain damage is 99. She should be fine but only time will tell."

"Thanks doc." Clark said quietly, the information that she had just given him seemed to calm him down a little.

And with that the doctor turned and followed the nurses up to the emergency room.

Clark made his way to the waiting area where he called Chloe and his parents and filled them in on what had happened, both promised to make it down there as soon as possible. Whilst he was on the phone with Chloe he heard Lana in the background how he had made it half-way across town in such a short period of time, amongst other things

"How in the world did he make it all the way to route 40 in such a short time? It half-way across town! And how did he know that Lois would be there? And why would he lie to me about where he was going?" Lana started asking.

Clark knew that Lana wasn't going to let this one slide, but he chose not to worry about this for now. Now he had other issues to concern himself with. His main concern being Lois' health and will she be alright?

The doctor emerged from the hallway a few minutes after he had finished the phone calls.

"How is she doc?" he asked, fearing the worst was yet to come.

The doctor smiled at his concern. "We managed to stabilize her and prevent from any more damage being caused, she'll remain in the ER for at least another week or so, but bottom line is she's going to make a full recovery. She's very lucky that you brought her here so quickly and that you knew exactly what was wrong with her… I'm not going to ask you how, I'm just grateful that you did." With that the doctor smiled and turned.

Clark was relieved when the doctor had gave him the good news. Lois was going to be fine. He hated to admit but the odd 30 minutes or so she was in the ER having the doctors work on her were amongst the most painful times in his life. He guessed it was because he cared for her a lot more than he would admit.

But thankfully the worst was over and Lois was going to make a full recovery. Still Clark had another thing that was bugging him.

'Who was that guy out in the field? And how did he know my Kryptonian name? And why do I get this feeling of familiarity around him? I…' Clark's mind began to wonder when he was abruptly shaken from his thoughts by the voice of his very concerned mother.

"Clark!" she shrieked as she and Jonathan run up to their son, concern clearly shown in their faces. "How is she?" she asked.

"She's fine mom. The doctor said that she'll make a complete recovery, it'll just take time though. But everything is going to be ok." Clark answered with a slight smile as he and his parents all took a seat on the couch.

"Um… mum, dad there's something else that happened. I-uh – I met the guy who I kept feeling his presence around." He stated nervously.

"You met him? Where?" his mother asked.

"Right after, I pulled Lois out from the car, he was the one that told me what was wrong with her and that I should get her to the hospital quickly!" Clark replied

"Okay, so how'd he know what was wrong with Lois? And did you notice anything about him son?"

"Just that he looked a lot like I do."

"Anything else?"

Clark looked at his father curiously. "He's not a threat to me if that's what you mean, dad." He stated matter of factly.

"Now, Clark how could you possibly know th-" Jonathan was cut, off by the sound of his cell phone ringing. He takes it out and looks at the screen to see who it was. "It's Mike." he informs both Clark and Martha.

Mike was Jonathan's new chief – of – staff who he had hired after Lois had decided that she wanted to get reinstated into college and pursue a career in journalism. Whilst Jonathan and Martha were happy for her, Jonathan has regretted him losing such a valuable asset to his campaign. He knew as well as all his other members of staff, that Lois Lane was simply irreplaceable. And whilst Mike was good he simply wasn't, Lois.

"What is this time, Mike?" he inquired, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "NO! You tell senator Wilkins, that I will not back down just because some of our supporters do not like the idea of me spending so much time and effort on the children." He pauses listening to what Mike has to say.

"No Mike I don't care, you listen to me, tell the good senator that – actually don't worry about it I'm coming down there, and talk to him for myself.

"What I wouldn't give to have Lois back on the staff list!" Jonathan muttered to himself. "Sorry sweetheart, looks like I'm going to have to go into the office today after all, rain check for dinner?"

"Of course!" Martha replied happily.

"Now son we'll finish this when I get back, but just a quick question how do you know he's not just another one of those creatures who were released from the phantom zone like you?"

"Well I can't say for sure, when I find Raya, I'm sure she cant tell me who he is. But I'm pretty certain he's not someone I should fear, and that I'll be seeing a lot of him in the near future." Clark replied.

"Well we'll just have to wait and see, look after your mother and send my regards to Lois?"

"Sure dad!"

And with that, Jonathan Kent took off, exchanging quick greetings to both Chloe and Lana.

"Clark!" Chloe shrieked, she looked scared to death. Who could blame her, Lois has her only family other than her dad that she was close to. She was more than just cousins, both Lois and Chloe both considered the other as a sister and best friend simultaneously.

"What happened?" Lana butted in.

"I don't know. I found her car tilted over and I managed to pull her away from the explosion before it consumed us both. Then I rushed her over here as soon as I could." Clark answered.

"What were you doing at route 40 anyway Clark? And how did you get there and then to the hospital in such a short time?" Lana persisted.

"So, how is she?" Chloe quickly jumped in, as to save Clark from Lana's impending questions.

At this point Martha Kent thought it would be best to make her presence known in an attempt to calm the ever building tension in the room. "She's going to be fine, the doctor said she should just rest here for a week, but other than that she's going to make a full recovery." Chloe let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank God!" she uttered.

"Lana dear," Martha said as she turned to face the raven haired girl "Could you go and fetch me a cup of water, my throat's feeling a little dry, and I want to say something to Clark before I head off; and I think Chloe's too shaken up to do anything. Please dear?"

"Sure thing Mrs. Kent" Lana answered politely before walking off.

Turning to face Clark, Martha began "Clark this is getting ridiculous, you can't always expect Chloe or your father and I, to keep covering up for you. You need to tell Lana. If you want to pursue this relationship any further you need to come clean with her. I know your father and I have always warned you about limiting the number of people who know who you really are, but sweetie you are seriously fooling yourself if you think you can keep this up. You need to tell her, otherwise you may just be the one who ends up pushing her completely out of your life."

"I know mom, I know. It's just that I've been busy lately, with trying to remove as much of the rubble in Metropolis as possible after what happened on dark Thursday, and trying to track and stop all the people who escaped from the Phantom Zone, and trying to contact Raya, I just haven't found the time to spend with Lana. I know it's wrong, but I have to clean up my mess!"

"Oh honey, you can't blame yourself over what happened. It wasn't your fault" Martha tried soothing him.

"It wasn't? if I had just listened to Jor-El…"

"And done what Clark? Killed Lex!" Chloe jumped in.

"You're not a murderer," his mother stated.

"I know it's just…" Clark was interrupted by the sound of Raya's voice in his ears.

"Kal-El, I'm at your place of residence, we have much to discuss. Come quickly!"

"Clark, honey what is it? Martha asked starting to get worried at the look of shock and surprise Clark had on his face.

"It's Raya." He began. "She's at the house, she wants me to meet her there. Says it urgent." He replied.

"Go. I'll tell Lana I sent you to do your chores and that you send your love. Go Clark!" Martha implored.

"Thanks mom. Cya later Chloe, tell Lois to get well soon."

"I will Clark, and thanks for getting her here so quickly."

Clark nodded and sped out of the room. Moments later Lana walked in with a cup of water. "Here you are Mrs. Kent." She said handing the cup over to Lana.

"Why thank you dear."

"So, where's Clark"

"Oh, sorry Lana, Clark still had some farm chores to do so I sent him home, he sends his love to you though."

"Ok, thank you."

They sat there all three of them in the waiting room catching up on what's been happening in their lives. Chloe explaining the difficulties in trying to juggle classes and a job at the Daily Planet, Lana providing them with details of how wonderful and exciting the last 4 weeks have been with all her astronomical classes.

Looking at her watch and gets up, Mrs. Kent says "Well girls it's getting late, I really should head off home. Do any of you girls need a lift anywhere."

"No thanks Mrs. Kent but I'm gonna spend the night in Lois' room. I just can't leave her before I hear her voice. Plus I also wanna know what she was doing in Smallville in the first place. So I'm gonna stay here."

"Oh, OK. What about you Lana? Where are you gonna be staying"

"Oh, I rented the apartment above the Talon. I'm gonna be crashing there for the duration of the break. And I've got my car parked outside so I'm fine, but thanks for your concern Mrs. Kent"

"OK, well then I'm off, I'll talk to you girls soon. Say hi to Lois for us Chloe. I'll see if I can stop bye in the morning. Bye girls."

"Bye Mrs. Kent." They both answered.

"Well," Lana said turning to Chloe "I'm also gonna head off, I'm tired and need to get some rest. Call if you need anything?"

"Sure, Lana." Chloe got up and gave her roommate and best friend a hug. "Drive safely." She added with a quick smile.

"Always." Lana replied.

And with that Chloe was left alone with her cousin. She walked into her room and found a chair in the corner. She sat there and stared at her cousin before she found herself dozing off to sleep.