*Chapter Six*

POV: Clark Kent

I swept my arms around me, searching for a body. There was nothing. Panic began to rise. Where was she? She had to be here. That's when I saw the foot. I grabbed it and pulled it towards me. A body slid into view.

Lois.

Her eyes were closed and her skin was a sickly shade. Even a man who couldn't see people's heart beat would be able to tell that Lois Lane was almost dead. Not so close to death that she couldn't be saved though. I grabbed her prone body and dragged her to the cannery exit, trying to ignore the blood pouring from the back of her head. She had probably fallen and had unconsciously bled during the Cyborg fight. When the flooding started, she must have swallowed a vast amount of water. Her chances weren't looking to good.

I shot into the evening air, the sunset framing my body. I heard people gasp. "Get her to a hospital!" Someone yelled as I sped off. Within a heat beat I arrived at Metropolis Medical and had Lois on an emergency table. I politely averted my eyes as an EMT ripped her shirt off to try to bring her back. The young EMT carefully gave her CPR, trying to get the water from her lungs. I grasped her limp hand.

"Come on Lois. Hang on." I whispered. The EMT finally stopped. "The water has been emptied from her lungs." He said to a fellow paramedic. "She will be in need of some urgent surgery though to take care of the brain damage and bleeding." The EMT ripped her wet hand from mine and wheeled her away, barking orders as he went. I ran after them, dodging nurses and patient's alike. They took Lois into an operating room and slammed the door in my face. I sank to the ground. I should have found her sooner. I thought to myself as I fiddled with Lois's lucky pen.

A nurse in pink came up to me. "Mr. Superman?" She crouched down beside me. "Would you like a glass of water?" I shook my head dissolutely. "No thank you ma'am." She grabbed my muscly arm. "Will you at least sit down then?" She said gently. I allowed her to lead me to a chair across the hall from where Lois was. I sat there for what felt like eons but was really only hours. The same nurse in pink visited me a couple times. "You know honey, because their still in their means that she's still fighting." I sighed. "I just… I need to make sure she's alright."

The nurse chuckled. "You are devoted. Now, why don't you go and rest and if there's any news you'll be the first to know." I shook my head. "I need to stay." The nurse gave me a sad smile and stood. "It's alright Superman." She turned to leave. The night was uneventful. No one really came near me. Who wanted a grieving Superman?

Eventually Jimmy came crashing down the hall. He looked shocked to see me. "Oh Superman, you stuck around?" He exclaimed. I nodded. "Lois is in surgery for brain damage." Jimmy dropped into the chair next to me dejectedly. "I should have made sure she was okay sooner. If I hadn't been so caught up in my pictures..." His voice trailed off. I rubbed my eyes. "I know Jimmy. But its Lois, I mean she is old enough to take care of herself."

Jimmy nodded. "Yeah and I know that. But she's eighteen sirs. She lived on her own like a lot of eighteen year olds do, but Lois just has this knack for ending up in dangerous situations." I smiled. "Yes she does Jimmy. It's called curiosity."

Jimmy gloomily shined his camera with his vest. "I guess. I'm going to stay here though. It took forever for the police to finish interviewing me and after the doctors deemed I was fine they said I could come here." I flexed my ankle in my boot. "Yes. She's been in there for quite some time." Jimmy adjusted his glasses. "Oh and I almost forgot, but Miss Lang said she needed to speak to you when you were free." I looked up. "Lana did?" Jimmy nodded and got a dreamy look on his face. "Yeah, she's really something isn't she?"

I laughed bitterly. "You have no idea Olsen." Jimmy opened his mouth to reply but the opening of the surgery room door stopped him. We both jumped to our feet as a worn and tired surgeon stumbled out. "We've stopped the bleeding." He announced. "While Miss Lane will be fine physically, we're a bit worried mentally. It was quite an ordeal she went through." "Can we see her?" Jimmy blurted eagerly.

The surgeon removed his mask. "We're moving her to the Recovery room, but in a little while you guys will be able to see her." He announced as he wandered down the hall. A parade of doctors marched out of the room, wheeling Lois's bed with them. I could only see her unconscious figure for a second before she was gone around the corner. Jimmy grinned and wiped sweat off of his brow. "Here that? She's going to live!" He stretched his arms. "I got to go and tell the Chief!"

Without another word he turned to race down the hall in the opposite direction. Not thirty seconds after he left did a pretty blonde girl come running down the hall towards me.

"Where's Lois Lane?" She demanded. Something about the frank way she spoke and stubborn cross of the arms seemed familiar. "She's in recovery." I stuttered. The girl impatiently stamped her foot. "They told me she would be here!" She moaned. I raised a tentative hand. "May I ask who you are?" The girl seemed to remember I was there. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just out of my mind with worry. I'm Lucy Lane, Lois's sixteen year old sister." I shook her hand. That explained so much.

"It's nice to meet you Miss Lane. I'm-" Lucy laughed and cut me off. "You're Superman." She said. "I may live in the freaking middle of nowhere on an army base, but even I know who you are." She smiled. "Lois would be dead without you."

Lucy Lane was definitely beautiful, but in a different way than Lois. While Lois's dark looks seemed to make her look older and more mature than her age, Lucy seemed to be happy and care fee. She had long blonde hair that she wore straight with bangs that covered her china blue eyes. She was very much a teenager.

Lucy let out a girly giggle. "You are so much more handsome in real life." She sidled up to me. "Lucy!" A gruff male voice snapped. Lucy jumped away from me as if electrocuted. An elderly man in uniform stomped down the hall.

He bore an uncanny resemblance to Lois. "What do you think you are doing young lady?" He growled. Lucy raised an eyebrow rebelliously. "I was just introducing myself to Superman here." She laid a hand on my shoulder. The man's scowl deepened.

"General Sam Lane." He introduced himself. "May I say that the people of America have been protected by regular, normal men for as long as this country has been independent. We didn't win the civil war with Meta help you know." He growled. I gulped. "Now, where in the san heck is my daughter?" I blinked rapidly. "Lois is in a recovery room after an extensive surgery." I explained. Sam slicked back the few strands of gray hair that he had left. "Well, are you going to take me to her or stand there forever?" He barked.

I started towards the recovery room. "Right this way sir." Lucy giggled as she followed me to the recovery room. I used my extended vision to peer through each wall. I finally found Lois's room. A woman was pacing in front of the door. She paused dead in her tracks when she saw us. "Sam?" She sputtered. General Lane grimaced as if recalling a painful memory. "Ella. What are you doing here?" He said the name Ella as if it was poisonous. Elle sneered. "Why, coming to see my daughter of course. I did give birth to her." Now that I looked closely I did see that she looked like an older Lucy, only with hair that was obviously died and cheeks puffy from Botox.

"It's a Lane family reunion." Lucy muttered to herself. Oh the poor kid. Her parents obviously didn't get along and her sister was headstrong Lois Lane. Sam and Ella proceeded to bicker with each other while Lucy awkwardly adjusted her pink shirt. "Hey, Lois is going to be fine." I patted her shoulder.

Lucy snorted. "Oh, I know that. Lo is too stubborn to die. I'm just worried that one of my parents is probably going to end up killing the other one." I couldn't help but give a little laugh. "Well Miss, I believe it would be my job to make sure that no one is injured or killed." Lucy gave me a tight lipped smiled. "Good job. I have to admit though that it so weird standing next to a guy who I see in gossip magazines." My brow furrowed. "I'm in gossip magazines?" Lucy gave a genuine laugh. "You have no idea." The door opened and Lucy stopped smiling.

An African American nurse stepped out. "Wow." She chuckled. "Miss Lane is quite the popular patient I see." She said kindly. "Enough of this funny business, can I see my little girl?" Sam snapped. The nurse reeled back but nodded and stepped aside to let the Lanes though. I paused. "May I go in?" I asked politely.

The nurse sighed. "Well, technically, no. But I know that you haven't left yet and well, you're Superman. I'm going to let you in solely so you can keep the Lanes from killing each other." I smiled. "Thank you…Uh..." I read her name tag. "Annabelle." She smiled. "No problem sir." In the small room, Sam and Ella were hovering anxiously over Lois's bed. Lucy was awkwardly standing by the bed's foot. When I entered, Lucy looked up worriedly.

I walked over next to her. A quick glance showed that all of Lois's vital signs were normal. She looked almost peaceful, besides the fact that there was a huge bandage around her head and she had multiple bandages from hitting the concrete. "That's my daughter!" Ella said awkwardly. Lucy rolled her eyes. "As if she can hear you mom, she kind of looks dead." She snapped.

I could tell it was a lot for her to see Lois like this, and to tell the truth it was making me queasy too. Ella's eyes flickered over to me. "Why isn't she awake?" She demanded to know. I bit my lip. "I'm not sure Miss Lane, but her vitals are normal." Ella nodded and looked back down at her bruised daughter. For a few painfully still minutes nothing seemed to happen. Then, Lois's eyelids began to flutter before slowly opening.

Lucy gave a happy gasp and everyone stood in silence while Lois regained her bearings. "What happened?" She murmured, more to herself than to anyone else. "You were in an accident sweetheart." Sam said in a surprisingly gentle voice. "There was an accident." She repeated numbly. Ella nodded sympathetically. Lois locked eyes with me.

"It's you." She whispered.

"Me?" I asked. Lois brought a shaky hand to feel her hand wrap. "You told me to hold on." I nodded. "When I saved you, I did tell you to hold on."

She nodded. "Thank you, but who are you?"