Chapter 31
2:23 AM
"Mom? I thought you went to bed alr—"
"It's not mom, it's me." She slid her hand up the inside of his arm. He took her hand into his own and threaded his fingers with hers. He was warm, and she drew warmth from him through their entwined hands.
"You should really try to get some rest."
"Says the man with dark circles of his own under his eyes."
"Busted." They stood there, side by side, each looking out over the water, the slight breeze blowing lightly, causing the trees to flutter and rustle. "I close my eyes, but sleep doesn't come. What about you?"
"Falling asleep isn't the issue--staying asleep is."
He looked over at her, hoping that she would accept his silent invitation to talk about it.
"All night, I keep having the same dream. In the dream, I am in the LuthorCorp jet, just like the way it flashed in my head earlier. I fall asleep and when I wake up your mom is unconscious and the plane is going down. I try to get to her with an oxygen mask. Each time I can't reach her before I pass out. I keep thinking that it means something, but I never get past that point."
"Lois, that's not a dream. You're reliving a past memory. The last time you were on Lionel's plane, it did crash. You later told me that you woke up in a palace of ice and—"
"--it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen."
"Yes, that's what you said. You remember?" He asked hopefully.
"Yes, yes. I do. Just now, just as you started to say it, I remembered it. It's weird. It's like watching a play or something. I remember that day you came and saw me in the hospital and I told you about it."
"Lo, that's great." He wrapped his arms her, and hugged her enthusiastically. "That's fantastic."
She nodded against his neck and tears started to spill from her eyes. She began to quake against him.
"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" He smoothed a strand of hair back behind her shoulder.
"I don't know." She shrugged. "I was so frightened. I guess I'm just relieved. It's silly, isn't it?"
"No, it's not silly at all. I bet it's a normal reaction."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. We'll ask the doctor about it tomorrow." She shuddered a little and he realized that she was cold.
"Hang on." He grabbed a blanket off of the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Better?"
"Better." Clark led her over to the chaise lounge. He sat down and then pulled her down on the chaise, settling her in front of him.
"Now, I'll watch over you and you will get some sleep." She leaned against his chest, the steady rhythm of his heart lulling her into a relaxed, almost zen-like trance. She drifted off with a peaceful and contented smile on her lips. She welcomed sleep--she was so tired, tired of the confusion, tired of the worry, tired of the questions and the pieces that didn't fit. She still wanted to talk to Clark about the conversation she'd overheard between he and his mother, but thinking about that was too exhausting right now. Her questions would all have to wait until another time. Sleep now.
9:00 AM
"Good morning, I'm Dr. Schmidt, this is my associate Dr. Ann Chase. Dr. Chase's specialty is psychology and behavioral science."
"Thank you for agreeing to see us on such short notice." Clark shook the doctors' hand.
"Please, everyone, make yourselves comfortable. Lois, we've had an opportunity to review your medical records. What we would like to do next is to have a new CT scan of your head, to rule out any prolonged brain injury. While you are down in x-ray, Dr. Chase is going to interview Mr. Kent and Ms. Sullivan. After I've had a chance to review the new films, then I have some cognitive tests that I'd like you to complete. If there are no questions, then we can get started."
"Clark and Chloe, I've read the questionnaire you've completed, and I just want to get a little more information for our records. You've indicated that Lois has been having nightmares. That's a pretty standard response. Can you tell me if she has displayed any marked personality changes?"
"She's a bit more tearful than she would normally be." Said Chloe.
"And she's nicer to me." Supplied Clark.
"Your wife is treating you nicer now than she did before her accident?"
"She's not my wife. She thought she and I were married and the doctor at Smallville Medical Center told us that it would be better to go along with it so as not to traumatize her more."
"Well, we sometimes see situations where the amnesiac will assume a projected relationship."
"Do what?"
"Sometimes the patient will assume a fiancé is already a spouse."
"We're not engaged. We don't even date one another."
"Interesting." She said it in that disinterested way that doctors do that could indicate two extremes; like the coffee is ice cold or Armaggedeon was just unleashed.
"Were we wrong?"
"No, the doctors advised you correctly. The action taken falls within the protocol. It's just a bit unusual that Lois would have made the assumption that you were in an intimate relationship. It suggests that she had subconscious feelings for you before the accident."
"Uh-huh" was the only remark that Clark could manage in response to Dr. Chases' assessment. Chloe's responded with the slightly more articulate "Whoa."
After meeting with Lois, Dr. Schmidt called everyone back into her office. "Based on a review of all the information, we think this is a classic case of traumatic amnesia. We saw no evidence of prolonged brain injury, so it is our opinion that Lois' amnesia will be transient. Up until now she has been fairly isolated on the farm. Although this was an appropriate protocol while there was still active swelling, we believe that it is appropriate now to change strategy. We suggest that you expose Lois to some of the circumstances that surrounded the original accident. Exposure in this way is likely to trigger memories, and hasten memory recall."
"You mean like yesterday when I was in the LuthorCrop jet and I had that flash. It's because it was something that actually happened to me."
"Precisely. Now, I want to warn you that the nightmares that you'd reported may increase, along with the sleeplessness, fatigue and confusion. Don't be alarmed—it just means we're getting closer to getting the real Lois back. Okay?"
