XYK- Chapter 32- "7 POUNDS"
"Lois, you're four months pregnant!" Doctor Fox said, whilst examining Lois's cervix. Lois shifted uncomfortably to accommodate Dr Fox's examination.
"But on the plus side, I'm still alive..." Lois bit her lip and forced a smile.
Dr Fox glared at Lois, "It didn't occur to you to come and see me earlier?"
Lois looked over at Diana, who was sitting patiently on a seat at Dr Fox's desk. Diana gave a small smile of encouragement.
Dr Fox slid off of her seat and got up, slipping off her rubber gloves and chucking them in the disposal bin, she picked up her clipboard and wrote down some notes. Meanwhile Lois closed her legs, slipped her feet out of the stirrups and got dressed.
went to sit at her desk opposite Diana "Lois, don't take this the wrong way but what were you thinking?"
Lois joined them and sat down"It wasn't planned...Clark and I aren't even together anymore, it just happened."Lois sighed,"Dr Fox,I am asking you to please help me carry this baby to term."
"Lois come here." Dr Fox stood up again and held out her hand to Lois who got up and grabbed Fox took Lois over to a full length mirror on the other side of the office.
"Look at yourself."
Lois looked into the mirror. She saw she saw was the same reflection she'd seen for 35 shrugged "I don't know what I'm supposed to be looking for."
Dr Fox put her hands on Lois's shoulders. "Look harder."
Lois sighed but studied her reflection a little a minute she huffed, "Sorry,I don't see anything."
"You're slightly yellow. You're in the early stages of jaundice. Your cheeks are hollow and your eyes have dark rings around them."Dr Fox noted.
Lois stared harder at Fox was was as if the fog had been lifted and she could suddenly see herself properly for the first time in months.
"You're four months pregnant and you haven't started to show yet. Instead of gaining weight, you're losing weight..."Dr Fox continued. "Just by looking at you, I'd say at least 7 pounds since the last time I saw you."
"I've been really stressed out lately. I feel fine. I'm in the process of adopting a child, I'm going through a divorce, I have a high powered job and no time for myself. Of course I don't look great but like I said before, I feel fine...."
Dr Fox appraised Lois but didn't look too convinced. Instead she shuffled back to her desk and sat down, picked up her pen and wrote down more notes.
Lois looked over at Diana who looked anxious.
Suddenly Diana's phone began to ring. Diana looked down at it and turned pale. She quickly switched it off and put it away. Lois automatically had an inkling of who it might be phoning Diana. It had to be Clark.
"Lois, I'm going to be very honest with you..."Dr Fox began, snapping Lois's attention back to her "...your chances of carrying this baby to term are very slim.I'm sure I don't need to tell you again. But since you are past the first trimester I will do my utmost to ensure you have a fighting chance."
Diana and Lois both sighed with relief.
"I'm putting you on high doses of Folic acid, Iron and a multivitamin. Five of each three times a day."
"Sure."Lois nodded.
"Xymethaline- yttrium-Krypton difluoride."
"Say what?" Lois asked.
"A substance me and my team have been working on .We call it XYK." Dr Fox looked up from her prescription pad "Your baby will need all the nutrients it can get."
Lois nodded even though her head was spinning.
"It'll have to be administered via drip, for about three hours a night."
Lois groaned internally.
"I'll get a nurse to set you up with the knowhow and everything you need. You'll be able to administer it yourself; the side effects should be minimal..."
A drip meant needles. Lois shuddered but silently reminded herself that it would all be worth it in the end.
"Exercise..?" Dr Fox asked, Diana gently prodded Lois snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Huh?"
"Do you exercise?"
"Not as much as I'd like to."Lois shrugged.
"A lot of exercise isn't something I'd recommend to a lot of women in your condition but You need to take care of yourself Lois. "Dr Fox sat back in her leather chair "You'll need to be physically strong to deliver this baby. I'm talking power walking, light weights, yoga, Pilates, swimming...Do you swim?"
-x-x-x-x-
Walking out of the Office Lois pulled up the collar of her coat to shield herself from the windy weather. Diana remained indifferent to the weather, simply letting her thick chestnut hair flail in the wind.
"Thanks for coming with me today."Lois said to Diana. "I really needed the moral support."
Diana smiled as the women walked along the street "You're welcome." Diana giggled slightly.
"What?"Lois asked wanting to share in the joke.
"It's nothing..."Diana began.
Lois laughed "Liar!"
"Ok...It's just, who would have thought that we'd be here like this. You and I ,all friend-like. It's nice."
Lois smiled "Yeah...it is." Lois stopped walking "Wanna grab a cup of something warm and some Pie? It's freezing out here."
"It is?" Diana looked confused "I hadn't even noticed."
-x-x-x-x-
Clark looked down at his phone. He thought he'd try her again. Just to see. He reached for his phone but stopped himself. He didn't want to come off as some obsessed stalker; he'd already left six messages today and it had become abundantly clear that Diana Prince was not going to return any of them. He had hurt her beyond belief ,he had used her to get over Lois despite knowing how she felt about him, despite her being a good friend. He wanted to apologise; to explain that what had happened between them had nothing to do with her and everything to do with him and how messed up he could finally admit that he was. Clark reached for his phone and dialled her number.
-x-x-x-x-
Lois took a sip of her hot chocolate,and counted the number of rings omitting from Diana's cell phone "You really ought to get that."
Diana pretended to play deaf and dumb "What?"
"Your phone has been ringing nonstop ever since we left my apartment this morning, you haven't picked it up once,they don't have network coverage of Paradise Island and you only know two people in Metropolis...and I'm pretty sure I'm not the one calling you,It's Clark."
"How do you know?"Diana asked genuinely surprised.
"..I know Clark."Lois said in a small whisper, a lump in her throat. Lois quickly grabbed her mug and looked the other way, blinking away unshed tears. I know Clark. Just like that it hit her. Lois cursed her hormones and overly emotional knew Clark,He was probably somewhere feeling awful right now.
The phone stopped ringing.
"You think I should talk to him?" Diana asked, digging a fork into her banana pie.
Lois nodded "You should clear the air before you leave."
"I can't .I'm embarrassed."
"Don't be."Lois reached over and patted Diana's hand.
"He called me by your name. I was semi naked, ready and willing and he called me Lois. And did I mention that he was high on Red K? I bet that just makes you feel great."
Lois couldn't help but smirk. "A little."
Diana smirked back and crossed her arms. "I'll talk to Clark when you tell him the truth."
Lois groaned "That's not fair. You guys are... " Lois leant forward and whispered "...in the Justice League, you have to be friends. The world depends on it. Besides I just can't, not right now, my main concerns are my children."
"Well you told me the truth and I didn't even have to use my Lasso of truth."
The two women shared a laugh.
"Maybe I'll send him a telegram from Paradise Island." Diana looked down at her watch "Speaking of which, I really should get going."
-x-x-x-x-
Lois drove Diana out to the air field on the outskirts of Metropolis, where Diana's invisible Jet was parked.
"What have you got planned for the rest of the day?" Diana asked whilst watching the picturesque Kansas scenery pass them by.
"Work stuff."
"Lois didn't you hear a word Dr Fox had to say?"
Lois smiled. "Of course I did. But the magazine is exploring migration and immigration and some Ladies have volunteered to talk to me about their struggles. This opportunity is too good to pass."
"Ok,but be careful because-" Diana began.
"It's pretty windy out, are you sure it's safe to fly?" Lois asked cutting Diana off from finishing the rest of her sentence.
The two women silently watched tall Oak trees sway in the wind for a minute.
"I'll be fine."Diana said, hoping out of the car to collect her bags. Lois got out to help.
The two women stood up and embraced.
"Look after yourself Lois."Diana gently laid a hand on Lois's still flat stomach.
"Will you be back?"
Diana nodded "Of Course. Try and stop me." She opened the plane and threw her bags inside. Diana stood on her invisible steps and turned to Lois who was stood waving over by her car on the edge of the airfield.
"Tell Clark!"
Lois smiled and nodded.
In a flash of white light Diana and her Invisible plane disappeared into the grey Kansas sky.
-x-x-x-x
Lois looked down at the piece of napkin paper that she'd scrawled the address on and stared up at the crumbling, more than menacing tenement building and shuddered.
Graffiti on the walls, broken glass and syringes on the floor coupled with the pervasive smell of Urine in the elevator, Lois tried not to gag.No one should be forced to live in these conditions ,she thought to herself as she clutched her bag and waited to arrive on the seventh floor.
Once there Lois knocked on apartment 7B and was greeted by four women. One Zimbabwean, One Honduran and the other two Bosnian. Lois stepped inside and thanked them profusely for taking the time to talk to her.
Two hours later Lois was reeling from the heartbreaking stories of courage, lost love,war,poverty and exodus to the relatively safe shores of America. Lois thanked the women again ,closed her notebook and pressed STOP on her voice recorder. She began to pack her things when the faint smell of smoke and burnt plastic hit her nose.
"FUEGO!" someone yelled from outside the apartment door,quickly followed by a hysterical stampede. "FUEGO!FUEGO!FUEGO!"
Lois dug hard inside her memory to locate her High school Spanish,"FIRE!...Did someone just say Fire!" Lois looked over at the startled women who immediately rose to their feet.
Lois raced over to the front door and opened it. First she was hit by the heat. Her eyes immediately stung from the smoke,so thick and high that she couldn't see through it. Her lungs began to oscillate ,and she couldn't breathe;instead she began to cough and her mouth with her hands she quickly closed the door and turned to face her petrified interviewees, calmly she said "The building is on fire and we need to get out NOW."
TBC.