"How are you feeling, Alana?" Evelyn whispered, as she delicately brushed her sister's hair away from her pale forehead.
It had been a month since Evelyn had confirmed her blissfully peaceful relationship with Clark, and she was slowly but surely getting used to all the adjustments that came with actually having a boyfriend.
At first, she didn't think it would be a big deal, but she quickly discovered that it was - and, more importantly, that the adjustment period that came with it would have to be completed far quicker than she was prepared for it to be. Part of what made this so strange was that Clark wasn't just any boyfriend, but he was a boyfriend who held all her needs and wants significantly above his own. He wouldn't ever enforce any time on her, or be somewhere that she didn't want him to be. He wasn't overbearing, or clingy, or even borderline needy - if Evelyn said she needed to go and see Alana, and therefore couldn't be with him that evening, he'd never dare question it. He'd just make sure she was doing well both before and after the visit via text or phone call, but ultimately gave her space.
That was the big shift. Evelyn had never had a relationship where the other guy was such a strong, present guiding force, yet so peaceful and, at times, distant all in one go.
Today was slightly different, though - Evelyn wanted Clark with her at the hospital for some moral support, as she'd woken up feeling a little shakier than usual. Originally, Clark confirmed that he'd be there, but had suddenly been called elsewhere for work, meaning he had to cancel last minute.
Of course this change of plans made Evelyn feel uneasy, but not for any reason other than the fact that Clark was her rock - so without him, on shaky days like this one, she was unsure of how to cope.
What made matters even worse was that today, Alana really wasn't doing as well as she had been. This afternoon in particular, she'd gone from being perfectly coherent into suddenly fading in and out of consciousness, which the medical staff put down to the medication that she was on. The nurses had advised both Evelyn and Katherine to simply continue engaging her in conversation to keep her brain activity up, so Katherine had left it in Evelyn's hands for the time being whilst she went to take a well needed break outside.
Even though Alana didn't reply to all of Evelyn's casual questions, she was still receiving them in a way - and that was all that mattered in this moment.
"I was thinking about you all morning Lana, so knew that I had to come and visit," Evelyn continued to ramble as she sat in the chair beside her bed, crocheting away. "Every single time you're on my mind, I believe it's time to visit you. Don't get me wrong, these visits make me sad because it's never easy to see you in here. But it's important, because you're my sister and you come first in all I do. And-"
"Ev…I remember," came Alana's sudden, almost ghostly croak from where she lay motionless. Evelyn's eyes darted up in surprise and her heart started to beat a little quicker.
"You remember…? You remember what, Lana?" she asked worriedly, putting the crochet tools down and glancing over at the stat monitor to keep an eye on her vitals.
"T-the day. I remember the day that it happened," Alana croaked out, staring blankly at the ceiling above her. Evelyn felt her mouth run dangerously dry and she squeezed her eyes shut, fading back to that same time. "Do you, Ev? Do you remember?"
Did she?
…
[7 MONTHS EARLIER]
"Yes Ma, I'll let you know when you can come and see the new apartment - just let me move in properly first, damn," Evelyn was sighing teasingly down the phone as she unlocked the front door to her sweet little coffee shop, 'Romero's'. She flicked on the lights and switched on the heating before rushing over to the coffee machine to get it started, and pulling the vegetables from the pantry to begin preparing today's sandwich fillings. It was a glorious day - the sunlight streamed through her windows, giving the entire shop a warm, comforting glow.
"Ev, I'm beginning to think you actually don't want us in your new home at all," Katherine joked lightly from the other end of the line.
"Ugh! Now why on earth would you ever suggest that?" Evelyn giggled back, before putting her phone on speaker and resting it on the counter to free her hands. She glanced up at the clock on the wall as she hurriedly shoved on her apron and tied her long auburn curls into a messy topknot. "Look Ma, I really gotta run, my first customers will be through the door before I know it. I'll call you after work, okay?"
"Make sure you do - oh, and you might need to pick Alana up from school early, by the way," Katherine suddenly frowned before she could hang up. "I still don't know if she's feeling one hundred per cent, and I don't doubt that the school will be asking us to collect her at some point. Maybe she just should've gone to work with you-"
"No, she really couldn't have, Ma! I have an undercover critic from the Daily Planet visiting today, remember?" Evelyn sighed irritably, having had this conversation with her mother over ad over again that morning already. "I need everything to be perfect, and Alana being here would just be a distraction, as much as I love my sister, she will be fine at school- anyways Ma I really really have to go now, okay? Love you, bye."
"Love you too Ev," Katherine smiled before hanging up with a small sigh. Evelyn quickly shoved her phone back into her pocket as her first regulars stepped in through her door, the little cafe bell trilling. There were about six of them already, each one of them beaming and eager for her well known coffee and pastry. Evelyn made her way over to the first gentleman, a beloved middle aged construction worker named Bill, with her notepad and pen poised and at the ready. His hardhat was perched patiently on the chair beside him, as always.
"Morning Bill!" she grinned brightly, leaning her head to the side expectantly. "How are we doing this morning?"
"Morning Miss Romero! I'm doing well, how's it going with you? Looks like you only just opened up," Bill chuckled knowingly as he whacked his newspaper open to the crosswords page, as per his daily routine.
"Yeaaah I was running a little late this morning, so-" Evelyn began to admit with a little laugh - before there came a sudden distant rumble, rudely interrupting her words.
She and Bill both frowned to each other in confusion. The sound was odd, not anything that either one of them had heard before, and certainly not in the usually calm streets of Metropolis.
"Was that thunder? The weather's glorious! Surely it's not set to rain?" Bill was the first to blink in confusion, peering out the cafe windows. Evelyn twisted her lips to one side in thought, before simply shrugging it off.
"I mean…sometimes it gets so warm that we have electrical storms - I guess this is one of those times," she waved it off slightly. "Or maybe it's a truck or something, I don't know. Anyways - a black coffee, breakfast sandwich and a donut?"
"You know me too well, Miss Romero," Bill chuckled, before looking back down at his paper again and getting comfortable in his chair. Evelyn giggled back with a nod and made her way over to the bar again, starting up his order - when the floor suddenly rumbled beneath her feet, making her entire shop tremble.
Immediately she glanced up in a panic, her entire body going rigid with fear. Within seconds, she heard the cups on her shelves begin to rattle, the china she'd spent years to save up for starting to crack and splinter in front of her very eyes. Her gaze shot across the cafe to see her customers also look around in mild concern, having felt the exact same rattle that she had.
Then came the sudden knot of uncertainty and obvious panic bubbling up in her stomach, as she slowly made her way back to her cafe window and peered out of it.
She was stunned at what she saw - and she'd never forget it again.
Huge explosions blasting down her street, followed by what appeared to be shockwaves rippling violently through the concreted ground, shattering windows of glass and sending debris flying everywhere in its wake. Evelyn's heart raced against her chest as she quickly realised that the chaos was not going further from, but closer towards her.
"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" she suddenly screamed, just in time for her own cafe windows to blow inwards as the explosive shockwave hit them next. Evelyn ducked under the bar as her customers screamed and took cover under the tables, the sound of glass falling shredding throughout the air. But taking cover under the tables soon proved to be useless, as the force of the blast toppled those over too, leaving her terrified customers completely exposed to the commotion, screaming for help. It was complete carnage as Evelyn crouched there behind the bar with her head buried in her arms, her entire body trembling with adrenaline and her chest heaving up and down as though she was about to be sick.
She couldn't even hear properly over the sound of car sirens, emergency sirens, helicopters, civilian screams, cries for help, further explosions and collapsing buildings, each one of them completely and relentlessly coating her senses. There was a sudden ringing in her ear, interrupted only by the sound of whoever was left alive in her cafe that was scrambling to run away for their lives.
Evelyn didn't even want to check to see who was still alive.
She couldn't bear it.
But she knew she had to do something, in case somebody needed her help. She loved her customers, she had to make sure that they were doing okay.
With quivering hands and every ounce of bravery she could muster, Evelyn slowly used the top of the bar for support as she shakily peeked her eyes over, blinking the dust out of her eyes. Her darling cafe was completely destroyed, rubble everywhere, and the lifeless hands of some of her beloved customers were poking out from beneath the upturned tables - including Bill's builder's hat, the usually polished surface now splattered with his blood.
A devastated, croaky scream emitted from Evelyn's throat, speedily followed by the sight that would change her life forever.
An invasive blast of crimson hot red lightening sliced through the air, edging its way to an extremely close pile of rubble laying just in front of her, further destroying what was already destroyed of her cafe.
Evelyn let out another bloodcurdling scream as the heat from the lasers scorched her next, whilst yet another one struck a car close to the cafe's entrance, causing it to explode in front of her very eyes. The impact of the explosion sent Evelyn flying backwards once more, violently slamming her into her kitchenette area and trapping her beneath the demolished bar.
She could barely tell where she was at this point, that ringing noise coming back as she found herself unable to force her way out of the space she was wedged in. She attempted to widen her gaze again, but soon found herself staring in horror as yet another pair of lasers made its way towards her instead, about to hit what was left of her precious cafe, the only thing holding her alive.
"HELP!" Evelyn finally yelled, ferociously tugging on her lower body so that she could force her way out again. She knew death was coming, creeping up on her like a hooded figure in an alleyway, but there was nothing she could do about it.
There were hot tears of desperation staining her cheeks and her sobs were the only sound ringing clear in the air - she knew everyone else was gone.
Dead.
"Miss Romero?"
This sound was new. She didn't remember this happening in her memory. Evelyn craned her aching neck in an attempt to follow the sound, desperate to find out where it was coming from.
"Miss Romero?!"
…
[Present day]
"MISS ROMERO! Can you hear us?!" came the worried cry of a nurse as she shone her torch into Evelyn's dilated eye. Her mind slowly came to and she let out a shallow gasp, realising that she was cowering in the corner of Alana's hospital room, shaking and shivering. Alana was still laying on her bed staring at the ceiling, completely out of it once more, but all the nurses were now gathered around Evelyn, majorly concerned.
She'd clearly had a panic attack or an episode of some sort - but now the room was too tight.
She didn't even want to be diagnosed or helped. She had to get the hell out of there, and fast.
"Let me go!" she blurted out in a panic, causing the nurses to spring back so that she could scramble to her knees and run out of the ward. She stumbled into the hallway, down the steps and flew into the closest bathroom. She barricaded herself in one of the stalls and sat on the cistern of the toilet, burying her head in her arms and hyperventilating uncontrollably.
She couldn't breathe. Every single breath was so much worse than the last one, and there was no calming her down. Her chest felt like it was going to crumple and shatter into shards of nothing.
She needed Clark.
At this point, Evelyn genuinely believed she was going to die, unable to stop herself from choking on air. In some ways, she was kicking herself. It felt as if she'd relied on Clark for so long that her own mind wasn't even assisting her with how to calm down anymore. She internally found herself blaming his boss for dragging him away from her in the last moment - but how was anyone to know that simply sitting with Alana was going to lead Evelyn into the most haunting memory that she had stored in the depths of her mind.
She was sobbing harshly now. She felt as if her tears were suffocating her alive, and her body became smaller and smaller as if she was trying to disappear completely.
Suddenly, she could hear the door to the bathroom burst open. Terrified that it was her mother after hearing about what had happened in Alana's room, Evelyn balled her sleeve over her fist and stuffed it into her mouth to stifle her sobs, desperate for nobody else to hear her.
Her breaths were even more shallow and shaky as she tried to silence them completely, and she squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as they would go.
"Ev?"
Evelyn's bloodshot eyes flew open and a gasp escaped her lips. She knew that voice.
That was his voice.
"C-Clark?" she croaked out helplessly. Oh, how desperately she hoped she wasn't hallucinating. She would need more than her psychiatrist if that was the case.
But within seconds, there was a soft knock on her door.
"Ev? You in there?" came Clark's cool, calm voice again, cutting through her panic like an angel. Evelyn reached out with trembling hands and clicked the lock, letting the door swing open to see him stood there with a worried look plastered onto his face.
His broad shoulders fell as soon as he lay eyes on his girlfriend's shaky disposition.
"Oh, Ev," he murmured sadly, shaking his head as he took a step towards her with his arms outstretched. Evelyn burst into tears all over again as Clark pulled her into his chest and held onto her tightly, rocking her back and forth. He peppered kisses onto her head and tangled his fingers in her curls as she bawled, rubbing soft circles on her back with his free hand. "I'm sorry, sweet girl. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-"
"E-everything, I r-r-remember it a-a-all," Evelyn wept into his shirt.
"I know you do, I know," Clark whispered back assuringly. "It's okay. You're okay now. I got you." Evelyn gave a short shudder and slowly felt herself begin to calm down again, the security of being held in his arms more than enough to see her through.
"How did you know I- I was in here?" she started to ask as she hiccuped through the rest of her tears.
Clark froze for a moment.
How DID he know?
Well, he knew how he knew, but Evelyn couldn't.
"I wanted to pop by to check up on you, and a nurse said you'd left," he found himself lying instead, although it killed him on the inside. "I knew it can't have been a good thing, cos you'd never leave Alana that easily…so I came to find you."
"Ugh, my hero," Evelyn sniffed feebly, leaning back against his firm chest again. "I can't believe that she barely can speak these days, yet she somehow found herself asking if I remembered what happened on the day of The Incident."
"Maybe it's all she can remember," Clark found himself suggesting quietly. To his immediate surprise, Evelyn nodded and finally broke apart from him.
"Probably. After The Incident, I didn't wanna talk about it. I shut down every single person who tried to talk to me about it. That was my way of coping. But it's not everyone's methods, and I get that - in fact, your mother was the first one to teach me that," she spoke quietly. "That's why I allowed myself to feel Alana's question. But I think I felt it too much."
"Yeah," Clark hummed emphatically, tipping her chin up by her thumb and forefinger. "You think it might be time to go back to your therapist again?"
"…I'll book the appointment when we get back to mine," Evelyn chewed on her bottom lip fairly, leaning back into his chest again.
"Ah. That's my girl," Clark whispered into her hair proudly before pressing a soft kiss onto her head, making Evelyn smile as her dampened cheeks flushed.
She was his girl - and she loved it.