Hospital
In the ambulance, Lois watched helplessly as her husband fought for his life. From his left arm there was a small line that was connected to a saline solution, and through which they were currently injecting something for the pain. He also had an oxygen mask on, and he had some sensors hooked up to monitor his heart.
- Hold on Clark, we're almost there - Lois said anguished
Sure enough, only seconds later they arrived at the hospital, and Clark was rushed to the emergency room immediately. And Lois was forced to stay in the waiting room
Lois had only been in the waiting room a couple of minutes when she saw Dr. Klein rush in.
- Dr. klein! Thank you for coming... Clark is in the ER... And he is very bad... Please help him - Lois begged
- I will do everything I can to help, and keep the secret safe
- Thanks!
Dr. Klein rushed into the ER, addressing the team caring for Clark. Luckily he had been able to communicate with the hospital on the way, and they were waiting for him
- Dr. Klein, it's good that you arrived so quickly - said Dr. Rose, in charge of the team - for the moment we have only managed to prepare him to start working
Clark was on the gurney, shirtless and pantsless, hooked up to all sorts of monitors.
- Excellent, from what I have been told, the bullets were designed to damage Superman, but in their desperation the attackers fired them at Clark - explained Dr. Klein - they are made of Kryptonite, a substance that is normally not harmful to humans unless it is in high concentrations in the blood
- As is the case with Mr. Kent - added Dr. Rose, understanding the situation
- Exactly. The damage that causes at a general level is similar to the one of mild radiation poisoning, but when the substance is removed from the blood, its effects pass in a few days. The local damage that the bullets can generate will depend a lot on the Kryptonite concentration they have, and we will not really know until we look inside - explained Dr. Klein
- Very well, in that case we will take some x-rays to know its location and we will immediately go to the operation room Someone take a blood sample to find out Mr. Kent's blood type.
- Oh, that's not necessary... I've brought some special transfusion bags for the occasion... They're Clark's type and they also contain elements that will deal with the Kryptonite in his system - said Dr. Klein, showing a small cooler that he had in his hand - I hope they are enough
- If we hurry they probably will, let's go - said Dr. Rose when he saw the 4 units of blood that were in the cooler
Obviously what Dr. Klein had said was a lie, and the blood had nothing to stand up to the Kryptonite, but at least it was Clark's blood type…it was in fact his blood. Luckily, at StraLabs Dr. Klein kept a small "blood bank" for Superman, in case they ever needed him. The idea had taken Clark by surprise at first, but after what had happened with Diana Stride and the Nazis he had agreed. Thanks to him regularly drawing blood from Superman, he was able to help him today... at least with that.
Once in the operation room, it was time to discover how much damage the bullets had done. Dr. Klein was present, to be able to contribute with his knowledge during the surgery, but he would not actively participate in it.
The images showed that one of the bullets was lodged in his abdomen, surrounded by an area that appeared to be bleeding profusely. The second bullet was lodged in Clark's spine.
- Well team, we will focus first on the bullet that is in the abdomen, it is causing a lot of bleeding. When we have that under control we will focus on the other bullet, which will require more careful work.
With Clark lying on his stomach, Dr. Rose began the surgery.
The first thing he could see was that the bullet had done a lot of damage to the soft tissues and organs. Much more than a normal bullet would do. There was blood everywhere and in between was a faint green color that glows
- Oh, my God... That looks like liquid Kryptonite... - Dr. Klein said, seeing the green liquid that was mixing with Clark's blood
- Do you want to take a sample? - asked Dr. Rose
- Yes please
Dr. Klein quickly takes a small sample of the liquid Kryptonite. Looking closely at the tube with the sample, he could see how the small elements of blood and tissue that were in it were beginning to be destroyed by the Kryptonite.
- Shit! We must get out as much Kryptonite as we can... And fast! The bullets must have had liquid Kryptonite inside, which is apparently very concentrated... It is acting almost like acid on the tissues - said Dr. Klein alarmed
- Fuck! I need gauze to absorb as much as we can, and then serum to wash the area and dilute...
The nurses reacted quickly, cleaning the area as much as possible.
- At least it doesn't glow so much anymore - said Dr. Rose - now I'll try to find the bullet and see what the real damage was
As soon as he found the bullet, he removed it and gave it to Dr. Klein so he could examine it further.
-The tip is broken and the rest of the bullet is hollow...-said Dr. Klein - we must hurry to find the one in his spine, it must be doing a lot of damage
- I know... I'm hurrying as much as I can... The damage here is serious, but luckily the damage here was limited to the left kidney... Intestines and everything else is fine
- What a relief... - said Dr. Klein
- Yes, but the damage to the kidney is irreparable, the bullet was embedded in the middle and the liquid Kryptonite destroyed it completely... I will remove all the damaged tissue and we will go to the spine
A few minutes later, Dr. Rose let one of his assistants close the incision so he could focus on the spine.
From what was seen in the x-ray, the bullet was in the L3-L4 section
- Apparently the bullet entered right between both vertebrae...- said Dr. Rose, as he was analyzing what he saw - ...causing a little damage to both vertebrae... - he said as he removed small pieces of vertebrae that had broken - ...and then remained lodged in the intervertebral disc... - he added while carefully removing the bullet and passing it to Dr. Klein
- It is the same as the previous one - said Dr. Klein - the spinal cord must be full of Kryptonite
- That's right, we have to clean the area that is covered with liquid Kryptonite, just as we did before, but very carefully... The marrow has already suffered a lot of damage
After cleaning the area as best he could, Dr. Rose repaired the damage to the vertebrae and then closed the incision.
- Well, you finish the whole process before taking him to his room. I'll go out and talk to his wife -said Dr. Rose after he finish
- I'll go with you - said Dr. Klein
Lois had been in the waiting room for a couple of hours. After Dr. Klein arrived, a nurse had told her that Clark would be taken in for surgery, but since then she had had no further information. Luckily she was not alone, Perry and Jimmy had recently arrived, after speaking with the police about what had happened.
- Have you heard from Clark? - asked Perry upon arrival
- Nothing yet...
- Do you want a coffee Lois? Perry asked.
- Yes, thank you - Lois replied.
- Don't worry, the doctors are doing everything they can... - said Perry - I'll bring you a coffee. Jimmy stay with her
- Sure Chief
- That they take so long are good news right? - Lois asked anxiously.
- I think so... At least it means that CK is still fighting
- Jimmy... Could you stay with little John tonight? The babysitter can't make it and she has to leave in a few hours... And Clark's parents are on their way, but they won't arrive until early morning
- Sure Lois, don't worry
- Thanks
- Here you go, honey - Perry said, handing Lois a coffee.
- Thanks
Another three hours had passed and Lois still had no information on Clark. The anguish was already unbearable, and this time she was alone, Jimmy had gone to take care of John, and Perry had had to go back to the Daily Planet. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't notice the pair of doctors approaching her.
-Lois?
-Dr Klein! How's Clark?
- Good evening, my name is Dr. Rose and I was the one who treated your husband
- Oh, good night... How is he?
- Come with us to the office, there we can talk calmly - said Dr. Rose
Dr. Rose guided Lois to a small office off the waiting room, once inside he began to explain Clark's situation.
-He is stable, he is still asleep from anesthesia, but soon they will take him to a room
- What a relief - Lois said. "At least the Kryptonite didn't kill him" she thought relieved
- But I'm afraid the bullets caused a lot of damage
- What does he mean?
- The bullets were not only made of Kryptonite Lois - explained Dr. Klein - they had very concentrated liquid Kryptonite inside
- Oh God! - Lois said, beginning to panic
- We were able to remove the bullets and most of the liquid Ktyptonite...Clark is currently on dialysis to help him remove any remaining Ktyptonite that may still be circulating in his body. Luckily Dr. Klein had adequate blood reservoirs for cases like these one, and we have been able to neutralize most of the Ktyptonite.
- Oh... thank you very much Dr. Klein... - Lois said, grateful to Dr. Klein for having thought of creating a blood reservoir for Clark
- But we didn't manage to do it before the Kryptonite cause damage... Serious ones - said Dr. Rose
- Serious? What damage? - Lois said, panicking again
- The concentrated liquid Ktyptonite acted as a kind of acid... destroying the tissues around it - Dr. Klein tried to explain.
- One of the bullets caused irreparable damage to his left kidney... I had to remove it completely
- Remove it..
- Don't worry, over time the right kidney will compensate for the lack and begin to do the work that both kidneys should be doing
- Okay...
- The second bullet, I'm afraid it caused much more damage. It hit Clark's spine... It entered between the L3-L4 vertebrae, and then lodged in the intervertebral disc.
- OMG! - Lois said, understanding the seriousness
- Upon entering, the bullet fractured both vertebrae a little, so I had to perform a spinal fusion to be able to give stability to the area. That means that I had to put some metal plates in the area, joining both vertebrae
- Okay...
- However, the greatest damage was done by the liquid Ktyptonite... Which attacked the spinal cord. As far as we could see, the marrow was totally sectioned... The acid-like effect of the Ktyptonite generated a few centimeters of destruction...
- That means that...
- Very likely your husband has lost all mobility and sensitivity in both legs. We still need to do some studies to be sure of the damage, but from what we could see, that's the most likely scenario.
- Oh dear - Lois said through tears. She couldn't believe what she had just heard... her husband, Superman, would never be able to walk again...
- I have to go back to take care of other patients. In a few more minutes the nurse will let you know which room Clark will be in, so you can go be with him. I'll check on him later - said Dr. Rose
- Ok, thank you very much for everything doctor
Once they were alone, Dr. Klein said
- I'm so sorry Lois, but we couldn't do anything else... The bullets had already done a lot of damage...
- I understand Dr. Klein... Thank you very much for your help, and for bringing the blood for Clark... Do you think someone suspects anything?
- Not at the moment... Luckily the blood I brought was enough, and being under the influence of Ktyptonite there were no difficulties with needles or anything like that
- Great...
- But I'm afraid we shouldn't be unconcerned yet. Soon Dr. Rose will try to do blood tests and other types of studies, which could give Clark away.
- What can we do?
- At the moment the only thing that occurs to me is to ask that Clark be transferred to StarLabs, with the excuse of monitoring his recovery from the Kryptonite... But that will depend on whether Clark is stable enough to be transferred
- Oh...
- At the moment I could try to ask to be in charge of the exams, giving the same excuse
- Oh, Dr. Klein, I hope
you managed to do it... Although Superman won't come back, I think it's best to keep the secret - Lois said, sobbing
- Of course Lois... In fact, I wouldn't lose hope yet
- What do you mean?
- Superman has incredible cellular recovery... When there is no Ktyptonite involved, of course... What I mean is that in normal situations, any damage the body receives is quickly healed...
- It's true...
- I highly doubt that this ability will allow him to regenerate a kidney out of thin air... But let's not rule out the possibility of some recovery to his spinal cord yet...
- Do you really think so?
- The chances are very low... Since the damage was extensive, and the spinal cord tissue normally does not regenerate... But that is in humans, we do not know if it works in the same way in him... Let's not lose hope yet ... Let's wait for his powers to return, and for his "super healing" to activate
- Ok... Thank you Dr. Klein