Part 2 TOC"I'm fine, Clark," Lois tried to convince him back in their hotel room. Having swept her into his arms he'd glanced around the lobby to assess the chances of being seen, and then taken her up the stairs at a reasonable, but not dangerous, pace.
"You're
not fine, Lois. How can you say that?" Clark knew the panic was showing in his voice. "What … what do you think you are doing?" he asked when she started to shuffle off the bed, where he had gently placed her a few seconds after leaving the lobby.
"I need to visit the bathroom, Clark," she retorted. Reaching the edge of the bed she pushed off and strode for the adjoining washroom.
Whatever pain had sent her to her knees only a minute before was clearly gone. But … it also, quite clearly, kept returning. He stared, blankly, at the cream coloured wall, unable to calm his heart. His wife … his very pregnant wife … was in pain. And it was a regular pain.
He remembered what it was like … counting the minutes between contractions. It was … just like this.
But, was she really going into labour. She was only six months along. And she wasn't saying anything. If anyone would recognise the pain of labour it would be someone who had been through it three times.
Forcing his heart to calm he turned back to the bed. The covers were now in disarray, and he smiled. Lois never wanted to put the covers straight anyway. It was always Clark who tidied the bedroom … and the bed ... at home. He reached over and began to pull at the covers to straighten the wrinkles out, but a bright red patch against the light coloured silken sheet ripped all the breath from his lungs.
Blood.
Only a few, small spots. But they were still bright red. Not dried. Not old. Fresh blood. From where Lois had been sitting.
"Lois!" he called, loudly, and turned for the bathroom, reaching for the handle just at the moment that she called out his name in absolute panic.
"Clark!"
He burst through the door to find her staring in horror at the blood spots on the tile floor. "Clark," she repeated, much quieter and almost begging. Begging him to tell her that she was seeing things. Begging him to tell her that it didn't matter. Begging him to be the god-like Superman, that the whole world looks up to, and to save her. Save her and the baby.
Clark looked up to see the silent tears streaming from her eyes. The same begging was written all over her face.
A moment before panic and terror could overtake him he realised that Lois was in shock and she didn't know what to do. He pushed the panic away and took control, calmly.
Re-dressing his wife as swiftly as he could he then scooped her into his arms and, not even pausing long enough to change into the Suit, sped across the hotel room and out of the balcony window.
The swift flight, through the still, dark night, felt like the longest flight Clark had ever taken. He knew he couldn't go at super speed. He had no idea what that might do to Lois and the baby. Still, he covered the distance to Tampa General Hospital in only two minutes.
It felt like two years.
He landed just outside the doors to the emergency room and waited impatiently for the two seconds it took the sensors to recognise his presence. The doors slid open and he ran - at human speed - into the festively decorated reception area, Lois still cradled in his arms.
"Help, please. It's my wife," he called, suddenly breathless. He strode over to the desk and let Lois slide out of his arms. She stood next to him, clinging onto his arm. He could feel her trembling. "She's six months pregnant and bleeding. And it's like she's been having contractions. Someone has to see her right away." He pleaded, desperately.
"Can I take her name, please?" the lady behind the desk asked, completely without emotion and focussed on her computer screen.
"You don't understand. Someone has to see her now. The baby …" he rushed out, half pleading, half demanding.
The clerk looked up just as Clark felt the pressure increase on his arm. Lois cried out and her knees buckled exactly as they had done back at the hotel. Her cry was so full of pain that it drew the attention of the whole room for a moment. The clerk's eyes turned compassionate and she nodded. "Can you get her to the wheelchair over there?" Clark turned to look in the direction the lady was pointing. "I'll get an orderly to take her straight through".
"Thank you," Clark breathed out and began to lead Lois in the direction of the wheelchair. She didn't let her vice-like grip on his arm drop one bit as they began to move away from the reception desk.
"Clark … what's going to happen? My baby … my little girl …" She trailed off into almost silent sobs. Clark could hear them, though, and every single one was a knife in his heart. He was about to reply, and hopefully comfort his wife in some way, when a man approached the wheelchair and began to move it. Clark panicked for a moment, but the orderly just moved it closer for them, then waited.
Once Lois was settled she reached out to take Clark's hand. The orderly began pushing Lois towards the double swing doors at the far end of the waiting room and Clark moved along beside her
"Sir," came the call from behind, and Clark turned. "I need your wife's name and your insurance information."
"But…" Clark said, unable to think of anything but his wife's distress.
"Sir …" the clerk repeated.
"It's all right, Clark. You can come in once you've filled in all the forms." Clark looked down to his wife, only to be met by an unexpectedly calm face. Her pain had obviously passed, but her worry was still present - clearly written in her eyes.
Clark released Lois' hand and strode back to the reception desk. "Lois Lane-Kent," he gritted out through his teeth. Now that Lois didn't need him to be strong, now that she was being looked after by professionals, he felt himself on the verge of falling apart.
"Thank you. Now take a seat while you fill these out." She passed over a clipboard. "You can join your wife as soon as they are complete."
Clark made his way to an empty seat and dropped into it just as Lois disappeared through the double doors.
"My baby … my little girl …" Clark recalled Lois' cry from earlier.
He tipped his head down and glanced over the top of his glasses, letting the doors fade away. He knew that if Lois were to get some kind of magical Christmas Wish it would be for this baby to be a girl. And up, until this moment, Clark would have wished the same thing, not only for his own sake, but because of his love for his wife too.
He watched as Lois was wheeled into an empty bay half way down the corridor on the left. His heartbeat gradually increased the further away she got. Now, he just wished that everything would be okay.
The orderly pulled the curtains around the bay as he left and Clark released a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding. He returned his attention to the forms in his hand. A quick look around the waiting room revealed too many people to risk filling them in the 'super' way. Even so, he allowed a small amount of super speed to creep into his writing.
Very soon he was able to hand over his completed forms. As he headed for the double doors they opened and a green gowned woman strode in with a clipboard in her hands.
"Susan Chandra," called the doctor and a young woman with a large wad of surgical bandage pressed to her cheek stood just as Clark passed her.
Clark paid her little mind, and headed for his wife. As he strode down the corridor he saw another green gowned doctor heading towards him. She reached Lois' bay and slipped through the curtains while Clark was still a quite a few strides away.
Clark listened in on the introductions as he approached. "I'm Doctor Ellesmere, but please call me Laura. What's your name?" the doctor directed to Lois, gently.
"Lois," she replied just as Clark arrived at the bay and pushed through the curtains, immediately reaching for his wife, still sat in the wheelchair.
"Hi, Doctor Ellesmere, I'm Clark." He turned to greet the doctor, but as both hands were clasping his wife's he didn't offer to shake her hand.
During the next few minutes Clark and Lois both answered questions, letting Doctor Ellesmere know that Lois was six months pregnant, she'd been bleeding a little, she'd not bled before, it was her fourth pregnancy with no previous problems, they'd been out for a meal, and Lois has spent a long time in the rest room before they left. Clark even remembered to pass on that Lois had felt a little ill and complained of a slight reaction to the food.
"Lois?" the doctor enquired as she finished writing down that comment in her notes. "What did you mean by a slight reaction to the food?"
Lois looked away for a moment and bit her lip. Clark immediately recognised his wife's embarrassed look. "In the restroom … I, uhm …" She looked away again.
"Lois, did you have a bowel movement?" Lois nodded. "And was it loose?" She nodded again. "Tell me about these pains," she asked and indicated that Lois should climb up on the bed.
Clark immediately assisted Lois up from the wheelchair and helped her to climb on the hospital bed. She shuffled around and then lay herself down.
"It's like a strong aching across my back, but then it increases suddenly. If I was eight months, or more, along then I'd be suspecting contractions. But I'm only six … and it doesn’t actually feel like contractions. It's painful … in a different way. And I also … kinda … feel like I'm on my … you know …" Lois shrugged and looked away. Clark took hold of her hand and squeezed it.
"All right. I'm going to examine you, Lois. Is that okay?" Laura smiled and put down her notes.
"Mm hmm," Lois agreed.
Feeling her way gently around Lois' growing abdomen, Laura commented on everything she found. "Well, your baby is not engaged. The head is still up here." She indicated under Lois' left ribs. "Legs are down here."
Lois laughed and nodded. "I could have told you that." Clark smiled at his, currently, happy wife. How long that mood would stay could depend on what the doctor found.
"I'd like to listen for the heartbeat. Just a moment." Laura moved away from the bed and reached for her stethoscope. Clark automatically tuned into the baby's heartbeat. It was steady, but high. Babies had a very high heart rate in the womb and that was normal, so Clark didn't worry … too much. The doctor returned and Lois unbuttoned her blouse.
"Ooooo," Lois hissed in a breath when the cold metal touched her stomach. Laura began to search for the heartbeat.
"Right, I think that's your heartbeat I'm hearing at the moment, Lois. Let's try over here." The doctor repositioned again and began to frown. After another minute she looked up, warily. "I'm, uh, struggling to find the baby's heartbeat. Give me another minute."
Lois widened her eyes and turned her head, swiftly, to Clark. He held tight to her hand and felt her squeeze it in question. He returned the squeeze and nodded with a slight smile, trying to convey that
he could hear the heartbeat and there was nothing to worry about. When he saw a tear at the corner of his wife's eye he felt his heart lurch. She was worried. In fact, she was
more than worried. Clark suspected that she was on the verge of panic over the fate of their fifth child. Her eyes pleaded with him, and somehow he knew what she wanted.
He took a deep breath and nodded again, then slipped down his glasses to look at the baby.
__________
Time for more
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