Lois I
The assassin was dead in the river. The unidentified Kryptonian was dead on the living room carpet of the Kent house, the police were at the door and Superman was unconscious on the sofa. That pretty well summed up the evening for Wanda. It’d be a great story, if anyone would believe it.
Kal-El had already retrieved the dagger the assassin had used. The edge still glowed green and Kal-El hurriedly handed the dagger to Richard for safe-keeping in the lead-lined bag. Kal-El went to stand beside the French doors, arms crossed over his chest in his typical stance, expression calm and watchful.
Wanda let the police into the house, standing aside as uniformed officers came in, followed by Inspector Bill Henderson.
“What happened?” Henderson asked, after instructing one of his people to call for an aid car. Lois was tending to Superman.
Martha had come down stairs and had bandaged the gash on his arm. Lois was placing a cold compress on his forehead. He was still unconscious.
Lois looked over at the officers. “We had word from New Krypton that one of the rebel factions had sent assassins to take out Superman. The assassins came here looking for him,” Lois explained. “One of them hurt Superman, kryptonite and some sort of poison on a dagger looks like. Then we found him in the house.” She nodded to the body on the floor.
“He’s New Kryptonian?” the female officer asked. Her name tag identified her as V. Adams.
Lois nodded. “He was threatening me and the kids. I shot him. I do have a permit.”
“You shot and killed a New Kryptonian,” Officer Adams observed. “I thought they were invulnerable.”
“Not to Kryptonite,” Lois explained. “My husband represents Superman as the consul general of New Krypton. We have taken certain precautions against the arrival of ‘unfriendlies’ from there.”
Adams looked to Henderson for guidance. The older man looked to Lois. “Lois, since this house is technically part of New Krypton, it really isn’t in our jurisdiction. What do you and Clark want us to do?” Henderson asked.
“Could you get the body out of here?” Lois asked. “I’m sure the medical examiner would love to have another crack at a New Kryptonian corpse.” She said it lightly, but Wanda could see the strain in her face.
“Where is Mister Kent, by the way?” Officer Adams asked.
Henderson answered. “Oh, he’ll show up. Don’t worry.”
Lois gave him a grateful smile.
Henderson knows, Wanda thought to herself. Does our version know? Does Kal-El know if he does?
The aid car finally arrived. Wanda ushered the two emergency medical technicians into the living room, to where Superman was lying, unmoving on the sofa. She noted how carefully they moved him from the sofa to the gurney, as if they were afraid of hurting the Man of Steel. Despite their efforts, he gasped in pain. “Sorry, Superman,” one of the technicians murmured as he secured the safety straps on the gurney.
Lois II
It wasn’t the first time Lois had ridden in an aid car while they took Superman to Metropolis General. And she hated the feeling even more now than she had the first time. The feeling of helplessness, when all there was left was hope and prayers. It had been a long time since he’d been exposed to kryptonite and even then he hadn’t fallen unconscious.
He was so pale and his hands were cold when they put the stretcher into the van. She had to sit in front, with the driver. There wasn’t room in the back for her. It wouldn’t look right, in any case. Publicly, she was married to Clark Kent, not Superman. Superman was married to the Lady Zara of New Krypton. Oh, if they only knew how complicated it really was.
Doctor Klein would be waiting for them. She had called him before the aid car left the house, rousing him from bed.
He was starting to gasp for breath, never a good sign. The technician tending to him placed an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. Superman on oxygen. He hates that. He hates that feeling of helplessness. Dear God let him be all right.
Bernie Klein was waiting in the emergency room when the aid car rolled in. He trotted beside the gurney as they wheeled their patient into a waiting examination room. “What happened?” he asked Lois.
“An assassin had a poisoned knife. Kryptonite and something else,” she explained.
“He started having trouble breathing about ten minutes ago,” the EMT said.
