Wow, that was great!! Yay, she's alive! You had us worried there for awhile, especially with your veiled threa...er,
hints that appearances might not be deceiving, after all:
Like part one, this was a gripping, well-paced read. It was not at all apparent to me that Lois had survived-- until Clark kissed her. Your description of her recovery was very convincing, although, as Clark fears, she probably isn't going to escape completely unscathed. There's at least some risk of potentially severe side effects even though she's apparently recovered. (Pneumonia is pretty likely, unfortunately.)
Fortunately, she wasn't submerged, and so probably didn't inhale enough water to cause decreased oxygen to vital areas. But inhaling even a small amount of water can decrease lung function and/or collapse part of the lungs. Lungs can also get partially blocked by "stuff" in the water that's inhaled along with the water. If decreased function causes fluid to leave the lung capillaries and get into the lung tissue (edema), she's going to need oxygen to help combat any acute respiratory distress which may develop.
Interestingly, if water's been inhaled and the person requires rescue breathing, usually a higher ventilation pressure is needed than if there's no water present in the lungs. Clark is uniquely placed as possibly the only person who could even tell she was still alive, as well as being the only likely person who could provide the higher pressure (instinctively?) she might need to be revived. Whether you planned that or not, Wendy, it works.
And being out of the water even partially probably saved her from hypothermia (or at least limited it to mild hypothermia), since even a wet body loses heat more slowly out of the water. So Clark does need to make sure she continues to warm up quickly, but she's not likely to collapse. And here, her physical activity can actually help warm her up.
So-- what happened??
How did it happen? Like I said earlier, I can see force with the water glass and a forced walk to the water's edge-- but how do you force a person to walk into the water and keep going? And if Lex set the scene and then drugged her with a sleeping pill (or with more than one), she's
incredibly lucky she ended up on a branch before she drowned. Or was she running from him?
Like Clark, I'm anxious to find out what happened. Hopefully Lois will tell him (soon, ok, Wendy?).
I really liked the relieved playfulness between them at the end of this section. They've become so comfortable with each other, in such a short time. And yay, a revelation! Actually, I was kind of expecting one, if only because of the urgency required in warming Lois up-- but I like this one better. Not that she'll believe him without proof, of course.
So-- now they've got something to investigate, something to prove. Lex appears to be the bad guy, after all. Will story number three involve
both Lois and Clark's points of view (since story one was Lois' POV and story two is Clark's)? It may be a longer story, hmmm?
Keep writing!!
~Toc
PS-- SJH, you're pretty funny!!
I do enjoy your comments!
