It's a great chapter, Jenni, and I was so relieved to see Superman escape. I had really been worried about his reaction to discovering that he had lost a finger, and I must say I love the way you handled that. First, Superman did not get furious or shocked, but listened patiently to the doctors' explanation. I was really glad that you made Stephan and Adrienne - and Teo - tell Superman the truth, too. But I must say that this passage about Superman's reaction to the doctors' explanation just made the entire chapter for me, and I completely, totally love it:
Actually, the man without a past had been faintly amused and comforted by the way the two doctors had jointly told their story, finishing off each other's sentences. He had no idea why that behavior should be familiar, he just knew that it was.
Superman, or the man without a past, is half-remembering something about himself and a beloved woman who used to finish off each other's sentences. The fact that a male and a female doctor's way of speaking together should somehow remind Superman of himself and Lois is so beautiful, Jenni, that it almost brought tears to my eyes.
Then there is the kiss that Adrienne gives Superman before he leaves them. It too reminds him of something:
It didn't feel quite right, but it stirred something emotional and poignant in his innermost self... not quite a remembrance, but an echo perhaps of the past. Had someone meant something to him once upon a time?
The way you write this, so delicately and yet so charged with emotion, is wonderful.
Another little snippet out of your story that has lodged itself in my mind is how you show us Superman waking up from his induced coma:
Suddenly, like an awakening giant, Superman reared up, gasping for breath, his body trembling in aftershock. Adrienne and Stephan instinctively drew back, while Teo watched with compassion from the driver's seat.
This is so vivid, so full of an almost electrical tension. This man is Superman... or he used to be. People have tried to kill him, and his rescuers have cut off one of his fingers.... How will he react? Will he lash out in fury, and will that fury somehow bring back his superpowers to him, so that he may hurt or kill those who, for such a long time, took part in torturing him? No wonder Adrienne and Stephan draw back in fear. But Teo, who knows Superman better than the doctors, knows that even though Superman is a giant among men and potentially supremely dangerous, no character trait defines him better than his gentleness.
I absolutely love the way you show us Teo in this chapter, particularly the way he saves Superman when the former superhero is about to drown in the river. Generally, though, your portrait of all three of Superman's rescuers is beautiful, and I love the closing paragraph:
They shook hands, back-slapped... they even hugged, such was their euphoria of a job well done. Only all three were aware that their job wasn't finished till they faced General Hyesan. When next they met, none of them could acknowledge the kinship they'd shared throughout their journey... an actual physical trip perhaps, but also a voyage of discovery where they'd met and conquered every difficulty with inspiration and teamwork. In helping the once strongest man in the world, they'd borrowed a little of that strength and all three knew, without a shadow of doubt, they were better people because of their choice to save Superman.
They were better people because of their choice to save Superman. Could there ever be a more perfect, more beautiful way of summing up the significance of what these three people had done not only for Superman, but for themselves?
But as for Superman, he still doesn't know that he is, or at least used to be, the Man of Steel. Since I don't speak French, I didn't understand at first the significance of the name that Adrienne gave him. Letour. L'etourdi... without memory. How poignantly fitting. We are told that Superman used to speak many languages. If his French comes back to him after a time, he may figure out that "Letour" just defines him as an amnesiac, and that he needs to find out more about himself.
But to think... he is left completely, totally alone in a huge country he doesn't know well, and whose Korea-bordering parts he may never have visited. It seems certain that he doesn't know anyone there, and he may not speak the language there at all. He is weak, sick, without memory and totally alone. What an unbelievably bleak, heart-rending prospect. All he really has got is a shadow of a memory of a woman.... Please let that memory sustain him, Jenni.
Ann
