[Chapter 12: Preparations]Darlene was escorted into the Foundation. It was surreal. Being a Superman Foundation volunteer, she was used to a lot, but this was different.
Nearly a year before, she had felt Superman's aura for the first time and had been blessed enough to be part of the group that had helped him determine whether or not his aura was stable.
But now she would help far more directly.
She was a retired trauma nurse and had been called by Julie Heinz the night before.
At first she thought the call was about volunteer hours, since the Foundation had restricted access into the building to a select few after Kal had . . . returned from Arizona, but then Julie asked if she would be willing to help Dr. Klein carry out a treatment on Kal-El.
Her answer came easily, and now she was going up the stairs to the normally forbidden third floor.
She hadn't been told specifics over the phone, but she had seen the security footage and knew it involved the damage Parasite had done to him. Finally, she was led to a door.
"Mrs. Massie, thank you for coming," Dr. Klein greeted.
Everything was already set up on the left side of the room. A heart monitor and other equipment with trays of medical supplies were on a side table by a surgical bed, and there was another table with thick, folded items she quickly identified as lead blankets. At the head of the bed was yet another table and it had a heavy lock box.
Superman wasn't in the room yet, but there were two people beside Dr. Klein, who quickly stepped forward.
"Now that we're all here, let me introduce Dr. Hammond. He's a plastic surgeon at Metropolis General," Dr. Klein introduced – all business.
What he didn't mention was that Hammond was the best facial surgeon in the entire state. He was definitely one of the best in the nation. He specialized in traumatic injuries of facial structures, particularly the eye and eye socket.
Darlene had never worked with him and had never been formally introduced, but she recognized his name.
He was younger than her, but had pepper at his temples and the start of crow’s feet by his eyes. She had heard he could be a little abrasive, but truly cared about his patients and was unquestionably very good at his job.
Dr. Klein turned to introduce the other person, but she already knew her.
“Darlene!” the nurse greeted.
Darlene smiled. “Hi, Sara.”
Sara was a fairly young but excellent trauma nurse and had worked with Darlene for two years.
“Oh good, you already know each other,” Dr. Klein said, pleased.
“She helped train me,” Sara clarified proudly before quickly finishing introductions.
From there, Dr. Klein shifted gears, leading them to a table against the far wall.
“Alright, now, as I think you all already know, today is going to be rather unorthodox, but I wanted to explain and discuss a few things before Kal-El comes in,” Klein said, taking a deep breath as he pulled out a short stack of papers and began to lay them out.
“These are photos and notes I took over the past few days. As you can see, the healing has stopped,” he said.
The images were of Superman’s face and neck, both right and left sides, at different angles with dates and times written at the top left of each page.
Darlene and Sara gasped and even Dr. Hammond reacted with a horrified but muffled curse.
The early images were laden with horrid bruises and burst capillaries, but oddly minimal swelling. The newer images lost the bruises, but the black marks reminiscent of dead tissue remained.
Darlene quickly wiped her eyes, now fully understanding why Superman had yet to give a statement to the public himself.
“Can he see out of that eye?” Dr. Hammond asked.
“He can’t even open it,” Dr. Klein admitted gravely. “The tissue is rigid. Dead. From the samples I've managed to collect, I've found the cells have reverted to purely raw, organic material, although I can still make out some cellular structures.”
“Over the phone, you mentioned revitalizing his cells. How do you expect to do that?” Hammond asked, lifting an image and examining it closely.
“Kal’s cells absorb some kinds of radiation, and we’ve learned that certain types of radiation can induce different reactions. Now getting straight to the point, I believe if we carefully expose him to something we call red kryptonite, his cells will become supercharged and may induce a degree of healing. As for how much, I don’t know. We've discussed all the possible outcomes and risks, including blindness and the like, and he understands.” He took a deep breath. “There's many ways this could go, but we feel it’s necessary and worth the risks. Hence the lead blankets over there and your presence.”
“This 'kryptonite', how radioactive is it?” Hammond asked.
“It’s on par with alpha radiation and doesn’t appear to affect non-kryptonian cells at all. We’re actually in more danger from the sun than to the radiation kryptonite releases, but anyway, we’ll only have a tiny shard out and it'll only be out for a limited amount of time," he assured.
"So 'a degree of healing'?" Darlene asked.
"I suspect the cells underneath the dead areas will begin healing a portion of the cells above. I don't know how much though, but during the process, I believe we'll be able to remove what is . . . unhealable, for lack of a better word."
"So we'll be removing the dead tissue once that limit is learned?" Hammond asked.
"Possibly. And of course, I want to make clear we will only be doing a very small portion at a time. If it doesn't work, we will not continue," Klein clarified.
"And none of this can be removed now?" Hammond asked, pointing to the dark portion.
"Removing any of the black tissue near healthy skin has been near impossible. Most of the samples I collected were actually from the outermost layer, at the center, here and here," he said, pointing at where the center of Ta'peel's palms had been.
They nodded their grim understanding.
"How mobile is he?" Hammond asked.
"He is up and moving around without assistance, although most of his powers haven't returned yet."
"What has returned?" Darlene asked, suddenly wondering how this will work if his skin is impervious.
"Hearing, smell, most of his visual abilities in his right eye, and some touch. Nothing else. His strength and . . . durability is on par with a healthy human male's at the moment," Klein explained. "The cellular damage was throughout his body. Really, I'm surprised his condition has improved the way it has."
Hammond nodded grimly. "I saw the video."
"I think we all did," Sara mumbled.
Darlene tried not to think about it.
"I don't see any anesthesia," Hammond suddenly noted, looking around.
Klein heaved a sigh. "It doesn't work on him. Even while vulnerable."
"It what?" Sara breathed, as agast as Darlene and Hammond.
"He's going to be completely awake during this?" Darlene asked, glancing at the photos.
"What about pain management?" Hammond asked.
"Between his high metabolism and how his system processes certain enzymes and proteins, I'm afraid pain medications that work on us can't work on him. We've tried morphine and several other pain medications. None of them have worked," Klein said gravely.
"So I assume he won't have a line in either, for blood or fluids because they’re not compatible?" Darlene asked.
"At this time, I know saline would be alright to use if he needed it, but human blood . . . it would not be beneficial," he said.
"I must be honest, I'm not too comfortable with potentially operating on someone with no means of patient and pain control, let alone backup blood," Hammond stated bluntly.
Klein moved to respond when Hammond lifted his hand.
"I understand the circumstances, so I'll wait until I speak to him before deciding anything," Hammond said calmly.
"Very well. Okay, are there any other concerns?" Klein said, looking at them all.
"I have one. His aura, is it stable now? Is there anything we should know about it or do?" Sara asked.
"Oh yes. Apologies. I should have covered that sooner. It's stable. As for what to know, he tends to relax it here in the Foundation more than he does in public, and it usually extends about seven feet from him. As Darlene can tell you, you get used to it quicker than you'd expect, as odd as that may sound," Klein answered.
"And you can feel his emotions through it, and he can feel ours?" Hammond asked, seeking clarity.
"Yes, but given the circumstances, if you would prefer he tone it back, especially during treatment, he certainly can," Klein assured. "He automatically pulls it back if he feels people are uncomfortable with it anyway. He told me he's found that he does that subconsciously now."
Sara glanced at Darlene, her expression alone telling Darlene she found that tidbit a little sad. Darlene nodded in agreement.
"I know, given who he is, he might seem intimidating, but he really is quite personable and down to Earth," Klein said, oblivious to the silent exchange. "Anyway, anything else?"
They shook their heads no.
Darlene took a deep breath, anxiety admittedly more prevalent than anything else as Dr. Klein went to the wall phone.
"Yes, you can come in," he said simply into the receiver.
A moment later, the door opened.
O o O o O
Kal-El entered the room, trying not to appear as self-conscious as he felt.
He knew he still looked horrible, handprints aside. His reduction in weight was undeniable in his cheeks and arms, and he knew once he removed his blue t-shirt, his ribs would still be too prominent.
At least he didn't feel as cold as he had felt in the hospital. He was now just shy of 97 degrees, and he was quite grateful his mom had given him slippers all those months ago, even though it had mostly been as a joke.
The three people with Bernie straightened at his entrance. He knew Darlene, of course, and recognized the man beside Klein from a photo. The other woman he did not know.
"Kal, this is Dr. Benjamin Hammond and Nurse Sara Leese. You already know Darlene," Klein introduced.
“Hello,” he greeted, tentatively allowing his aura to extend as he approached.
He felt curiosity, astonishment, and sadness primarily as they took in his appearance, and while there was also uncertainty and unease from Hammond, it wasn't anything he hadn't felt before from people. All things considered, he had expected a more severe empathetic introduction, especially from someone of Hammond's reputation.
Thankfully, he didn't feel anything that would normally prompt him to rein in his aura from any of them. However, he suddenly felt a shift and was confused to find amusement as Sara released what could only be a giggle.
Darlene grinned, while Hammond blinked and expertly cleared his throat in a way that hid the chuckle that had managed to slip out.
They were all looking at his feet, well, his grizzly bear paw slippers.
Dr. Klein didn't bother to hide his amusement and laughed out loud, although he was more tickled by their reactions than the slippers.
"Oh!" Kal chuckled and lifted up a foot, er, paw. "These are from my mom. She gave them to me a while back. First time I've actually needed them to keep my feet warm."
He looked back up at them, all of them bemused but no longer trying to muffle their reactions.
"I had heard about you having these, but I didn't think they had been serious," Darlene admitted.
"The security guards?" Kal asked knowingly, not bothered.
"Yeah," she said.
He shrugged, happy the ice had been broken, before glancing at the surgical bed and equipment.
"So where do you want me? I assume you need to check a few things before we begin?" he asked them.
It was like a magic switch, watching their professional faces fully engage, and Kal was both relieved and anxious by how Dr. Hammond immediately took charge after a nod from Bernie.
Dr. Klein quickly set up the special camera and showed them how his aura naturally ebbed and flowed while they also gathered standard vitals. Then the more in-depth examination of the black marks began.
Now seated on the table with his shirt off, he carefully opened his mouth and let Hammond take a look.
Hammond hummed. "I see what you meant in your notes," he stated, glancing at Klein. "A portion of the damage has gone all the way through his cheeks, but isn’t separating from the healthy tissue the way you'd expect." He looked back at Kal, silently prompting him to close his mouth before he gently prodded his jaw bone before going down the side of his neck where the black extended. “I also see why you haven’t been moving your jaw much when you talk,” he commented.
/It feels really tight and I decided it was best not to aggravate things, so I’ve limited movement overall,/ Kal thought to them all.
Hammond startled.
“Sorry, would you rather–?” Kal began.
“No, no. That’s actually quite useful,” Hammond quickly assured, though still clearly surprised.
“So what do you think?” Dr. Klein asked.
“I think you’re right in proposing we do this in stages. Left side, then right, and then the eye. Now, back to my earlier concern,” he said, pulling back from Kal. “Superman . . . Kal, I understand human medications don’t work on you?”
/No, unfortunately they don’t./
“You see my concern then?” Hammond asked.
/Yes. And I’ll admit I’m a little concerned as well. I’ll do my best to stay still, but if I’m surprised or it gets really uncomfortable . . . I don’t have my super strength right now, but I’m still probably stronger than most humans./ He took a breath. /I don’t want to hurt anyone./
Kal did a fair job ignoring the waves of emotion that suddenly rose up from them as Darlene shifted slightly.
“Sometimes, in the hospital,” Darlene spoke up. “There were instances where there wasn’t time to wait for the pain medication to work, and we had to . . . restrain patients. I know that might seem–”
/No, it makes sense. And it makes sense here. Okay, let’s do that. It’ll actually make me feel a little better, though I doubt I’ll ever tell my dad about this after everything is over./
“You won’t?” Darlene asked before she could stop herself.
/I was often warned as a child to keep my abilities a secret because there are people in the world who would ‘dissect me like a frog’ if they got the chance. He still cautions me./
“Oh.”
A deep swell of sad realization rose around them, and Kal tried to soften it by sending out his calm acceptance. He wasn’t sure it helped.
“Well, I know someone we can call to get what we need and we can have them within an hour,” Hammond said, his expression now resolute.
“So we’re in agreement?” Dr. Klein asked.
“We are,” Hammond agreed. “Although I will insist on having a line in for saline.” He looked expectantly at Kal.
/A line in? Like an IV?/ Kal asked, baffled.
“Yes,” Hammond said.
/Uh . . . okay?/ he answered, looking at Klein uncertainly.
“Saline is the only thing I know for sure will be okay for you,” he said. “I haven’t had time to really investigate other blood products or fluids.”
/Oh. Okay, yeah. We can do that,/ Kal said, still a little uncertain, but willing.
“Alright. Does anyone have anything else?” Hammond asked.
No one did.
/Thank you. Whatever happens, all of you, thank you,/ Kal thought, allowing his gratitude to spill over unrestrained.
“While I can't say it'll be a pleasure, I can say it's an honor to help you," Hammond said honestly.
O o O o O
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