[Chapter 14: Sight]Lois looked at the clock. She wasn’t sure when the Kents would arrive exactly. She only knew they had gotten the earliest flight they could and were on their way. Hopefully they arrived before Mav called to inform her that the procedure was completed. She of course would prefer it to be Kal who called, but realistically she knew it would likely be Mav.
She took a deep breath and considered the risk of turning on the television.
It was now Sunday. Kal had been taken the previous Friday, and the world had endured four days of sporadic attacks, until he had been rescued on Wednesday. He had then spent three nights in the hospital before being transported to the Foundation Saturday morning. So much had happened within ten days, she suspected she would never be able to fully wrap her head around it.
Worldwide, the damage was still being evaluated, though it was expected to be near a billion dollars. A billion dollars in four days, nine separate attacks, over half in the United States. Unsurprisingly, the people of Earth were in shock, and in that stunned state, much was being shown and discussed, occasionally in less than tactful ways.
The only good thing in that situation was the low number of casualties and that, astoundingly, there had been no deaths.
Unfortunately, that tidbit did not distract the world from the primary focus: Superman's ultimate condition.
Was he going to be okay?
The talking heads on the television were at it non-stop, and since the rescue, they had somehow gotten wind of Superman calling out for help telepathically. Granted, that really wasn't much of a surprise, considering how many people he had reached, who they had told, and the fact she had called out his name in the middle of the newsroom last Sunday morning.
Lord. Had that been last week?
Of course, people were quite curious about his telepathy, but with everything else going on, that was soon pushed back behind more shocking news.
Most everyone and their great aunt had seen the footage at least twice now, whether they wanted to or not. And every news station continued to go over it all in nauseating detail, even getting 'experts' to discuss what injuries Superman might need to recover from and possible treatments – assuming human treatments could work on him.
Only after Lois' op-ed piece began to circulate, as well as the backlash from the general population, did the media pull back and have a little more tact. Of course, the statement from the Foundation had also had a part to play.
'There’s a few things to update you all on and, due to recent events, address,’ Mav had said Saturday evening, in front of the Foundation. ‘Superman remains in stable condition and, I would like to reiterate, wishes to continue being as upfront as possible with the world. To that end, he asked me to inform you all that, due to injuries he suffered on his face from the parasitic being known as Ta’peel, he will be undergoing a special procedure here tomorrow. To those who pray, please keep that in mind.
‘Concerning the rest of his injuries, the vast majority of those have fully healed and some of his abilities are beginning to return. Also, as I had previously disclosed with a summary of his injuries, he has lost a fair amount of weight, roughly sixty pounds, but as of this morning has regained twenty. We do not yet have an estimate for when he will be completely healed, but his medical team is hopeful his progress will remain steady or increase.
‘Now, to the footage that was released. I will be as blunt as always. We, the Foundation, feel its release was premature due to the sensitivity of the material and the current state of the world. The way it was released was also not conducive to the healing we all need after recent events; however, since it was released, without any forewarning to the Foundation I might add, I would like to preemptively answer a few things:
'Yes, Superman has some knowledge in martial arts, specifically Jujitsu and Aikido.
'Yes, Superman was responsible for Ta'peel's collapse seen in the footage.
'The distortions that appeared to leave Ta'peel's form – we believe they were energy fragments he had stolen from other beings before coming to Earth.
'Yes, having two people perform CPR was the right call because Superman’s bones are over four times denser than ours. More force was necessary to pump his heart. We once again profusely thank the pararescuemen who risked their lives to save Superman and for all their efforts that successfully brought him back to us.
'No, we do not suspect any lasting harm from the seizure, which occurred due to his aura reconnecting to his nervous system.
'Now, I must get back and continue planning for tomorrow. I will update you all when I can. Please be patient and leave speculation to a minimum. Kal-El's family would appreciate it, especially after being blindsighted this morning.
'Thank you.'
That had been 6 pm last night, and now it was 9:20 am.
Suddenly, her doorbell rang.
She hurried to the door and looked through the peephole, expecting to see the Kents.
Lois felt bad for feeling disappointed but quickly felt some relief as she realized any company in-the-know was welcome. She opened the door.
"Is he going to be okay?! Are
you okay!?" Lucy blurted.
"We've been better," she decided, before giving into her needs and embracing her sister. "I'm waiting for a call," she said, pulling back.
"The Foundation?" Lucy asked knowingly as Lois stepped aside.
"Yeah," she said, shutting the door behind her sister and leading them to the living room.
"Is he going to be okay?" Lucy asked once they were sitting.
Lois swallowed.
"You don't need to answer," she said quickly. "I just came by to see how you were doing. Especially after . . . well, you know."
Lois softened. "Thanks. I'm okay. As for Kal . . . we don’t know. Parasite really hurt him, but we're hoping today's treatment will help."
"Treatment?"
"It's more or less surgery. There's a material that Dr. Klein is hoping will jump start his healing, but either way they need to remove–" She sighed heavily.
"Those black marks?" Lucy supplied uncertainly. Those had been brought up a number of times on news channels. Although there weren't actually any images, there had been enough people who had seen his face with their own eyes.
"Yeah."
"Oh," Lucy breathed, feeling gut punched.
They sat in silence for a bit, but Lois and silence didn't really mix well.
"Is it sad that I'm nervous about turning on the TV?" she asked, giving a nod to the television that was off.
"Not really, especially after the week you've had," Lucy assured.
Lois smiled, actually glad Lucy had decided to drop by uninvited.
'His parents are on their way from Smallville, though I'm not sure when they're going to arrive," Lois said.
"I still can't believe I've met Superman’s
parents," she said, recalling Lois' wedding.
Lois chuckled, happy for the brief distraction.
"In a way, I suppose it makes a great amount of sense. Superman being a small town, farmers' kid, you know?" Lucy commented.
"It does?" Lois asked. She hadn't really thought about it before.
"His humility, innate goodness, and unwavering persistence. It came from good parents and that environment," Lucy explained thoughtfully.
"Hm. I suppose that's true,” Lois agreed.
“So they’re going to call you when it’s over? The treatment?” Lucy asked.
“Yeah. He promised either he would or Mav, the direc–”
She gasped and placed her hand on her chest as if struck.
“Lois?” Lucy asked, alarmed.
“I-I don’t know. It’s–it’s Kal,” she managed, before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.
“What’s happening?” Lucy asked, afraid.
“He’s calming down now. Okay. Whoa. That was . . . intense,” she said, slowly relaxing as she looked at her sister.
“Was that his . . . telepathy?” she asked.
“Uh, sort of. He wasn’t actively trying to contact me that time. Hm. This must be what had happened to him when I had been really angry yesterday,” she said, thinking.
“What?”
“We can feel when the other is experiencing a strong emotion. I think it’s because of how much I've been around his aura. Or at least that's the only thing I can think of," she said.
"Wow. So . . . he really did call out for help?"
Lois nodded. "He managed to tell me he was in Arizona and then later sent me an image of a sign that let me figure out where he was exactly."
"That's amazing. And all Kryptonians can do that? I wonder if they get to a point of just using telepathy all the time and not actually talking," Lucy mused.
"They used it during all their meetings, apparently," Lois said. "He did comment on how their telepathy seemed to be a little . . . rougher than his though."
"Can he call them at all now? Not with telepathy, because that has to be too far, but their technology?"
"He sent them a message after he dealt with that being at the police department. They left a device. He hasn't heard a response yet, but apparently it takes several months to communicate just one way. Kal had said he'd be surprised to hear back from them before Spring," she said.
"Dang," Lucy said, eyebrows high.
It was currently October.
"Would you like something to drink?" Lois asked, realizing what a horrible host she was.
"Oh, anything is fine," she said.
And then the phone rang.
Lois never picked up the phone so fast in her life.
"Hello?"
"Hey, honey," he said, sounding tired, but what she noticed most was how the odd drag in his voice from before was gone. Which had to mean he could move his face normally again! "It worked. Dr. Klein was right."
She could hear his smile.
"The marks are. . . ?" she asked, afraid to hope.
"They are. They're completely and utterly gone. I don't even have any scars," he said, joy and relief in his voice, though unsurprisingly worn. "I should be home tonight."
Lois' relief was so powerful she could have cried.
"And you're okay? I felt a spike of . . . something earlier."
"You felt that?" he asked, suddenly concerned.
"Well, I knew you were in pain, but I didn’t actually feel it," she clarified, knowing he was afraid it had been like before, when he had sent the message just as Ta'peel had touched him.
"Thank goodness. I'm glad you didn't feel that. My, uh, eye was healing."
Lois winced.
"Which, I, uh, will likely need to come back here for some more checks later. I'm going to get one before I head home, actually."
"Checks?" Lois questioned. She did not like the sound of that.
"We don’t know anything yet. My eye likely just needs more time, hence the tests," he explained hastily.
"Your eye?" she asked, forcing herself not to jump to conclusions, even though she was mentally bouncing like crazy.
"Everything is a white fog at the moment," he admitted. "But a good portion of my eye had been completely dead less than an hour ago. I can’t expect it to be able to heat up my coffee already."
"
My coffee, you mean," she bantered, even though she felt as if she had just come off of a roller coaster and was about to immediately get on another.
Kal laughed and she smiled at the sound. It was strange, she was so relieved and happy but couldn’t help but feel a new anxiety. She took a mental breath.
Things were better than they had been. Way way better, she reminded herself. They would face whatever came. They had each other.
“Well, I should go so they can complete those tests and then I’ll get home. See you soon,” he promised.
“Love you.”
“Love you too,” he said.
He hung up and Lois turned to find her grinning sister.
O o O o O
He was blind in his left eye.
Sara and Darlene had departed less than an hour prior with his sincere thanks, their job complete, before Dr. Klein and Dr. Hammond had begun and finished their examination.
And now they knew.
His visual acuity in that eye was worse than 20/400. The eye was currently legally blind.
He looked in the mirror. His right, brown eye contrasted sharply from his left, which had a strange iris of red and white, with the white smoothly blending into the surrounding white of his eye, having no clear border as it normally should. His tiny pupil was also oddly shaped, like a curved diamond.
Admittedly, it was quite disconcerting.
He closed his right eye and saw the white fog with unhelpful, faint shapes.
Mav had just left the room to arrange for him to meet with the specialist optometrist Dr. Hammond recommended. He asked Mav to not tell anyone else about his sight specifically just yet. He would make a statement himself after he met with the optometrist whenever that occurred.
Slowly, he exhaled and rubbed his face, before sitting back down in the exam chair to think. There was so much to process, which was no doubt why he had subconsciously pulled back his aura before they had even begun carefully examining his eye.
He touched his face again, feeling the lack of stiff, dead skin, and he was once again reminded of how much worse it could have been. How much worse it had been. What was an eye when he had his life? He couldn't not be grateful, even if the condition of his eye was permanent.
He would need to figure out what to do to preserve his identity as Clark, however, but at least he no longer had to contend with hideous black marks now.
"Kal, I'm, I'm so sorry," Dr. Klein managed, remorseful, clearly believing there was something he could have done to save Kal's sight.
"It’s not your fault. We knew there was a chance there'd be permanent issues. And considering everything, I'm grateful it's just this eye's vision and appearance, truly," he said, letting his aura expand to show he wasn’t upset. A bit troubled, but not upset.
"There is a chance this might not be permanent, or that it can be improved or even corrected with a prescription," Hammond put in. "It's too soon to tell."
Kal suddenly wanted to laugh. Superman with eye glasses?! Or even better, a monocle!
He did laugh at that, and then he couldn't stop.
As soon as the image of him wearing a monocle, flying in for a rescue and landing among school children with his cape flapping in the wind, came to his mind, he completely lost it. It was hysterical!
He had never laughed so hard in his life, and maybe it was because of the exceedingly traumatic week, but his mind immediately began imagining scenarios of him wearing a monocle and how people might react.
They only got funnier and funnier.
He relaxed his aura further and allowed himself to process the concerned bafflement from Dr. Klein and Hammond, which only made him laugh harder, knowing the current sight of Superman practically rolling must be pretty startling to them.
"You think I could get a monocle?" he asked between bouts of laughter, tears in his eyes.
"A monocle?" Klein asked, before he too saw the comedy.
Hammond joined soon after.
It took a bit for them all to calm down, but the laughter was certainly good medicine.
"Would you wear one?" Klein asked, struggling not to fall back into hysterics.
"Probably not. I'd have to figure out a way to connect the monocle chain to my suit or something. Which might not be good because it could get in the way during rescues," he said seriously, before chuckling slightly and shaking his head. He took a deep breath, much calmer and relaxed. "I definitely needed that."
"Well, I must say, having that laugh was a pleasure," Hammond agreed, calling back to his comment earlier that day, before the surgery.
Kal smiled.
"So you know Irish? I mean, I know you pretty much know all of Earth's languages, but it was still a surprise to hear you speak it," Hammond said after a moment.
"My earth mom actually speaks some Irish, and it was because of her that I got interested in learning other languages to begin with. As for you, those were pretty colorful words," Kal said with a smirk.
Hammond coughed to clear his throat, embarrassed. "Yes, well, my apologies. Normally no one can understand me if they do manage to hear me muttering under my breath. And while I know it's a bit unprofessional, being colorful in tricky situations does help me do my job better for some reason."
"Whatever works. It was actually a nice distraction at the time," Kal said.
"I can imagine. Which, if you don't mind me asking, what was the bowing bit about?"
Kal groaned. "The Council of New Krypton would bow every -
single -
time I entered a room, stood up, or left. And I'm not talking about a simple bow or a respectful one the people of Japan are known to do. No. They're full-on bows, actual, on-the-knees, kneeling bows that are held for a long time. And then in the halls, it wasn’t any better. It was
ridiculous."
Hammond blinked as Dr. Klein laughed.
"It took you
days to stop commenting about no longer needing to deal with their bowing after they left," Klein said.
Kal shrugged, not apologizing for any of it, when someone knocked on the door. Klein opened it and Mav came in.
"I've made the appointment. It's tomorrow at 5. They asked for some time to get some extra equipment in and to allow them to clear the office, but they said if you preferred to do it in the morning they could move it to 7am and make do with what they have," Mav said.
"No, 5 o'clock is actually fine. It'll give me more time with my family. I'm going to run home as soon as we're done here," he said simply.
“Run?” Hammond asked.
“My speed is back. The red K was helpful in more ways than one, though I think I prefer the sun. The sun feels . . . cleaner.”
“I agree completely. Red K should only be used as a last resort. Seeing how your aura responded to it makes me think of steroids for some reason, and those should be used sparingly,” Klein said.
“Alright. I will finalize the appointment. Is there anything you'd like me to include in the Foundation's statement tonight?" Mav asked, refocusing the conversation.
"The procedure was an overall success and I’ve gone home to spend some time with my family. I’ll make a statement personally within the next few days,” Kal said. "You can tell them there's still some unknowns because the treatment didn't work completely, but I'll be seeing a specialist soon so will have answers by the time I give my statement."
Mav nodded his understanding.
“Well, I’ll call tomorrow morning. And thank you both again," Kal said, turning to Dr. Klein and Hammond. "If you ever need anything, let me know."
Hammond nodded, but Kal doubted he would ever take him up on his offer.
“Very good,” Mav said. “Good night.”
Kal nodded, before disappearing with a gust of wind, leaving his bearpaw slippers neatly placed beside the exam chair.
O o O o O
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