I made a few changes to part 5 so hopefully my views on Clark's health are more clear.
Again, I want to thank everyone for their support. And, Ann, I must warn you, there's part of this you are going to *hate*! So be prepared. It's toward the end.
< > around words denotes telepathic thought.
The usual disclaimers apply...
Part 6 A New Hero
From Part 5....
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Zared's anxiety had greatly increased. He noticed his hands were shaking. He knew Danny would be upset, but he didn't expect these hateful thoughts or his seemingly unemotionless reaction concerning the baby. He was close to tears again. He realized that Jenni was right about what she had said about her dad. He *was* furious.
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After Henderson left, Bernie put the head of Clark's bed down and began to examine him. Clark again winced in pain.
"Mmm... Bernie. That really hurts." He was in more discomfort than he had been in a couple of days.
"Yes, I'm aware of that. You have been under too much stress today. I hope you aren't bleeding again.....
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Part 6
Jenni's father had walked off in a huff.
Zared breathed a little sigh of relief. He'd have a brief reprieve from Danny's thoughts. After taking a moment to collect himself, he finally got back around to contacting his dad.
<Finally. Zared, I have been so worried.> Wince. Pain.
Zared, while not physically feeling the pain, still felt it. <You're worse.>
<No. Just a little pain. Now, tell me what's going on.>
Zared knew without a doubt that his dad was lying to him, but he told him of the day's events. He ended with, <I think Danny wants to kill me. When were you going to get around to telling me everything about the telepathy? I didn't realize that I could actually know what a human was feeling or thinking, except for Jenni, of course, and that's nothing like what happened with Danny.>
<Danny must have been very emotional for you to pick up his thoughts without trying. Sorry about not telling you. You've had such a hard time dealing with it anyway.> Clark knew that from his and Bernie's experiments that there was even more, but he kept that from Zared.
Zared just mentally shrugged. <Now, what's with you? I know you are worse. I should come see you.>
<No, you stay with Jenni. I'm fine.>
<You're lying to me. 'Fess up. Talk, err, think, now, buster.>
Clark smiled. <I had a little internal bleeding again, but it seems to have stopped now. I'm okay.>
<Surgery? Did you.. do you.. have to...>
<No, no surgery. One of the surgeons is keeping a close eye on me but no surgery.>
<You *will* let me know if that changes?>
<Yes, I will. Besides, Bernie has your comp number, remember? You might think about turning the ringer back on. Oh, Zared, I wish I could be there for you.>
<I know dad. I know.> Zared pulled his mini-comp out of his pocket and turned the ringer back on. He'd turned it off earlier in the day when he and Jenni were talking and had forgotten to turn it back on. He had eighteen messages. Some were from S.T.A.R. Labs, probably dad, and the rest were from home. He noticed the headlines scrolling across the internet. He was dismayed to see his picture there. <Okay. It's on now.>
Clark wanted to talk to him more - about the public appearance, about everything, but Zared got interrupted.
<Gotta go, dad. Jenni's dad's back and they are saying we can see her. Love you.>
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<Love you, too.> He wasn't sure if Zared had gotten the last thought. It was just as well that Clark couldn't talk to him further. He felt awful. He was nauseated. He was in pain. *Darn*. I'm supposed to be getting better - not worse.
He noticed Bernie was standing beside him and was talking. He could usually use telepathy and carry on a conversation with someone else at the same time, but then he definitely wasn't at his best right now.
"What? I was somewhere else."
"Oh. Talking to Zared?" Clark nodded.
"I was just coming to tell you what I was able to find out, but I guess you already know, huh?" Clark nodded again.
"Good. Your blood pressure could be better, but for now you vital signs are stable. I don't want you to end up having to have surgery... again, so please try to relax a little." Bernie thought that doubtful. Bernie thought that had Clark been human there wouldn't have been any hesitancy in doing surgery again. He'd be having surgery right now. He could only hope that this would work. "I want to remind you that Dr. Kira, the surgeon that saw you earlier, and I both have put you back on complete bed rest. You apparently have a large clot keeping further bleeding from occurring. I don't want the clot dislodged until the area is healed. You can't get up at all - for any reason. That's why you have a catheter again." Clark gave him a look that said *exactly* what he thought of that. "I know you're unhappy about it, but you'll get over it."
Clark looked at Bernie and pouted just a little. "Well, you'd think you or one of the other guys around here could have at least put it in. Dr. Kira put it in for Heaven's sake."
Bernie smiled and just winked at him. "You opposed to a beautiful woman like that taking care of you? Now, I'm giving you something to help with the anxiety and to make you sleep."
Clark began to protest, but Bernie had already given him the medication. It wasn't long before Clark was asleep.
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Danny returned from the cafeteria and had just started to speak. Before he could say anything, though, a person in scrubs approached them asking if they were Jenni's father and fiance'. They nodded. "Come in. She's not awake yet, but you may see her."
Danny gave Zared a nasty look when the person said fiance'. Zared thought that Jenni must have told them he was her fiance'.
They both went in to see Jenni. Zared was relieved. When the person in scrubs had approached them, he feared Danny would not allow him to see her.
She was pale, but they were both assured she was stable for the moment. They weren't allowed to stay long. Not nearly long enough....
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The headline of the evening edition of The Daily Planet read:
A NEW HERO: WHO IS THIS SUPER MAN?
The story told of the new super man bringing a young lady to the hospital. And of course there were pictures.
In addition to the papers, Zared was on television. Everyone was talking and there was lots of excitement. Almost every staff member Zared encountered mentioned his appearance. The news media was asking - begging for an interview.
But Zared gave no interviews and made no further appearances that day or the next. He stayed at the hospital.
The new hero would give his first interview to Clark Kent, of course.
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Much to Clark's chagrin, he spent the next two days in bed. He had previously been allowed to sit in a chair and walk for short distances. He had the lovely experience of continued poking and prodding. After those two long days and after two more scans, finally on the afternoon of the third day, Dr. Kira and Bernie agreed that the bleeding vessel was likely healed. He finally got rid of that... catheter. He thought that he'd like to have words with the person who invented such a darn thing.
His fever had stayed down and the past two days of lab work indicated that the infection had apparently cleared. He was still in pain, though, and they wanted to leave the IV in so he could continue receiving pain medications. They had to remind him that he still had a lot of healing to do. He had had self controlled pain medication and additional medication given to him as needed but he felt sure he no longer needed it. He was insistent that the IV come out, but they settled on leaving it in and seeing how he did without pain medication and medication for nausea.
A mere four hours later, he was feeling very nauseated again and was definitely in pain. Clark, being Clark, though wasn't about to say anything. He was dismayed but didn't protest when Dr. Kira gave him both pain medication and something for nausea.
She sat beside him. "Kal, just because you are the strongest man in the world, doesn't mean you have to be so 'tough'. In the end you will get better faster with pain medication. Pain will just increase your anxiety and increased anxiety can cause a person's body to react badly - like bleeding." She smiled and patted his hand. "Now how about you let your doctors take care of you? Huh?"
He nodded, "But Zared... I'd really like to see him.. see Jenni."
She smiled, "I know. Maybe we can get you out of here in a few days. Now rest, okay?"
"Okay, okay, Caitlyn. Okay." He smiled and fell asleep. Before Caitlyn left the room, she bent over and kissed him on the lips. And then she smiled, too.
Bernie had been about to walk into the room when he heard Clark say he wanted to see Zared and Jenni. He mentioned their names to Dr. Kira? He stood there for a moment shaking his head then heard him call her Caitlyn. He hadn't even known Clark knew her first name. Then he saw what she did. He hastily retreated. What was *that* all about?
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That same morning Jenni had been moved to a regular room. She had been doing better than expected.
Zared and Danny had been unable to stay with Jenni continuously while she was in intensive care and had been forced to mostly stay in the waiting room. Visiting times had been very limited. They were pleased to now be staying at her side. Zared was especially pleased. Danny still had venomous thoughts, but at least they had decreased. Danny was also talking to him some now. He'd barely said a word to Zared the day before.
Danny had softened a bit, but he was still angry. He could see that Zared loved his baby very much. He had seen Zared's pain. Jenni had been in and out and not really saying much or making much sense, and right now he just wanted to see Jenni fully awake. The only words Jenni had said that were intelligible were "Zared" or "the baby". Not once did she say "dad" or "daddy". This perturbed him, but he was beginning to realize that Zared was going to be in his baby's life regardless of what he did.
He had noticed that Zared was exhausted. He wasn't sure he had really slept any at all. And he knew, too, that Jenni would want to see Zared when she was finally really awake. Zared was shaky and pale, and he wasn't going to be of any help to her like that, so finally late that day, he convinced Zared to lie down and get some sleep on the fold-out couch in the room. Zared had stayed by her side constantly, sometimes with his head on the side rail. Danny knew if he had slept any at all that had been the only time.
Zared didn't want to sleep. It took some convincing, but he agreed. He was exhausted and Danny was right in telling him he wasn't doing Jenni any good in this condition. He fell asleep almost as soon as he lay down.
Four hours later, Zared was still asleep. Danny was sitting by Jenni's bed reading a book. Jenni said, "Dad."
He said quietly so he wouldn't wake Zared, "Oh, Jenni. You're finally really awake. How do you feel?"
"Considering I got shot, I feel okay, I guess. I heard them say they removed one of my kidneys. Where's Zared?"
Her dad nodded. "So you remember everything?"
"Yes, I think so, at least until I passed out." She suddenly took a quick breath, "How's the..." Oh, maybe Zared hadn't told him.
"The baby's fine honey. The doctors don't know how, but the baby is fine."
She smiled wanly. She said again, "*Where's Zared*?"
"He's asleep. He hasn't left the hospital. He was exhausted and I finally convinced him to lie down and take a nap."
"Oh. Let him sleep. Oh, daddy, he was magnificent. He saved my life. I heard the doctors say if he hadn't gotten me to the hospital when he did, I probably would have died."
Zared had awakened and was approaching her bed. She was still pretty much in a drugged stupor. She smiled a silly grin, "Love you Zared." She drifted back to sleep.
What did she say? Danny shook his head then said, "She was talking about that new super man but wasn't making much sense. I hope she doesn't get as sappy, silly over this one as she is over Superman. She'll probably be worse. This one actually took her in his arms and flew with her."
Zared smiled and blushed. He hoped Danny didn't notice. Probably not. The lights were dim.
Danny had noticed Zared blushing, but he didn't know why. He figured, though, that he might blush, too, if his girlfriend got so giddy over another guy - especially one that could fly.
Zared was hoping Danny didn't realize the impact of Jenni's statement. He didn't seem to. Zared was distracted and was looking at his hand. He wished he could get rid of the dressing that he no longer needed - it itched, but he knew he couldn't let anyone see his hand. He sighed. He'd have to wear the dressing for as long as it would take a human to heal.
Danny said, "You look better. Now, I want you go get something to eat." The way Zared was staring at his dressing made Danny think that his hand must be bothering him. He wouldn't be seen in the ER. Maybe he'll let me take a look at it later.
Zared didn't want to leave, but he finally gave in. He had barely eaten in two days, and even though he didn't need to eat, he realized that he was hungry, and that he could use a little break. And now that Jenni had been awake, he didn't really have an excuse. He nodded to Danny. He still felt sleepy and wasn't paying as much attention as he should have been. He was pulling at the dressing and then began scratching underneath it. He turned and left for the cafeteria.
Danny thought that Zared really needed some more rest because *that* should have hurt, but Zared seemed oblivious. Hmmm.. He began to think about that. Hmmmm..... I wonder....
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