Now for Part 16 I'd like to thank everyone who has been reading my story.
< > around words denotes telepathic thought.
The usual disclaimers apply.
***** In response to feedback I have added just a bit to the end of this part. The changes are in italics.
Previously....
Jon walked in as Hannah was speaking. Clark raised an eyebrow and glanced his son. <I rather thought she knew. I figured you told her a long time ago.> Jon just shook his head no.
Hannah continued talking. "Gosh, I hope Superman is doing well. You know, I'd *really* like to meet him sometime."
Clark shrugged slightly and answered, "I'll see what I can do."
Jenni cocked her head ever so slightly and blinked. "Goodnight, Hannah, Jon, Clark." She nodded at each in turn. He stomach rumbled loudly as she turned to leave.
~~~~~~~
From Part 15....
Jon had talked to Zared earlier and he was beginning to get an idea. Hannah had actually hurt him a little when she massaged his back. He was pretty sure what she was going to say.
Hannah said, "Hmm... Uh... I.. My father was one of the New Kryptonians." She ducked, afraid he'd throw a cookie at her.
~~~~~~~
Caitlyn said, "I was supposed to have examined you again. I haven't gotten around to that yet." She stood up and patted the bed. "Come on. Lie down."
He shook his head no. "Not *now*!! You tend to be... very thorough."
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Sorry, I couldn't come up with any good tank endings for this one, so Caitlyn haters beware...
A New Hero Part 16
Caitlyn was finished with her shower and felt much better. She had had a long day. She started her day at 6:30 am making rounds. By 8:00 am she was in surgery and was there for four hours. She'd barely had time to grab a quick lunch when she had to return to surgery for another hour.
When she was done at the hospital she went to S.T.A.R. Labs to do some paperwork. Clark's appointment for an official check-up had been at 1:45 pm. By 2:30 pm, she and Bernie decided he needed a blood transfusion. Zared hadn't got there until about 3:00 pm and then it had taken nearly an hour to obtain the blood then prepare it for transfusion. Clark's blood transfusion had started at 4:30 pm and since it usually took longer to receive than to give blood as it had in this case the unit of blood had not been finished until 6:15 pm.
Then the whole affair with Danny had happened. Poor Danny. His second day of work at S.T.A.R. Labs and he had worked two hours of overtime and found out his daughter was engaged to Superman's son. They hadn't left S.T.A.R. Labs until 7:00 pm.
She'd had to go back to the hospital before she stopped by her home. She thought she was going to have to move her poor cat to Clark's house temporarily. Meowoof was definitely feeling ignored. She would have to ask Clark. She had arrived at his house some time after 9:00 pm expecting to find Clark in his room resting. That's where she should have found him. She had an idea that he had pushed him self far too hard this evening.
She'd lost track of time. She really needed to check on him and should have went to find him as soon as she arrived but she was so tired. She had just sat down for a minute and had fallen asleep. Then after they had had their rather intimate conversation, he had insisted on waiting to be examined. She had certainly understood his reaons. She had really needed a relaxing shower and now as she headed to his room, she noticed that it 10:30 pm. She knocked on his door.
"Come in." He was sitting on the side of his bed towel drying his hair. He had a towel wrapped around his hips.
"Looks like you took a shower, too. I'm not sure you should be doing that by yourself yet since you tend to still get a little lightheaded."
"Oh, I took a sitting shower. I have a very nice little chair in the shower. I don't know why I never thought to actually have a shower / bathtub unit put in that has a built in seat. But I wasn't alone. You don't think my babysitting kids would let me get away with that, do you?"
"Oh, who helped? Zared or Jon?"
He rolled his eyes. "Actually it was Chloe, but she didn't *help* me. She just stayed in the bathroom in case I got weak or anything."
She giggled a little. "And what would you have done had you needed assistance?"
He blushed a little. "Well, I took care of the private areas first then I wrapped myself in a towel. I guess it's a good thing I did that because she actually washed my hair."
"You've got good kids, Clark. They are really great."
"Yes, they are. Zared and Jon were unavailable to help me and much to Chloe's vexation they 'assigned' her as my aide-de-camp. She told me she didn't think stay with me any more during a shower, though, because she was too afraid the towel would fall off. I teased her and told I imagined that Jenni would be more than eager to help. That's when she told me if that ever happened she'd be back to help me, towel or no towel. I'm not sure that's still true about Jenni, though, since she knows I'm 'just Clark' now. And I have to say that I'm relieved about that. Sometimes that girl really embarrassed me. She told me once that she thought Superman should pose in the nude - for chairty you know."
"You've scarred your poor child for life. What would she had done if she'd seen her dad in his all together?"
He just shook his head and smiled. "That *would* not have happened." He ran his hands through his hair and said, "I guess I'm going to have to use a hair dryer after all. Can you plug it up for me?"
She did so then proceeded to dry his hair herself. "There. All done." She looked down at the towel around his waist. "Hmmm.... Maybe Jenni's got the right idea. I'm sure you wouldn't do a nude photo. That wouldn't be the thing for Superman to do, but what about some revealing pics? Maybe a nice picture of you partially covered in a sheet? Or shirtless? Wow. A whole bunch of them like that. Wouldn't that make a great Superman calendar. Just think how much the Superman foundation could raise with a calendar like that. Maybe December could be of one with just the red undies and a Santa cap. Hmmm....."
He laughed ironically. "I'm sure you and Jenni and Chloe and Claire's friend Linda could come up with all the details." He rolled his eyes. "Thanks for drying my hair. Let me go get dressed." He stood up and Caitlyn had to help him sit back down. He said, "Oooh. I got a little lightheaded."
"I need to examine you anyway, so there isn't any reason to get dressed just yet. Lie down for me." She grabbed the blood pressure cuff from the bedside table as he lay down. She took his blood pressure then said, "It's a little low." She put her finger in front of his face. "Follow my finger." She finished her brief neurological exam then said, "Good. Feeling a little better now?" She began to take his blood pressure again. He nodded. She listened to his lungs and heart. "Any discomfort when you take deep breaths? Any increased shortness of breath?"
"No. I've actually been less short of breath since the blood transfusion. And that would be because...?"
"You have more red blood cells to carry the oxygen to your cells now."
"Oh. Makes sense. I should have realized that."
"I have the idea that you haven't had a nap since early today. Am I right?"
He blew air out his mouth and answered. "You would be right. Don't worry. I've been read the riot act. You really told Jon all the details about my surgery, huh?"
"The major highlights. I want you to take better care of yourself. I know you are feeling better, but you are not well by far and should really still be at the lab or in the hospital. New rule: You have to lie down and rest for at least a half an hour once every two hours."
"Two hours! You've got to be kidding, Caitlyn. I'll be bored out of my head."
"Every two and a half then. No longer." She began to do an abdominal exam by palpating his upper abdomen. This was always the part he hated the most. He had had major abdominal trauma after all.
"Oh..." He winced a couple of times. "You are getting a little rough there, missy."
"I'm sorry, Clark. Can you call Jon or Zared for me?"
"Why? Ow." <Zared, can you come to my room?>
"I want him to check on something for me. Did you call him?"
He nodded. "You don't think I'm bleeding again... Do you?"
"No, not really. But I want to make sure."
Zared knocked on the door then came in. "What's wrong?" He walked in right as Caitlyn was pulling the towel loose to continue with her abdominal exam. Clark blushed and tightly closed his eyes. "Dad, I've seen Caitlyn examine you before. Hmmm... Just what were you up to earlier."
Caitlyn answered, "Nothing. I think since he's getting better, he just embarrasses more easily. Although I can't imagine why, after letting his daughter stay in the bathroom while he showered."
"I had the shower curtain pulled Caitlyn. And she would not dare look through it. And besides you pulled the towel loose right when Zared walked in. I believe you are trying to embarrass me."
She winked at him. She looked at Zared. "You should have seen how upset he got when I put a catheter in. Of course that wasn't the first time I'd put one in."
"You are having too much fun at my expense, Caitlyn. And I think Zared is enjoying my discomfiture just a bit too much."
She grinned and raised her eyebrows. She motioned to part of his abdomen. "Zared, I want you to look in this area and see if there is any bleeding."
Zared nodded. "Is that where the last bleeding episode occurred?"
"Yes." She glanced at him. "Anything?" He shook his head no. "Watch while I examine him, okay?" Zared nodded.
Clark was very unhappy with this exam. It hurt! His lip trembled ever so slightly. "Are you almost done?"
Zared said, "It looks fine to me. Do we need to take him to the lab for a scan?"
Caitlyn covered Clark back up with the towel. "I'm done, Clark." Then she spoke to Zared. "No. I just wanted to make sure. You or Jon will be here won't you?"
"Yeah. Chloe and Claire can fly, too. They can also check for bleeding, but I'd imagine Chloe might be a little squeamish about that. Dad, are you okay?"
Clark was a little pale and shaky. "I'm okay."
"Caitlyn, is he okay?"
She nodded. "Yes, I was a little rough on him. And he's had a long day." She carressed the side of his face. "I'm sorry, sweetie."
Clark bit his lip and just nodded.
Caitlyn said, "Zared, can you help me get him into bed? Or under the covers, I should say."
"Yeah. You want to pull the covers back. I'll take care of dad." He put his hands under his dad and lifted / floated him slightly above the bed then lowered him a second later.
Caitlyn said, "That's a pretty handy trick. You want to help him put some sleep shorts on?" Zared nodded.
"I probably could have floated off the bed myself. Get one of the loose pairs, please. I'm still not comfortable with anything tight."
After he had helped his dad, he turned to leave. "Are you staying with him a while? I can stay if you want to rest."
Caitlyn waved him on, "I'll be here a while - at least until he goes to sleep and then I'll be checking often." After Zared walked out, she pulled up a chair beside of him. She lightly ran her hands through his hair. "Oh, Clark. I'm sorry."
"You are just doing your job. I know I didn't rest enough today. I.. umm..." He fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shortly after Clark went to sleep, Martha came in. The door was open a crack so she hadn't needed to knock. She smiled at Caitlyn. "How's my boy doing? He looks a little pale. He didn't look that pale earlier."
"He's okay. He's just done too much today and hasn't rested enough."
Martha had wanted to be with her son during the past week, but she had had to go back to the farm the day after he had come home from the lab. "I wish I could have been here this past week to help care for him, but it seems he has had good care. So I hear that you and Clark are an 'item'."
Caitlyn said, "I guess you could say that."
"You are the one whose sister 'bought' him for your birthday at the charity bachelor / bachelorette auction, aren't you?" Caitlyn nodded. Martha grinned almost wickedly. "I have to ask. Did your relationship start with Clark or Superman?"
Caitlyn blushed. "Kal-El, actually. It's been very... interesting."
"I'm a little flabbergasted that he would do that."
Caitlyn giggled a little. "So is he."
Then Martha laughed quietly, too. "I take it this is serious?"
"I'm getting a lot of mixed signals, but I think so. You'd have to ask him."
"Yes, I'll do that. If he happens to wake up, tell him I said good night and that I love him."
Caitlyn nodded, "Goodnight, Mrs. Kent."
"Martha, honey, Martha."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About a half an hour later, Clark woke up and rubbed his forehead. "Hey..."
Caitlyn was at side in an instant. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Can you help me sit up."
"You should stay in bed."
"I gotta go...." She helped him stand up. "Thanks, I was afraid I'd get dizzy again." She walked with him to the door of the bathroom and waited for him there. He came back out a minute later. "All done. I'm okay." He tried to wave her on.
"Humor me. I'm going to walk you back to bed."
"Yes, ma'am."
As they were walking back to his bed, she said, "Oh, your mom came by and said to tell you good night and that she loved you."
He nodded. "Wow, that was a good nap." He sat on the side of the bed and stretched. "How long have I been asleep."
"About 30 minutes."
"You're kidding. It feels like longer. I usually have a great sense of time." He pointed to a small refrigerator. "Will you give me a 7-Up." She handed him a cold 7-UP. "Boy, I'd just love to have a cup of coffee."
She smiled. "Don't push the issue, okay?"
"I won't." He drank a few sips of 7-Up, lay back down and turned the TV on.
She looked back towards the refrigerator. "Clark,
I'd almost swear you have refrigerators in every room."
He smiled. "No, but it is a big house. So it makes sense to have an extra fridge here and there."
"Feel better?"
"Yeah, just keep those palpating hands away for awhile, okay?"
"No such luck, honey." He tensed up. "Relax. I'm just going to do a light exam to see if you've got any more tenderness in this area. See, already done." He relaxed. "I wish there was some way to give you something for pain. Bernie and I are working a way to do that but it's not ready yet. If you promise to stay in bed, I'm going to go to the kitchen and get something to eat."
He nodded. "I promise. You've gotten pretty good at finding your way around."
"Yeah, I have. I've been wanting to ask. I've been staying here so much that Meowoof feels very neglected. Can she move in for awhile?"
"Sure. Will she be okay with the two dogs? Our dogs are cat friendly and our cat is okay with the dogs, but I wouldn't want poor Meowoof scared witless."
"She's used to dogs. She thinks she's a dog - ergo her name: Meowoof."
They shared a laugh as she sauntered out of the room.
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Jon went out the door to where Hannah's car - nice one at that - was parked to get her bags. Ah, the perks of having one of the world's richest men as a father. She'd driven here. He thought that she didn't fully realize the magnificence of flying and how much faster it was than taking her car. Although if he had a car like that, he might think about driving more often. Then he wondered if she'd ever even flown before. He was glad his dad hadn't tried to suppress their powers. When he came back in, he walked by Jenni's room.
Zared said, "Hey Jon. I hollered at you when you passed a second ago, but you didn't seem to notice. Come in."
"Well, I can't stay long." He sat Hannah's stuff down outside the room and walked in a sat down. "Did you want something, Zared?"
"Actually, Jon, dearest future brother-in-law, I'm wondering about something. Maybe you can enlighten me since you were there." He looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"What I was I there for?" She gave him a look - one of her Jenni leers, as he called it. She never leered at Zared - all she had to do was bat her lashes. That had never worked on him even when they dated. He just shrugged. "I'll do what I can."
"When Hannah, you, and I were in your dad's office talking, she told your dad that she would like to meet Superman and he said, 'I'll see what I can do.' Just like that! 'I'll see what I can do.' I've been asking him to introduce me to Superman for years and he always danced around the issue. That blew me away. I mean, I know *now* that Clark is Superman. What I don't understand is why he so readily agreed to introduce Hannah to Superman." She just shook her head.
Zared said, "That's absolutely *all* she's talked about all evening."
Jon looked like an animal caught in a trap. "Really?" He nearly strangled on his answer. Zared and Jenni both looked at him very intently.
Jenni said, "Then you *do* know why he said that?"
Jon just sat there with his mouth half open and his eyebrows raised. "Well... uhhh... I... uhh..." He sat there for the merest moment and then literally flew out the open door.
Zared and Jenni just looked at each other.
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