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Part 11/20
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"Hey, Lois," Jimmy said when she stepped out of the elevator. "Remember you asked for everything I could dig up on the construction of the nuclear plant? Well, I was finally able to get something for you. It's on your desk."
"Thanks, Jimmy."
"Are you okay?" he asked. She looked a little dazed, her eyes were puffy and there was a heck of a bruise on her cheek. "What happened to you?"
"Oh," she said, putting her hand to her cheek. "I had a run-in last night with Ken Randall."
Jimmy gave her a lopsided smile. "I hope it's one of those 'you should see the other guy' kind of run-ins."
"Not yet," she told him. "But the next time I see him it will be." Lois glanced hesitantly in the direction of Clark's desk. He wasn't there. "Has Clark come in yet?"
"I haven't seen him."
"Okay, thanks." Lois gave him an absent nod and went to her desk. She sat down and stared at the list Jimmy had left for her without really seeing it. She glanced at her watch. It was almost nine o'clock. She had been late coming in but Clark was even later. Where was he?
She knew she should be grateful he wasn't there. Part of her even hoped he wasn't coming in at all today. She cringed, remembering how petty and sullen he had been after she had told him she just wanted to be friends when he was trying to prevent her from marrying Lex. She was quite certain it was going to be even worse now.
She tried again to read the papers Jimmy had left but the words meant nothing to her. All she could think about was the stunned look on Clark's face as she was leaving.
"So… we're still friends, right?"
"I don't think so. Not right now. It's just too weird."
How could they go back to just being friends again? Obviously his idea of friendship was different from hers. He looked at it as some springboard to intimacy. She just wanted… what? She wanted someone to talk to and someone to make her laugh. Clark definitely had those qualities. There were only a handful of people in the world that she truly enjoyed simply spending time with and Clark was one of them.
"I didn't do this for sex. I did it because I wanted to be with you!"
What about someone to hold her when she couldn't sleep? Someone who could touch her and make all her dark thoughts disappear? That was more than just friends - that was intimacy. Real intimacy, not sex. It was the kind of intimacy that included leaving personal hygiene items in someone's bathroom cabinet. It was someone to carry you to bed when you were sick and make you tea. And he saved your life, she reminded herself. He risked his own life to save you in the tunnel that night. That's not intimacy, that's love.
"I love you. And I hoped you might feel the same way."
Lois let out a soft groan. How could he do that to her? He had promised it would only be sex. And yet, deep down, she had known it meant more to him than that. That knowledge was part of the reason she had slept with him to begin with. It seemed less immoral that way. It was because you love him, her mind whispered. You figured that out at the altar with Lex. It was Clark you wanted. It was always only Clark. It was just safer to love Superman because you knew you couldn't have him. Her phone rang, breaking into her thoughts.
"Lois!" Inspector Henderson sounded far too cranky for this early in the morning. "I heard you were dragged out of the sewer last night by Superman."
"Who told you that?"
"I have my sources. Those same sources tell me you were with Ken Randall when he made that video of Bad Brain."
"Did that source tell you what Ken Randall did to me last night?"
"The details of your personal life hold little fascination for me."
"He locked me in a room in the sewers when I tried to go get help!"
"I'm shocked to hear there's no honor among journalists. So you did see Bad Brain at work or not?"
Lois closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I heard more than I saw of what happened."
"I'd like you to come down to the station today and tell me all about it."
"I thought you said the details of my personal life held little fascination for you."
"Then make it interesting. I mean it, Lois, I want to see your statement on my desk by the end of the day, you hear me?"
"Fine," Lois sighed. She hung up the phone and put her hands over her eyes. The last thing in the world she wanted to do was re-live last night in the tunnels again. It probably wouldn't matter if she told Henderson exactly where Bad Brain had been. If Ken had shown that video then Bad Brain would have moved on.
"You do realize he carries that shock gun with him everywhere? I've seen him shooting rats with it and it just obliterates them."
If Bad Brain had moved on, he had to be getting his power from somewhere. The electro-shockwave gun and that table contraption required electricity. Neither of those things were like a hair dryer that you could just plug into any old outlet. They had to be sucking up a lot of power. If he was stealing power from the city, maybe there was a way to track him?
Lois looked around her desk and found the business card Kevin from MetEd had given her. She dialed the number but only got Kevin's voice mail. She left him a message telling him her theory and asked him to call her back.
As she hung up the phone she saw Clark had arrived at his desk.
"Work is work… I don't see why we can't still work together…"
Was there any way to fix this? Lois tipped her head down and watched Clark through the veil of her hair. He sat at his desk, still looking slightly shell-shocked. Then he picked up the handset of his phone and it broke in two, the top falling away to reveal the wiring inside. Curiosity won out over caution and she called out to him, "What happened to your phone?"
He shook his head slowly, still staring at it.
"You should check with Communications. I'm sure they'll swap it out for you."
Clark lifted his head and snapped at her, "Are you my mother now?" He disconnected the receiver and stalked away.
Lois glared at his retreating back. He didn't have to be so nasty, especially when she was just trying to be nice. She forced herself to look at the list Jimmy had left on her desk. The names swam in front of her eyes. She stopped and went back - one of the names was 'R. Johnson'. He was listed as an electrical engineer during the construction of the plant. Was it possible that he still had a key to the plant? Was that how he was able to get inside to kill Dr. Gatenby and the homeless man?
Lois turned to the census, flipping through it to find the R. Johnson's. There were three of them listed. Robert Johnson, age 41, employed by MetEd. Roy Johnson, age 73, retired from Monroe Electrical. Rufus Johnson, age 37, employed by Cox Construction.
She looked at the list Jimmy had given her. Cox Construction was the company that had built the nuclear plant.
She glanced over at Clark's desk. Should she tell him where she was going? It was still his story, too. It was also just an apartment and not the sewers. Still, if it was Bad Brain's apartment, it might be smarter to have someone else along. She sighed heavily, trying to resign herself to the thought of bringing a taciturn Clark along with her.
"Lois! What happened?" Joe asked, stopping at the side of her desk.
"Oh," she fought the urge to put her hand to her cheek yet again. No amount of makeup was going to hide the bruise. "I was on a stakeout last night and it turned nasty."
"I don't suppose I could convince you to try something a little less dangerous tonight, could I? Something like, say, dinner with me?"
Behind Joe she could see Clark coming back into the bullpen, holding a new handset for his phone. He was scowling at her and Joe and… to hell with him.
"Sure, Joe. What time?"
Joe's face split into a surprised grin. "Seven o'clock?"
"Sounds great. I have to chase down a few leads today, I'll just meet you back here at seven, is that okay?"
"Perfect." Joe touched her shoulder as he started to move past her. "Be careful today, okay?"
"Yeah, uh, you too." Lois said.
Joe laughed. "Sports writing isn't as dangerous as investigative reporting." He touched his cheek and winked at her. "I've yet to come away from a story with a bruise."
Clark was trying not to listen to them but he'd already heard more than he wanted to. Just like that, she was going out with Joe. She sure moved fast when she wanted. Please, let there be some looming disaster tonight at seven. Preferably on the other side of the world. He plugged the new receiver in and listened for the dial tone. Then he set it back in its cradle.
"Clark?" He looked up in surprise to see her walking towards his desk. "Jimmy got some information on the construction company that built the nuclear plant. There was an electrical engineer named R. Johnson on the list. Did you want to come with me to check him out?"
Clark was so shocked that she could act so nonchalant that he almost couldn't speak. Apparently this morning was all but forgotten to her. And why shouldn't it be? She'd already replaced him with Joe. His heart seemed to twist in his chest, feeling like it was breaking all over again.
"You have an address for him?" he managed to ask.
"One sixty-three Bessolo, number eight."
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One sixty-three Bessolo was on the edge of the industrial section of town. Clark took a quick peek through the door while Lois picked the shoddy lock on the door. No one was inside. She opened the door to an almost empty apartment. The furniture consisted of a threadbare couch, a small table and two chairs. There was nothing in the refrigerator and dust covered nearly every surface. Lois opened the door next to the couch and found an equally austere bedroom.
"I guess this is why he had such a cheap lock on the door," she said. "There's nothing worth stealing in here."
"Somehow, I don't think he's coming back," Clark said from the kitchen.
Lois looked around the apartment again, wondering if he had ever come here to begin with. "I guess it was too much to hope for that he'd leave a list of people he wanted to get even with or something."
"You can't always pin down someone's motives that easily," Clark muttered.
Lois sighed. She was trying so hard to be nice to him and act like there was nothing wrong. Would it kill him to do the same? "I hope that's not a veiled reference to what happened this morning."
"This morning?" His words dripped with feigned ignorance. "Did something happen this morning?"
It would be preferable to go down to the police station and re-live last night in the tunnels for Henderson over sticking around and re-living this morning with Clark. He was always leaving her in the lurch, let him see how it felt for once.
"I, uh, have to run an errand," Lois told him. "I guess I'll see you at the Planet later."
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By the time Lois got back to the Planet she was exhausted. She wished there was some way to get out of her dinner with Joe because she wanted nothing more than to go home, pull the covers over her head and find some way to rewind the day. Most of all she wished she could have found a more graceful way to exit Clark's apartment that morning.
"Lois, line three is for you," Jimmy called out.
"Lois Lane," she said, picking up the line.
"I saw you at my apartment this morning."
A chill went through her. Bad Brain. Was he watching them this morning? Or was he just watching the apartment and happened to see them?
"I hope you don't feel bad, I didn't leave you anything," she told him, trying to sound unaffected. "It didn't look like you were coming back. So where are you staying these days? I still owe you a housewarming present."
"Don't make this personal, Lois. You don't want me as an enemy."
"It's not personal, I just don't like you."
He laughed, a low chuckle that deepened the chill inside her. "Then we're even. I'm warning you now, stay out of it. You should also tell Kent and Randall and your pal Superman to stay clear."
"Superman?"
"It's a warning, Lois. I suggest you heed it." The line went dead.
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Dinner with Joe was nice. Joe was nice. He was witty and urbane and had kept up both ends of the conversation as she had retreated further and further into her own thoughts. By the end of the date she only knew one thing about him - he wasn't Clark.
After dinner she had apologized and made an excuse to go back to the Planet instead of having him take her home. To her surprise Clark was still there. He had looked up when she entered the newsroom but now seemed to be trying to perfect his sullen avoidance of her. Lois sat for a few minutes, ostensibly going through the notes on her desk. It dawned on her that she was trying to work up the courage to go and talk to Clark.
Clark tensed when she stood up and walked past his desk. He could hear her moving around in the small break area behind his desk. She wasn't getting coffee, she was just shuffling items around on the counter. She was, he realized, only looking for an excuse to come past his desk. Was she planning to gloat now? Did she want to tell him what a wonderful time she had had with Joe? Did she really think he wanted to hear all the juicy details? He had spent the last two hours trying to chase away the images of her and Joe together that his mind too readily conjured.
He couldn't stay here and be happy for her. He stood up quickly, grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair and moving as fast as he dared towards the elevator. As he pressed the button to call the elevator he heard her realize he was leaving.
"Oh," she said quietly. It took all his willpower not to turn around and look at her. The doors opened and he stepped inside, moving to stand against the wall where she wouldn't be in his direct line of vision. The doors closed and he sagged back against the wall, grateful to be leaving.
As the elevator doors shut, Lois gulped in several deep breaths and tried to convince herself that Clark Kent was not worth crying over. Anyone who could be that immature wasn't worth hanging onto.
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It wasn't until much later that night that she wished she had found the courage to talk to him. Her apartment, once so familiar to her, seemed cold and hostile. Every noise was pronounced. The drip of the faucet was eerily like the drip in her temporary prison. She tried, but couldn't get the faucet to stop dripping. She kept her bedside lamp on, hating the dark. She couldn't go to Clark to escape it, not this time. Not ever again.
Why, oh why, had she panicked like that this morning? This time last night, he was holding her. Regret flooded through her. He had loved her…
No, she told herself firmly. It was never going to last, she had been right to end it. It couldn't last. Better a few regrets now than a lifetime of regret later.
And yet - only twenty-four hours ago she had been in his arms… She pulled her pillow closer, burying her face in it, hoping there might be some trace of his smell on it from a few nights ago when he had been here. He had kissed her before leaving. She had been faking sleep. He had pulled the blankets up to her chin, smoothed her hair back and kissed her forehead softly before he left.
She suspected it wasn't the first time. She was pretty certain that would be the last time. Her heart sank at the thought.
She knew - she had always known - that his feelings for her were stronger than hers for him. She muttered to herself as she turned over, still looking for sleep. Did she love Clark, like that? She cared for him. He was her best friend. He was no slouch in the bedroom. Or the kitchen. She blushed, recalling what they had done on his kitchen table just last week. She had wanted him to be attracted to her. She had always wanted it to mean something - to him. She just didn't want to feel so much in return. Damn him anyway for being so charming and…
"I love you. And I hoped you might feel the same way."
Yes, especially damn him for that. Damn him for making it real. Why wasn't just friends real enough for him?
"It was just sex, Clark. It never meant anything more to me."
Of all the things she could have said, she picked those words. Remember how it stung when he said it wasn't real, her conscience goaded her. What if you had said "I love you" and he told you it wasn't real? How much more would that hurt? You can't just say "I'm sorry" and fix it.
What if there was no way to fix it this time? She had tried to be nice and he had snapped at her and ignored her. She probably deserved that. So, if he wouldn't talk to her, who would he talk to?
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The next morning Clark had to make an appearance at Metropolis Children's Hospital. He had agreed weeks before to come and he didn't want to back out. The only problem was he was quite certain Lois knew that Superman would be there. Sure enough, she was there. She stood at the back of the room and didn't ask a single question during the press conference. Afterwards she still made no move to talk to him, just watched him, her eyes dark and wary. It was unnerving and he wished he could find a way to leave without talking to her. Unfortunately that was something Clark might do, but Superman couldn't.
When there were only a handful of people left in the auditorium she came over to him.
"Hello, Lois," he said, standing with his arms crossed and drawing himself up to his full height.
She looked up at him, searching his eyes for a moment. Had she figured it out? An icy chill shot through his body.
"I was asked to give you a warning," she finally said.
"A warning?" Clark raised one eyebrow, intrigued in spite of himself.
"From Bad Brain. He called me yesterday to tell me I should quit trying to find him. He also said that Clark and Ken Randall and you should stay away from him, too."
"Did he say why?"
She shook her head.
"I'll be careful," he told her.
She gave him a tight smile and looked past him, summoning up her courage. "Can I ask you a question?" She couldn't meet his eyes, her hands were starting to shake, she was so nervous.
Clark nodded.
"It's a personal question, but it's not about you. It's about Clark."
"Clark?"
"Yeah, uh, we had a fight." She looked directly at him, trying to gauge his reaction. He seemed about to say something and then thought better of it. He already knows, Lois thought, her stomach fluttering nervously. Remember, he's the one who told Clark he'd never be able to love you.
"Did you know?" she asked softly. "Did you know about me and Clark?"
Clark bowed his head. "Yes," he finally admitted in a low whisper.
Something almost like relief ran through her. So he did know - but how did he know? "Did he tell you?"
"No," he shook his head. "I, I just knew."
"You flew past and saw us?"
His forehead furrowed and he sighed. "Something like that."
"Oh," she blushed. "It wasn't… I mean, it wasn't what you think it was."
"What was it?"
"Just two friends, helping each other out."
"It meant more than that to Clark."
She ducked her head. "Yeah, I know. And I… Has he talked to you about it at all?"
"No."
"I miss him," she sighed. "It's not the same between us anymore and I miss him. He barely even looks at me."
Clark wanted to remind her that she was the one who said 'not friends'. Anger flared through him. What in the hell did she want from him? Sympathy? Absolution? Was she here to proposition him again as Superman? "You hurt him," he said bluntly.
Lois drew in a shaky breath. She knew that, she didn't need Superman to point it out to her. "I didn't mean to hurt him," she whispered, looking up at him through watery eyes.
It was the way her eyes had turned to liquid that softened him. "Talk to him, Lois."
"And say what?" She spread her hands in a helpless gesture. "I don't think I can tell him what he wants to hear."
Clark nodded at her sadly. "He already knows that much." He stepped back, afraid his façade would crack if he stood here much longer. "Excuse me," he said and walked away.
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Late the next afternoon Kevin finally returned her call. "I think I've found it!"
"Found what?" Lois asked.
"There's a hot spot in the system. A couple of times a day it spikes near overload and then goes back down to nothing. I checked and it's on a sector that shouldn't be seeing any activity at all."
"Where is it?"
"There's an old power line that runs deep beneath the nuclear plant site. It's been off the mainframe for years, so either we've developed a hell of a sudden intermittent leak or someone is down there."
"When are you going to check it out?"
"Can you meet me at the plant in an hour?"
"Yes!" Lois hung up the phone and looked over at Clark. He was watching her, his face curious.
"Good news?" he asked.
"Kevin found a power leak underneath the nuclear plant. I asked him to look for places on the mainframe where Bad Brain might be recharging his sick gadgets." Lois stood up and started moving towards the elevator. She turned around and saw that Clark was following her. She flashed him a smile, excitement bubbling up inside her that they might actually have finally found Bad Brain.
It was the smile that nearly buckled his knees. It was the first time since their fight that she had smiled at him.
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Lois' first misgivings came when Kevin began to explain just how deep underground they needed to go. She remembered her irrational fear the night the tunnel flooded, how she had stood at the top peering into the blackness and didn't want to go. It was that same feeling again. Lois felt a cold sweat break out on her forehead. Now she was going to get into a cage elevator and willingly be dropped over a thousand feet into the earth beneath Metropolis?
Clark saw her turn pale as she stepped into the cage with him and Kevin.
"Are you still feeling sick? You can wait here for us…"
He hadn't finished speaking before her eyes flared in anger. "When hell freezes over! Don't nag, Clark. You're not my mother."
Kevin gave them hardhats with headlamps again. "I should warn you that when we get halfway we're going to feel a little turbulence." He shut the cage door and locked it. Lois swallowed hard, telling herself it was all going to be okay. Nothing bad was going to happen.
Kevin flipped the lever down, the cage shuddered, and then began to descend rapidly. Lois felt a little lightheaded and swayed on her feet, bumping backwards into Clark.
"Sorry," she murmured and stepped sideways to lean against the frame of the cage. The cool air rushing past them made her wish she hadn't worn a short-sleeved top. She folded her arms, rubbing her hands along her upper arms in an attempt to keep warm.
Clark wordlessly took his suit coat off and placed it over her shoulders.
"Thanks." The scent of his soap and aftershave on his jacket was so comforting she wanted to cry. Was it her imagination or was the bulb on her headlamp beginning to weaken and dim?
In the near darkness the elevator cable's whine sounded like a distant scream. It brought to mind far too vividly the hours she had been trapped in that dark room, replaying the dying man's screams in her mind. Suddenly the elevator shook violently. Lois let out a small cry, reaching out to grab Clark's arm as a reflex. He put his hand on her waist to steady her, the weight of it oddly reassuring even as the elevator seemed to bounce off the walls of the shaft. Her body seemed to come alive at his touch as she remembered him helping her out of the tunnel the night Kevin showed them the manhole switch. Her cheeks turned warm as she remembered the night he had left those bruises on her hips.
"We're passing the other lift," Kevin told them. "They counterbalance each other. It's the change in air pressure that causes the shaking. It'll pass in a few seconds."
Sure enough, the shaking stopped and they continued to drop into the dark. Clark took his hand from her waist, suddenly the gesture felt far too familiar. Lois pulled her hand away from his arm, feeling self-conscious. For just a moment she was grateful it was too dark to clearly see her face.
"Talk to him…"
And say what? I love how you smell and I really miss the way you touched me?
A buzzer sounded and Kevin lifted the lever halfway, slowing the cage in its descent. A few more seconds and it bounced lightly as it stopped. Kevin opened the cage and they stepped out into a tunnel blasted through solid rock. Lois took a deep breath and fought against the claustrophobia welling up inside her. Kevin turned on the large flashlight he held, sweeping it before them as they moved further into the tunnel.
"There!" he exclaimed, pointing with the light at a mass of cables. "See, there's a new line spliced in." He followed a cable running out of the mass and further into the tunnel. "He's tapped into the line here."
Clark tipped his head, picking up the sound of someone else's heartbeat and breathing, moving away from them at a rapid rate. Then he recognized the tick-tick sound of Ken's pacemaker. How in the hell had Ken got here before them? Clark broke into a jog, determined to catch Ken off-guard.
Clark caught up to Ken and grabbed his arm to stop him. "I want to talk to you," he said in a low voice.
"I have nothing to say to you. Stop following me." Ken's smug tone set off a chain reaction in Clark. Before he could think about it he had taken hold of Ken's shirt and pushed him against the tunnel wall.
"How could you do it?" he asked, his voice shaking with anger.
"Do what? You mean Lois? Oh please, like Superman wasn't going to find her. She was absolutely fine. She should be thanking me for putting her in there before Bad Brain could catch her."
"That's not the way I heard it." Clark let go of Ken's shirt and stepped back to give himself a moment to think.
"Then she's lying." Ken took a step away from the wall and Clark shoved him back.
"Lois doesn't lie."
"Step back, Kent."
"If you come near her again, I'll…" Clark stopped, fighting the urge to punch Ken's smug face. He wanted to break every one of Ken's fingers as a warning but he couldn't justify it.
"You touch her again," Clark permitted himself this much, "and I swear I'll kill you."
Ken blinked in surprise at the vehement growl from a man he'd always considered something of a milquetoast. "You don't know who you're dealing with, Kent."
"Neither do you. Leave her alone." He stepped away from Ken, shoving his hands in his pockets to keep himself from striking the man.
"I would have gone back," Ken said softly. "If she was still there the next morning, I would have let her out."
"You hit her." Clark spat out the accusation.
"She hit me first!"
"So?" What if he only broke one of Ken's fingers?
"Are you one of those guys who thinks you should never hit a woman?" Ken sneered.
"You should never hit anyone." It was lucky for Ken that Clark didn't believe in deliberately breaking their fingers either.
"You threatened to kill me." Ken actually looked offended.
"And I meant it. You touch her again and they'll never find your body."
Ken laughed. "That's cute." He punched Clark's arm and pushed past him to walk away. Lois and Kevin came around the corner and had to step back to give Ken room to go past them. Ken stopped in front of Lois and pointed at Clark with his flashlight. "I'd put a leash on your boyfriend there, Lois."
Lois wasn't sure what had just happened, but she was willing to give Clark the benefit of the doubt over Ken. "Forget about him, Clark. He's not worth the lawsuit."
"I won't sue, I can afford to be magnanimous. You see, I have the Bad Brain story and you don't. You're a little bit late, I'm afraid. Bad Brain has come and gone."
"Maybe," said Kevin. "But he'll be back again tomorrow."
"Not if Ken has the story," Lois said, pointing at the camcorder slung across his chest. "He airs that tape and Bad Brain will just move on again."
"Then I guess we get the police involved before Ken can get on the air," Clark said.
For a moment, no one moved. Then all of them began running for the elevator. Clark got there first, holding the cage open even as Ken tried to push him out and shut the gate. Once all four of them were inside, Clark pulled the gate shut and Kevin started the cage in its ascent.
Five more minutes, Lois told herself. Five more minutes and you're home free. When they hit the baffles and the cage bounced around Ken fell hard against her. She was so tense already that it seemed to magnify the pain, sending shooting tender stabs through her chest. She let out a startled gasp.
"Ooo," Ken mocked. "I'm touching Lois!"
Clark reached forward faster than anyone else could see and yanked Ken's camcorder loose from its cord. He crushed it in his hand and let it drop to the floor. Then he looked down, his headlamp illuminating the damaged camera.
"Son of a bitch!" Ken exclaimed, looking at the shattered camera in dismay. It looked like even the tape inside was ruined.
"Bad luck, Ken," Kevin said with a laugh. "I hope that wasn't too expensive."
As they reached the surface Clark had that twitchy look to him that Lois knew meant he was about to run off. True to form, he stepped out of the cage first, calling over his shoulder that he'd see her tomorrow as he jogged away. Too late, Lois realized that she was still wearing his jacket. She called out his name as she took it off but he had gone around the corner.
Kevin and Ken turned to look at her. Lois shrugged. "I guess he's off to report Bad Brain's location to the cops."
"He's a man of action," Kevin said.
"Or he's just avoiding you," Ken added.
Lois wasn't about to tell Ken how right he was.
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As Lois walked home she passed the pharmacy. She went inside, needing to pick up a few things before she got home. She shifted Clark's jacket over her arm and picked up one of the wire baskets. Double Fudge Crunch bars. And a bottle of water. Oh hey, tampons. She was almost out of those and… She stopped in the aisle, frowning. What day was it anyway? She did a little mental math and frowned some more. That couldn't be right.
She counted back on her fingers. No, still not right. She tried again. Then again. Oh crap, no. That couldn't be right. She was usually so regular - it had to be stress. Yeah, all that stressful sex. Who was she kidding, she'd never been that relaxed in all her life.
When she got to the counter the clerk took all the items out of her basket. Two Double Fudge Crunch bars. A bottle of water. A box of tampons. A home pregnancy test.
"Wow," the clerk said, giving her a wink. "Someone's gonna have a long night."
"Only the water is mine," Lois said. "Everything else is for my roommates."
"Sure," the clerk said genially.
She came home to find her answering machine message light blinking. She hit the play button and opened one of the candy bars.
"Lois?" It was her mother. "Lois, are you there? I hate talking to a machine. If you're there, pick up the phone… Okay, fine, you're not there. Where are you? I haven't talked to you in ages. What are you up to these days? Give me a call."
Lois looked at the bag from the pharmacy sitting on her counter. What was she up to these days? Nothing, she hoped. Lois sighed and picked up the little box, heading for the bathroom. There might be a very good reason why she was so sick lately. Please, God, let her be wrong. It was just a stomach bug. It was just stress. The alternative was too awful to contemplate.
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Time seemed to have slowed down and she was in an agony of waiting. She looked at her watch. It hadn't been two minutes yet, but it was close enough. She picked up the little plastic wand and thought she just might throw up.
The display showed a bright blue plus sign.
She hastily re-read the instructions. Yeah, that meant what she thought it meant. Lois bent over, putting her head between her knees and took several deep breaths to quell her sudden dizziness.
It was that time in the supply closet at work. It had to be. It was the only time they hadn't used protection. That made her what, four, possibly five, weeks along? How definitive were these tests anyway?
The dizziness, the nausea, the sudden tenderness in her breasts - were those just in her head?
She sat up straight and took a couple more breaths. She checked the test again. Still a blue plus sign. She set it aside and stood, pacing the confines of her bathroom while she tried to think. What was she supposed to do now? The answer was obvious. Take the other test - there were two in the package.
Two minutes later she was staring at another plus sign.
Now what? Clark was barely speaking to her. What was this going to do to their now tenuous friendship? Did they even have a friendship?
She went in and sat on her bed, her hand trembling as she reached for the phone. Then she reconsidered. Should she even tell him yet? Maybe this wasn't news he should hear over the phone. Besides, there was nothing to be gained by telling him tonight. She was going to have to tell him sometime. Just not tonight. She'd make an appointment and go see a doctor, have a more definitive test done before she told him anything.
Feeling dazed she wandered back into her living room. Clark's suit coat was lying where she had left it over the back of her sofa. She picked it up, lifting it to her face and inhaling. It smelled like him and she bit her lip to keep from crying.
What if she called him, right now? Oh yeah, and what was she going to say? She was the one who told him they weren't even friends anymore. She choked on a sob and put Clark's jacket on, wrapping herself in it and wished it were Clark. She had the same hollow, frightened feeling as the night of the asteroid. She was so screwed - literally - she thought.
What was she supposed to do now?
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End 11/20
