Good morning everyone! I promised Wednesday and so here I am. I had to finish up some editing this morning... so I really wasn't holding out on you... the part really wasn't quite finished yet. <g>
Enjoy!
Table of Contents From Part 16:
The phone was on the coffee table by the couch. He picked it up and dialed the pager number Lois had given him. At the tone, he punched in his number and then hung up the phone, tossing it on the couch.
The room suddenly lurched and he felt like he was going to be sick. He made his way to the bathroom and got there just in time to empty the contents of his stomach into the sink. It wasn’t much, just the coffee he had drunk earlier that morning. He grabbed a tissue and wiped his mouth before taking off his glasses and looking up at his reflection in the mirror.
His skin was bright red! He had gotten a sunburn! But beyond that, his eyes were puffy and his lips were swollen and dry. He probably needed to drink some water. He had sweat a lot during the press conference.
But before he could grab his cup from the cabinet and turn on the water, another wave of nausea hit him and he threw up again. This time not much came out, and it was really painful. His stomach cramped and protested. Not long after that wave passed, he dry-heaved again into the sink. Nothing came out and he felt as if his stomach was going to turn itself inside out.
A dizzy spell hit him and his legs felt weak. He slid down to the floor, unable to remain standing. He rested the side of his face against the porcelain pedestal sink and relished in the cool comfort that he found there.
What was wrong with him? His stomach cramped again and he felt himself wanting to wretch but he didn’t have the strength to get up. He heaved on the floor, but again nothing came out. He had eaten pizza last night but that was all he’d had all day yesterday. That had long since been digested, and coffee was the only thing he’d had yet today. What was making him sick? He had nothing left to throw up.
As an uncontrollable shivering took over his body, Clark passed out.
**************
PART SEVENTEEN
**************
“You should have seen it, Perry!” Lois exclaimed into the pay phone’s receiver. “I was here and I still didn’t believe it. It was like something out a movie. When the guy threw down the gun and his wife started crying...”
“Okay, okay, Lois,” Perry interrupted, trying to calm her down. “That’s great. Just what we need for page one. Now, can you get your butt down here and get it written?”
“Sure thing, Perry. I’ll be there faster than you can recite your favorite Elvis song. See ya.” She hung up the phone without bothering to wait for his response and headed off in search of a cab. Half-way to the street, her pager began beeping and she stopped to dig through her purse one-handed as she stuck the other arm in the air to flag down a cab. Her fingers closed around something hard and she pulled her hand out to find it clutching a container of mace. Making a face, she gave up her pursuit of a taxi and focused on finding the pager. Who was paging her anyway? Did Perry already want something else?
She finally located the item and snatched it out of her purse, glancing at the display as she pulled it out. Lois frowned. It was the number for Clark’s apartment. She glanced at her watch. The press conference was surely over by now, but why did Clark want her to call his apartment? She had told him she’d meet him at their temporary office.
Lois turned around and headed back for the pay phone. She dialed his number and waited impatiently for the phone to ring once, twice, a third and finally a fourth time before Clark’s answering machine picked up. “Hi. This is Clark. I’m not home right now...” his recorded voice began. Lois hung up the phone and bit her lip. Why hadn’t he answered?
Should she go check on him? She really needed to get this story written up for Perry. But what if something was wrong? She had told him to page her if he needed something, and obviously he had paged her - his phone number is what came up.
She should probably try him again. Maybe he was just in the bathroom and couldn’t get to the phone. She dialed the number and waited anxiously. Again, no answer.
Lois sighed as she flagged down a taxi and got inside. Clark had better be dying – or else Perry was going to kill her.
**********
Lois exited the cab and paid the driver. She hurried up the steps to Clark’s apartment and then froze when she got to the top.
The door was standing partway open.
In this heat? Clark wouldn't leave the door open like that for the air conditioning to pour out of. She approached the door cautiously and peeked her head inside. There was no sign of Clark.
“Clark? Are you in here?” she yelled.
No answer.
She went inside and shut the door behind her. Her mind began to run away with her. Had someone broken in on him? Had they beat him up and left him for dead and all he’d been able to do before he passed out was page her?
What if they were still here?
She grabbed a lamp from his entry table and held it over her head. “If anyone’s in here, I have a weapon and I’m not afraid to use it.”
Lois moved cautiously down the stairs, craning her neck to look behind pieces of furniture and around the wall into Clark’s bedroom. Surely it wasn’t something as absurd as burglars, nothing was out of place. And she hadn’t heard any noises or seen any signs of a struggle.
She lowered the lamp and shook her head at herself. Lane, you’ve gotta get a grip, girl. There could be a million reasons for why the door had been left open. Maybe the building maintenance man had been by and had left it open. Maybe Clark had been here but had already gone... and he had left in such a hurry that he forgot to shut the door. Yeah, that was probably it. But why had he paged her?
After a few seconds of contemplating searching the entire apartment, just to be sure, she convinced herself that she was overreacting. She set the lamp down on the floor and realized that between the heat outside and the excitement in here, she was sweating profusely. It would do her some good to freshen up a bit.
The sight that met her as she walked into Clark’s bathroom made her blood run cold. “Clark!” She ran to him and knelt down beside him. His face was bright red and hot from the sunburn but his hands were cool and clammy. “Clark, come on now. Wake up,” she told him, leaning over him to check his breathing.
He was still breathing slow and easy and she let out her own breath in relief. She took his shoulders and shook him gently. “Wake up, Clark. What’s wrong?” He didn’t respond.
Lois sat there for a few seconds, stewing about what to do. Who should she call? Part of her wanted to call an ambulance, but Clark had made it clear that he didn’t feel safe going to a hospital. They might realize something was different about him and start doing tests and...
Dr. Klein. She would call Klein. He was the only one she could trust.
She got up from the floor and ran into the other room in search of the phone. Spotting it on the couch, she snatched it up and dialed Klein’s direct number.
He answered after a couple of rings, “Klein here.”
“Dr. Klein, this is Lois Lane. I need your help,” she was trying to keep her voice even and controlled but didn’t think she was doing a very good job.
“Lois? Is something wrong? You sound...”
Nope, she was right. “It’s Superman,” she blurted out. “Something’s wrong with him. He’s passed out. He got a sunburn...”
“Is it bad?”
“No,” she ventured, “I don’t think so. But the rest of his skin is clammy. He wasn’t feeling well earlier and...” And what? She came to Clark Kent’s apartment and found him passed out here? “I, uh, asked him to meet me at Clark Kent’s apartment. I’ve been staying at his place... it’s a long story. Anyway, when I got here, I found Superman passed out. I don’t know what to do, Dr. Klein. I can’t get him up into bed by myself and I don’t know how serious his condition is.”
“I think I might know what’s wrong,” he said soothingly. “I’ll be there as soon as I can; I’ve just got to grab a few things first. Just stay with him and keep him cool, wipe his face with a cool, wet washcloth. If he wakes up, make him drink some water.”
“Okay,” Lois said, immediately heading for the bathroom to get a washcloth. “Thank you, Dr. Klein.”
“Uh, Lois,” he continued before she hung up the phone.
“Yeah?”
“The address?”
“Address? Oh, yeah, right, sorry,” she sputtered. “344 Clinton Street.”
“Thanks.”
Lois hung up the phone and grabbed a washcloth. She ran it under cold water and wrung it out before bending down to blot Clark’s forehead with it.
“Clark? You’re gonna be okay, you hear me? I called Dr. Klein. He’ll know what to do,” she rambled as she continued to bathe his face with the cool rag.
Maybe she should take his tie off and unbutton his shirt? It might help to run this rag over his neck and chest as well and...
Lois felt her mouth drop open in horror. His clothes! Clark was still dressed as... Clark! And Dr. Klein was on his way over to help her with Superman. No, no, no!
Laying the rag across Clark’s forehead, she jumped up. She ran straight to his clothes closet and hit his tie hook. The secret compartment opened up, revealing his suits, capes and boots. She wasn’t going to bother with the cape or boots. She’d just tell Klein that she took them off to make him cooler or more comfortable or something.
She grabbed one of the suits off of its hanger and started to slide the door shut, but then she hesitated. If she were going to use that story, then she’d still need the boots and cape sitting out where Klein could see them. She grabbed a pair of boots and a cape and the finished shutting everything back up.
Lois laid the boots and cape in a pile on the floor of the bathroom and knelt down beside Clark. “Clark, please wake up,” she pleaded with him. Embarrassment flushed her cheeks as she realized he wasn’t going to cooperate and she was going to have to undress him and put his suit on herself.
She licked her lips nervously and decided to start with the tie. Not quite sure how to get the thing undone, she simply loosened the knot and slipped it over his head, being careful not to let him hit his head on the floor as she pulled it off.
Okay... the shirt. She’d remove the shirt next. Lois methodically unbuttoned it and then laid it open. She was trying hard not to gawk at his well-defined pectoral muscles or the sculpted lines of his abs, but they were a little distracting to say the least.
She chastised herself. How could she be ogling Clark’s body while he was lying unconscious on the floor and she didn’t even know what was wrong with him?
What was wrong with her?
She pushed the shirt back off his shoulders and then slipped one sleeve down over his hand. It took some work but she finally got one arm free and then the other. She pulled the shirt out from underneath him and threw it off to the side.
Her palms began to sweat. Why was this so hard? She had undressed him and helped him get into his pajama pants at his parents house the other night when he’d had too much to drink.
Ah, yes, but it had been almost pitch black. She hadn’t turned any lights on, not wanting to wake his parents up. And he had sort of been awake then. He’d been able to at least help her. He had gotten his pants off on his own and had even managed to get his pajamas on by himself.
This was different. It was broad daylight. Clark was unconscious...
And they had told each other that they loved one another.
She swallowed and moved down to his shoes. His shoes would have to come off before she could get his pants off. Maybe he would wake up...
Lois removed both his shoes and his socks but, to her distress, he was still out. She took his belt buckle in her hands and unfastened it, ashamed with herself for thinking what she was thinking. She slid the belt from his pants and then unbuttoned and unzipped them.
Oh god... Focus! No...! On the task...!
She began tugging and pulling on his pants, working them off his hips and down his legs until she had freed them from his body. Now Clark was lying completely naked on his bathroom floor, save for a pair of thin, silk boxer shorts.
Did she leave the boxers on? Did he usually wear them under the suit? After all, he wore briefs on the outside... Would they show lines through the spandex material?
Did lines honestly matter!?
She closed her eyes and shook her head, appalled at herself. No, no the boxers would stay on; she would save both of them the embarrassment later when he woke up. She grabbed the Suit from where it lay on the floor and contemplated it for a second. The spandex material was slick and tight – like control top pantyhose – it wasn’t going to be easy to get on.
Lois tugged, pulled and slid and finally she had the garment on – with a minimal amount of awkwardness at touching certain areas of his body. The legs had been easy, but when she had gotten to his waist... well, besides trying to get acceptable handholds, it had just been a lot tighter of a fit to get the Suit over his hips... and ample backside. At least the Suit unzipped, that had helped her get it over the muscular span of his chest. But she’d finally had to pull him up into a sitting position to finish getting the suit on – and zipped up.
It had been a lot of work.
She took hold of her shirt and pulled it away from her chest, blowing a stream of air down into the opening, and then began fanning the shirt against her. As she reached up to wipe her forehead with the back of her other hand, she could tell that perspiration had long since curled a few of her errant hairs. She thought she had been hot before – she was going to need a shower by the time this was over... most likely a cold one.
Crawling around on the floor, she picked up all of Clark’s clothing and then deposited the bundle into his hamper. She glanced back down at him with a pang of sympathy. He didn’t look at all comfortable, but he did look like Superman, at least. His hair had been damp with sweat and she had finger-combed it back into the style he wore as Superman.
Lois glanced down at her watch. If Dr. Klein took very long, Clark was sure to get cold in that thin spandex, lying on the hard, bare floor. She could at least make him a little more comfortable while she waited. Leaving the bathroom, she went to his bed to grab a blanket and pillow, and that’s when she noticed them.
The pictures.
There were pictures everywhere with Clark in them. What if Klein looked at the pictures too carefully? Obviously, Clark had kept up his dual identity so far without any problems – she certainly hadn’t seen through his disguise. But this was a strange situation, having ‘Superman’ here at Clark Kent’s apartment and Clark was nowhere to be seen. Dr. Klein had never met Clark before, only Superman. He would have no idea what he looked like. But if he noticed how much Clark resembled Superman from any of those photos...
Better to be safe than sorry...
Lois began to dart around the apartment, collecting all of Clark’s photos. She took them into the kitchen and tucked them inside the cabinet under his sink.
Now she just needed Klein to hurry up and get here.
She glanced up at the door, willing him to knock on it. Please hurry, she thought at him.
**********
Clark woke up slowly, feeling disoriented. The last thing he remembered clearly was throwing up in his bathroom. He had a vague recollection of people being there and of being moved...
And now he found himself lying on his side in his bed... In his Suit? What was he doing in that? Something soft and warm was draped over him and dangling against his chest. He looked down and realized it was someone’s arm.
A woman’s arm...
Lois’s arm?
His heart began to race and he turned over carefully in bed so that he could look at her. As he turned, he was aware that something was moving with him. He glanced down at his arm and saw that the sleeve of his Suit was rolled up and there was an IV attached to him. The cord led up to a bag of fluid on a stand next to his bed.
Where had that come from? And who had brought it?
He looked back down at the arm on his chest. His eyes followed the arm to Lois’s body. She was fully clothed and lying on top of the covers, but her arm was draped over him protectively. He finished rolling over and smiled softly at the enchanting expression on her face, a peaceful look of innocence exposed in her sleep. He couldn’t count the number of dreams he’d had where he would wake up in bed next to her.
They didn’t quite happen like this, but still...
Clark reached over and touched her cheek, caressing it gently with his thumb. “Lois?” he whispered softly.
“Hmmm what, Clark?” she mumbled, not yet awake.
Clark was about to say her name again when her eyes flew open and then widened in surprise. “Um, hi,” she said shyly.
“Hi,” he repeated back to her.
“Sorry,” she mumbled as she started to pull away from him. “You were tossing in your sleep and I was afraid you were going to pull your IV out. As long as I was touching you, you seemed to calm down. I was just going to lay by you until you fell asleep but...” She paused in her explanation when he reached out and put one arm around her, holding her in place.
“Don’t apologize.”
“Oh.” Lois didn’t really know what else to say and was verging on panicked embarrassment when Clark saved her.
“What happened?” he asked, releasing her.
“You passed out,” she explained as she worked her way up into a sitting position on the bed. “Dr. Klein thinks you were suffering from heat exhaustion. He borrowed some IV equipment from a colleague of his who works at a hospital.” She took his arm in her hand and inspected the IV. “He said you should get some rest and get plenty of fluids the next few days.”
He slowly sat up and then scooted back to lean against the headboard, letting the covers fall from his body to expose blue spandex. “How did I get into my Suit?”
Lois looked away from him shyly. “I, uh, put it on you. I didn’t know what else to do. I told Dr. Klein that Superman wasn’t feeling well and I had asked him to meet me here.” She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “You’re not mad, are you? It’s just that when I found you passed out on the floor, it scared me. I knew someone needed to look at you and there wasn’t any way I could get you up from the floor, let alone move you. So I called Dr. Klein.”
“No. I’m not mad, Lois,” he hurried to assure her, smiling lovingly at her. He had really been too hard on her about Dr. Klein. She needed to know that he trusted her. “You did exactly what you should have done.”
“Thanks,” Lois said, relieved. She let go of Clark’s hand and got up from the bed.
“So Dr. Klein thinks I just have heat exhaustion? That’s it?” Clark was afraid to believe it could be that simple.
“Yeah. He said he thought it was probably either that or possibly sun poisoning.” She walked around the bed to his side and checked the fluid bag attached to his IV. “He hadn’t thought to mention it, but the antibiotic he gave you can cause extra sensitivity to sunlight. So that could have aggravated things.”
Clark frowned. It figured that the one thing that was supposed to heal him would end up making him sick.
Lois turned his arm over and looked down at the IV. “Do you want me to take this out?”
He wanted to object that she didn’t have to, that he could do it, but the truth was that it would be hard to do one-handed. “Yeah. Thanks.”
She peeled the tape back and made a face as she quickly pulled the IV from his arm. “Do you remember him being here?”
“Dr. Klein?” At her nod, he continued, “No.”
“You were mumbling a little incoherently while he was checking you over. He told me to watch you closely and if you didn’t come around in an hour or so to call him back.” She glanced over at his alarm clock. “That was about forty minutes ago. We should probably call him and let him know that you’re awake. He might have more to tell you.”
Clark took hold of her hand and gave it a soft squeeze. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled softly at him. “I’m sure you probably want to take a shower... you were pretty sweaty. But take a cool one. Hot water won’t feel good on your sunburn. I uh... laid out a fresh towel for you after I finished my shower earlier, while I was waiting for Dr. Klein to get here.”
She had taken a shower? Clark started to ask her why but there was a knock at the door.
Lois glanced towards the door and then back at Clark. He gave her a questioning look. She shrugged her shoulders – he was the one with x-ray vision, not her - and left his bedroom, making her way to his front door.
Clark struggled to get out of bed and followed her into the living room.
“It’s Jack and Jimmy,” she hissed, peeking through the veiled curtains of the front door. “I called Perry to tell him that I was coming to check on you. He must have sent them over,” she continued in a whisper. She opened the door just a crack and smiled at the two boys. “Give us just a minute, okay? Clark’s... uh...” She glanced back at Clark who was hiding off to one side, clothed in his super hero outfit, “...getting dressed.”
The astonished looks on the two boys’ faces brought a flush into hers. That might not have been the best thing to say. She closed the door before they could respond and ran back down the stairs. “Hurry, we’ve got to get you changed.” She shooed at him with her hands, gesturing for him to go back into his bedroom. At the same time, she rushed over to his closet and grabbed a pair of tan slacks and a blue button-down shirt.
Clark struggled to reach his zipper to undo his suit. He wriggled out of the top portion and then hopped from one leg to another as he pulled the suit from his body.
Lois came in, bringing him the clothes to put on, and gaped momentarily. He was standing there in only his boxers. She averted her gaze and held out his clothes. “Do you need help?” she asked awkwardly, not meeting his eyes.
“No. I think I can manage,” Clark responded, grinning slightly at her reaction.
Lois went back to the front door and opened it again. “What exactly did you need, Jimmy?” She turned her gaze from one to the other. “Jack?”
“Perry sent us,” Jack piped up, a funny expression still on his face.
“Yeah, he thought CK might need some... help,” Jimmy added with obvious mirth, trying to hold back a snicker.
Lois rolled her eyes. “No. Clark’s fine now. He got a little sick earlier from the heat, that’s all. But since you’re here, can I ask you a favor?” She glanced back towards the bedroom; Clark hadn’t come out yet. “I really need to check in with Perry and get my story written about the hostage situation at LexCorp, but I don’t...”
“Want to leave Clark by himself?” Jack finished for her. “Yeah, Jimmy and I would be happy to stay with him, wouldn’t we?” he asked, looking over at his friend. Jimmy nodded his willing agreement and Jack continued, “I leave the day after tomorrow and wanted to say goodbye anyway.”
“Yeah, and Perry’s letting me take a couple of days to help Jack get moved in,” Jimmy chimed in.
“Oh, so you’re going with Jack to New York?” she asked Jimmy.
They both nodded and Jack walked through the open door, brushing past Lois. He stopped and turned back to look at Jimmy. “Why don’t you go ahead and go back to the office with Lois? Perry won’t like it if we’re both gone, and I’m the one who’s officially off the payroll. Both of us don’t need to sit with Clark. You go on.”
“Are you sure?” Jimmy asked, looking a little lost all of the sudden.
“Yeah,” Jack nodded. “I’ll stay here with Clark. We’ve got some catching up to do.”
Lois noticed the peculiar look he had in his eyes. He definitely knew *something*. “Thanks, Jack,” she said appreciatively. She turned back to Jimmy and smiled. “Come on, Jimmy, let’s see if we can get a front page headliner done today.”
She glanced back at Jack before taking Jimmy by the arm and leading him off.
What she wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall right now.
**********
To Be Continued...
