He didn’t want the elevator to stop at the newsroom floor; he didn’t want to see Lois’ empty desk, but the elevator stopped to allow someone to enter. The newsroom looked fairly quiet. Almost against his will his eyes went to Lois’ desk. And there sat Perry White with his head in his hands. Clark felt the pain twist in his chest. Did Lois have any idea how much she was missed? No stone would be left unturned in the search for her.
*****
The interview had worn him out. He kept to the facts of what he did know about Lois’ disappearance and was able to maintain his composure as he pled with the audience to please be watching for Lois as they went about their days. Her picture flashed up on the viewing screen along with all of his contact numbers. He mentioned the $50,000 reward that Stern Publishing had announced in the Daily Planet this morning. But while it was emotionally draining for him, it was the best way to get the word out to as many people as possible.
He missed her desperately. He wished that she was there to consult with. She had always been the one with the crazy ideas that turned into solid leads. If she were here, she would have her own disappearance figured out in no time, Clark thought. The team of Lane-Kent and Kent was sadly lacking without her.
But he didn’t just miss her at work. He had been unable to spend any time looking for her last night due to an earthquake in South America. He had spent all night helping to search the rubble for survivors and reinforcing structures to keep the workers safe from their collapse during the search and as they began to rebuild. Coming into the office this morning, it struck him how often after such a disaster, Lois had made her way to his desk quickly to engage him in conversation, perhaps even squeezing his hand or leaning her head on his shoulder. Or maybe she called him that evening to come watch a movie with her or help her finish some left over take-out. Of course, she never mentioned the emergency, but he now recognized that she had tried to support and comfort him the only way that she could, the only way that he had allowed her to.
A knock sounded on the door. “Come in,” he answered.
Jimmy stuck his head around the door. “I got some of that research for you. Luthor had several drivers. But. . . I don’t know how to say this. . . I ran background searches on all of them and one of them. . . turned up dead. They fished him out of Hobbs Bay only a couple of days ago.”
Clark sighed, “Chances are that’s the one I’m looking for, but I’ll go ahead and do the legwork on the others to rule them out.” And yet another dead-end. . . literally. But he’d known that Luthor was good at covering his tracks.
“I’ve got the initial compilation of Luthor’s property finished. I’m just checking it against possible research facilities.”
“That’s great, Jimmy. I really appreciate it. Can you bring me just the properties in California before you leave tonight? I’m going to, uh, give it to Superman. See what he can find.”
“Sure thing, CK.” Jimmy closed the door behind him as he left.
Clark longed to hit something in frustration but couldn’t take the chance that he would totally demolish his office. It was all taking too long! He needed to find Lois now. Two weeks. Two long weeks gone and he still had no leads to her whereabouts. Calls of sympathy had poured in. Even money had come in from fans wishing to help with the search. But no tips. No sightings. Lois Lane-Kent had dropped off the face of the earth.
*****
Sam Lane came by to see him. He wanted to hear the whole story from Clark’s own lips. He wanted to hear what Clark had done to find his daughter. And he wanted something, anything to do that could be of help.
Clark mentally went through his own “To do “ list. The things he wanted to do were innumerable. And as Superman, he could do them so much faster than anyone else could, yet, he simply couldn’t make time to accomplish all of them. There were things that Henderson, Jimmy, and even Sam Lane could do better than he could, even if not as quickly as he could do them himself.
“Sam, the best thing that you could do to help would be to talk to your medical colleagues. Try to find anyone with an interest in cloning even if they apparently haven’t attempted it. Ask if they know anyone who might be attempting to clone humans. I’ve found some vague references to a Dr. Mamba who was working with both cloning and Dopplebuufo frogs, but I haven’t been able to get any idea of where he is currently located.”
Sam nodded. “I can do that. And if you hear anything, anything at all, you’ll call me?”
“I promise.”
*****
He hated to take the time away from his search for Lois, but he knew that Sweetie needed him too. And his poor mother needed a break. She was doing her best to care for him and to spend time entertaining Sweetie, all the while worry for Lois was eating away at her. So Clark had made reservations. Reservations for he and Sweetie to fly to Florida so Sweetie could see Disneyland and reservations at Metropolis’ highest rated day spa for his mother.
Clark spared no expense. Sweetie got the Mickey Mouse ears, a ride on Magic Mountain and, of course, the Teacups. They stayed late so that they could watch the parade. Everything was a new experience for Sweetie and Clark experienced her joy watching it all through her eyes. A niggling of guilt continued to plague him that he should be spending these days to look for Lois, and the relaxation allowed the panic at not finding her that he had been trying so hard to keep a lid on to surface. All he wanted was to hear her voice, feel her touch again. And while he did his best to do right by Sweetie, precious time slipped away. As he struggled with himself he decided that as soon as he could drop Sweetie off at home tomorrow, he would head into the office and work harder than ever to uncover Luthor’s secrets.
*****
And slowly he began to uncover some of those secrets. As Lex Luthor’s whereabouts remained a mystery, those who had previously been unwilling to talk became more forthcoming. Stories by Clark Kent were seen at least weekly: “THE HOUSE OF LUTHOR”, “LUTHOR VAST CRIMINAL NETWORK REVEALED”, “FALL OF THE HOUSE OF LUTHOR”. Luthor was involved in even more criminal activity than Clark had ever dreamed. He preyed on small companies struggling to survive, offering to help them expand. Then he used those legitimate companies to launder his money from other pursuits and supplied the labor using illegal immigrants whom he smuggled into the country and forced to work for him. He had a finger in the government, both locally and nationally. After Henderson received a search warrant to do so, the Metropolis PD raided Lex Towers and found incriminating documents dealing with several unsolved Metropolis murders, as well as crimes that had been prosecuted with some lesser minion taking the blame for Luthor’s activities. Stolen artifacts were found in the bunker along with evidence that Luthor had been stalking Lois, bugging her apartment and the Daily Planet. None of the recordings were current and Clark concluded that was why Sweetie had not known of his and Lois’ relationship.
By the time Clark had exhausted every lead that he had discovered, Luthor Industries, LexCorp, and all of its subsidiaries were ruined. Clark felt for the individuals who lost their employment due to the fall of the price of stock in Luthor’s businesses. It caused a minor crash of the stock market, but as the weeks went by, the businesses were picked up and absorbed into other businesses and life in the business world began to level.
Two things came to light that were of significant interest to Clark. The amount of cash that had disappeared into foreign bank accounts during the last few months of Luthor’s reign and the recovery of a memo requesting that scores of boxes of files only identified by numbers be incinerated. Clark wished there was some way for him to recover what had been in those files, but even Superman couldn’t recover anything from the ashes. Had those files held the answer to where Lois, Lex Luthor, Nigel St. John, and Mrs. Cox had disappeared to?
******
Clark had made sure that he set aside time to spend time with Sweetie. In addition to Disneyland, they had visited Washington, DC, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park. He wished that he could have taken her more places, but even his mother had reluctantly acknowledged that Sweetie no longer had the energy for traveling. More and more she spent the days curled up on the couch watching TV, or perhaps a more accurate statement would be that she dozed off while the TV played on. Her body had aged as Dr. Klein had predicted, although she had lived past the equivalent of seventy-five and was now approximately ninety. Her hair had gone a snowy white within the last two weeks and her skin no longer had a youthful glow and was lightly lined with wrinkles. Clark was so thankful that despite the fact that her body was slowing down, she did not appear to be in any pain. Perhaps there just was not enough time for any sort of illness to develop.
It was with a heavy heart that Clark headed quickly home from the Planet after a call from Dr. Klein. It was just a guess, but Dr. Klein believed that Sweetie would not live for many more hours. Clark had asked that Dr. Klein let him know because he wanted to make sure that he was there for Sweetie.
Sweetie’s voice was little more than a whisper. “Clark?”
“I’m here, Sweetie.”
“I’m so sorry you haven’t found Lois yet.”
“Shh. It’s okay. Just rest.”
“Thank you for taking me all those places. I’m glad I got to see them.”
“It was my pleasure.” His eyes were burning with tears, but he forced them back. He had too much to do, he just could not allow himself time to give in to his emotions. He sat quietly for a while holding her had as her breathing became yet fainter.
“Clark? I think. . . I think I remembered something else.”
“Sweetie-”
“Bank account numbers. It was bank account numbers that Mr. St. John and Mrs. Cox wanted from Luthor.”
Bank account numbers? As his personal assistants, surely the pair had access to his business accounts? But what about his personal ones? His mind began to whirl.
“I don’t. . . know much. But I don’t think. . . I don’t think he was right Clark.”
She was wearing herself out. “Sweetie, why don’t you rest a little and talk to me later?”
“No!” she cried with Lois Lane-Kent spunk. “I need to tell you now.” Her voice dropped back down. “I’m not sure there will be a later. I can feel myself. . . going.”
Clark barely stifled a moan. He didn’t know how he could stand any more tragedies. He was stressed almost to the breaking point. With his days, other than the ones dedicated to Sweetie, filled with tracking down leads as Clark Kent and his nights spent doing aerial searches as Superman, he had managed to keep busy enough that he didn’t have time to think. . . or to feel. But he didn’t know how much longer he could hold back the crippling surge of feelings.
“Luthor acted oddly for what I now know about him. Weak. Like he was not. . . all there anymore.”
“Drugged?”
“Maybe. They seemed to be trying to give him the impression that he was in control, but I know that they were really running the show.”
But that would mean that Luthor wasn’t the villain here, he was a victim!
“Is that it?”
“Yes.”
“Good”. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Rest now.”
*****
After he was certain that Sweetie was sleeping, he headed into the kitchen wearily rubbing his hands over his face. Martha was at the sink washing dishes, but she was going about it so slowly he knew that she was just trying to keep her hands busy. Clark opened the fridge and pulled out the milk carton. He uncapped it an took a swig. With a questioning look on his face he checked the label as he swallowed.”
“Buttermilk, Mom?”
Martha smiled softly at him. “I was thinking of your dad. You know what he always says.”
“Buttermilk is good for what ails you.”
She nodded at him.
“I don’t think buttermilk is going to fix all this.” Clark had taken a glass from the cupboard and sat at the table filling it with more of the milk.
Martha came behind him and rubbed his shoulders. “I’m worried about you, Clark.”
“I’m okay, Mom.”
“No. You’re not. I’m your mother, Clark Kent, and I know. You can’t keep pushing yourself like this. And you can’t keep bottling all your emotions inside.”
Clark stood and shook off her hand, tossing the milk down the sink. “I can’t do this right now, Mom,” he said as he rinsed out the glass.
“Clark-”
“I’m sorry. I just can’t.”
*****
Sweetie roused one last time. Martha sat on the bed, rubbing her hand. Clark knelt beside her, pushing back Sweetie’s hair, as he again tried to ignore the urge to weep. His whole head felt like a herd of elephants were running through it. Was this what a headache felt like?
“Clark.”
“I’m here, Sweetie.”
“Did I help you? Did I do good?”
“Yes,” he croaked hoarsely. “You did good.”
A faint smile touched her lips. “I mean well.”
“You did good and you did well.”
“I hope you find her.” Her brown eyes drifted closed for the last time.
Martha began to weep. Clark stood and reached for her, holding her as she cried.
She finally gained control. “I’m sorry, Clark. This is not what you need right now.”
He patted her back. “It’s okay, Mom. I can’t thank you enough for helping me care for her. I don’t know how I would have managed without you. I know it has been hard, being away from Dad.”
“I was happy to help.”
Clark nodded. “I know that. But still, thank you.”
*****
Since Sweetie was not legally a person, Clark and Dr. Klein had decided that it would be okay for Clark to send her remains into the sun as he had with his clone. As he softly guided the bundle into the sun’s gravity, he could feel the sun charging him, giving him added strength that he needed so badly. He longed to stay there for a few hours, but he knew that he needed to get his mother back to the farm and to her husband. His mind was already forming a plan to show his gratitude to them both for their support, especially the help of the last few weeks.
*****
“But, Clark! We can’t go on a cruise! If you find Lois-” Martha began to protest.
“*When* I find Lois, *if* you are still on the cruise Superman will come and get you.”
“But-”
“Mom, you need a rest and some time spent with Dad. I’ll take care of the farm.”
Martha could see the determination in his stance and acquiesced. “Okay.”
Jonathan patted Clark on the back. “Thanks, son”
*****
His apartment was horribly empty as he returned from seeing his parents off. Dr. Klein had removed all of the monitoring equipment that had been present the last few weeks. There was no sign that anyone except himself had ever lived here. He stumbled to the couch and sank into it, resting his head on his hands. The pounding headache had become a constant. He needed some sleep, to close his eyes and just absorb the silence around him.
The shrill ring of his home phone split the silence and he groaned. Why hadn’t he turned the ringer off? He did not feel like talking to anyone right now. As the phone continued through its second and third ring, he stretched out on the couch and pulled one of the pillows to his face. “Go away,” he muttered. The answering machine would pick it up on the next ring. He would check it later. Surely it was not too much to ask for a few minutes of peace. He listened to his voice requesting that the caller leave a message.
“Clark?” her voice was a whisper. “It’s Lois.”
With all the superspeed he could muster he raced for the phone. He had to mentally remind himself to keep from crushing the phone in his eagerness. “Lois! Lois?”
The dial tone rang loudly through the answering machines speakers, echoing in his empty apartment.
He collapsed where he stood. Great sobs and wails tore from his chest. So close, so close. All the grief that he had been stifling over the past ten weeks came crashing down on him. Why had he not answered the phone the first instant that it began to ring? He cursed and called himself all kinds of names.
When he roused from his grief he realized that Henderson needed to be informed. This was proof that Lois was alive and perhaps the call could be traced. He doubted it. If Lois had managed to use St. John or Mrs. Cox’s phones, they had undoubtedly taken steps to prevent calls from being tracked. But that did not mean that it could not be checked out. Or perhaps there would be some noise in the background that might be helpful. He picked his cell phone up from the table where he had tossed it when he had entered the apartment.
“Henderson? Clark Kent. Lois just called me. Tried to call me.”
“Have you touched the phone?”
“No. It rang and I. . . didn’t pick it up.” Clark’s voice cracked slightly as he again cursed himself for letting the phone ring, wasting precious time that he could have been hearing her voice, could have spoken back to her.
“Don’t touch it. I’ll be right there.”
Within a half hour Henderson was working with several experts who would disassemble his answering machine and phone to try to make the most of the short call. They had set up recording equipment and copied the message when Henderson had pressed the flashing button. Clark forced himself to listen again to Lois whisper, “Clark? It’s Lois.” and then the buzz of the dial tone.
“Clark, stop blaming yourself,” Henderson counseled. “Honestly, Clark, it’s better this way. How would we have recorded the call if you had picked it up? How could we have the background noises analyzed?”
“I could have told her I l. . . Maybe she could have told me where she was.”
Henderson shook his head. “She may not even know. And in the few seconds that the phone rang? Let’s just see what we can get. You guys done?” he asked the technicians surrounding him. They assured him they had all they needed.
“Well then, let’s try the obvious.” Henderson picked up the handheld unit and punched *69. He shrugged, “It’s worth a try.”
But the amplified message that came back was, “The number that you have called is no longer in service.”
“I figured that would be too easy,” Henderson grumbled. “Look, Clark, we’ll do the best we can, but just don’t hope for too much, okay? Luthor’s got access to technology that we haven’t even dreamed of yet.”
Yet another hurry up and wait. A lead that would go nowhere, leaving him not one whit closer to finding Lois.
*****
While Henderson’s team tried to trace the call, Clark began to prepare a new course of action to find Lois. Selecting areas where Luthor had business interests had not produced Lois’ whereabouts so he was literally going to have to search the world. He had to find her. And with Sweetie gone, there was nothing keeping him from searching for her every minute of the day. First he had to calculate a realistic grid of areas to search. If Henderson could narrow the origin of the call down to a continent, it would save a lot of wasted searching. . . and hours and days that Lois remained missing. Clark could mark which areas he had already searched here in the States. And with the new information that Sweetie had left him with, he could add properties owned by Nigel St. John and Mrs. Cox to the location of possible hiding places.
*****
Clark spent most of the next two weeks flying above Australia. If he found anything the least suspicious, underground rooms or anything lead-lined, he would land, spin into his Clark clothes, and check it out. Some of the research he had done into Luthor evidenced that he had spent some portion of his life in Australia. If rumor were to be believed, he had even fathered a child whom he had rejected because of some sort of disfigurement However he didn’t run into Lex Luthor Junior during his search so he didn’t know if there was any truth to the reports.
*****
He picked his parents up at the Metropolis airport. Martha took one look at him and began to scold him for not taking care of himself. Clark looked for Jonathan, but he just grinned. “Don’t look at me, Clark, I’ve been taking good care of myself.”
Clark rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you tell me about your cruise?”
“I want to hear what is going on with the search for Lois,” Martha insisted.
“Once we’re back to the farm.”
“Can you stay with us for a few days?”
“If you want me to I could, I guess.” Now that he had completed searching Australia, he wanted to grid Central and South America. Many of Luthor’s illegal workers were from Mexico so and there was some evidence that he helped with transporting drugs, although Clark had not found any evidence that Luthor was involved in the sale of them. It would be another place where Luthor had connections that would be willing to assist in hiding Lois.
*****
“And the police department hasn’t been able to trace the call?” Jonathan asked.
Clark shook his head. “Not yet, anyway. They’re still working on it. But it doesn’t look good. The call was so short and Henderson mentioned unregistered pre-paid cell phones and deleted records. It really doesn’t surprise us that some extreme steps were taken to make the call untraceable or at least to make the tracing take impossibly long. Background noise was virtually non-existent. All Superman could hear was Lois’ breathing.” And the beat of her heart that told him that she was either nervous, excited, or very scared. Maybe all three.
“I’m so sorry, Clark,” Martha sympathized. “But at least we know she is alive.”
“Believe me, I am not discounting that fact. Since nothing I’ve found has led me to Lois, I’ve been spending my time as Superman searching for her. So far Metropolis has not noticed his absence. But I’m going to ask Dr. Klein to give me some sort of beeper that Henderson could use to signal Superman if he was needed back in Metropolis so the criminals don’t think they can get away with murder. . . literally or otherwise.”
“Clark, I know you’re Superman, but you do need to rest. Promise me that you’ll take one day off a week and spend some time resting.”
“Okay, Mom. I promise.” Martha was right; he did need some sleep. Perhaps he would spend some time at the farm each week to decompress. It would energize him to continue the search. Besides he didn’t need to cause her any more worry. She was already worrying about Lois.
*****
With his plans settled with his parents, Clark approached Perry with his idea to travel with Superman in an all out search for Lois. He explained that Superman would be keeping an eye on Metropolis as always and that Clark would stop in at the Planet whenever Superman needed to be in town. Lois had been missing for three months and research and checking out leads seemed to have gotten him nowhere. He needed to physically be out there looking for her. Perry nodded, the look in his eyes saying that he wished that he could spend some time beating the bushes for Lois himself.
Superman went to see Dr. Klein and described to him his need for a long-range “beeper” that Henderson could use to contact him if he were needed in Metropolis. Superman would continue to fly patrols over Metropolis, after all St. John and Mrs. Cox might return to the scene of the crime, but he would not hear cries for help if he were in, say, Europe, and he was needed.
*****
He stopped in to see Ellen Lane wanting to talk to her about his plan for finding Lois. She had continued to work and had not fallen back on her old crutch of alcohol for dealing with stress. Yet he could see the weariness in her eyes just as he could see it in Martha’s. To lose a child was awful. To not know was worse. As he left he did not resist the urge to give her a hug and assure her that he would contact her if he heard anything. She clung to him for a moment and he realized that Ellen had no one to lean on. At least Martha and Jonathan could share their sorrow and draw strength from each other. Neither Sam nor Lucy were capable of offering Ellen the support that she surely needed. Clark determined that he would do a better job of keeping her informed and maybe allow her to lean on him a little bit.
*****
It was not a job that even Superman could complete in a day. He wanted to work fast, but he also had to search at a slow enough pace that he had time to notice anything unusual. He assigned himself to a grid on his map and he spent time looking over that portion of the world. Densely populated areas took longer than less populated ones yet he was very conscious that he could not speed over those areas as it was just as likely that Lois was being held in a remote location as one where St. John and Mrs. Cox would have access to amenities, but would also pose a greater chance of their being recognized.
As he had promised, both he and Superman took a day off each week, usually Sundays. He would sleep for the better part of the day and then allow his mother to pamper him with a big meal. Later he would head into the Planet and make out his record of what he had accomplished and plan his route for the next week. And sometimes he would have a story to write up. While he had dedicated his time to searching for Lois, he could not just ignore any crimes that he came across and had published articles on a prostitution ring, a drug running operation, and a serial rapist whose latest victim Superman had rescued. When Superman had turned the rapist over to the police they were quickly able to link him to several other crimes and the man would be spending the better part of the rest of his life behind bars. Clark’s follow up story on victims, their before and after stories, earned him a Kerth nomination. It was bittersweet. He was glad to be able to move people with his stories, but he and Lois had intended to win their next Kerth together. He did not attend the banquet and was relieved to hear that the award had gone to someone else.
And before he would head out for another week of searching, he would stop by Ellen Lane’s house or office and take her out for breakfast, lunch, or just coffee. He would tell her where he had searched and ask her about her job. They would share a few memories of Lois, stories she had written or a tale from her childhood. Clark found himself looking forward to their meetings, enjoying the chance to remember Lois in happier times.
*****
That pattern was broken three months later when his beeper began to ring at the same time he heard his mother screaming his name. Shaking the sleep from his head he raced down the stairs to where his mother was standing in front of the television crying his name. On the screen he could see a journalist standing beside a river. He tuned into hear what the newscast was reporting. “Sources are speculating that the body discovered washed up here three days ago is the body of multi-billionaire Lex Luthor who had not been heard from in almost seven months and has been liked to the diappearance of newpaper reporter Lois Lane-Kent.”
“I’ve got to go!” Clark called as he spun into his Superman costume and headed for Metropolis.
At the Metropolis Police Department he made his way to Bill Henderson’s office without waiting to allow the receptionist to inform the inspector of his presence.
“Why wasn’t I informed earlier?” he demanded after wrenching the door open. Perry White and Bill Henderson stood to their feet.
“Because it took three days for news to reach the media outlets in that stupid backward country. Some local guy who thinks he’s a coroner signed off on the corpse as a John Doe, but he did send the ring on the deceased’s finger to a jeweler hoping to sell it. The ring had several diamond bits in it but one was large enough that it had been registered and the jeweler checked the registration. When the owner came up as Lex Luthor he went to some two bit rag with his story that Lex Luthor’s body had been found. This was just a few hours ago.” Henderson began.
“Some police officer saw the article and e-mailed it to a journalist friend of his at one of the Daily Planet branches along with the caption, “Yeah, and Elvis operates a surf shop in Rio.” But the journalist decided to do some checking and was able to find out whom the tabloid got the story from. Once he realized there really was a possibility that this ring had belonged to Luthor he contacted me,” Perry finished.
“Is it Luthor?” Superman asked.
Henderson shrugged his shoulders. “DNA will take a few days at the least. I called the authorities in the nearest town and they were able to confirm from the coroner’s report that the height of the body was consistent with Luthor’s. Unfortunately, he was in the water for a while and so it is hard to make a positive identification based on sight alone.”
“Where is this? I could compare bone structure. If I could get a copy of Luthor’s dental records I could check that out as well. I’ll leave right away.”
“You probably have as good a better chance of recognizing him than anyone else,” Henderson agreed. “No go on the dental records though. As far as we have found no dental or medical records exist for Lex Luthor.”
“Just tell me where to go.”
“Tell Clark-“ began Perry.
“I’ll take Clark with me”
*****
The swirling muddy water had certainly done significant damage to the corpse. Viewing the tatters of cloth that had once been a suit as well as the body’s build and facial features Clark did feel strongly that this really could be Lex Luthor. Odd that the man who had everything and had frequently been featured in the pages of the world’s most well-known journals would end up virtually unidentifiable and buried in a pauper’s grave but for a blurb in a gossip rag. The expert that Superman had flown in estimated that the body had been in the water for at least five days. Positive DNA identification would take some time, but a preliminary report would be available within twenty-four hours.
The most likely cause of death was very obvious. A single gun shot to the forehead.
Had the muddy river rejected the evidence that Nigel St. John and Mrs. Cox had hoped would disappear into its murky depths?
*****
A few hours later found Clark Kent searching for information on the river’s path and currents. A proper autopsy would reveal more details on Luthor’s final hours, but Clark did not care about Lex Luthor except that if Lois and Luthor had been taken to the same location, his body might lead Clark to Lois. He had to hope that she had not met the same fate. That the pair had not decided to kill both of their captives once they had the information that they wanted so badly.
His cell phone rang. He answered it distractedly as he used his super-vision to magnify the image that he had found for the area where the body had been found.
“Clark? It’s Ellen. Is it true? Has Luthor’s body been found?”
“Superman thinks so, Ellen, and that’s good enough for me. I’m trying to get some information on the river thinking that I might be able to figure out where the body originated from, but the area is so remote there’s not a lot of information available.”
“Oh, Clark, what if she’s-”
“Don’t think like that, Ellen. We don’t know if Luthor was the perpetrator or a victim like Lois. Or if they were even being held together. But this could be the best lead we’ve had yet and I’m going to believe that we’ll find her.”
“Oh, I hope so, Clark.”
He called his parents to update them as well. There were so may questions that they all wanted to have answered, and the information that Clark needed just did not seem available. Finally he had to admit that he had all the information that he was going to get. The best thing to do would be to backtrack the probable course that the body had traveled and hope that he was on the right track.
*****
He had to be careful not to fly too fast in his haste because that could cause him to miss what he needed to see, but his heart spurred him on, faster, faster. She was here. She had to be. She had to be, because he just couldn’t live if. . . no, she had to be here. His eyes scanned over various huts and buildings around the wide river. Was the place he was looking for near the river? Or had Cox and St. John traveled to dump Luthor’s body? If so how far? How far from the river should he extend his search? Should he start with a wide search or just fly over the river and look in the immediate area around it first? He finally settled on the flying over the river. Cox and St. John would be in a hurry. He had to hope that they had not taken time to dump the body too far from where Lois was held. It was getting dark. He didn’t have to have light to see, but it was easier than constantly monitoring with his x-ray vision. He quickly scanned the land around the river as he flew. Please be here, he begged silently.
He had flown in the dark for hours and the sun was shining brightly when his eyes scanned over a building formed out of cinder blocks. Not a very large building. Could this be it? Something just drew him to the building. He tried to x-ray the building. Lead shielding. That had to mean something. He landed and crashed through the door of the building. There were cobwebs and dust as if it hadn’t seen use in years. No! She had to be here. He scanned again and found a door in the floor underneath the dusty, falling apart table. He shoved it out of his way and it splintered into pieces as it crashed against the walls. He pulled the iron door off its hinges and flung it behind him. The opening into the ground was dark but he floated down into the earth. He activated his vision to look around. His heart leapt with hope. The furnishings were much too lavish to belong to the locals. Expensive alcohol rested in well-polished wine racks. The rugs on the floor were not from a local weaver and way above CostMart quality. But, while clean, it also appeared abandoned. “Lois, Lois, please be here,” he begged. As he scanned the room he finally found another door also lead shielded. He could not see through the walls into the room, but as he strode toward the portal he activated his hearing. For a second he didn’t hear anything but then he heard the weak beat of a heart. There was something, someone in that room. He forced the door open listening for another beat as he did so. There was a long pause before he heard it again. His eyes focused in the dark room running over accommodations that were crude in comparison to the opulence of the connecting room. The beat came again and following the sound, he located the bed. “Lois!” He ran to kneel by the figure resting in the bed. His hands ran over her face, “Lois, Lois.” There was no response, but it was her. So much thinner than he had ever seen her. There were patches of short hair underneath the longer hair that lay in greasy strands on the pillow. “Lois, please wake up!” He heard her heart beat again and saw her chest raise in a shallow breath. He quickly stood and x-rayed her for broken bones, internal injuries, anything that would indicate that he shouldn’t move her. Finding nothing, he lifted her into his arms with the gentleness of a mother and carried her out through the richly furnished room and floated into the cinder block room above. Once outside he stopped to listen for her heartbeat again before lifting into the air. The beat was faint and slow, but it had a steady rhythm. He cradled her against his chest as he flew as fast as he dared toward home, toward help for the women in his arms.
It seemed like hours before he landed at the emergency entrance of Metropolis General. He carried his precious bundle through the sliding doors and into the lobby. All eyes turned to see Superman standing there with a frail woman in his arms. He fell to his knees as the ability to stand suddenly left him. “Help me, please help me. It’s Lois Lane-Kent. I found her. I finally found her.” For a moment all stood still as the room’s occupants viewed their resident Superhero with tears streaming down his face. Then suddenly the room began to buzz.
Two emergency personnel rushed toward him with a gurney and lifted her from his arms onto the bed.
“Page the attending with a 911 STAT. Then page the chief. He will want to be in on this,” barked a resident as she placed her stethoscope on Lois’ chest. “Call emergency services and tell them we are closed to trauma and get security down here. We can’t have this ER turning into a media circus. You two, get everyone in chairs evaluated. If it is emergent, triage them. Whatever can be quickly treated, do so.” The staff scurried to respond to the orders. “And for God’s sake, somebody get Superman a chair!” The red and blue lights of the ambulances flashed across him as he knelt in front of the doors, his cape pooled around him.
He staggered to his feet, “No, I’m fine. I have to get Clark Kent. Her family, they need to know. . .” He rushed from the emergency room and they heard the report of a sonic boom. Hardly a minute passed before Clark Kent appeared at the doors, his fingers rumpling his hair as he plunged through them. He ran after the gurney headed for one of the examination rooms. “Is she okay? What’s wrong with her? Superman said she wasn’t responding. Is her heart still beating, is she breathing?” One of the people left the gurney and laid her hand on his arm, “Mr. Kent, we will take good care of Ms. Lane-Kent. You need to slow down and let the doctor’s work. We need to evaluate her before we can give you any details as to the status of her health.” The gurney disappeared through the doors of the exam room.
“I have to be with her!”
“Mr. Kent, it really would be better-“
“I have to! I need to see her. Please, can’t you understand that? I just need to see her.”
The anguish in his face as well as his words touched her heart. She nodded. “You can be in the room, but you have to stay back, and you *must*be*quiet! Don’t say anything, don’t ask any questions. Let the doctors do their jobs.”
“Her family. . . can someone call the Planet and talk to Perry White? He knows who to contact. They need to be here too.”
“I’ll have someone do that right away.” They had reached the exam room doors and she held one open for him, “Now, remember, you must stay back and keep quiet!”
It looked like chaos to him. The people surrounding Lois called back and forth to each other. He stopped dead in his tracks. “Mr. Kent!” He startled and scuttled into a corner.
Her clothes were being cut off. A young man was tapping her arm underneath where he had the vein tied off. He released the tourniquet. “I can’t get anything. She’s too dehydrated. Get surgery down here to put in a central line.” The machines were beeping; they were shining a pen light in her eyes and calling to her. Clark was almost bursting with the need to know something. I’ve got to get control of my self, he thought. His eyes focused on her face. It was sharp and angular, without the rounded curve over her cheekbones that he was accustomed to. Her long lashes lay against the dusty purple bruises under her eyes that hinted at the hell she had been through. But it was Lois. He tuned out all the other noises around him and listened for her heartbeat. There it was. Still faint, but steady. He took a deep breath calming himself. There it was again. He sank down against the wall. Again. With every breath he took, he willed her heart to beat one more time.
*****
“Mr. Kent?” He startled to wakefulness. He didn’t know how much time had passed. His exhausted body had sought rest as he listened to the sound of her heart.
“What? How is she? Is Lois okay?” His eyes flew to the bed. And he breathed a sigh of relief. She was still there and the monitors were beating steadily.
“She’s alive, Mr. Kent. The doctor is ready to talk to you now and Mr. White is here.”
“Thank you, thank you.”
She patted his arm. “It’s my pleasure, Mr. Kent. Let me take you to Dr. Litton.”
*****
“Honestly, Mr. Kent, we still don’t know much. She’s extremely dehydrated and malnourished. She is in a coma, but we’re not sure why yet. I wish I could tell you more, but we’re going to have to run more thorough tests. Right now, we are going to move her into intensive care and just let her rest.”
“But she’s okay, I mean, she’ll live?”
“She is stable for now, Mr. Kent, that’s all I can guarantee you. No signs of broken bones or internal injuries.”
“What about bruising? Has she been beaten, or. . . or worse? They took her because they wanted something.”
“I saw no signs of physical abuse, other than lack of nourishment.”
“How do you know? What if it-“
“Mr. Kent, I have only said as much as I have to ease your mind. I know you are a close friend of hers, and intimately involved in the search for Ms. Lane-Kent, but I really need to speak to the person who is in charge of her medical decisions or if she has not designated someone, her next of kin. Is her family coming soon?”
“I stayed with her. But the nurse said our boss, Perry White, is here. He was going to call our families.”
“We’re taking good care of her, Mr. Kent. Why don’t you find out what is happening with her family while we get her moved to the ICU? After she is settled, I’ll allow you to see her for a few minutes. Then you might want to go home and rest yourself.”
“I’m staying here.”
“That’s fine. There is a family lounge that you and the family are welcome to use. When her family arrives, please have the front desk page me.”
“I will.” Clark clasped the doctor’s hand in a firm shake. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
*****
Clark headed to the ER lobby to find Perry. He hadn’t seen his boss in several weeks and just the sight of him was uplifting. Perry was watching the TV hanging in the corner.
“Chief.”
Perry turned quickly towards him. “Clark, is it true? Superman found her?”
Clark nodded. “She’s here. They’re moving her to the ICU.”
“Is she alright?”
“She’s alive and stable. The doctor said that there was no evidence of broken bones or internal injuries, but she is in a coma. They don’t know why; they have to run more tests. They want to let her rest for now. Did you contact her family?”
Perry nodded. “Sam is flying in from Chicago. Ellen should be here any minute. I couldn’t reach Lucy, but I left a message at her dorm. Your parents are on their way from Smallville.”
“Thanks for handling that, Chief. I know I should have done it, but I just couldn’t leave her.”
“Clark, son, I was just happy to finally be able to do something.”
Ellen rushed in through the doors. “Clark! Perry said Superman found Lois and brought her here. Is she okay? It took me five minutes to get through the security guards out there.”
Clark gathered Ellen in a hug. “She’s here. She’s alive.”
“Oh, God.” Ellen began to sob, clinging to Clark. “Oh, thank you, God. She’s alive.”
It took her a few moments to compose herself. Clark sat her down in one of the chairs.
“Lois is in the ICU. She seems stable, but she is in a coma. The doctors will want to talk to you since you are the next of kin.”
“A coma! Why is she in a coma?”
“The doctor told me he doesn’t know. He needs to run more tests. He will probably tell you more than he could tell me.”
“Who’s her doctor?”
“Dr. Litton.”
Ellen nodded. “He’s a good doctor. He won’t wait until the last second to act, but he’s not compulsive either. “
“Sam is flying in. I didn’t reach Lucy, but I left her a message to call you or the Planet,” Perry said.
Ellen nodded. “What about your parents, Clark?”
“Perry called them too, and they’re on their way.”
“Good. She would want them here,” Ellen said.
Clark waved in the direction of the front desk. “Dr. Litton wanted me to have him paged when you arrived.” He headed over to the desk to speak to the receptionist.
*****
Clark sat in the family lounge with Sam and Ellen. Perry had gone back to the Planet. Tomorrow’s front page would be graced by a rare article written by the editor of the Daily Planet. Clark had told him that Superman dropped by while Perry had gone to the restroom and given Clark some additional information. Clark relayed to Perry how Superman used the location where Lex Luthor’s body was found to backtrack up the river and had eventually found Lois in an abandoned building where she had apparently been left for dead.
Lucy had called, but her parents had encouraged her to go ahead and attend classes as there was nothing that any of them could do for Lois at this time. Lucy reluctantly agreed as long as they promised to call her if anything changed in Lois’ condition. She knew that once she explained, her professors would have no problem with her leaving her cell phone on as long as it was programmed to vibrate rather than ring.
Dr. Litton appeared in the doorway of the lounge and the occupants quickly stood expectantly. Dr. Litton lifted his hands and lowered them indicating that they should sit. “I don’t have any news, I just wanted to let you know that we are starting rounds and I and my students will be evaluating Lois. I’d like to do some research into possible causes for her coma. I will be scheduling some of the tests we discussed, Dr. and Mrs. Lane. Mr. Kent, the Lanes have given me permission to discuss Lois’ case with you, so I will speak freely. We have been giving her fluids all night, but we have to be careful not to over-hydrate her. Dehydration could be the cause of her lack of consciousness. In its most severe form, dehydration left untreated can result in seizures, permanent brain damage, or death.”
Clark moaned and Ellen squeezed his hand tightly.
“Again, I don’t know that dehydration is the cause of her coma. We are puzzled at the shaved portions of hair and found some scarring consistent with surgical incisions. Has Lois’ ever had brain surgery?”
“No,” said Ellen. “At least she never did before.”
The doctor nodded. “We’ll be doing an MRI and CT scan and trying to determine the cause for her unconsciousness. The good news is that at this point she is stable and breathing on her own.”
They thanked the doctor and he left the room. The waiting was so hard. Knowing that Lois was alive and not being able to be with her. Knowing that her body was back but her mind was still lost. Had irreparable brain damage occurred? Would the Lois they had known and loved ever return?
*****
