|
|
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 814
Features Writer
|
OP
Features Writer
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 814 |
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,483
Top Banana
|
|
Top Banana
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,483 |
I love that Lisa is smart enough to recognize the oddities in her environment - and an Epilady as a torture device was simply brilliant.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 844
Features Writer
|
|
Features Writer
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 844 |
OUCH!!!!!!!!!! Rock on, Lois!!!!!!!!
Clark: "You don't even know the meaning of the word 'humility,' do you?"
Lois: "Never had a need to find out its meaning."
"Curiosity... The Continuing Saga"
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,380 Likes: 1
Kerth
|
|
Kerth
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,380 Likes: 1 |
If Lisa doesn't get Lana, I might pity her if she wasn't such a disgusting person. Lois is going to make her wish she'd never been born.
Nan
Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,797
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
|
|
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,797 |
Oh, what a great chapter! And so hopeful! Lisa hasn't been drinking Lana's tea, and Lois made Bruno sing like a bird, just like Terry predicted!  I loved, too, how you showed us how extremely determined the doctors at that hospital were to save Superman, and how grateful they were for the chance to do something for him: Superman had brought dozens of victims to this hospital over the last few months. It was thought that he had a special love for Colorado because he worked there more often than he did anywhere else.
Although he was most often seen in Denver and Colorado Springs, he'd been to this location more than once, most often bringing in victims who couldn't have made it to the hospital on their own.
The people of Pueblo owed him a debt of gratitude, one they'd thought they could never repay.
The doctors sprang into action. I loved how that doctor took the chance to fill in the forms and ask Lois questions, just to get the chance to do one additional small thing for Superman. Meanwhile, Lisa had to use all of her brains to fight off Lana: “At least you drank your tea.” There was a slight sound of smugness in Lana's voice, and Lisa knew she'd been right not to drink it.
She caressed Lisa's forehead and Lisa fought not to flinch. Instead she looked away from Lana and allowed tears to rise to her eyes.
People thought girls were weak; even other girls thought it sometimes. The girliest thing of all was to cry, and so Lisa allowed herself that.
Lana pulled her into a hug and Lisa was struck by just how skinny the woman was. Her hand touched the heavy bag at Lana's side, and her fingers started to tingle unpleasantly near the flap of the bag.
Lana kept the poison in the bag. It was probably what she'd used to hurt Lisa before.
Lisa pulled her hand away from the bag unobtrusively.
Getting the bag away from Lana would be her first priority, although if she had a chance to run, she'd take it. Lisa is so smart! Go, Lisa! The rolling table beside his bed she pulled slightly away from him and she started pulling things out of her purse. A curling iron, scissors, nail file, something that may have been an eyelash trimmer, but looked like something that came out of a medieval torture chamber and finally an innocuous looking thing that looked a little like a pink electric razor.
He strained to see what it said on the side and he realized that he could read it.
It said Epilady. I just love this description of Lois's instruments of torture!!! The Epilady thing wasn't dangerous, eh, Bruno?  She leaned close. “How well do you think police are going to guard a guy who helped kill Superman and a little girl? How hard would it be for someone to slip inside and do something…well…terrible to you?”
Bruno shook his head. She was bluffing. She had to be. No one had proof that he was involved at all, and no jury would convict him without evidence. If he told where the girl was, though, he'd be incriminating himself.
Lois sighed. “I'd hoped not to have to do this.”
He opened his mouth to yell, although it was hard to get a breath, probably because of his ribs. Before he could, Lois stuck something in his mouth and tied it into a gag.
She picked up the Epilady and a moment later he felt the sheets at the base of the bed move.
“Wow,” Lois said. “You've got really hairy legs.”
A moment later he began to scream. Wonderful!!!! “About halfway through the surgery, some of the lesser injuries started spontaneously healing on their own, after the fragments had been pulled from them. There were a few fragments that we had to go deeper for, and it was touch and go for a while as to whether we were going to be able to get them.”
Lois nodded. If he was healing spontaneously, that was a good sign.
“We couldn't use anesthesia,” the doctor said. “We had no idea how his system would react to it.”
“He was awake?” Lois asked.
“For part of it,” the doctor admitted grimly. “He's out now. We just send him through to get x-rays to see if we got it all. Since we broke a couple of scalpels toward the end, I'm betting the answer is yes.” But speaking about torture, the person who was really tortured this night was Clark. But he has begun to heal, so he is going to pull through. “I haven't been fair to you,” Lois said softly. “Except for that first day you've always been good to me.”
He lay on the bed, terribly still. It was the lack of animation in his features that bothered her as much as anything. When he was awake he was the first person you noticed when he entered a room. He had charisma, a sort of dynamism that was more than just physical beauty, although he had that as well.
“I've been alone for a long time,” Lois said. “Being responsible for someone else makes you grow up in a hurry, and it was just easier to focus everything I had on Lisa.”
She touched his hand, which seemed cold and still. If it wasn't for the slow rise and fall of his chest she'd have thought he was dead.
“I always believed that a woman doesn't need a man to be happy, and I think that's true.” Lois stared down at him, “But since I've been around you I've been happier than I've ever been in my life.”
Grasping his hand in hers, she said, “I'm going to save our daughter. When we get back, I think I'd like to give being a family a try.”
Almost imperceptibly she felt his hand tighten in hers, and she felt a moment of hope. Wonderful, Shayne. And it almost brought tears to my eyes. Ann
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 9,066 Likes: 31
Boards Chief Administrator Nobel Peace Prize Winner
|
|
Boards Chief Administrator Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 9,066 Likes: 31 |
Yay, Lois doing a Jack Bauer - Lois style.I wonder if they now have to change his sheets... And she didn't even leave any evidence of torture - brilliant.
Michael
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,147 Likes: 3
Pulitzer
|
|
Pulitzer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,147 Likes: 3 |
Ooh, Shayne, that was great! I like how Lisa is still thinking and not just reacting. I like how her mind is clear enough to note that the news report was perfectly clear but the three crummy channels she can get now are grainy. Reminds me of my dad's TV antenna tower in the 60's that we could rotate and pick up channels from Indianapolis and Cincinnati all the way up in Dayton. Why, on a good day we could get four VHF and five UHF channels! Of course, during the day most of them carried really bad movies or soap operas and the reception was usually lousy, but it was TV!
And Lois's torture scene was hysterically chilling! Bruno deserved every tug and rip Lois gave him, and I'm actually surprised that he lasted as long as he did. We guys don't have the same kind of pain tolerance the ladies do. Gunshot wounds, bruises from being punched, or kicks and throws we can stand, but just mention the word "vasectomy" and watch our navels pucker.
I'd bet that Lisa will figure out a way to get free and make Lana extremely angry and pull out the green K. Just then, Lois will show up and convince Lana that a real mother's protective love outshines Lana's twisted desires by several orders of magnitude.
Has anyone else noticed that Lois's daughter also has the initials "LL?" I doubt that's a coincidence. Keep it up, Shayne! It's getting even better, and the whole story's been great!
Life isn't a support system for writing. It's the other way around.
- Stephen King, from On Writing
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,883
Merriwether
|
|
Merriwether
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,883 |
Shayne, that Epilady was brilliant. Great stuff throughout!
lisa in the sky with diamonds
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,363
Top Banana
|
|
Top Banana
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,363 |
Shayne, this whole story has been just brilliant. But this chapter seems to start to sum up all that wyou have been building towards; putting Lana where she belongs, Lois coming to terms with her feelings for Clark, Clark coming to terms with his feelings for Lois, Lisa starting to really grow up and make rational decisions relating to her developing powers and the desire of the three of them to become a family. The fact that Lois had to think fast and bring Clark to the ER as Superman to protect his identity proves beyond a reasonable doubt that she will protect his secret at whatever cost. Now Clark shouldn't have any questions about trusting Lois with...everything. “The fragments in his back are poisoning him,” Lois said. “They interfere with his special abilities and cause him pain. If he’s exposed to them long enough he thinks they can kill him.”
The doctor stared at her. “How is it that you know all of this?”
“I work for the Superman Foundation,” Lois said. She pulled her employee’s ID out of her wallet. “And I’ve worked with the closest thing he’s had to a personal physician.” And Lois continues to protect him, revealing on a need to know basis and keeping as much detail to herself as she can get away with without compromising his life. “Doesn’t a nurse usually do this part?”
The doctor nodded. “It’s a slow night.”
Lois could see several nurses and doctors staring at her in the distance. Looking back at them, the doctor said, “Actually, I wanted to do this. He’s done a lot for the people of this city, and we’re going to do everything we can to keep him alive.” The doctor doing all of this himself shows just how much Superman means to the world...and this doctor...and he wants to personally take part in whatever it takes to save his life. “You didn’t eat your dinner,” Lana said, leaning over her.
Lisa shook her head slightly and said, “I wasn’t hungry.”
“At least you drank your tea.” There was a slight sound of smugness in Lana’s voice, and Lisa knew she’d been right not to drink it.
She caressed Lisa’s forehead and Lisa fought not to flinch. Instead she looked away from Lana and allowed tears to rise to her eyes.
People thought girls were weak; even other girls thought it sometimes. The girliest thing of all was to cry, and so Lisa allowed herself that.
Lana pulled her into a hug and Lisa was struck by just how skinny the woman was. Her hand touched the heavy bag at Lana’s side, and her fingers started to tingle unpleasantly near the flap of the bag.
Lana kept the poison in the bag. It was probably what she’d used to hurt Lisa before.
Lisa pulled her hand away from the bag unobtrusively.
Getting the bag away from Lana would be her first priority, although if she had a chance to run, she’d take it. Lisa has taken this time that she has been "locked away" to think her plan through (unlike her mother).  I shows that she is a smart girl (like her mother...and father) and realizes that something just isn't right. Hopefully, with careful calculations, she can escape soon and hopefully Lois can "take care of Lana" in the way she deserves to be taken care of (beat the crap out of her). And the red and green K wont be of any help to Lana against Lois. “There’s something you need to know about mothers,” she said. “Normally they are nice people, pretty much like anyone else. But when you take their child…well…they’ll do just about anything.” That is the absolute truth! “Wow,” Lois said. “You’ve got really hairy legs.”
A moment later he began to scream. LOL! I love how Lois took care of Bruno! “I haven’t been fair to you,” Lois said softly. “Except for that first day you’ve always been good to me.”
He lay on the bed, terribly still. It was the lack of animation in his features that bothered her as much as anything. When he was awake he was the first person you noticed when he entered a room. He had charisma, a sort of dynamism that was more than just physical beauty, although he had that as well.
“I’ve been alone for a long time,” Lois said. “Being responsible for someone else makes you grow up in a hurry, and it was just easier to focus everything I had on Lisa.” Lois is finally starting to come to terms about how she feels about Clark and feels a need to explain to him why she has been acting the guarded way that she has. “I always believed that a woman doesn’t need a man to be happy, and I think that’s true.” Lois stared down at him, “But since I’ve been around you I’ve been happier than I’ve ever been in my life.”
Grasping his hand in hers, she said, “I’m going to save our daughter. When we get back, I think I’d like to give being a family a try.”
Almost imperceptibly she felt his hand tighten in hers, and she felt a moment of hope. Lois can say all that she feels now that she thinks Clark is asleep. She wants him to hear her but probably wouldn't have been comfortable at this point telling him face-to-face, so that if he rejects her she can almost pretend that she didn't bare her soul to him. She tells him how happy he makes her and doesn't really want it to end. She wants this to be a beginning of something and seems to be asking if he would be willing to try for something more. I love how she emphasized "our daughter" as if they are *more* already. Then Clark did the only thing that he was strong enough to do...tighten his hand...as if to answer *yes* to her questions. They have already been unconsciously courting each other for a while. Shayne, this was probably one of the most brilliant parts of this story. I am anxious for the next post. Hurry up, already! Before I have to return to school on Monday! ~Sheila
I'm a firm believer in the fact that God doesn't put any more on us than we can bear. He does however make us come to Jesus every so often.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 4,058
Pulitzer
|
|
Pulitzer
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 4,058 |
Ah he leaves us with hope! That's a good thing. More soon. Laura
Clark: “If we can be born in an instant, and die in an instant, why can’t we fall in love in an instant?”
Caroline's "Stardust"
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 303
Beat Reporter
|
|
Beat Reporter
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 303 |
Epilady!! Sheer brilliance!!!
|
|
|
|
