Well, here's part 1 again. I apologize for the delay. RL got in the way and then the boards were down and then RL was in the way again *sigh*.
Thanks to Annie, Missy, Kaylle, Sarah, Bethy, Jana, and Anna who all helped with this at some point.
* emphasis
/ remembering or thoughts
~ superhearing
I don't own any of the characters and this pics up at the end of Seconds.
Part 2 will be up momentarily.
*****
Clark looked at the beautiful woman being wheeled towards him. "Wanda?"
There was no response.
He knelt next to her as the nurse paused where he was standing. "Lois?"
"Yes?"
Clark let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding in. "How are you feeling?"
Her voice was soft. "All right, I guess." Her eyes lifted to his and her head tilted slightly. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"
Panic tore through his mind, but he refused to give in to it. She was kidding, that was it, she had to be kidding. He didn't know quite how to respond, but she was obviously waiting for him to say something. "Uh, yes."
She looked at him a little closer. "What's your name?"
Maybe she wasn't kidding. "Clark."
"Clark." She shook her head slightly. "Hmm."
He nodded.
"Well, see you... Clark."
Clark watched as she was wheeled down the hall. "See you, Lois."
*****
Clark sat on the steps leading into his living room and let his head rest on his hands. He ran both hands through his hair and found himself emitting a guttural sound from deep in his throat.
His poor Lois. Memory gone, all alone in a psychiatric facility.
And he had no say in any of it.
He loved her more than life itself, but he wasn't her next of kin. Sam was. And Sam didn't really give a hoot what Clark wanted.
Clark amended his statement in his head as he stood and began to pace circles around his couch. It wasn't that Sam didn't care about what Clark wanted, it was that he thought he knew what was best for Lois. He knew of a doctor at this hospital who was supposed to be tops in the field, really cutting edge.
Clark tried to remember the name of the man Sam had recommended – Dexter? He couldn't remember and it didn't really matter.
He was only going to be allowed to see Lois every other day.
That was what mattered.
Why had he agreed to that?!
He opened the fridge and saw the cream soda he'd put in there weeks ago for Lois. Her clone hadn't liked it much and most of the six-pack was still left. He could bear no more small reminders and closed the door as though shutting out everything that would remind him of her.
His sharp vision caught sight of something sticking out from under the refrigerator. He pulled it out and saw the handwriting of Lois' clone. It was similar to Lois' but different enough that he could tell the difference.
She hadn't been Lois, there was no doubt of that, but she had saved him. She had saved him and his mother and Lois, too. She had been childlike in wanting to kill Lois, but as mature as anyone he knew when she willingly helped him escape the grasp of Luthor.
What message could she be sending him from beyond the grave? No doubt it was some sort of apology for spilling his secret to Luthor, but while it certainly wouldn't have been Clark's first choice, he understood why she had done it and he bore her no hard feelings, especially since Luthor was dead.
She had been annoying, that was certain, but in an odd sort of way, he missed her.
>>>>Dear Clark,
By the time you read this, I'll be gone. I only have a few hours left to live, if what Lex said is true and I'm sure it is.
I'm no Lois Lane. I know that now. I hope I was able to help you find her and that the two of you will be happy.
I also know that I could never have been a good wife to you – even if we had been legally married. Lex didn't have us switched until after Lois had signed the marriage license, so I guess technically I was living with a married man. Even a clone like me knows there's something wrong with that.
I do love you, Clark. Not the same way Lois does, I'm sure, but I do. As much as I know how to love and that I learned from you. Thank you for making my few days here better than they would have been if I'd stayed with Lex.<<<<
It wasn't signed. Maybe she didn't know how to sign it. She really wasn't Lois, but that was the only name anyone had ever called her by. Mostly, he just hadn't used a name at all when speaking to her after he discovered that she was a clone.
He reread it a little more slowly and this time something stuck out at him.
Lois hadn't been switched until *after* she had signed the papers.
That meant...
Clark didn't want to grasp onto the thin lifeline that was being thrown to him for fear it would snap. It wouldn't give Lois her memory back, but just to know, in his heart, that they were married...
If that were true, it would mean the world to him.
*****
"Sam, she says she's in love with Deter!"
Clark could barely control his rage. This was an unacceptable turn of events.
"Clark, calm down. It's transference, plain and simple." Sam Lane shrugged. "She'll get over it before too long. They always do."
"Like Ellen did?" He knew, even as he said it that the two situations were nothing alike, but he didn't really care.
"She was my nurse, not my patient, and she did get over it. It just took her a while."
"This is not acceptable, Sam. I want her to see someone else!"
Sam sighed. "Clark, I love her just as much as you do. I know I haven't always been the father she wanted, or needed, and I'm not the best at showing my love, but Deter is one of the best and I only want what's best for her. She is my daughter, you know."
"But she's *my WIFE*."
"Clark, the clone was at the wedding, not Lois. It's not legal." He shook his head sadly. "I know it's not what you want, but I have to do what I think is best for her. Please understand."
"No, Sam. You understand. *Lois* signed the marriage license and *that* makes her my wife and I'm going to prove it. As soon as I do, she's out of that facility and away from Deter."
Clark stood and turned away from Sam, slamming the door behind him as he left.
Sam sighed. What a mess. First Ellen had to go to a mountain hideaway to get out of the city with the clone fiasco and now this. What next?
Clark turned and stared out the window into the pit and then pulled her engagement ring out of his pocket and sighed as he stared at it, imagining it on her finger where it belonged. He was going to have to confront Deter sooner or later, and it seemed that sooner would be better.
"Put that away, Clark." The voice of his editor startled him. He'd practically forgotten that Perry was here too. Well, it was Perry's office after all.
It had a calming effect on him really. Perry had been a voice of reason in his life for almost 3 years now and in Lois' for much longer than that.
"I can't do this."
"You're gonna have to ride it out, son. I know it's hard."
Clark put the ring back in his pocket. "I don't know how to talk to her. Deter says almost anything I do could set her back. That just being around could hurt her. I want to help. But I can't get close. I can't do anything."
"And you don't trust the guy?"
"No."
"Well, I trust him and Sam trusts him. And you should trust our judgment. I've been around long enough to tell snake oil from shinola and I know Deter's selling the real deal."
He heard her heartbeat before the elevator doors opened and then there she was. She walked in, unsure of herself and then she headed towards her desk. He watched her sit down and begin to poke around in the drawers.
"Sam, she's here." Perry headed out the door first, followed closely by Sam Lane.
Clark stood there staring as hugs were shared all around. He was surprised when a delivery boy stopped next to Lois' desk. Who could be sending her flowers? He certainly hadn't.
He slipped his glasses down just a bit and read the card. "Thinking of you," he muttered. "Deter."
Jimmy's head popped in the office. "Phone call for you, CK. Line one."
"Thanks, Jimmy."
He walked to the desk and picked up the phone. "Clark Kent."
He'd been waiting for this call. The results he wanted were finally in. He had taken samples of handwriting and the marriage license to a specialist. The handwriting specialist confirmed the handwriting on the license was Lois', not the clone's. He also had the clone's note and the license analyzed by a friend at the police forensics lab. The fingerprints on the license belonged to Lois.
He had checked – surreptitiously – the law on the matter. It appeared – in New Troy, at least – that the wedding ceremony was just that, ceremony. All that really mattered, legally, were the signatures on the marriage license.
He hung up the phone and gave a silent cheer. The messenger would be here any minute with the papers giving him power of attorney.
He closed his eyes letting it sink in. He and Lois were legally married and he could prove it to anyone who would ask. The question running through his mind now was should he tell Sam and assert his rights as Lois' husband and next of kin or trust his father-in-law's judgement about her treatment? Sam *did* have access to the latest medical research and Deter *had* come highly recommended. And as Deter had explained to Superman, transference happened all the time. It wouldn't be long before Lois regained her memory and Deter was history.
He was amazed at how clear his head was. The thinking he had done over night while sitting near the hospital so he could keep an eye on his wife must have helped. He'd gone over everything from every angle and had come to no real conclusion, except that he couldn't go off half-cocked. If he did, he could drive Lois even further from her memories and that was the last thing he wanted, wife or not.
The idea was still so foreign to him. After everything that had happened, everything that had gone wrong in the last two weeks, he was still married to Lois. It would take legal action and months for anything to change that. As he had watched her the previous night, it was hard for him not to imagine how different things would have been in his apartment two weeks earlier, if it had really been Lois and not a clone.
He couldn’t let himself get sidetracked. He had to take care of Lois, not indulge in fantasies about what might have been and what still would be. He shook his head and tried to focus on the matter at hand.
What was he going to do about Deter?
A young brunette stuck her head in the door. "Clark, here's the research you asked for."
Clark took it from her. "Thanks, Sarah." He didn't notice her appreciative look up and down his body. He looked up from the folder. Deter had arrived and was chatting amiably with Lois, Sam and Perry. He sighed. It was time to make his presence known.
He hung around the background unable to play kissy-poo with Deter. He knew if that guy said the wrong thing...
Perry snapped him out of his reverie. "Clark, why don't you and Lois go out for lunch and talk about some of the stories you've got going and see what she thinks would help her get back in the sing of things."
"Sure, Chief. Sounds good." And now he could get her away from the creep.
*****
TBC
