Hello all
Thank you for the comments. And Im really sorry I couldnt post yesterday as I spent the whole day in the hospital. The flu is strong this fall!
Oh by the way, I said its finished but there are parts which I still need to revise with Amber... hence the parts.
I hope you guys like it!
Previously on Recollections of the Heart :p ...
Before Lois could make anything out of it, he caught her off guard and hugged her. “Lois! I’m so glad you are here. I just hung up the phone with my mom. My dad’s at the hospital.”
Stunned, she felt his whole strong muscled body crumble into her embrace, and for a moment she had to stand there at the door, still and supporting what she knew as both his and her weight. :::>Chapter 2<::: “What happened?” She broke off their embrace and led him to sit on the couch. He looked pale and weak as he took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. When his glasses were returned to their resting place, he opened his eyes and let the air fill his lungs once again. She stared at him, following his eyes anywhere they moved, trying to make him concentrate on hers. “Clark, talk to me.”
He breathed out slowly, trying to catch up with reason and to recollect the news he had just been given. As soon as he was ready, he reported weakly, “My mom called. My dad had a heart attack and is in the hospital. I need to…” he looked around until he made himself dizzy, trying to figure out what to do next. “I need to go.” But not focusing on anything in particular.
“I’m coming with you,” she stated immediately.
He waved the possibility off. “Lois, I appreciate your concern, but I think I’ll be quicker if I just pack a few things and go.”
“I don’t need to pack. I’m going like this,” she assured him, standing up, car keys in hand.
He could only stare at her – in large dreadful sweats, dark circles around her eyes, unbrushed hair, pale yet, in one word, stunning. And ready to go anywhere. Surely he could use her friendship in a time like this, but he’d rather be by himself. There was no time to waste, and he could get to Smallville in a few seconds. In fact, he could have been there already had she not knocked on his door the moment he hung up with his mom. However, talking her out of it would take longer than he needed and so wearily he agreed. “You make the call, I will pack my stuff.”
She grinned, reaching out for the phone and grabbing the yellow pages from under the telephone stand, placing it flat on the coffee table. Her hands were shaky. One hand grabbing the receiver and the other ran on the tangles of her hair, trying to make it more presentable but not entirely sure to whom. She caught his strained smile before he headed to his room.
No longer than three minutes passed, and Clark was back and finished with his packing. “Great. We’ll be there in twenty minutes for check-in. Thanks.” He caught Lois’ last sentence on the phone.
“Ready to go?” She stood up energetically, tightened the cord of her loose pants and adjusted her large sweatshirt not to show the strings of her bra.
“No offense, Lois, but I still think you need to go home and change.” He advised, staring at her up and down. He watched her attentively as she rolled her eyes, walked around him and without another word forced him out of the door.
:::><:::
“What do you mean there are no reservations? I just confirmed them by phone less than fifteen minutes ago! Check it again – Lois Lane and Clark Kent for the two thirty-five Smallville flight. Check it again,” she demanded from the scared petit female figure across the counter who had been unlucky enough to tell her she would not be able to fly at the predicted time.
“The problem is, Ms Lane, that …” the clerk checked on her watch for more precise information. “…it’s now five past two … and check-in for this flight closed ten minutes ago. I’m sorry.”
“Well, do something! We don’t have any luggage. We need to get to Smallville as soon as possible! We’re not going for the holidays for heaven’s sake. It’s a family emergency!”
Clark stopped her there. “Lois, leave it. Really. I can just ask Superman to take me there. It would take him a moment and here we are simply wast…” His voice faded when he saw her eyes. It was different somehow from all the expressions he had seen cross her face. They pleaded for a chance to make things right when it looked like she screwed up.
As if she could not express it clear enough, she voiced it, “Clark, I know that… but if you just give me one minute, one little tiny short minute, I can do this. I… I really want to go with you.”
Her eyes begged him to let her deal with it and although he thought her methods of persuasion never worked with others, it always managed to work wonders for him. With a nod and a weak twitch of lips, he let her proceed. He was dying to get home fast but she had already managed to make him calm down and his heart felt he could wait for her. Steadying himself on the counter, he placed his hands on it, finding the warmth of her hands.
Feeling encouraged she smiled back and covered Clark’s hands with hers. She wished she could ease his pain a little by showing him she was there for him. Seldom did Clark need her to be the stronger person. As a matter of fact she never felt thought of him as the weak one in their team. He was always there for her, and now it was only fair that she’d be there for him. A little token of appreciation for everything he had done for her for the past year when, she now realized, she never had the time, the will or the guts to say thank you.
The clerk coughed her way into Lois’s thoughts and presented a solution. “I think I can get you on that flight. It turns out that they are still waiting for the co-pilot to get to his position so the flight plan has to be postponed for the next available window. You have five minutes to make it there. Gate 8B, down the hall on your left. Good luck.” The woman placed the tickets under their locked hands.
With sudden recharged energy, Lois grabbed the tickets and held onto Clark’s arm and hurried to the gate. She thought he, being a footballer back in the day, could do much quicker than that but decided to pace by her side. She thought highly of him to be a gentleman even when it was not required of him to do so and she thanked heavens once again for how lucky she was to have such a thoughtful friend.
Was it all they were – friends?
A quick scan on Clark’s bag and the security officer let them go through. Handing the tickets to the flight attendant, she pointed out their business seats. As Clark led the way, he sat on the window and Lois silently took the aisle. She had always preferred the view instead of the quick bathroom run, but she thought it would be a welcoming distraction to Clark to look out for the clouds. She would be the one dealing with the flight attendants’ offers, and hopefully the trip would be brief.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Captain Jacobs and I will be your pilot this afternoon. Our flight to Smallville, Kansas, will take approximately three hours, and snacks and drinks are available for your purchase. Please remain…” the voice on the speakers continued but Lois could not concentrate on it anymore. She was right and Clark was taking the opportunity to daydream and take off to another imaginary place all by himself. She could only watch him from the corner of her eye, hoping he would be all right.
When the captain ceased to speak, the stewards started showing the emergency proceedings as the plane drove through the lane, preparing to take off. The high speed propped up the wings and a minute later they were airborne. Clark reached for Lois’s hand instinctively. “Don’t tell me you are afraid of flying?” she asked, surprised.
“I am _not_ afraid of flying. I’m just not comfortable in airplanes. Call it childish if you may,” he replied assertively. She’d better not make a joke out of it.
“I call it cute,” she said hoarsely.
With a mutual grin, both subsided to their own thoughts.
:::><:::
As hoped, the flight was short and the landing tranquil. It did not take them more than a couple of minutes to be out of the airport, already in search for a cab to drive them out of there and straight to the hospital.
“Hey Clark! Care for a ride?” a familiar face shouted across the crowd, waving the way.
“Rach! Boy, am I glad to see ya.” Clark crossed the multitude and hugged his friend Rachel Harris, the town sheriff. “How did you know?”
“Well… you called your mom before coming who told old Wayne who told Hughes who told me. Now, I am officially your ride to the hospital,” she explained, still hugging him. Over his shoulder she could see Lois approaching and murmured. “Oh, brought your girl with ya, didn’t ya?” She parted before Lois could catch up with them. “Hey. Lois, right?” She extended her hand for a handshake.
“Right. And you are… Riley?” Lois pulled it from her strangled memory.
“Rachel,” the sheriff shook her hand fiercely.
“Rachel, right.” She smiled, embarrassed - the first of her many already traditional faux pas in Smallville.
“Come on, Clark. Your mom is waiting for you at the hospital. Dr Jenkins is taking care of your dad.” She led the way, holding Clark by the elbow.
The ride was short and Rachel made sure she updated them over Mr Kent’s situation. She told them that Jonathan was fixing the farm entrance gate when he fell ill to the ground. If Martha hadn’t been peeping on her husband through the kitchen window, she wouldn’t have noticed he had passed out and help would have been of little use. Rachel assured Clark his dad was taken as fast as possible to the closest hospital and that he was already under observation and being assisted.
All the reassurance in the world, however, made little difference to him. He needed to see his dad immediately and to be there for him. Gosh, how did he not see this coming? He was always careful enough of coming back home when his parents needed any of the hard work to be done… but a gate? Was in fact fixing a gate too much to handle for his dad? Was he actually taking for granted his parents’ health and being negligent to his duties of taking care of them? He should have seeing it coming – age… illnesses… death. Had years been so gentle on his old folks that their appearances did not show how their lifelines were slimming or did he simply not want to see the inevitable coming? People lost their parents every day and one day it had to happen to him as well. Although he was the strongest man in the world, time, he thought, was the only ally and villain stronger than his grasp.
When Lois heard a sigh coming from Clark’s front seat she reached over the back seat and clasped his shoulder. While Rachel went on and on, trying to divert the topic to other mundane things, Lois knew better – Clark was all along worried and probably blaming himself for not being there at the time it all happened. How could he? If there was one person to blame that was her.
// “Lois, leave it. Really. I can just ask Superman to take me there. It would take him a moment and here we are simply wast…” //
*Wasting time,* she completed his thoughts. She was the one who delayed him when he clearly had a plan on how to get there as soon as possible – Superman. Surely Superman would help him out in a split second, even though she hadn’t heard of him since their last encounter. Clark hadn’t mentioned him either, but she was sure they were always in touch.
//“I wish I could, Lois. But, under the circumstances, I don't see how I can.”//
Had they spoken about that night? Was it why Superman said what he said? Could be. Maybe those were the circumstances Superman was talking about – if he knew Clark was in love with her, he could have deliberately backed off to let Clark make his move. But if so, why would have Clark done the same?
// “I would have said anything to stop you from marrying Luthor.” //
True. Clark was a good friend and did try to save her from marrying Lex, but why did he unsay everything even after Lex’s death? Maybe if or when he and Superman talked, he felt he was in the way as well. Were they both being gentlemen and letting each other make their move first? It couldn’t be. Plus, that was very egotistical to say that both were in love with her and none had the courage to spill it out. Shrugging the idea away, Lois sat quietly until they reached their destination.
The Smallville hospital was rather a small place painted a shade of light green throughout its corridors. At the end of the hall the red sign of intensive care stood alone above two doors, each one with a glass window. At the front desk an aged lady wearing a pink uniform was busy typing away on her computer when Clark, Rachel and Lois arrived.
“Madison, is Martha still here?” Rachel asked the lady.
“Last time I checked, she was in the waiting room.” The nurse pointed the way to the left.
Before the nurse could finish the directions, Clark had anticipated them and hurried there, leaving Lois and Rachel to catch up with him. He found his mom sitting quietly in a row of empty chairs and being held by the arm by Wayne Irig, the closest of Jonathan’s friends. Both had their heads down showing the strain of the past hours. “Mom! What happened?” Clark hugged her tight.
“Oh, Clark… I’m so glad you’re here. Your father is in the intensive care. He has tubes all over him. Oh, Clark it was horrible. In one minute he was fine and in the next… he was just there, lying on the grass.” His mother sobbed the story.
“Did you see him? Is he all right now? Did Dr Jenkins say anything? Can we go see him?” He distanced himself just enough to see his mom’s eyes.
Tapping his shoulder, noticing how Martha couldn’t find words to start explaining, the old family friend Wayne stepped in to update him. “Jenkins was here just a few minutes ago. They’re finishing running some tests and when he gets the results, he’ll come back to us. For now we only know that his state is critical but stable. We can’t see him now but Jenkins will let us know when he wakes up.”
“I see,” Clark muttered, lowering his glasses and zooming his x-ray vision across the intensive care unit. He needed to see for himself that his father was all right. He saw his old man lying in bed with a breathing aid in his nostrils and hooked on an IV shunt. His father’s heart was being monitored and the blips from the machine sounded rhythmic enough for Clark’s own heart to calm down.
Interrupting mother and son’s moment, Lois touched Martha’s shoulders and squeezed them sympathetically, “Mrs Kent, we’re all here for you.”
“Oh, dear Lois. You came too?” the old woman asked, surprised. “Oh, after all I’ve heard about your wedding and that terrible tragedy… Oh, dear… you shouldn’t have.” Martha covered Lois’ hands with hers, encouraging Lois to hug her slightly from her back.
“Anything you need, Martha,” offered Rachel.
Dr Jenkins arrived in the waiting room a minute later when Lois gave up her place to Clark to seize his mom into his arms. The old man had brought with him Jonathan’s file and was still studying it before he gave his opinion. Standing in front of family and friends of a patient was never easy, especially when he and the patient’s family were good friends and the news unfortunately was not so much. Sighing gravely, the doctor closed the file and looked at Martha with kind eyes. “We ran all the tests possible. You know that our resources are limited here, but I have managed to fax the results to other colleagues for a more accurate second opinion and one of them will be coming tomorrow first thing in the morning.” He paused, looking serious. “Martha… Jonathan had a myocardial infarction.”
“I don’t assume that’s good news,” she said, wearily sarcastic, still holding on her son for support.
“Well, for now, the good news is that he is under observation. We are administering NTG, nitroglycerin trinitrate, and aspirin. He is also on an IV mix of morphine sulfate and that will give us time to run the tests we need. The medication we have prescribed basically strengthens the heart muscles, and the cardiovascular system should stabilize or improve.”
“And if it doesn’t happen?” asked Clark. His own heart was thumping on his chest, fear engulfing his being. Was that it? Would his father die just like that? Couldn’t he do anything this time? How could he save hundreds, even thousands, but be powerless to help his own father? His mother in his arms sought for his support, albeit there he was, feeling and acting like a lost afraid child. Medicines – he knew quite a lot about herbs that could improve cardiovascular conditions, and he would go till the end of the world if there was a rare specimen that could cure his father. “Doctor, you name the medicine and I’ll get it to you.”
“Calm down, Clark. We fortunately have everything we need here. If his condition does not improve…” he paused, pondering his options. “…We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now he’ll have to stay in the hospital for observation, tests and treatment. He’ll be monitored night and day and Dr Carl Johansson, who is coming tomorrow first thing in the morning, is one of the best cardiologists from the city and will personally accompany the case. Tonight Jonathan won’t be receiving any visitors but one of you can stay overnight with him.”
“Mom…” Clark started but was immediately dismissed. “I’m staying with your father, Clark. Go home with Lois and make sure you two eat something. I just need you to grab me a change of clothes and my toothbrush. That is… if Rachel doesn’t mind bringing them over.”
Before Rachel could accept the offer, Wayne interrupted, shaking his car keys. “I’ll take them and come back, Martha. Wouldn’t catch a wink anyway. I might as well stay here in the waiting room tonight.”
“I could stay too, mom,” Clark offered, hoping she’d accept it.
“Yeah, it’s no problem at all,” Lois backed him up.
Martha broke free from Clark’s embrace and shrugged the idea. They were all being very kind and supportive, but it was something she needed to do alone. This wouldn’t be the first night since their marriage that Martha would sleep away from her husband. Her vows were still intact in her mind, and she would not flinch in times of sickness. Determined, she brought her hands to her temples and said it as clearly as she could. “Now, enough of this nonsense. Clark and Lois… I just want you to go home, rest and take care of each other. I’ll be inside that room…” She pointed towards the end of the hall. “…and I don’t want to worry about you two here nor do I want to constantly run back here to update you. Just go home. Clark, I know you’re worried about your father but as Jenkins said he’s stable and being medicated. I need you two to go now and come back in the morning. Hopefully he’ll wake up with the birds and I don’t want him to see your yellowish faces first thing. If Wayne wants to stay it’s his decision, but off you go, both of you!” Her tone was a motherish as possible, leaving very little room for Clark’s protests.
Defeated, he hugged and kissed his mom goodnight with promises of coming back first thing in the morning. He felt guilty for letting his mom strain herself like that, but he knew there was nothing he could do to convince her that he did not need the sleep she would lack in the hospital. His father was already sick, God forbid something happen to his mom too. Still, his mother had made her decision and once it was made, his mom was the strongest willed person he’d ever met, though, of course, Lois was a close runner up.
Rachel’s radio interrupted them. She hugged both Martha and Clark and left, promising she would come back the next morning. Clark remained there, pleading in vain that his mom should home and let him stay overnight. After the second dismissal, Clark, Lois and old Wayne left the hospital to the small parking lot in front of it. There, Clark lowered his glasses for a final glance over the walls of the building where he saw his mom being conducted by Dr Jenkins into the IC unit.
TBC.
