The Cold Shoulder
When Lois came up with the plan to be frozen to save Clark’s parents from Jason Mazik in the episode “And The Answer Is,” Clark revived her with no lasting after-effects. In the story “She’s” by this author, Lois also recorded a videotape at her attorney’s office in which she took full responsibility for any negative outcome of this strategy. She included this statement on the tape.
Lois resumed her rambling narrative. “Anyway, whoever’s here from the police department and the DA’s office needs to hear this next part. Superman did not come up with this idea on his own. Right now – at least, right now while I’m taping this – he doesn’t know any more than anyone else what I’m going to ask him to do. And I know the danger.” She stopped and shuddered. “I know – there’s a chance he won’t be able to revive me. And even if he does, there’s a chance I’ll have some kind of brain damage or be crippled or – or somehow be changed mentally so that I won’t be this Lois any more.”
In the episode “And The Answer Is,” Superman tried to dissuade Lois from her freezing scheme.
“Lois, do you have any idea how dangerous that is? There could be arterial ruptures, permanent brain damage... you could die.”
In “She’s,” Lois didn’t survive the freezing process. In this story, she does survive – but at a cost.
Chapter One
The warm late spring night contributed to the relaxed atmosphere of the Metropolis Press Club Awards banquet. Clark stood and applauded with everyone else in the auditorium as Lois, wearing a sky-blue formal strapless gown with billowing floor-length skirt and peek-a-boo leg slits up to her hips, approached the dais. It was her second Kerth of the night, and he wondered if she’d prepared another spontaneous speech similar to her first one.
Perry nudged his elbow as they sat down. “You have to admit it, that woman knows how to make her words sing, whether it’s a juicy sex scandal or a military rescue operation.”
Clark nodded without taking his eyes from her. “I’ve never denied it, Chief. She’s an outstanding writer.”
“She is that.” Perry leaned closer. “This isn’t public knowledge yet, but that series she wrote on gangs in the Metropolis public high schools is up for a Pulitzer.”
This time Clark did look at his boss. “Does she know that?”
Perry grinned one-sidedly. “She’s not supposed to, but I’d bet dimes to dollars that she does. There’s not much in this city she doesn’t have covered.”
True, Clark thought. She has spies and snitches everywhere.
Then he sat down with the rest of the crowd and settled back to listen to another acceptance speech.
“Wow!” Lois gushed. “Getting one Kerth is such a great honor, but twice in one night!” She stopped and fanned herself, then her voice dropped a register and she wiggled her eyebrows. “I’m so very – excited!”
The crowd chortled at the double entendre. Lois let the laughter settle before she continued. “I’d like to thank the Kerth committee for this award. And I’d like to thank the former governor’s wife and her ex-boyfriend for making the story that won it possible!”
Laughter and applause broke out all over the building.
Except at the Daily Planet’s table. Clark, Perry, Alice, Jimmy, and Lucy all applauded, but without much enthusiasm, and none of them laughed.
It was less than a year ago, Clark mused. She had begged Superman to put her life on the line for Clark’s parents, to save them from Jason Mazik and Nigel St. John, to use her as a decoy, and now –
She’s come so far so fast, he thought with a twinge, she’s done so much, and it’s all because of me.
Me and Superman, anyway, he mentally amended.
He sighed as he remembered that terrifying afternoon almost a year ago –
*****
Nigel St. John was dead, poisoned by his partner in crime. Jason Mazik was gone, but it was no secret where he was. The Kryptonite was too far away to affect him. His parents were safe. Everything should have been fine.
But Lois wasn’t moving, wasn’t breathing, wasn’t coming back to him.
Superman begged Lois to breathe again, he warmed her with his heat vision, he rubbed her arms and legs, he forced air into her lungs, he massaged her heart, but she didn’t respond. He dropped his head in despair, fearing that he’d killed the woman he loved, and knowing that his own life might as well be over if she were dead.
Her skin was blue, almost translucent. He held her shoulders. They were so cold, so very cold.
He thought his own heart would stop.
Then she coughed. His head snapped up and he called her name. “Lois!”
Her eyes opened to slits. “Su – Superman?”
“Yes! Yes, Lois, it’s me.”
“Wh – what happened?”
“It worked. It worked just like you said it would.”
“What – “ She took in a deeper breath and coughed harder.
“Lois, I’m going to take you to a hospital. I think a doctor needs to look at you.”
She waved her arms in feeble protest as he lifted her, but she didn’t say anything else. She couldn’t. Her respiratory distress was too great.
He knew he was pushing the limits of safety as he rocketed around street corners and zoomed past astonished pedestrians, but the flight to the emergency room still seemed to take forever. He landed as gently as he could, given his velocity and total mass, and strode into the Metropolis General ER as if invading the place.
“Doctor! I need a doctor here right now!”
A slender young black woman sporting green scrubs and a stethoscope hanging around her neck grabbed his elbow. “Hey, pal, no more fraternity initiations here, okay? The last one – “
He lifted nearly two feet off the floor and stared down at her. “I am the real Superman. This woman needs emergency medical help. Are you going to provide it or do I get angry?”
The woman gulped and stumbled back a step, then collected her senses. “Come with me.” Trusting that he would follow her, she turned and shouted, “Trauma victim in treatment two!” As she hurried down the hallway, she asked, “Superman, what happened to her?”
He laid Lois down on the bed in the trauma room. “Extreme hypothermia.”
“How long was she unconscious?”
“At least twenty minutes.”
“What’s her name?”
“Lois Lane. She’s a reporter for the Daily Planet.”
The doctor smiled quickly. “I’ve read her work. She gets in trouble a lot, doesn’t she?”
“Yes.”
His clipped tone drew the doctor’s gaze. “You said extreme hypothermia?”
“I did.”
“How severe?”
Lois’s words haunted him. “Like being dropped into a frozen lake.”
The doctor touched the patient’s dry clothing and blinked, then returned to business as a nurse hooked up various monitors to Lois’s body. “Has she spoken?”
“She coughs hard every time she tries.”
Lois chose that moment to try to speak, but she only coughed again as she grabbed the doctor’s lab coat.
The doctor looked up at the hero and nodded. “Thanks for getting her here, Superman. We’ll take good care of her.”
He realized he was being asked – albeit most diplomatically – to leave the room and let the medical professionals do their jobs, so he nodded and turned to walk away. A nurse touched his arm and said, “Superman, can you give the registration desk clerk any information that you have on Ms. Lane?”
He nodded shortly and pushed through the swinging doors to the lobby. He told himself he had to behave as if Lois were anyone else, that Superman couldn’t afford to be seen to be too concerned about her well being. It would compromise her safety, as well as endanger his secret identity, if his feelings for Lois became public knowledge.
He glanced around the room as he stood at the desk and answered the clerk’s questions, all while trying to ignore the open-mouthed stares from the other people in the waiting area. He claimed not to know any specifics about her medical insurance, but gave them her home address, phone number, and place of employment.
As the questions began hitting too close to home, he tilted his head and appeared to listen to something. “I’m sorry, but I have something else I have to attend to.”
He didn’t wait for the clerk to ask another question. He strode majestically through the doorway and flew away into the night.
*****
Nineteen minutes later, Clark vaulted out of a cab and ran into the emergency room. He skidded to a stop at the desk and called out, “Lois! Where’s Lois Lane? Is Lois Lane here?”
The desk clerk waved for him to quiet down and said, “Please, sir, not so loud. Who are you?”
“I’m her friend, her co-worker. I have to see her!”
“You’re her co-worker?”
Clark was almost frantic. “Yes!”
The young man lifted a clipboard. “Then maybe you can give me some more information on her insurance. The guy with the cape didn’t – “
For a moment, Clark forgot that he was supposed to be mild-mannered and meek, that he wasn’t supposed to use his powers while in his civilian guise. He reached over the counter and grabbed the man by his lapels and pulled him halfway over the desk. Nose to nose with the man, Clark bellowed, “WHERE IS LOIS LANE?”
The wide-eyed clerk pointed down the hall. “T-trauma two! Second room from the end of the hall on the left!”
Clark dropped the man and sprinted down the hallway. As he burst into the room, a tiny but determined Native American woman in nurse’s scrubs stepped in front of him. “Sir! You cannot enter! Please wait outside!”
He barely kept himself from sweeping her to one side as he pressed forward. “I have to see her – “
“Sir! You cannot come in here! You must leave before I call security!”
Clark stopped and looked down and the woman. She reminded him of a determined Martha Kent, so much so that his ‘good son’ reflexes kicked in and he stopped moving. “Please. How is she? Please tell me!”
The slight woman relaxed and said, “We are going to move her upstairs to a room and keep her overnight for observation. And that is all I can tell you.”
Just then, Lois’s quavering voice reached them through her oxygen mask. “Clark? Is that you? Clark?”
“Yes!” he called out. “I’m here, Lois. I’m here.”
Lois looked at the doctor. “I want to see him.”
The doctor locked eyes with Clark and nodded. “One minute, then we move her upstairs.”
Clark rushed to Lois’s side and carefully took her hand. “Lois! Are you okay? How do you feel?”
She squinted at him and grabbed at his hand. Her voice was weak and scratchy and her eyes weren’t quite focused on him. “Clark? Why – why am I here? What happened?”
Alarmed, Clark glanced up at the doctor, who quickly shook her head. “Superman brought you in, Lois. Don’t you remember?”
“No – no. Wait. Callard’s? We were going to Callard’s, weren’t we?”
“Yes. Yes, we were. Don’t worry, we can go there any time.”
“You – you didn’t come.” She grabbed for his arm again. “Did you? Why didn’t you come? Why am I here? What happened to me?”
The doctor leaned closer. “Lois? Listen to me, Lois. We’re taking you to a room so we can check you out, okay? You’re going to be fine, don’t worry.”
“What? A room?”
“Yes. You’ll be much more comfortable there.”
“C – Clark?”
The doctor glanced up at Clark, then looked at Lois. “What about him, Lois?”
“Can – can he come?”
She grinned. “Not right away, but he can come see you later. Okay?”
Clark leaned down and kissed Lois’s forehead. “I’ll see you later. I promise.”
Lois nodded once. The doctor looked up at the orderly and one of the nurses. “Floor three, and make sure they watch her close.”
They nodded and wheeled her out. The doctor turned to Clark. “I assume you’re the next of kin?”
He took a breath, then shook his head. “No, sorry.”
She nodded. “Then I’m not supposed to tell you that she’ll probably be just fine, that we’re keeping her at least overnight mainly for observation, and probably for another twenty-four hours after that just to be on the safe side. I’m also not supposed to tell you that she may have some permanent short-term memory loss due to being oxygen-deprived for so long, and that we may not know for certain about that for a couple of days.”
His mouth quirked to one side. “Thanks for not telling me all that, Doctor – “
She pulled her nametag from behind her lapel. “M’Benga. Darlene M’Benga.”
He extended his hand. “Thank you, Dr. M’Benga.”
She smiled as her tiny hand disappeared inside his. “You should be able to get in to see her first thing in the morning. There’s a waiting room near the nurse’s station where you can make all the phone calls you need to make to her – ahem – next of kin.”
His smile grew wider. “Thank you again, Doctor.”
*****
Clark found the phone, pulled out his calling card to pay for any long distance calls, and began dialing. As he expected, Perry was shocked but not surprised, Ellen Lane was frantic and wildly accusatory, Lucy was frightened but optimistic, Sam Lane was out of touch, and Clark’s parents were saddened but supportive. They promised to wait for him at his apartment, and that he should not expect them to be awake if he came home too soon. By the time he’d spoken to the last person on his list, the sun was peeking over the horizon and the day shift had taken over in that wing of the hospital.
Clark rubbed his hands over his face. He hadn’t felt so wrung out in years.
“Mr. Kent?”
He looked up at the matronly woman. “Yes?”
“I’m Cora Flowers, head nurse on this shift. Miss Lane is asleep now, but if you promise to be quiet, you can go in and sit with her.”
He smiled wearily. “Thank you. I won’t wake her, I promise.”
Cora smiled back. “But if she does wake up, you give us a call right away, you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
*****
He watched her sleep for several hours. She was breathing more easily than before, and they’d replaced the mask with a nasal line. He glanced at the monitors beside the bed and saw numbers in the normal range for blood oxygen saturation, blood pressure, respiration rate, pulse and temperature. It eased his mind somewhat.
During the time between dropping Lois off at the hospital as Superman and then showing up as Clark in a cab, he’d taken Jason Mazik into custody and delivered him to the police, destroyed the book Mazik had brandished (he still had no idea where it had come from or who Tempus was), given the stolen diamonds to the detective who’d questioned them about the robbery, and reported the location of Nigel St. John’s body. The detective had been far more impressed by Superman’s presence than he had been about closing the case. He’d even offered Superman a jelly doughnut, which had been declined as politely as the situation allowed.
His parents were awaiting further word about Lois at his apartment, but Clark wanted them to sleep as long as they needed to. They’d been through a great deal. In his brief call, he’d told his father to assume the best unless he called and told them otherwise.
Ellen, understandably, had insisted on flying to Metropolis to check on her baby girl. Lucy was also coming, but it turned out to be easier for her to take the transcontinental express train from Colorado to New Troy than to fly, since the train’s scheduled arrival time was only fifteen minutes later than the earliest available flight she could catch. When Clark suggested he ask Superman to bring her, Lucy’s voice turned hard and she emphatically refused. Clark hoped Lucy’s attitude was her residual bad feelings about Johnny Corbin’s death and that she wasn’t blaming him for Lois’s current condition.
So he had Lois all to himself for a while. He sat back and drank in her soft curves, her creamy skin, her slender and delicate fingers, her exotic eyes –
Her eyes. Eyes which were open. She was looking straight at him. The sight made him smile.
He leaned closer and whispered, “How long have you been awake?”
“Long enough to see you ogling me.”
Something in her voice wiped the smile from his face and moved him back into his chair. That didn’t sound like their usual friendly banter. “Um, excuse me, but the nurse told me I was supposed to call them if you woke up.”
She didn’t smile at him. “So call them.”
He nodded shortly and pressed the ‘call’ button. When a nurse responded through the intercom, he said, “Lois Lane is awake now.”
He sat back and assayed another smile. Her eyes narrowed and she said, “Why am I here, Clark? What happened to me?”
He frowned. “You don’t remember?”
She flashed her teeth at him. “You idiot! Would I ask you a question like that if I already knew the answer?”
His mouth fell open at her harsh tone.
He was saved for the moment by Cora Flowers’ chipper arrival. “Well! How are we this morning? Better?”
Lois shifted her laser glare from Clark to the nurse. “Depends on how you define the terms ‘we’ and ‘better,’ doesn’t it?”
“Of course. Mr. Kent, could you give us some privacy for a few minutes, please?”
He nodded slowly. “Sure. Lois, I’ll be right outside. Can I bring you anything?”
“You can get me donuts, coffee, and today’s Daily Planet.”
It wasn’t a request, it was an order, and a fairly imperious one at that. As Clark walked to the elevator, he wondered why Lois seemed to be so cold towards him.
After Clark delivered the order, Lois told him to go downstairs and wait for her mother and sister. And he was not to return until then.
“Lois, don’t you think – “
She silenced him by snapping the newspaper open and studying it as if it held a great cosmic secret. Clark stood beside her bed for a long moment, but she behaved as if he no longer existed.
So he went downstairs to wait, no matter how long it took. Maybe she’d be over her anger by the time Ellen and Lucy arrived. At the very least, he hoped she’d be willing to talk to him.
