PREVIOUSLY...
Mayson Drake peeked through the crack in the door to the roof caused by an electric cord running out onto the roof. She could see Martha and Jonathan fiddling with some device and was about to step through the door to confront them when her eyes came to rest again on the electric cord. The cord was connected to the device they were working with.
Her eyes went from the cord to the door. The door locked from the inside.
A slow smile made its way across her face. This was easy.
Quickly pulling the electric cord out of the socket, she tossed it outside and pulled the door shut.
“We lost power,” Martha gasped. “Check on it quick, Jonathan. We’re on in a moment.”
Mayson smiled before turning to jog back down the stairs. First problem solved. Now... stage two. Prove that Clark Kent is Superman.AND NOW...
* * * * * * * * *
Lois looked around at the crowd as Clark spoke. She could see that he had them all in the palm of his hands as they waited for this proof. She glanced up at the roof of the building across the street, her eyebrows furrowing when she couldn’t see either Martha or Jonathan. Where were they? It was almost time for them to be on.
“As you all know,” Clark said. “Superman’s invulnerable. So...” Clark fumbled around in his pocket for a moment, finally withdrawing his jackknife. He opened it before hesitating slightly, being certain to have everyone’s attention before he continued. Then he lifted his other hand and took a deep breath before making a small cut in his palm. He made sure to grimace slightly as he did it.
Blood pooled slowly on the palm of his hand which he then held up so that the people who were now gasping and whispering could get their photos.
He waited then, knowing that in a second his identity would no longer be in question. He waited for Superman himself to appear.
Lois glanced up at the roof across the street once again. Martha suddenly appeared, making a helpless gesture which Lois understood completely. She didn’t know what had happened, but something had gone wrong with the hologram.
She quickly withdrew a piece of cloth from her pocket and stepped up next to Clark. She took Clark’s hand and wrapped the cloth around it - an action she had intended to save for when the hologram of Superman appeared. As she tended to his ‘wound,’ she whispered under her breath. “Time to go.”
She didn’t dare say more for fear her words might be captured by the microphones. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, but he knew far better than to respond. He gave a small nod before turning back to the microphones.
“Now... Hopefully that puts to rest the question as to my identity. As I said before, my name is Clark Jerome Kent, not Superman.”
Lois glanced around at the crowd again when something caught her attention. Mayson Drake was pushing her way through the crowd. She looked completely disheveled and totally focused on Clark.
What was she doing here?
Suddenly, something in Lois’ gut began screaming at her. They had to get out of there. They had to get out of there now.
Before thought could find its way into action, she saw Mayson’s hand reach into her pocket.
Lois glanced at Clark, realizing he had no idea that Mayson was even in the crowd.
A flash of light on metal brought Lois’ eyes back to Mayson just in time to see Mayson raise a gun.
“No!” Lois yelled, realizing immediately what was happening. Mayson was planning to shoot Clark. When the bullet bounced off him, his identity would no longer be in doubt. She threw herself at Clark, pushing him away from the lectern. As they fell together onto the podium, she felt the burning pain that told her she’d been hit and then everything went dark.
* * * * * * * * *
Jimmy was probably in the best position to see what happened next. Shadow, after watching the two people he loved most in the world collapse to the dais, swept the crowd looking for danger. A second later, he was practically flying through the air towards Mayson just as Mayson pulled the trigger a second time.
He yelped before crashing into Mayson, knocking her off her feet. The gun went skidding away from her even as Shadow fell to the ground and stayed there, motionless.
Shadow’s heroism seemed to snap the people around Mayson into action and they grabbed her even as police officers rushed through the crowd to take over. Seeing that Shadow was about to get trampled, Jimmy ran over, scooping up his limp body.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois’ first conscious thought was of pain. Every movement sent shooting pain through her entire body. Her second though was of Clark. He was calling to her, begging her to be okay.
She forced her eyes open a crack to see his tear streaked face above her as he cradled her in his arms, his hand pushing painfully against her shoulder. She reached up to remove the hand, thereby informing him that she was conscious.
“Lois,” he breathed.
“Hurts,” she whispered, pushing at his hand.
“You’re bleeding,” he said, not letting up on her shoulder.
She groaned softly, allowing her hand to fall back to her side. He was obviously trying to keep the bleeding under control. Still... it hurt, leaving her in a fog of pain.
“What happened?” she asked softly, having to force herself to focus.
“Mayson took a shot at me and you dived at me to stop her from hitting me.”
Oh right. She remembered now. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” He leaned over, softly kissing her forehead.
Oh right. She remembered that too. “Is Mayson...”
“She’s in police custody. But... Lois, Shadow got shot.”
“Shadow?” she asked, instantly struggling to move. The pain and Clark’s hand held her back. “I’ve got to see him. Is he alive? I’ve got to know. Please.”
“He’s alive. But that’s all I know. He attacked Mayson and took a second bullet.”
“We have to get him help, Clark,” she begged, tears of pain, grief and frustration flooding her eyes.
Paramedics suddenly appeared on the podium, pushing a stretcher. “Please, Mr. Kent. You need to move aside so we can help her.”
“Her shoulder...” Clark said.
A paramedic knelt down next to Clark. “I’ve got it.”
Clark’s hand disappeared only to be replaced by pressure from whatever the paramedic was doing.
“Shadow,” she breathed. “We’ve got to help Shadow.”
“He’s right here.”
“Jimmy?” Lois asked as Jimmy scampered up beside her with the dog in his arms. “Is he...”
“He’s alive. He’s even awake.”
“Bring him here.”
“Miss, please,” the paramedic said. “We can’t help you with the dog here.”
“Then don’t help me. I’ve got to see Shadow.”
“Lois?” Clark begged.
“I have to know that he’s all right.” Tears began to fall from her eyes even as she again struggled to rise.
The paramedic, finally realizing that the only way to keep her calm was to give in to her demand, motioned to Jimmy who carried Shadow over to her, his jacket wrapped around Shadow’s body. Still, Lois let out a breath of relief when she realized that he’d been telling the truth. Shadow was awake, hardly moving, looking like hell, but awake. When Jimmy laid him down next to her, she finally relaxed as she felt Shadow lick her hand.
“Okay, now if you’ll just take the dog so that we can get her ready for transport...” the paramedic began.
“No. No, you have to treat him, too. He’s coming with us.”
“Miss, we can’t treat a dog.”
“He’s a hero. You can treat a hero, can’t you?” she asked.
The paramedic looked at her hard for a moment before finally nodding.
Finally satisfied, Lois allowed herself to collapse back onto the ground so that her shoulder could be treated.
* * * * * * * * *
The shot they had given her helped reduce the pain, but it didn’t take it away. They told her the bullet was still inside her and lodged up against a nerve. That was the reason she was experiencing so much pain. As a result, they moved her very carefully. Still, no matter how gentle they tried to be, the pain was intense every time she moved at all.
She refused to relax, however, until they loaded Shadow in next to her and she heard them radio the hospital to ask them to have a vet standing by when they arrived. She’d ignored the indignant response to the request when she realized that the paramedic had become Shadow’s champion, insisting that the call be made. Shadow was the hero of the hour, after all.
“Hey, how you doing?” Clark asked, climbing in beside her.
“About ready to go out dancing,” she responded, her voice slurring slightly on the words. “Where did you disappear to?”
“I asked Perry to check on my parents,” he said softly.
She glanced over to where the paramedic was fastening everyone into their spots. “Are they... okay?” she asked cautiously, knowing she had to be very careful about what she said.
“Fine. I’ll tell you about it later.”
She sighed and then her attention was caught by a piece of medical equipment. “Is that an ophthalmoscope?”
“Well, I can’t see what you’re looking at but...”
“Over there,” she said, taking his hand and pushing it towards the item. “Can you get it for me?”
“Lois, I don’t think...”
“Has to be now.” When Clark didn’t move, she looked over at the medic, feeling a little desperate. “Can you give me your ophthalmoscope?” she asked the medic.
He’d learned his lesson and, instead of questioning her, handed her the requested item before stepping out of the ambulance. Not knowing how long he’d be gone, she quickly used her good hand to slip off Clark’s glasses before shining the ophthalmoscope into his eyes, studying them intently.
“Oh my god,” she breathed softly as she lowered the instrument.
“What?” he asked, even as he returned his glasses to his face.
“I should have known,” she said, even as her eyelids began to droop. “I wish we’d moved to the arctic and become Inuit.” Her words were slurred.
“What?” he asked again.
“UV radiation damage to the corneal epithelium is cumulative, similar to the effects with dermal epithelium...” Her voice trailed off as the pain killers took full effect and her eyes drifted closed.
She felt a blanket being tucked tightly around her and then the faintest touch of Clark’s lips on her forehead before she drifted off to sleep.
* * * * * * * * *
Tuesday
* * * * * * * * *
Lane’s Actions Prove Kent Not Superman
The Metropolis Star
By TobyRaynes
Reclamation Superman de Mayson Drake discredite
The Paris Bulletin
By Bernard Duval
Clark Kent Is No Superman
The London Voice
By Jordan Alexander
Ending The Madness: Kent Proves He’s Not Superman
The Daily Planet
By Eduardo Friez
Mayson Drake Secure In Metropolis Psychiatric Hospital
The New Metro Times
By Carson Martin
Dirt Digger Reporter Arrested For Breaking and Entering
The Daily Planet
By Robert Myerson
Super-Pooch Risks Life To Save Master
Urban Dogs Magazine
By Jack RussellClark’s fingers ran across the page of one of the Braille newspapers Jimmy had brought him as he sat quietly next to Lois’ bed, waiting for her to wake up from surgery. It had been a hard earned victory, but it seemed to be universally agreed that if Lois Lane would jump in front of Clark Kent to save him from being shot, he must not be Superman. After all, she would know the truth.
The fact that he hadn’t been able to save her strengthened that claim. Everyone seemed to universally believe that he wouldn’t have let Lois get shot if he was able to prevent it. They were right, of course, but no one seemed to have realized that since the bullet had moved faster than the speed of sound, he simply had not been able to react in time. And since Dr. Klein had not yet contacted him about having another GPS prototype ready for him to use, he hadn’t been able to fly her immediately to the hospital which he might have been tempted to do if he’d still had the device.
Today’s copy of the Dirt Digger had tried, of course, to perpetuate the idea that he was Superman - probably for the sake of their own pocketbooks - claiming that Superman should be tarred and feathered for protecting his own secret rather than saving Lois. But according to Perry, no one was even bothering to buy their magazine, causing their shareholders to howl about the waste of money. If there was one universal truth that the entire world seemed to share it was that, regardless of who Superman might be or what it might cost him, he would never willingly allow harm to come to Lois Lane.
Soft whimpering coming from the bed next to Lois caused Clark to put down his paper and carefully feel his way over to the next bed where Shadow was waking up.
He still couldn’t quite believe a dog had been given a hospital bed. Part of it had been because of Lois’ insistence that Shadow be treated. The rest... Urban Dogs Magazine had approached him the previous night as he’d been waiting with Perry and his folks for both Lois and Shadow to get out of surgery, offering to pay all of Shadow’s medical bills if he would give them an interview about Shadow. Since he knew that Lois would want to see Shadow as soon as she woke up, he had made that part of the agreement. At that point, they had taken over negotiations with the hospital - although how exactly they’d managed it was a bit of a mystery to him. He suspected they had made the hospital a financial offer they just couldn’t refuse.
“Hey, boy,” Clark said softly when he reached the side of Shadow’s bed. The small tail tap Shadow gave him was weak. “Don’t worry. You’re going to be fine. They had to remove part of your lung, so you might not be able to do the hundred yard dash in five seconds any more, but other than that, you’re going to be fine.”
“Who you talking to?”
Clark spun around. “Lois! You’re awake!”
“Did you say something about them removing part of my lung?” she asked groggily.
“No, no. I was talking to Shadow.”
“Is he here? Is he okay?”
Clark could tell by the sound of her voice that she was getting agitated. “He’s right here,” he quickly assured her.
“Let me see.”
Hearing her struggling to raise herself, he rushed to the side of the bed to help her sit up. Once she was seated, she seemed to relax and he suspected it was because she could finally see Shadow for herself. “Hey, boy,” she said softly. “They gave you a comfy bed too, I see.”
The tail tap that met her words was even more enthusiastic than the one he’d given Clark less than a minute before. Clark smiled. Shadow might, technically, be his dog, but there was no doubting that he adored Lois. He couldn’t fault the animal his taste in women.
“Do you think it might be possible to bring him over here?” Lois asked.
And it seemed Shadow’s crush might not be totally unrequited.
“In bed with you?” Clark asked. “Should I be jealous?”
“Of course not. I just...” Her voice trailed off as she seemed to realize that he was kidding, informing him that she was still pretty out of it. It wasn’t like her to miss that obvious a joke.
“I think we could probably do that,” he said. “Let’s just get you comfortable again first.”
Once he’d helped her settle back down in bed, he turned his attention to Shadow. Extending his aura to give additional protection to the animal, he carefully lifted Shadow out of bed and moved him over next to Lois - knowing instantly that he’d done the right thing by the way both of their heartbeats seemed to respond positively to the move.
She reached up and tapped his ear.
“There are no bugs,” he informed her.
She let out a breath, relaxing slightly.
“How you feeling?” he asked.
“Sore. Is there...”
“What?”
“Water,” she finally completed. “Uhh... There’s a jug over...” She began to move, trying to get the water.
“Let me,” he said, rising from the side of her bed and feeling around on the night stand on the side she’d been reaching for. It only took him a moment to locate the water and another to fill the glass sitting next to it. “Lois,” he said as he handed her the glass of water, “last night you looked into my eyes and you said you should have known. And then you went on about UV radiation and Inuit and... well, I wondered if you remembered what you were trying to say.”
For a long moment she was silent before very slowly saying... “I vaguely remember that, but...”
“If you don’t remember, it’s okay. I just thought maybe...” He couldn’t quite keep the hopeful note out of his voice. Had she figured out what was wrong with his eyes... and more importantly, how to cure it?
“Just give me a minute,” she said quickly before again falling silent.
He fought the urge to fidget as he waited, but it was hard. He was so close to figuring this thing out. He just knew it. But... what if she couldn’t remember what she had known last night, when she had examined his eyes with adrenaline running through her system? The adrenaline had to have dissipated by now. So... would she be able to find the information again?
TO BE CONTINUED...
ML
