Dayshift 31, Shift 4 - Doctor Office #10 (Dr. Burroughs)

[damned_doctors]

Lunch got very little done aside from giving Maggie the impression that Professor Washu was a little out of it. After that, the doctor returned to her office and poured herself another cup of coffee, eyes scanning over her next patient's file.

Now all there was to do was wait.

Comments

[son_ofkrypton]

Clark was decidely nervous. It wasn't like he didn't have a reason to: considering the last surprise he'd had with his visitor, he thought he had every right to be nervous to find that he was apparently due for some kind of therapy session. Considering what Lex had told him about this "Kal" guy, there was probably a whole list of things wrong with him supposedly. Glancing around at the office - it was neat and normal looking, except for the weird poster on the wall - he turned his attention to the doctor inside.

He didn't want to go to therapy. There wasn't anything wrong with him. But the encouraging nudge he got from his nurse said that he'd have to sit through this. Flashing the female doctor a nervous, shy smile, Clark reluctantly sat down, feeling a little cramped in the seat.

[damned_doctors]

Ah, there he was. Maggie gave the teen a small smile and placed her coffee mug aside. He seemed slightly more cooperative at the moment than Dolores, but took his history into consideration. "You can take a seat on the couch, if you'd like," she offered as she stood from her chair. "Once you feel comfortable enough, you can tell me a bit about yourself, Kal."

It was a sad story, really. A complicated life turned into a fantasy retreat into the mind: it something told again and again, especially in a place like this, but it never lost its tragedy. At least he was wishing for something more simple than some of the other patients and elaborate delusions.

[son_ofkrypton]

Clark switched seats. He still felt uncomfortable, but now it had nothing to do with the fact he was too tall for the chair. The cushions were firm and not too soft that you sank into them, like some places; in short, they felt like what you'd probably expect in a doctor's office. He could feel the doctor's eyes on him: she, too, had called him "Kal". Just like Lex and the nurses

[damned_doctors]

Maggie, for her part, took to sitting on the front edge of her desk- old habit, really. "Anything you'd like. Where you're from, about your family," she paused, fingers drumming against the desk behind her. "Maybe about the farm?"

It may have not been real to anyone else, but it was real enough for Kal, and she would hear him out about it. If he got upset and tried anything, she could take care of herself.

[son_ofkrypton]

That seemed safe enough. Lex might've said he made it all up, but Clark was more than happy to talk about his real parents and his home. And he wouldn't even have to lie about his powers or his "ability" to be turning up in all kinds of weird places at weird times.

"Well," Clark started, looking down at his hands. "I'm from Smallville, Kansas. My parents own a farm there and we were running it ourselves before I...ended up here," he said, glancing at Dr. Burroughs for any indication that she'd explain just how he'd ended up here. No such luck there. He went on. "I used to hang out in the barn and help my dad with the heavy stuff since he's real hands on. Putting up fences and tending the crops, stuff like that. My mom would sell our flowers in town, but it wasn't like we were selling out, y'know

[damned_doctors]

Maggie nodded, placing her notebook onto her lap and jotting a few things down.

"I was informed that your friend Lex came to visit you a few days ago. Do you remember what he told you about your family?"

[son_ofkrypton]

Clark flushed a little. He remembered, definitely. Didn't mean he had to like it, but it was hard to forget.

"Yeah," Clark said, tense all over again. "He said he footed the bill for my stay here. And said something about my parents being off on vacation and not wanting to pay for Landels."

His parents wouldn't even put him in a normal hospital, much less a mental institute - it wasn't because they didn't care, but because they couldn't risk it without endangering Clark and the fact he wasn't exactly normal. They cared too much. But Lex's story seemed to indicate that they not only had the money and means, but that they didn't care, that they were more than happy to go on vacation and leave their son here.

[damned_doctors]

Maggie had to frown a little, knowing all about bad parenting. It was depressing to see how much things like this had happened- some people just shouldn't be allowed to raise a child.

"I know you want to trust your memories, Kal, but sometimes we need to listen to the people around us when we can't see straight. That farm seems like a nice place but," she stood up and off her desk, turning her back to the patient and pouring an extra cup of coffee, "it isn't real. I need you to try and remember that." When she turned back, she offered the cup to Kal.

"Did he tell you anything else?"

[son_ofkrypton]

Clark felt tight in his chest. No matter how many times people said the farm didn't exist, it still felt downright wrong when they said it to his face. He knew he was seeing straight. How could you fake all those memories? You certainly couldn't fake the super powers - Lex might think he was physically normal, as Clark or as "Kal", but the fact remained was he still had powers here. He couldn't be imagining it

[damned_doctors]

"And you don't remember any of that happening?" she asked. It didn't surprise so much anymore, considering, but it was still important to ask about it.

[son_ofkrypton]

Clark shook his head. No. He wasn't even sure it happened. All he had to go by was Lex's word and Dr. Burrough's word here.

"The last thing I remember is checking out something in our farm's storm cellar," Clark said, the hot cup of coffee cradled, forgotten, in his hands. He had a feeling that whatever answer he gave, even if it was the truth, probably wouldn't be what the doctor was looking for. He wasn't going to mention that the storm cellar had been glowing at the time and that he thought he'd heard something beckoning him there. He didn't want to Dr. Burroughs to assume that he could pile on even more crazy on what was supposedly already there.

"So, um, whatever happened, I don't remember any of it," Clark finished. He searched about for anything else to add. "Lex said we used to go traveling together on business trips - I don't remember that either."

[damned_doctors]

"Was there anything in there?" Maybe it was important in some way? She took a sip of her own coffee, eyes peering over the mug and at Kal.

[son_ofkrypton]

Aside from it being glowing? And the strange ship that was all angles and sharp lines?

"It was just an errand," Clark lied. "I remember my mom wanting some flour from there, so I was going to get it. But other than that, nothing really out of the ordinary."

[damned_doctors]

Maggie gave a short "hmm" as she wrote something else down. Perhaps it could have been important, but she didn't want to force the issue on the poor boy right now.

Back to the other subject, anyway. "What about Lex? You don't remember going on trips with him, but you still remember him specifically?"

[son_ofkrypton]

Clark nodded. He remembered plenty about him, from the way he always seemed to drive around in a different car every day of the week to how he always got that look whenever he talked about Helen. "Yeah."

He paused, thinking back to how they'd first met. Probably wouldn't be a good idea to say that he'd got hit by Lex's car going at least sixty, and that he'd ended up saving his life by fishing him out river. But the part where Lex had tried to say thanks? Was probably safe enough. "He tried giving me a new car as a thank you, when we first met. I remember that," Clark said.

[damned_doctors]

The doctor only raised an eyebrow. "A 'thank you' for what?"