Dream Girl: Chapter 14 - Conscious
Eyelids began to flutter. A low moan sounded; the kind of moan when one awakens from a long, uninterrupted sleep. Opening one eye slowly and then the next, Chloe allowed her eyes to adjust to the brightness of the sun streaming in around her. She lay still for a moment, waking up completely. Glancing around, Chloe could tell she was in a real hospital, the good kind; with doctors and nurses and physically sick people. Chloe wondered where she was, though. Metropolis General? Smallville Medical Center? That place in the Yukon with the really tasty apple juice?
Chloe spotted Clark sound asleep. Gently withdrawing her hand from his, Chloe maneuvered herself into a sitting position without waking him. Smiling down at him, Chloe reached out a hand to caress his silky black hair which contrasted quite nicely with her crisp white sheets. Chloe stroked the hair off his forehead, admiring the way his nose curved and how his thick lashes rested against his skin. He looked pale and tired. Chloe wondered how long Clark had been here, how long had she? She felt good, though. Rested and alert.
Spying the remote on the bedside table beside a cup of coffee from the Talon, Chloe clapped her hands excitedly. Stretching her arms over her head, she reached over and grabbed both. Rearranging some pillows behind her, Chloe settled back down into them. The coffee was slightly cold, but it was coffee, a welcome pleasure. Turning the TV down so as not to wake Clark, Chloe began to channel surf; searching for a news station and a calendar date.
A couple of minutes later, an older nurse came in, her eyes occupied by the chart she held in her hands. Her name tag read Gina and Chloe could also make out 'Metropolis General' just underneath it. She sighed with relief.
Gina placed the chart on the counter and turned to Chloe, ready to take her mid-morning vitals. Gina yelped when she looked into the girl's alert and open hazel eyes.
"Shhh!" Chloe whispered hurriedly, holding an elegant finger to her mouth. "He's sleeping." Chloe pointed to the black head resting next to her lap.
"I need to go get a doctor," Gina said softly.
"Gina? Would you mind not, please? I just woke up and I don't feel like being poked and prodded," Chloe told her.
"Well... You do look fine," Gina observed as she approached Chloe. Her color was good and she seemed to be coherent.
"Okay," Gina relented. "If you'll let me at least take a look at you."
"Sounds good to me," Chloe complied with a smile.
"What is your full name?" Gina started.
"Chloe Anne Sullivan."
"When were you born?"
"1987."
"A date, Ms. Sullivan," Gina reminded her good-naturedly as she took Chloe's wrist and felt the pulse.
"January 23rd," Chloe answered with a giggle.
"Good," Gina encouraged. "Do you know where you are?"
"You're name tag says Metropolis General so I am obviously still in Kansas. And I do know this is a hospital. What is today?" Chloe asked, just a little scared of the answer.
"You've only been here for 2 weeks. It's March 6th. Do you know what year?"
"2006."
Gina replaced the blood pressure cuff back on the wall and draped her stethoscope around her neck.
"I have one more question," Gina told Chloe.
"Shoot," Chloe said before a sip of cool coffee.
"Do you know how you got here?"
"I'm pretty sure Clark brought me in. I remember everything that happened to me. All synapses are firing on that front."
"Well, you seem fine, hon," Gina said with a glad smile. "Dr. Matthews is in charge of your case so I'll send him over when he comes in. I know he'll want to speak with you and your husband-to-be right way. He gets here at two, so you have four hours to yourself." Gina squeezed Chloe's arm and left, taking her chart with her. Chloe watched her depart with wide eyes and an open mouth. Then she looked down at a sleeping Clark.
Clark slept for another half hour before the touch of someone's fingers woke him. He brought his watch up to his face.
"Lana, you're early. Didn't you have class?" The stroking hand stilled for a second or two, and then began again, tunneling through his hair. Clark lifted his head. Chloe sat up in bed, her eyes open and the coffee halfway to her mouth. Her hand slipped down and lay against his cheekbone. Chloe smiled softly into Clark's bewildered face.
"So...uh...have we set a date yet?" She asked.
Clark continued to stare at her, not sure if he was still asleep, his mouth flopping open like a dead fish.
"Clark." Chloe said forcefully, smacking his cheek smartly.
"Chloe!" Clark cried as he shot up from his chair, knocking it backwards. It met the floor with a clatter. Before Chloe could think, Clark was practically climbing into the bed as he leaned over to get his arms around her. Chloe held the coffee cup high, hugging him with one arm as she laughed at his exuberant embrace.
It felt so good to have Chloe hugging him back!
"Clark, I need to breath!" Chloe exclaimed happily.
Clark planted a big kiss on her cheek before letting Chloe go. He righted his chair and sat back down. Reclaiming her hand, Clark drank in Chloe's open and sparkling eyes. Chloe blushed under Clark's intense scrutiny, a twisty feeling gripping her lower belly as his fingers began to twine with hers.
"What did you ask me?" Clark questioned her after his initial excitement at seeing her awake subsided.
"Oh," Chloe remembered. She smiled sweetly at Clark, drinking the last of the coffee in one gulp. "I asked you if we had set a wedding date yet. Since I don't remember being engaged when I was last coherent, I guess we've had a busy two weeks." Her statement was punctuated by the sound of her cup swishing into the wastebasket.
Clark lowered his eyes and grinned sheepishly. "How are you feeling?" He asked, trying to artfully side step that discussion.
"Good. Second chance at life good. The last thing I remember you told me to go to sleep. Looks like I do follow directions. What happened to cause me to wake up 2 weeks later?" Chloe asked.
"Dr. Matthews, your doctor, said your mind put you in a coma resulting from all the stress your body underwent when you were being held," Clark paraphrased for her.
"Stress, yeah," Chloe snorted. "If that's what they call knocking on death's door these days, then sure." She looked at Clark in merriment only to find his eyes clouded with irritation.
"What were you doing, Chloe? Why didn't you tell me about this? I could have helped you," Clark admonished her.
"It was the subject of an article I was working on for my journalism class. I'm not sure my journalism prof would have been happy with me sharing the by-line." Chloe's smile melted under Clark's reproaching eyes. "Okay, I didn't want to share my by-line! It had the makings of an awesome story and I wanted to be the one who cracked it. I was hoping I could also deliver it to the editor at the Daily Planet. The basement is starting to get a little stuffy," Chloe finished apologetically.
"I would never make you share your by-line, Chloe," Clark replied. "I'm just glad I found you."
"Me, too, Clark." Chloe squeezed his hand, sitting back against her pillows. "Have I had any other visitors?"
"Yeah, tons. Lois, Lana, Mom and Pete. Which reminds me, I need to call him and let him know you're up and running again." Clark pulled out the replacement phone he purchased and dialed Pete. He left a short message and then switched it back off. "And I had no idea you were so popular at the Daily Planet! There was a steady flow of co-workers who came by to see you on the third or fourth day you were here."
"Are you sure I knew them or were they just being nosy reporters?" Chloe pointed out. Her ordeal having reached the Daily Planet by now, a reporter or two must have come sniffing around for a story. Sorry guys, Chloe thought, this one is all mine.
"I didn't think to check," Clark countered sarcastically.
Chloe cleared her throat, ignoring Clark's testy comment. "What exactly happened, Clark? I'm still a little fuzzy on the details of how I got here."
"I think I'm the one who gets to ask the questions. How did you get involved in this?" Clark asked incredulously.
"There was this kid..." Chloe began.
"How did you figure out that New Death was the same thing these people were testing?" Clark questioned after Chloe finished her narrative.
"I ran across this flier-"
"Yep, saw the flier," Clark interrupted. "Definitely didn't look like your type of extracurricular activity."
"Come on, Clark. You saw that clandestine one-liner message. Of course it was my kind of thing! Top it off with kryptonite and I was hooked." Clark rolled his eyes but nodded in agreement. He'd forgotten about the Green K. Vintage Chloe. "So I did my usual digging and found out what it was and the side effects from a very helpful source."
"Did you know who you source was?"
"No. We met a couple times outside the college hospital on the quad. He was always dressed in baggy clothes and a cap pulled down to hide his face. I knew he worked at the hospital, though." Chloe told him.
"Did you happen to recognize the man who held you hostage?" Clark asked.
"Barely. After a while all he looked like was a psycho," Chloe said with a shudder.
"He was. It was Carter Hogan, the leader of New Death. He worked at the hospital as part of his medical courses. I'm wondering if he was your source. But why would he abduct you if he was feeding you information?" Clark wondered aloud.
"All I know is he kept saying he had to make a believer out of me, whatever that meant. Safe to say though, I don't think it took."
"Me neither," Clark concurred.
"That's right. You got a taste of death yourself. Did you see anything?" Chloe asked.
Clark looked over her shoulder at the blood pressure cuff hanging there. He wasn't ready to share his revelations yet; he was still trying to work through it himself. "Not too much. Just talked to my dad," Clark answered vaguely.
"I talked to your dad, too."
"Really? What did he say to you?" Clark asked with interest.
"That you were trying to find me. I never doubted that you would find me, Clark," Chloe told him, her eyes speaking to his. "At times, it was the only thought keeping me going, keeping me fighting."
"You told me," Clark said quietly, running his thumb along her knuckles. Chloe's shiver did not go undetected. Clark bit back a smile.
"I did?" Chloe raised an eyebrow in her always handy, sarcastic, disbelieving facial expression as she met his eyes again.
"After we both woke up. In your dreams." Clark watched Chloe do something she rarely did. She went red. "You wanna tell me about those?"
"I really don't know," Chloe started. "It was weird. They seem so real, even now but I know they aren't. The first one I was at my memorial service. Everyone I loved was there. And then I saw you," Chloe's face softened. "You told me I shouldn't be there. The second time, I was on the farm. I saw your dad and then you. The third one I was...I-" Chloe stopped abruptly. She lowered her head and pulled her hand out of Clark's grasp. He watched a glistening droplet fall to the little hand now settled in her lap.
"Chloe?" Clark bent his head to try and see her face. She was crying silently. "What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry, Clark. It's just that...I was in this dark place. I know...I was trapped inside my own mind." Chloe's voice was thick with tears. Clark felt her agony clear down to his bones. She'd already lived her worst nightmare two times and to have to do it again a third... Clark willed her to continue, trying to give her some of his strength by waiting patiently.
"It was... I wanted to die, Clark. I couldn't have thought of anything better at that point than to die." Chloe raised her face. Clark's heart leapt into his throat at the torment and tears spilling from her eyes. Clark rose from his chair. Without even thinking, he nudged Chloe over and climbed into the narrow hospital bed. He pulled her small, shaking body to his. Chloe came easily, taking the comfort Clark offered. She settled her head on his chest and cried openly.
Gina, who'd been keeping an eye on the two, slipped in quietly and shut the blinds on the hall windows. Clark smiled gratefully at as her as Gina pulled the door closed behind her, giving them privacy.
For a long time, the only sounds were Chloe's pained sobs and Clark's reassuring voice. When it seemed Chloe would never stop, she took a great breath and let it out. Chloe reached across Clark's body to get a tissue. Clark grabbed the box and put it in his lap. Chloe mopped her eyes and then blew her nose, the sound trumpeting through the room. Chloe raised her hazel eyes to Clark's sea green ones, tissue still held over her nose.
"Sorry..." Chloe apologized in her best Fran Fine imitation.
"Quite all right," Clark responded, his own Maxwell Sheffield not so well done.
Chloe tossed the tissue to her feet and nestled her head on his broad chest once more. After a sigh, Clark knew she was about to begin again.
"I screamed and screamed but no one came. Finally I just lay down on the cold floor and waited."
"Waited for what?"
"For death, I guess," Chloe answered in a small voice. "Then I heard my name. I remember feeling safe and warm and no longer alone. Then I woke up in your arms and realized it was your voice that pulled me back, like so many other times." Chloe raised her head. Her face was filled with such wonder and heartache, tear paths shining on her cheeks. "You saved me, Clark. You save me in every way."
Clark's eyes caressed her face. Her soft shoulder length blonde hair shimmered in the sun. Her eyes filled with tears looked bigger and greener than he'd ever seen them. They begged Clark to tell Chloe she was okay. She was safe and loved. She would never be alone. Clark's gaze flitted to her mouth. Her lips were a delicate pink and they parted as she breathed. His head began to spin as a devilish urge took hold of him and he wondered what it would feel like to kiss her.
Clark and Chloe had shared many kisses and almost-kisses before. Kryptonite influenced kisses. However, there was one Clark found himself reliving often. The two of them had sneaked into Smallville Medical Center's record room, searching for Seth Nelson's hospital file. The boy acquired some interesting powers, enabling him to control a body's electrochemical system after a visit with an MRI machine. His target was Lana, making her think she was madly in love with him. Getting what they'd come from they started to leave when the only door opened. Suddenly, Chloe threw Clark up against a wall of lockers, pressing her small frame to his large one and kissed him urgently. Unable to think, Clark did what felt only natural. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer and returned her kiss. For innumerable seconds, Clark was lost in Chloe's smell, her hair, her softness. To Clark's utter embarrassment, he heard a discreet cough. Chloe disentangled herself from him and turned to look innocently at the doctor who'd caught them. The two exchanged words, but all Clark heard was the roar of his own blood.
"A good reporter always thinks on her feet," Chloe quipped before she scampered out of the room, pulling a face at him as she went. Clark followed, still embarrassed. Not only had he been caught making out in a hospital file room, but as Clark walked behind Chloe, all he could think of was the pressure of her body against his. Not something appropriate to be fixated on about your best friend, Clark told himself. A friend who was almost more at one time. A friend who decided they should remain just that, good friends. Two years later, Clark knew he resented that doctor for interrupting what might have happened, even if he was the reason why Chloe kissed Clark in the first place. He also resented that woman and her daughter at the hotel elevator. Meddlers, all of them.
The side of Clark's mouth lifted in a smirk. Chloe's eyes, her big doe eyes looked up at him with such trust and she was so sweet and soft at his side. The all-American red-blooded male half of Clark Kent kicked in. Now seemed to be the perfect time to find out what might have been.
To read Ch. 15, click here.