The Memoirs

Elaine emerged as soon as the pilot had come around and opened the door for her. He helped her down, then handed her out her leather briefcase and purse as she stayed bent over until she was free of the blades' whirling. The chopper lifted off again behind her as she jogged forward, pushing her hair behind her ears as she approached. "Mr. Kent?" she called out. Wasn't any question of the identity of the bald man standing with him; even if Lionel and Dominic weren't her patients, there were few people who didn't know Lex Luthor on sight.

"Hello." Clark said, not loudly but firmly, as she met them halfway to the door. He shook her hand firmly, careful not to hurt her as he motioned to his lover. "Lex Luthor. I'm Clark Kent, its wonderful to meet you. We were just going in the house, please come in."

"Mr. Kent, thank you. But I was hoping to see Lionel right away, and I'm guessing from your phone call that he's still at the hospital?" She nodded to Lex. "Mr. Luthor. You look like hell."

Wry grin. "Thank you, Doctor."

She grinned back. "I like you. Why can't your father be more like you?"

Lex coughed. "Doctor, I'm not sure you know what you're asking."

"Believe me, the similarities are there more than you think." Clark answered with a little snort, but he was just so tired as he stepped up the cement stairs and opened the large oak doors before Enrique could get to them, that he didnt elaborate. He offered her the door, she and his lover both, as he smiled as much as he could at her.

"I bet so," Elaine said, patting Clark on the back as she passed. "Looks like you could both use about forty eight hours of sleep." She raked a critical eye over them both. "I'm Doctor Nacheyez, by the way, but most of my patients call me Elaine or Doc. I just realized I hadn't introduced myself properly." She looked around. "Place hasn't changed much in ten years."

"That's okay, Ma'am. Elaine. Ma'am Elaine." Clark said shyly, quietly, as he let his lover walk in before he himself entered the big house and closed the door behind him. "Yeah. Hasn't been the happiest place lately." He knew his lover was in no way ready to take visitors, so he gently pushed him toward the stairs. "Go shower, baby. Elaine? Want a drink?"

"Have you been talking to Dominic?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "Ma'am Elaine is the same thing he calls me. And no, no drink, thank you, not while I'm--technically--still working."

"You know, I think by now Dad's going to realize I didn't go for coffee and a bathroom break. Either that or he'll think I just flushed myself down the toilet." Lex sighed. "I should call him and let him know."

"He won't notice anyway." Clark told him, gently. "Go shower, Lex. I laid out your black slacks and blue sweater, okay? Wear your comfortable shoes, too. We'll wait for you down here... I want to talk to Elaine alone for a while. Go away."

"Fine, fine, I can take a hint." Lex started up the stairs.

"Can you take a sedative?" Elaine rooted in her briefcase, and gave a muffled shout. "I had a feeling sleep would be in short supply around here, so I cleaned out some of my medicine samples." She threw one of the Ambien blister packs at Lex. "Take two of these and call me tomorrow morning."

"Can I slip them in Dad's drink?" But he pocketed the pills as he went up the staircase.

"Hey, Mr. Luthor?" She waited until Lex had turned around, and she held up a hypodermic needle. "You let me worry about your father." Lex smiled as he went up the stairs, and Elaine turned back to Clark. "What I can do for you, Clark--do you mind if I call you Clark?"

"Course not. My dad's Mr. Kent." Clark answered truthfully, smiling a little as he offered her the door and stepped in behind her. "I just... needed to talk to you a little, before we go see Lionel. He's… yeah. I mean, yeah. He hasn't showered, hasn't moved, hasn't eaten, hasn't done anything but watch Dominic. Not that I wouldn't do the same if it were Lex, but still. I'm worried for him, and I'm worried for Dominic, and I'm worried for Lex." A very quiet sigh.

"You're a good man, Clark. Dominic's talked a lot about you; I know how highly he thinks of you, and I'm not at all surprised to see it returned." She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Lionel, on the other hand, is nothing but a stubborn, prideful old bastard. And no, he's not going to crack. It's going to take something very, very big to set him off, and it's going to be nuclear when it happens. Take Lex, and get out of the blast radius."

"I can't. I'm involved now." Clark murmured, a little sadly with a small smile. His temper had spiked at what she'd said, even if it was the truth. She had no right. But she did. Fuck. "Lionel's not bad. He just loves Dominic so much, Mrs. Nacheyez, more than I think any of us know. He loves Dominic like he's part of his soul. He's read at least seven books to him... he's reading him Harry Potter, just because he knows Dominic loves it. He's doing these things for him… I mean, you just... you don't know. But I do. He's closer to cracking then you think."

"No, Lionel's not bad at all. In fact, I'd say that, under all the bullshit and defense mechanisms, Lionel Luthor is, despite his media image, one of the best men I've ever known. He just has quite a few problems--all of them valid, I assure you--and they don't exactly present the most approachable front. But Clark... I've been treating Lionel on and off since his wife died, and I know how to deal with him. If he didn't trust me, despite my tendency to bully him and beat him with a newspaper, do you really think he'd have kept coming back to me?"

"No." Clark answered honestly, and smiled a little at her as he finally sat on the couch. "Sit, please. I'm sorry, I'm being rude. I can't tempt you into some water, or a c--" cock? "Pepsi?"

"No, Clark, I'm fine." But she did sit down on the couch beside him. "Now that I've got you here, I want to extend the offer to you in person; I've been telling Dominic and Lionel both that you and your partner are both welcome to come and talk to me whenever you feel the need. I can work you into my schedule, accommodate your hours, and whatever you tell me is kept in strict confidence, unless you give me explicit written permission to share your sessions with the people you name in the particular note."

"I know." A little smile at her, again, as he rested weary bones. "Ma'am Elaine, I've really, truly thought about it, but I'm not ready to talk about anything. Lex isn't either. I think we may one day, and then we will come to you." But he smiled then. "Thank you for the offer."

"My door's always open, and so's the offer." She gave him a little grin. "At least you know there are things you need to talk about, and that's half my battle done for me right there."

"Oh, yeah." Clark snorted quietly, and changed the subject. They weren't here to talk about him and Lex. "Dominic's messed up. Really, really messed up. To tell you the truth, I'm sure Lionel's going to rip the stairs up and carpet them after Dominic gets better."

She picked up the official press release. "I had it faxed to my office after you called. If you know what to look for when you read through the bullshit, you can tell it's pretty serious." She passed the paper over to him. "The part that told me how bad it was was seriously guarded condition and cautious optimism." She leaned forward, just a little. "Truth be told, there is no such thing as cautious optimism. Either you're optimistic, or you're not."

His broken heart seared as he turned his eyes on her. "He feel backward down the stairs. Fell head over ass a lot of times, nearly broke his neck, from what Graham told me." He rubbed his fingers over his face. "His arms broken, and they've done surgery on his knee, twice already, to get torn ligaments and tendons connected again. Four broken ribs, though they didn't poke into anything vital. Its his head that everyone's worried about. They had to do... burrs. Drilled in his head. There was a lot of pressure. The doctor, Dr. Bryce, he said that the pressure might have cut enough oxygen from his brain to cause damage they can't repair. But no one can be certain, because he's been unconscious all this time."

Elaine gave a low whistle. "That's worse than I'd thought." She reached out, and took Clark's hand tightly. "No wonder Lionel's about to lose his mind. I would be too." She gave a little sigh. "They wouldn't have done the burr holes if there hadn't been more pressure in there than they're letting on." She nodded. "I promise, I'll be gentle."

Clark nodded, quietly, as he looked at her. "I know. Yeah, please, be gentle." But he quieted, then, closing his eyes as he thought silently, his mind traveling over details he'd seen as he thought. "Lionel won't talk to me. He's said two words to me, and maybe four to Lex. But he'll talk to Dominic. For hours on end, about nothing at all. Regular stuff."

Elaine reached into her briefcase, and brought out a silver pen and one of her ever-present yellow legal pads. "Do you mind if I take notes?"

"Nah, its alright." Clark nodded at her. "I'll tell you as much as I can. Its a war zone, and he's got a lot of arsenal."

"Yeah, he does." Her pen started scribbling over the paper, making notes of what Clark said, and also what he thought. "You said he's being uncommunicative with everyone except Dominic?"

"Yes. He won't talk unless he has to. He told Megan off a while ago, but that's because she was punching his chest in."

"Mmm, and how did he react to that?"

"To Megan?" Clark shook his head. "I came in at the tail end of it. He told her basically to shut up and sit down, and then came back into the room like he hadn't ever been gone. Just picked his book up and kept on reading." Clark said softly, rubbing the bridge of his nose quietly.

"Wow. He's pretty... far gone, actually." She capped her pen back. "Not eating or drinking, either?"

"Nothing. No showers. Only gets up to pee. I manage to get some vitamins in him, though... I spiked his coffee with all the vitamins I could find in the kitchen. He drinks it, so its getting into him. He hasn't collapsed yet. I'm waiting for that." Clark looked at her quietly.

"You won't have to wait much longer." She handed Clark another blister pack of sleeping pills. "If he doesn't listen to me, and I can't work with him, then I'm going to ask you to put these in his coffee instead of the vitamins, and see if we can't find a couple of other big orderlies to find a bed to put him in."

Clark nodded quietly, taking the pills silently and sliding them into his shirt pocket. "He's going to be furious I called you." But he just leaned forward and rubbed his face, his eyes, as he heard a sound in the doorway and looked up at his still damp lover. "You were fast, baby. Come on in, Elaine was just asking about your dad."

"I heard, and if you want to drug him, by all means, you've got my permission." Lex was still damp, but dressed in clean clothes, different shoes, and had his sunglasses hooked in the neck of his sweater. "God knows I need the sleep, and if you get him out? I can actually come home and remember why I spent almost a thousand dollars on a comfortable mattress."

A little nod, a little smile, and Clark rose himself. "I'll shower later. Come on, Elaine. Lex, we'll take the SUV?"

Lex shrugged. "We can take whatever you want, because you're driving. I am in no way capable of being behind the wheel of a car."

Elaine nodded in satisfaction; she was about to make the same observation that Lex just had if he hadn't made it.

And so it was. Clark led Elaine and Lex to the garage and with a careful inspection, found the SUV keys among the others on the wall rack.

He drove carefully, slowly, listening to the quiet conversation going on around him, and found himself lulling into a false sense of security. He knew what was going to happen when Lionel saw Elaine. He wasn't stupid. But he needed it and Clark was going to put up with a little pain to get the desired reaction.

So he parked the car, and led his two companions up the hospital corridors, through the halls and elevators, until they were standing outside of Dominic's room.

Toni was inside, with Lionel.

Lionel was still reading, turning page after page as he rattled it off, stopping only long enough to take drinks of water to wet his mouth and throat before going back to his book and finding the place he'd left off before starting again. He wasn't quite ignoring Toni, because he knew she was in the room, and he'd waved her over to one of the chairs as he read, only pausing long enough to say that he was going to finish the chapter, and then she could talk to him.

On a conscious level, he wasn't really aware of the image he was projecting as Toni looked at him. His beard was slightly ragged, because it hadn't been trimmed in quite a while, and his hair was getting thicker and shaggier, but unattractively weighed down with oil and old styling product because he hadn't taken the time to take a full shower since Dominic had been hurt. His clothes were slightly rumpled from their constant slouch over the side of the bed, and his glasses were smudged.

Oh, yeah. Lionel looked like shit. More than Dominic, in a lot of ways, because while Dominic's face was smooth with unconsciousness, Lionel's was lined and pinched with fear she knew hers was mimicking. She listened to him read, quietly, the world of Harry and his friends lighting in the room as he read about Dumbledore and Snape, Ron and Hermione. But she didn't say a word, simply listening as she was good at doing, and didn't realize that she was being watched.

Lex just leaned against the door frame. "Sooner or later, I figure his voice is going to go," he said softly. "I don't know what he'll do when that happens; get one of us to read, I guess." He gestured towards Toni. "That's Toni; she's the young lady that's carrying my little sister for the two of them."

Elaine nodded absently. "Dominic's told me quite a bit about her," she said, looking into the room and taking everything in.

At that Toni startled and looked up.. Lex, standing in clean clothes and freshly scrubbed skin, beside a very pretty woman Toni's own age. She rose from her seat carefully, not wanting to disturb Lionel, and walked across to her to offer her hand. "Hello... sorry, I didn't see you both standing here. Toni Braxton."

"This is Elaine." Clark said softly from Elaine's other side. "I got her… for Lionel."

"Dr. Braxton," she said softly. "My name's Elaine Nacheyez, and I'm Dominic's therapist, as well as Lionel's. Clark thought I might be needed here, and it definitely looks as though I am." She shook Toni's hand firmly.

Lex offered his arm to Toni. "It's not going to be pretty. Would you like to help me find a hole to hide in?"

"Yes, please." She took Lex's arm gently. "Its really nice to meet you, Ms. Nacheyez. I've heard wonderful things about you. Good luck." And with a quiet nod Toni slid from the room, quietly, with Lex.

Clark lingered behind, simply because he wanted to make sure Elaine would settle in. "Want me to.." He pointed at the door questioningly as he looked at her.

"You can stay if you want, provided you're not afraid of nuclear reactor core meltdowns," she said with a half grin. "Believe me, Clark, I wouldn't think less of you at all if you decided not to weather this particular storm and just closed the door behind you as you left."

"Okay." Clark smiled a little and ran his fingers through his still somewhat red streaked hair, before closing the door behind him. He'd told the nurses about what they were going to do, and the ones assigned to them, Mari and George, were going to keep clear for a while until Clark came to tell them it was alright. Dominic had been cleaned, dressings changed, shots given, so he was alright for a while.

But still. God.

He made sure the door was shut before walking forward, nodding at Elaine and talking to Lionel at the same time. "Hey, Lionel."

Lionel shot a glare at Clark as he held up the book, motioning curtly with one hand for silence.

Elaine just shook her head. Poor Clark. He'd tried, and gotten needled for his trouble, and she plunked herself down in the chair on the other side of Dominic's bed. She was shocked, saddened, and upset by the still form on the bed, wincing at the shaved head and thinking how Dominic's vanity had to be screaming, but she didn't let herself react outwardly until she'd had a chance to deal with Lionel. "Trying out the street bum image there Lionel? I hate to be the one to tell you this, but it's really not working for you. Not unless you wanna roll around in a tub of cheap wine for a couple of days and marinate in the sun."

Lionel very carefully marked his place with deliberate slowness, and then slammed the book shut, throwing it down onto the table beside the bed so hard the metal table rattled. "Doctor Nacheyez, I don't know what you are doing here, nor why, but as you can clearly see, now is certainly not the time for your insults."

Clark winced, quietly, and figured that spilling his beans was for the greater good. he carefully sat down neutrally by the door, watching the proceedings quietly as he shifted comfortably in the chair. "Lionel, I'm the one who called her. I sent the chopper for her, and she got in about fifteen minutes ago." Clark nodded, quietly, even as he set the things he'd brought for Lionel down on the bed at Dominic's feet. "There you go. I brought... brought you some clothes, so you can shower here in the bathroom. And your other glasses, and a blanket."

"You had absolutely no right to do that, young man, and I will kindly thank you to remove yourself from my affairs this moment. Furthermore, you may call the car or the helicopter or a broomstick for our fine doctor friend, and take her back the exact same way she arrived, and if you are needed--which you are not--you will be called, do I make myself clear?"

Elaine was buffing her nails on her jacket, and she picked up her pocketbook to sort through the contents until she found an emery board and started filing. "Are you quite through blustering yet?"

"I know. And I know you're mad, Lionel, but I love you anyway, so you're just going to have to deal with her." Clark said quietly but very firmly, as he crossed his arms carefully across his chest. "I'm worried about you. You can't just let yourself go. So Ms. Elaine is here."

"Get out," Lionel said calmly. "The both of you. Get out now."

Elaine kept filing her nails. "Let me know when you're done, all right?"

Lionel was close to snapping. He knew it. It infuriated him that other people knew it. He was beyond infuriated that a teenaged whelp thought he could manipulate Lionel. "Get out. Get out this moment before I call security and have you both removed." He stood up slowly, stalking around the bed.

"This is going to be good," Elaine muttered as Lionel walked.

With a single, economic motion Lionel yanked Elaine's bag out of her hand, walked over the door, and yanked it open, hurling her bag into the hallway.

"Now, do we feel better after our little tantrum?" she asked calmly.

Clark flinched as he heard Elaine's bag clatter and hit something that made a whole lot other somethings fall. He heard a short bark of surprise... Graham? Probably. And he just winced again as Elaine kept right on goading him. Crap. Maybe he should have left after all. "I'm only trying to help you, Lionel. Won't you accept my help?"

"I don't need your help, Mr. Kent," Lionel snarled coolly. "Nor do I need your sarcasm," he directed at Elaine. "Now please, leave."

"I'm just glad the only breakable thing in there was my tape recorder," she said back, just as calmly as she ever was. "Which, if I'm lucky, was cushioned by the rest of the bag. Now, are you going to surprise me and be rational, or do I have to keep chipping away?"

Clark was ready to gnaw through his lip. He swallowed hard, twitching quietly at the hard, cold words and felt for the first time what Lex was talking about when he said it sucked when Lionel decided to be sarcastic. He swallowed, softly, and looked at Elaine for a second before back to Lionel. Didn't speak, just watched.

"I am always rational, Doctor," he said coldly.

"Of course you are. That's why you have twice-weekly therapy appointments with me. Because there's nothing wrong with your wiring." Her voice was as thick with sarcasm as his was cold. "Tell me, Lionel, what color are the skies in your world? LuthorCorp purple?"

In a few angry strides, Lionel was standing in front of Elaine, leaning over her face to face, hands on the arms of her chair and he was snarling at her. "Get. Out."

She blinked. "You need a shower, Lionel. You're beginning to stink." She wrinkled her nose, just for effect.

Lionel raised his hand and moved to slap her, but checked his swing at the last moment, inches away from her face.

"Go ahead, if it'll make you feel better," she said, pushing him back enough to cross her arms over her chest. "But then? You'll have to talk to me."

Clark had been half out of his chair as the hand swung down, and he'd almost reached Lionel.

Almost.

He stopped mid through the motion when Lionel stopped, and he swallowed, inching back towards his chair as Dominic slept behind this crazed lion, the might of the jungle of his world behind his body and his mind as Clark could almost see his struggle. He knew Lionel was ready to lose it, but he needed it because… well, just because dammit.

"Go ahead," she repeated again, and was almost disappointed when Lionel dropped his hand.

"I am not going to hit you," he said, with a touch of disgust as he stepped away. "I have only done so once recently," and his eyes flickered briefly to Clark,. "And I will not do it again." His fists clenched by his side as he tamped down the urge.

"Then you're gonna have to do something else to shut me up, Lionel, because I'm not gonna. You look like shit, you sound like shit, you smell like shit, and I'm guessing you feel like you've been on a week's drunk."

Clark quietly agreed, but then he spoke up as he thought. "Lionel, Dominic wouldn't want you to let yourself go while he's sick. Who is he going to lean on when he gets better, if you're too tired to help him? Is he going to have to get better alone, because you'll be in the hospital yourself?"

"Be silent, Clark," Lionel ground out angrily. "Be quiet when you don't know what you're talking about."

"Actually, no, Clark's got a good point. I mean, you can probably get adjacent rooms, don't you think?" She didn't bat an eye. "You can hobble over here, push your IV cart, maybe get them to let you share a bag of saline instead of a bottle of wine with your green jell-o?"

Clarks mouth fell open at Elaine's blatant bitchiness, and for the first time he regretted calling her. Dear God! Lionel was really going to strike her and there wasn't going to be anything Clark could do. He flinched at her, before shaking his head and looking at Lionel in the eye. "No, but what I see is a man who loves his husband a lot. Did you know Dom did the same thing when you were in your car accident? Didn't move from your side. We had to rip him away eventually, literally, kicking and screaming."

"Yes, I remember, and I nearly used a crowbar to pry him away and to get rest after I woke up," Lionel admitted. He ignored Elaine. "How can I do less for him?"

"By not making his mistake." Clark whispered, softly. "Because he wasn't there for you when you needed him, later. But Lionel, you have to be here for him when he wakes up, and you simply can't do it if you're so tired and so ill yourself. You have to take care of yourself."

Lionel waved it off. "I have taken care of myself for the last thirty years, Clark, I think I can survive the next few days."

"Of course he can, because really, who needs to sleep? I mean, just because people who are sleep-deprived become hostile, combative, and eventually delusional and out of touch with reality because the psyche has to dream to survive? Yeah, nobody really needs their sanity when their significant other is lying in a hospital bed, possibly dying." Elaine was carefully watching the cracks growing under the thin veneer of Lionel's barely-held civility, and gauged just when to hit with that.

Clark flinched again, and knew that mentioning Dominic's possibly death did it. He winced. Visibly. And closed his eyes tightly against the onslaught he knew was coming. Oh, God. She was a ruthless old hag.

That did it. Lionel turned his back to Clark, and glared at the doctor, his shoulders shaking as he pulled up to his full height, shoulders spread and chest swelled out. "How dare you come in here and do this?" he hissed, stalking towards her with every angry step. "You have no right to come in here, to criticize me, to criticize how I am handling this situation or my care of my husband, and you have no right at all to be here and make your amateur diagnoses about his prognosis!" He was trembling all over with barely held-in fury. "You, Doctor Nacheyez, are a hack."

"You don't pay me to pander to you, Lionel," she said with a shrug. "I call 'em like I see 'em. You're going out of your mind because Dominic's lying there, possibly dying, and there's not a goddamned thing you can do about it. Welcome to the real world, Lionel Luthor. Doesn't it suck sometimes?"

"I hate you," Lionel said, grinding out every word between clenched teeth. "I hate you because of what you are saying. I hate you because of how you are saying it. But most of all, I hate you because you can sit here, and say these things as you are sitting in my husband's hospital room, and pretending that we're all in your office." He collapsed, then, sliding down to sit on the floor at the foot of Dominic's bed. "Get out, Doctor. Now. And I mean it this time."

Oh, damn. Clark swallowed, tightly, because oh, Lionel was talking in more than one sentence grunts and this was good, but very, very bad at the same time because... well, just because. His throat closed as he watched the man sink down on the ground and his heart ached, steadily, pounding in agony and he wanted, badly, to stand… but the air was charged with the electricity of what was going on right now, so he kept quiet.

"What, leave and miss the verbal abuse? Come on, Lionel, you can do better than that. You've always hated me; let's hear what you really think of me." Elaine leaned over in the chair, and touched Lionel's shoulder gently. "Don't be afraid to feel these things, Lionel. They're what makes you able to cope with the things you hear. Without feeling them, you're just... taking up space in the room, like another piece of furniture. Stop reading; try talking to him. Let him know you feel. You miss him. Lionel... if you don't give him some kind of emotion, then what's the use of having them to begin with?"

Lionel just kept his head down, arms across his raised knees acting as a makeshift pillow as lank, greasy hair fell around his hidden face. His shoulders shook, the rest of him deathly still, and he didn't say a word.

Clark's chin trembled quietly as Lionel's shoulders shook. His eyes closed tightly for a long moment, not daring to say a word as Lionel finally let himself think and feel, because Clark could almost feel it. He whispered his sadness in his heart for Lionel, one of his fathers, one of the people he cared so much for. He just rose, carefully, crossing the room quietly, and took the clothes he'd left on the foot of Dominic's bed. He set them under his arm and carefully offered his hand down to Lionel.

Lionel didn't take it at first, didn't even see it offered, but when he finally did see it, Lionel just stared at it for a long moment, then followed Clark's arm with his eyes as he moved up, finally looking into his eyes before sliding back down to his hand and taking it. He used Clark's solid weight to counterbalance his own as he got up, and shook slightly.

"Well, my work here is done for the moment. I'm going to collect my pocketbook, and get me a cup of coffee. I'll see you when you get out of the shower, all right? Then we can finally talk, like real people." She held out her hand to Lionel.

After a moment, Lionel let go of Clark's hand long enough to shake hers.

Clark watched, quietly, swallowing softly as they shook hands. Alright. Maybe she was ruthless with right cause. He could deal with that. After they let go Clark wound his arm around Lionel's shoulders and led him, quietly, silently, to the bathroom, opening the door and letting him in. There were fluffy towels from home waiting there on the sink, as well as soap and a thick comb, toothpaste and underwear in an overnight bag. Clark set the clothes on the closed toilet seat and carefully pushed the plastic bath curtain open to put the spray on.

Lionel watched as Elaine left, and then let himself be guided into the bathroom, running his hand over the towels. Clark was starting the shower for him without a word, and Lionel stripped quickly to the waist in the small bathroom, and put his hand on Clark's shoulder. "I sincerely doubt you remember this, Clark, but I was moved to such anger that I slapped Kal. I didn't have the chance to apologize to him, nor would I have if I'd had the chance. Instead, I am apologizing to you." He listened to the water running in the bathroom, bouncing off the tile floor of the shower, and sighed softly. "Promise me you will sit with him while I am gone and you will call me if anything happens."

Clark had figured something like that had happened, because really, from what Lex had said, Kal had been a bastard. But Clark just nodded, smiling quietly at him and hugging him softly before he turned and pushed him towards the shower gently. "Its alright, Lionel. Shower, scrub. Shampoo and soap's already there, and clean clothes are waiting." He nodded. "I promise I'll sit right next to him. Take all the time you need...I'll read to him a little more, cause you know its his favorite book. So... take your time."

"I'll be out as soon as I can," Lionel promised, and sighed. He didn't want to completely disrobe while Clark was still in the bathroom, because his unwilling response to Kal was still too fresh in his mind. "Clark... I'm sorry. For anything--everything--I said. You know that you are always welcome to sit with or stay with Dominic whenever you like. He loves you, very much."

"I know." Clark gave him the ghost of a smile as he got the rest of the things ready for Lionel so he wouldn't have to look for them, before finally slipping to the door. "Its okay, Lionel, I promise. I'll be out here if you need me," He turned to the room.

It was just as he'd left it. Quiet, though a small light had been lit beside Dominic's bed. It had begun to rain lightly as he'd been in the room, but Clark had long since been able to control that aspect of his abilities and he knew it wasn't raining because of him.

At least, he hoped not.

He carefully fixed the chair Lionel had chosen for himself and looked at Dominic for a moment, before opening the backpack he'd left at Dominic's feet. He pulled out a thick sandwich and the roast beef Ms. Bird had told him to take, setting both beside the bed where Lionel could see it. He also set the bottle of cold coffee beside the clock, right on top of the Harry Potter novel, and set Lionel's blanket and pillow warmly against the chair so he'd be more comfortable.

He also set Lionel's brief case beside the bed, where his laptop was snuggled in against paperwork, and set his cell phone on top of the chair seat, the light gray plastic visible against the darkness of the chair cushion.

There.

Graham stuck his head into the hospital room. "Oh, aye, Clark. Ha' ye seen me lady anwhere's aboot? Canna find where she's hidin' 'erself." His eyes were tired, his accent almost incomprehensible with fatigue, worry, and upset.

His clothes were still wrinkled from the slouch in the chair in the hall, and this was nearly the first time he'd been able to get in the room, because his short temper and Lionel's hadn't meshed well together at all. "Di' ye get th'old codger on home then?"

"No, just showering." Clark answered, smiling a little as he motioned him in. "He'll be awhile. Come in. Last time I saw Toni was when Lex and was dragging her toward the cafeteria."

"Aye, it's a'right." He lumbered into the room, and heaved his carcass into the other chair in the room. He leaned over and gave Dominic a kiss to the forehead, and then sat back in the chair. "Ye'd no ha'thunk that m'brother's head wasna hard'nuff this time," he said through a deep sigh.

"It usually is about so much other stuff." The younger man agreed, and gave a little smile at him he didn't feel. "What's it like to have brothers and sisters, Graham? I don't have any… well... won't for another few months, anyway. Tell me about it?" Anything to get that terrible expression out of Grahams eyes.

He snorted. "Tis a great thing," he said solemnly. "'Specially if you're the biggest. Y'can bully them around, play with them and always win, but ye also get to beat them up and beat up anybody else who thinks they c'n mess wi'yer fam'ly."

Clark smiled a little at that, amused. "Its different then just having your parents, huh?"

"Aye, much diff'rent. But ye haf t'be careful what ye do, cause the youngers'll hae no problem tattlin' on ye. But ye can do wha' we did with Miss Shayla, an' beat it out o'er."

Another grin. "That sounds like… like a lot of fun." A shy glance at him, before looking down at Dominic, and all the amusement of the movement slid out when he looked at those dark, bruised eyes and pale skin. "He's going to be okay, you know."

"O'course he is," Graham nodded. "Fer all he's married t'Mr. Fancypants, he's still a Senatori."

"Lionel's not so fancy." Dead, dead seriousness. "He's not fancy enough to be away from him right now, you know? Lionel's a good guy, Graham."

Graham flipped his hand up. "Th'man drinks water I canna even pronouse, has more cars'n the days o'th'week, and has more money'n I can e'er hope t'imagine. E's fancy as they come, m'boyo."

"I dunno." Clark murmured, quietly, smiling a little. "Eating at Denny's and catching Chinese takeout before seeing a movie in Metropolis isn't all that fancy. Dominic's his taste of normalcy, you know. Which is kinda funny." But he shook his head quietly, as his eyes shifted past Graham to Toni at the door. He'd never noticed it before now, but her belly was beginning to show. "Hey, Toni."

"Hey sugar bear. I was down with Lex… everything alright?"

"Aye, I was jes' lookin' fer ye, an' Clark was nice eno' t'let me in while Li'nel was in the shower." Graham rubbed his hands over his face as he levered his big frame up. "How are ye feelin'?"

"Okay. My stomach settled, at least." She walked across the room and leaned over to gently brush a kiss over Dominic's cheek.

"Morning sickness still plaguing you, huh?" Clark asked, glancing at the clock. "Or really, afternoon sickness."

"I like to think of it as after-I-sleep-for-more-than-an-hour sickness. Its making things hell." Toni answered back.

Graham sat back down and pulled Toni into his lap with him. "Aye, bu' guess all in all, 'tis a good thing that neither o'us is sleepin' well since this."

Toni slid into his lap in quiet gratitude, letting his much, much bigger body hold hers, as she listened to the shower. She'd figured Lionel was finally cleaning up, and she looked at Clark in quiet gratitude for a minute. "I have to get to work in about twenty minutes, boys. Clark, I want you and Lex to come over and eat with us tomorrow, okay? There's nothing we can do for Dominic here except fret." And she didn't think either man would ever understand how hard it was for her to say that. "He wouldn't want it."

"Aye, t'will do ye both good t'have somethin' real in yer bellies, and I'm no' talkin' bout that horrible food they laughingly serve ye in the caf'teria." He rubbed his prickly bearded cheek against Toni's shoulder. "Yer boyfriend's skin an' bones as t'is."

"I know." He looked up at the shower, before down at the two. "I'm going to talk to Lex about getting Lionel to agree on turning LuthorCorp over to him for a while. Lionel's not… in any state. Dominic might not wakeup for a while. Its better, you know? We've got to get things...yeah. Fretting is bad." His throat burned. It was a lie, but one they needed.

Graham snorted. "Doesna look like yer boyo's in any much o'a shape hisself," he said, snuggling Toni back against him. "But aye, wouldna hurt a bit t'distrac' him some'ow."

"Lex will do good." Clark whispered, and he just… he couldn't be in here for another second. He was drowning in sadness and grief and he rose to his feet. "Im going to go check on him. Did you leave him in the cafeteria, Toni?"

"Yes." She nodded, twice. "Said he wanted to stay."

Clark nodded again and turned around the bed, disappearing from the room.

Graham watched him go, and then kissed Toni's neck gently before laying his head back on her shoulder. "How're ye really, darlin'?"

Her chin trembled, quietly, and she looked away from Dominic to look at Graham. "I don't want to talk about that now. We've been here for days on end… Graham, we have to go home. We're making it worse by staying here day and night. I wasn't joking, sugar, when I said we have to let this be. Lionel will call us when Dominic wakes up. He told me to go home, earlier, and I agree."

"Then ye shoul' go home, m'darlin'. Take yerself a shower, ha'e ye a nap an' somethin' good t'eat. But I'm no gonna leave m'brother here." His expression was set.

Toni's eyebrows knit as her palm came up to gently cup his cheek. "I can't stay, Graham. I've been throwing up for the last two days... the baby, she..." Her throat tightened, unspeakably hard. "I can't let anything happen to her. You aren't angry?"

"I know ye canna," he said softly, bringing his hand up to cover hers on his cheek. "I'm no angry wi'ye. I jus' canna go wi' ye." His thumb stroked the back of her hand.

"Its not your fault, Graham." She whispered, something she'd said at least six times in the last few days. "You know that. its not your fault."

"Aye, I know." He didn't tell her that it was his fault, that it had been his teasing and his offer of genuine whiskey and the attempt to make up that had distracted his brother enough to send him tumbling down a flight of stairs.

"You don't, but you will. You'll see." She kissed his cheek, softly, and rose up from his lap. "I'm going to go downstairs, honey. I've got a short shift today, only until ten. I'll get on to the house and bring you something hot after I get off, mmkay?"

"Aye." He kissed her hand softly as she got up. "Dinna work ye'se'f too hard, m'darlin'. Take care of ye. Ye've been sick."

"I love you, Graham." Toni murmured, softly, as she stroked his cheek with her hand as she rose. If anything, anything, she loved him more, loved him deeper, than anyone she'd ever met. "I'm going to marry you, you know."

"Aye, I know ye are." He gave her a little grin, all he could muster at the moment. "An' I'll ask ye, as soon as ye can fit inta tha' slinky purple thing in th'back o'yer closet."

"That's good. I've already got my ring picked out. Shiny. Diamondy. Going to cost you three months of salary." But she leaned down, kissed him very, very softly, and then leaned down to kiss Dominic's cool cheek again, and murmured to him, "I love you Dom baby. See you tonight." And with that, she slipped out.

Graham just leaned forward, and rested his head on the bars of the bed that his brother was currently lying in. "Yer a great oaf, Morgan Senatori, an' I'm more'n half a mind t'kick ye in yer arse when ye wake up, fer all th'trubble ye've been givin' us." But, just as he'd expected, he didn't get an answer.

 

-fin-

go on to the next part