The Day After

Chapter I

Clark Kent slowly made his way into the newsroom, ready for another day at work. As usual, nobody paid attention to him as he slowly walked to his desk, bumping into people and biting back hisses of pain. He mumbled an apology every time he bumped into someone, even though he just wanted to scream. Why did his wound still hurt so much?

He'd awakened from his coma the night before and he had yet to regain his full strength. To top it all off, he hadn't slept a wink. He still hadn't found an apartment and he'd been sleeping in outer space for short periods since he got back, but he couldn't do that last night. He was so weak; he worried that being in outer space for prolonged periods of time would be dangerous. Also, he was up all night thinking about Jason and his future with Lois.

Even flying to the sun didn't help as much as he hoped it would. He sighed and resigned himself to his fate. His wound would take time to heal. And then there was his broken spirit. He'd never felt pain like this before. It was a whole new experience for him. At least he could learn from it...

He slowly sat down at his desk, squeezing his eyes shut and biting back a cry of pain. He planted his elbows on his desk and buried his face in his hands. He should've called in sick today, but well... he missed work on Friday and he couldn't afford to be absent from work another day. Thank goodness he had the weekend off.

He rubbed his temples, groaning low under his breath. He was miserable. He needed a bed... now. What he wouldn't give for a bed...

His eyes had started closing by themselves... until Lois sneaked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Smallville!"

His eyes flew open and he jerked to a sitting position, something he regretted a split second later. He felt pain shoot up his back and it took every ounce of self-control in his being not to shatter the armrest. OH MY GOD, the pain...

Lois stared at him curiously. "Clark? You okay? I didn't mean to startle you like that!"

"It's okay," he said, and his voice came out in a tiny whisper. "I just, um... uh... fell down a few days ago." Boy, that was the understatement of the century. "It still hurts."

"Clark, you're a klutz, you know that?" she teased.

"I know," he whispered, holding his right side, taking deep breaths.

Lois watched him intently, then appeared to wave off a thought. "You look like you're having a rough morning. Tell you what; you sit right there... I'll go get you some coffee." He mumbled a 'thank you' and she left to get the coffee. He felt a silly smile forming on his face. This was the first time she got him coffee...

He was dozing off again when Lois came back with the coffee and placed it on his desk. "Here's your coffee, Clark! Careful, it's scalding h--"

He mumbled another 'thank you' and downed the scalding hot coffee all in one gulp. "Thank you so much, Lois. That's just what I needed."

Her jaw dropped. "Clark?"

"Yes, Lois?" he asked, pushing his glasses up.

"That coffee was scalding hot," she said. He stared at her numbly, then looked as if something dawned on him and he contorted his face as if in great pain. He cried out and quickly fanned his mouth in an attempt to get Lois off his trail.

She quickly patted him on the back. "Clark, maybe you should go home. Did you get any sleep last night?" She surprised herself by how much she cared about ClarkKent. Usually, she never gave him the time of day, but it pained her to see him like this, especially after seeing Superman in a similar predicament, albeit much worse...