Chapter Text
“Excuse me?”
“I said, get the AMA paperwork started,” Clark repeated. “Jonathan and I will be leaving.”
“Mr. Kent, I strongly advise against that,” insisted Dr. Miller. He was quick to speak up before his colleague could say anything brash. “The best thing for Jonathan is to remain here until we can get him a bit stronger.”
Clark was no longer interested in listening to advice from the doctors. He rejoined Jon on the bed and put a comforting hand around his son’s shoulders.
“We’re going to go home, okay buddy? I’ll grab your clothes so you can change.”
“Oh this is ridiculous,” Dr. Carson said, throwing his hands up. “You handle this, Dave.” He stormed out of the room and didn’t look back.
Dr. Miller observed the serious, determined look on Clark’s face and realized he was not going to win this battle. “Well, I can see the nasal cannula has been removed. So, Cassie, can you please get rid of Jonathan's IV and heart monitor? He won’t be needing them anymore”
“Yes, Dr. Miller.”
“Mr. Kent, I am sorry for all the trouble. I will personally take you to the front desk to get the AMA papers started while Cassie finishes up here.”
Dave Miller had realized there was nothing he could do to change Clark’s mind, so he decided to keep things civil. Before they left the room, Dave glanced back at the young patient huddled on the bed. Jon was pale, had bags under his eyes and a sallow look to his complexion. But more than that, he was so skinny that if Dave had met him on the street, he would have insisted on talking to the kid’s parents immediately about getting him into treatment.
With a shake of his head, Dr. Miller led Jon’s father out of the room. What was Clark Kent thinking?
~~~~~~
Jon was sitting on the hospital bed, feeling better than he had in almost 48 hours. He was finally out of that scratchy hospital gown and back in his own clothes. The nurse, Cassie, had removed the IV so he was completely free of any tubes and wires, which was also a relief. He was sitting on the bed, waiting for his dad to come back after filling out the AMA papers.
The door opened. When Jon looked up, he was surprised to see Dr. Miller entering the room with a concerned look on his face.
“What are you doing here? Where’s my dad?”
“Relax, Jonathan. Your dad is just finishing up with the paperwork. I just want to talk to you,” said Dr. Miller, trying to soothe the agitated boy in front of him.
“What about?”
“Son, I strongly advise against leaving. You are still very weak and I just worry that if you do, you’ll end up right back in here.” Dave was careful not to lecture or intimidate his young patient; Jon wouldn’t respond to such tactics. The doctor’s only hope was to convince Jon to see things his way.
“I’ll be fine,” Jon murmured, not meeting his doctor’s eyes.
“Jon. You can’t really believe that,” Dr. Miller gently chided, a look of sadness in his eyes.
“I said, I’ll be fine,” Jon repeated. “Don’t worry about me.”
“How can I not worry about you son? You’re skin and bones. And you just look… sick. Please, Jonathan, just let me help you.” Dr. Miller reached over and put a gentle hand on Jon’s shoulder. “I told you before, I only want to get you healthy.”
“I appreciate that, but my parents can take care of me.”
“No offense Jonathan, but they haven’t done such a great job so far.” Dr. Miller was sensitive to the fact that he was referring to Jon’s parents. But the boy’s health was on the line, it wasn’t the time to be passive. He was running out of time, and he needed to get his point across.
“Look, I appreciate everything you have done, Dr. Miller. But I gotta trust that my dad knows what’s best.”
Dr. Miller dropped his head. He couldn’t believe Jon was really going to do this.
“Can you at least promise me that you will try to take care of yourself? That you’ll eat and get enough rest?”
Jonathan hated being on opposing sides with Dr. Miller. The man had helped him so much over the past couple months, even within the last day. And Jon wanted to stay there and let Dr. Miller help him once again. He really did. But, the threat of being taken to a government lab to get experimented on was just too terrifying.
He had barely nodded his head when his dad strolled in. “Hey, hey hey, what’s going on here? Jon, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Dr. Miller was just reminding me to take care of myself,” Jon answered. He saw no reason to tell his dad the main reason the doctor had come into the hospital room.
“I see,” Clark said shortly. He too appreciated what the doctor had done, but it was time to get out of there. “I got the paperwork taken care of. Are you ready to go, Jon?”
He nodded and walked toward the door. Before he left, he turned back to the doctor who had helped him through so much. “Thanks again for everything Dr. Miller.”
As Dave watched the Kent’s leave, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he needed to step in. He was a healthcare professional for crying out loud; his job was to help patients. In his whole career, Dave Miller had never felt more useless than when he let Jonathan Kent walk out of the hospital.
~~~~~~
About twenty minutes later, after a quick drive back to the farm, Clark was finally pushing open the front door, one hand protectively around Jon’s shoulders. Though he physically didn’t need her help, Clark knew his wife would want to be involved.
“Lois, can you come in here for a second.”
“Yeah, sure what’s up?” Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw her son. “Wait, what’s going on,” she exclaimed, rushing over to Jonathan. “Why isn’t he in the hospital? Sweetie, are you okay,” she asked, addressing her son.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I should probably sit down though.”
Lois noticed her son’s pale face. She put a hand around his shoulders, taking over for Clark and slowly guided him over to the couch. As soon as Jon was settled, Lois faced Clark. “Okay, what the hell is going on?”
“The doctors tried to take a blood sample from Jonathan. They wanted to test it to figure out what medicines they needed to give him. But given his heritage…there’s no way to know what the results would be. I just felt like we couldn’t take that chance,” explained Clark.
“Well, couldn’t you have just said no to the blood test but kept him in the hospital?”
“I wish, but they basically refused to give him any more treatment until they took a blood sample. It was a rash decision, I know, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
Lois could see the guilt and conflict on her husband’s face. As much as the idea seemed crazy, after he explained what happened, she realized she probably would have gotten protective and done the same thing. Lois took a few steps toward Clark and he met her for a hug. They were dealing with an unprecedented situation and needed to be a united front.
“It’s okay, babe. I get it. Let’s just figure out where we go from here.”
They walked over to where Jon was sitting on the couch. Lois sat on one side of their son and Clark took the other. “How are you feeling now that you are sitting down sweetie,” Lois asked, affectionately placing a hand on Jonathan’s arm.
“Okay, I guess. Kind of tired. But that’s probably from all the moving around,” he assumed.
“Well, you can just sit right here as long as you need to. Can I get you some water or juice, maybe?”
Jonathan considered the question. He really wasn’t thirsty, but didn’t think that claim was going to get him very far now that he was home and under the watchful eye of his protective parents.
“Orange juice would be okay.”
Lois gave Jon a quick kiss on the cheek and went to get the beverage.
“Are you hungry,” Clark asked. “I can get you something to eat?”
“No thanks, I’m still pretty full from breakfast at the hospital.” Jon noticed his Dad’s worried look. Apparently, the whole thing had really messed with him more than Jon thought. “Maybe in a half an hour or so a granola bar would be okay,” he quickly amended.
Clark sighed with relief. “That sounds good,” he said with a smile. Lois came back and handed Jon the orange juice. He thanked her and took a small sip.
Jonathan pursed his lips. Normally he loved orange juice, but for some reason the taste seemed off, like it was spoiled and had a bad flavor to it.
Maybe he was just being too picky. He had promised Dr. Miller that he would try to eat more and take care of himself, which meant he needed fluids. So Jon put the glass to his lips and took another drink.
He made the same disgusted face as before. It was orange juice, so what the heck was the metallic taste?
Unfortunately, Lois and Clark noticed immediately that something was wrong.
“What is it, sweetie?”
“Well…I mean…it just kind of tastes funny.”
“Really?” Lois took the glass from Jon and took a sip. “I think it tastes fine.”
“Oh, sorry, my bad,” Jon quickly amended.
“No, sweetie, it’s okay. You can’t help it if it doesn’t taste good to you. Would you like some water instead?”
Jon wrinkled his brows in confusion. Who was this sensitive, caring woman talking to him right now? It couldn't be his mom.
Okay, physically, yes, he knew it was, but her strange behavior was starting to weird him out. Would she actually be understanding if he told her the truth?
Noticing Jon seemed a bit lost for words, Lois stepped in. “Jonathan, if you're not thirsty right now, it’s really okay.”
“It is? Are you sure?”
“Of course, honey, we are here to give you what you need.”
“Well…um…I’m a little tired, I guess.”
“I’ll bet.” Lois stood up and looked kindly down at her son. “Why don’t you lie down and I will go grab you an extra blanket from the linen closet.”
Surprised, Jon could only nod as his mom rushed off. Clark got off the couch too, giving Jon the room he needed. He had to admit, lying down on the couch was nice after overdoing it with all the walking around that morning.
Jon turned on his side and nuzzled into the throw pillows that had been Kent family staples since he was a little kid. Lois returned and gently placed the soft quilt over Jon’s long body.
She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. “Sleep well, Jonathan. We will be right here if you need anything.”
Exhaustion was quickly taking over and Jon could barely nod before drifting quickly off to sleep.
Clark closed the window shades while Lois turned the light off, making the room as dark as possible for their resting son. They quietly moved into the kitchen knowing there was a lot to discuss.
Both parents sat down in their usual chairs, unsure exactly how to start the conversation. After a few minutes Clark broke the silence. “Babe, are you okay?”
“Mostly worried,” she admitted. “I mean he’s clearly not himself and sicker than we realized. I just wish I knew what to do.”
Clark nodded. “I felt that way the whole ride home. I knew I couldn’t just let them take his blood, the risk was too great. But the more I look at him…Lois he’s not strong enough to be home. What was I thinking?”
Lois reached over to take her husband’s hand. “You were trying to protect him and do what’s right, something that hasn’t been easy with him these past few months.”
“No, it hasn’t.” Clark accepted his wife’s hand so they could weave their fingers together. “But you should have heard him, Lois, when he was worried about being taken to a government lab. The poor kid was completely terrified and clinging to me in a way he hasn’t since he was five.” Clark felt the tears gathering at the corners of his eyes, but knew he had to get his emotions out, that Lois needed to understand what he was going through. “And in that moment, it was like he was our Jon again, like none of the X-K stuff had ever happened. There were no barriers between us and I had my son back.”
Remembering the moment was too powerful and Clark couldn’t stop the tears running down his cheek. Lois hadn’t seen her husband break down like this in a while and was a bit taken aback. But a second later, instinct took over. She climbed onto his lap and wrapped her arms around him. Clark welcomed the hug and buried his face in Lois’ brown hair.
And for the first time in a while, Clark wept.
He cried for the son he had lost and their broken relationship. But he also cried for the boy he had found, and was trying to fix a relationship with.
A boy, who they could still lose.
Unfortunately, that’s the scene that Jordan walked in on.
“Woah, guys, what’s going on,” he asked, immediately on high alert.
“Jordan, sorry everything’s fine.” Clark said, pulling back from the hug, quickly wiping away his tears.
“I’m not an idiot, everything is not fine,” Jordan insisted. “What’s going on?”
Noticing how shaken up Clark still was, Lois took the lead. “Your dad brought Jon home a little while ago.”
“Wait, Jon’s here? Is that a good idea?”
“He didn’t really have a choice,” Lois explained. She stayed on Clark’s lap, knowing he could use the physical comfort, but turned slightly so she was facing Jordan. “They wanted to take a blood sample. And with your unique heritage, Clark wasn’t sure what the samples would show.”
“So, couldn’t you just lie, make up some excuse for why his blood is different?”
“Maybe, but I couldn’t take that chance,” said Clark, facing his son. “Jon was terrified that whatever anomalies they noticed would get him sent away.” Noticing Jordan's confused expression, Clark clarified. “He was worried he was going to be sent away to a government lab to be experimented on.”
Jordan’s eyes widened in surprise as he realized what his father actually meant.
“If you would have seen how terrified he was, Jor, trust me, you would have done anything to protect him.”
“Okay, so what now,” Jordan asked. He was a bit shaken at the thought of Jon being taken away.
“Now we do our best to take care of Jonathan and give him whatever he needs,” Clark insisted. “I’m not sure exactly what that entails, yet. I just know that we all need to work together to get him healthy again.”
“The biggest thing is going to be making sure he gets enough food into his system,” Lois said. “When we talked to Dr. Miller yesterday, he explained just how important that is. So from now on, any time Jon eats something, one of us needs to be there to make sure he’s actually eating, not just pretending.”
“Don’t you think Jon will get mad, though,” Jordan asked, knowing the way his brother thought about things.
“It doesn’t matter, his health is too important and we-”
“No! No, stop it! Leave me alone.”
Recognizing Jon’s voice, the three Kent's rushed into the living room the minute they heard him scream. He was no longer sleeping peacefully. Instead, Jon was thrashing around, like he was in a nightmare.
“Jonathan, wake up,” Clark said, hesitantly putting a hand on his son’s shoulder.
The reaction was immediate.
“No, don’t touch me,” he yelled, fighting back.
“Buddy, you’re just dreaming. Jonathan, wake up,” Clark said firmly, grabbing onto his son’s shoulders.
A couple seconds later Jon opened his eyes. Still in a panic, he flinched and put his hands over his face. “Wait, Dad? Is that you,” he asked, still a bit disoriented from the dream.
“That’s right, son. It’s just me,” Clark knelt down next to the couch so he was eye level with Jon. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I think so,” he answered, letting his guard down a bit. “Just got freaked out for a minute.”
“You wanna talk about it,” Lois asked, sitting down next to her son.
Jon bit his lip, unsure of how much to say. He looked around at the concerned faces of his family. Even Jordan was in the room now.
“I…um…had a nightmare about being taken away to a government facility.” It was tough for Jon to admit the very personal dream, but he knew he could use his family’s support. “They kept poking me with needles and other weird instruments. And needed my blood so they could test it to find out...what I am.” He could feel tears gather at the corners of his eyes. “And no matter how many times I told them to stop, they didn’t listen.”
“Oh, sweetie come here,” Lois said, pulling Jon in for a long, overdue hug. “We would never let anything like that happen to you. I promise.” She held on even tighter. Just the thought of somebody taking away her baby was too much.
“Thanks, Mom,” he whispered. They pulled back from the hug and Lois took a good look at her son, trying to gauge how he was really doing.
“Are you still tired?”
“Yeah, a bit, but I’m not sure if I can actually sleep again after that dream,” he admitted.
“Well, what if I stay right here next to you.”
“But wouldn’t…I mean…isn’t…I mean don’t you have better things to do,” Jon asked quietly, nervous to hear the answer.
“No, I really don’t,” she said with a confidence that surprised Jon.
“Come on Mom, I know how busy you’ve been at the paper lately. There’s no way you can really afford to just sit here.”
“Actually, right now, I don’t think I can afford to be anywhere but right next to you.”
Jon looked confused, so Lois elaborated further. “Look honey, yesterday, your dad and I had a long talk with Dr. Miller. He explained how tough things have been for you lately.” Lois paused and looked a bit nervous herself.
“I have to be honest, I didn’t quite believe him at first. But the more he explained, I realized he was telling the truth. That also meant that I haven’t been doing the best job of being there for you lately. I should have noticed how bad things were for you and I’m so sorry I didn’t.”
“That goes for both of us,” Clark said, joining them on the couch, sitting on his son’s other side. “I’m sorry as well. We should have been there for you. I’m just thankful that it’s not too late, that I can sit here, tell you I love you.”
“Well since everybody’s making speeches, I guess it’s my turn,” Jordan said with a chuckle. He sat down next to Clark, and looked over at his brother. “Honestly, I’m just glad you’re home. Watching your get carried off in that ambulance was pretty scary, man. And I know you have a long way to go…but we’re really happy to have you here.”
“Thanks guys,” Jon said, wiping away the few stray tears that had fallen down his cheeks. “I really needed that. This whole thing has been pretty hard for me. I guess I didn’t know how to ask for help.”
“Well, you don’t have to ask because we’re going to be right here. Now let’s see if we can get you sleeping again. I’m sure you could use the rest.”
It took a bit of coordination, some grunting when Jordan got kicked in the stomach, and a lot of patience, but eventually they figured it out. Because everyone wanted to be close to Jonathan, he was laying with his head on a pillow on Lois’ lap, while his legs were stretched across Clark and Jordan. Lois turned on the TV and found an old Seinfeld rerun.
“Is this okay Jon,” she asked, looking down at her still too pale son. He looked up at his mom, then glanced over at his dad and Jordan, who were still waiting expectantly for an answer.
Jonathan was exhausted, and had endured more than he ever thought possible. To be honest he still didn’t feel that great, but seeing the faces of his family gathered around him, showing their support meant a lot.
He nodded on response to his mom’s question and nuzzled closer to the pillow
Jonathan Kent gently closed his eyes and smiled.
He wouldn’t change a damn thing.