Haunted

Chapter 12: Laura

Jackson hadn't been in school all day, claiming that the pain in his shoulder was too much to allow him to concentrate in his classes. Clark had called him after school to check up on him and that was how - for the second day in a row - he found himself sitting on the uncomfortable waiting chairs in the hospital next to Lydia. Despite missing a day of school due to the pain, Jackson was adamant that he was still playing the game the following day. Jackson was sure all he needed was a cortisone shot. Clark had his doubts but he didn't bother raising them. There was no arguing with Jackson. If he had his mind set on something, he did it. At least Clark had the 'hypocritical' card available to pull out on Jackson the next time he complained about Scott being on steroids.

Clark wasn't sure how he had let Jackson talk him into meeting him at the hospital. The previous day's visit had done very little to change Clark's opinion of hospitals; they were still creepy to him. But Jackson had been adamant that he should meet him at the hospital so to discuss plans for the game the following day after he had gotten his shot.

The hospital wasn't as busy as it had been on Monday. There'd been no serious car accidents which meant no scenes of people with horrific injuries being wheeled through the corridor. Just another reason Clark didn't like hospitals. He didn't do blood. His injuries healed before he had to deal with much blood. The humans who used the hospitals did not share that ability and the sights he'd seen the previous day were unpleasant enough to make him queasy.

Lydia had her phone out and her headphones stuck in her ears, not interested in making any conversation. Clark couldn't really blame her after the dark turn that their previous conversation in a hospital had taken. Clark's own phone would beep every now and then but was nothing intriguing enough to gain his attention for long. Each message he received was from Jamie with another stupid sounding superhero name suggestion. They were so ridiculous that Clark resorted to muting his phone and pocketing it. He'd deal with Jamie's texts when he had time to work out how to curb his enthusiasm. Jamie was getting far too invested in the whole ghost thing and Clark was extremely regretting confirming his suspicions. He should have kept it to himself but he had expected Jamie to be more help than he actually was.

With Lydia ignoring him - too busy laughing and talking away to one of her girl friends on her phone - and his own phone essentially turned off, Clark had nothing to do whilst they waited. He found himself staring at one of the boring white walls Jackson had been complaining about. Clark wasn't good at sitting and doing nothing; he got bored. Especially after a whole day of sitting in class and doing nothing whilst listening absent-mindedly to his various teachers as they droned on.

Lydia was too preoccupied to care much about his presence so Clark stood up, making a decision to locate a vending machine just so he had something to do, and set off down the corridor without a word to the girl.

After one left turn, Clark found the vending machines down a hallway that look exactly the same as the one he'd come from; the only difference was the lack of a desk and waiting area. It was worrying to Clark that hospitals were so maze-like. It seemed far too easy to get lost in one. He was more than glad that he didn't have to wander too far to find the vending machines. Getting lost in a hospital was once his worst nightmare - until he was ten years old and the fire nightmares had started haunting him.

"You again!" No other than Melissa McCall pulled Clark's attention away from the selection of snacks and drinks available at the overpriced hospital vending machine. "Don't tell me. Another lacrosse injury?" Her assumption was underlined by the slightest hint of dread in her otherwise light-hearted tone. With Scott's upcoming first lacrosse game, Clark could understand her concern.

"No, no," Clark corrected hastily. From the few interactions that he'd had with Scott's mom she seemed liked a nice person; he didn't want to needlessly worry her. If things went the way he and Derek were planning - not that they ever really did - Scott wouldn't be playing. If things didn't go the way he and Derek were planning - which always seemed the safer option to bet on - and Scott did play, it wouldn't be Scott getting hurt. "It's the same injury as yesterday. He's just... it's just playing him up."