12 Days of Christmas

Part 4 - Open Sesame and Say Ah

Lena Luthor is extra. That fact is undeniable though she may try to dispute it at times. She spends an extra-long time at work, pours extra effort into her research, is extra determined to salvage her family name, and even tries extra-extra hard not to punch any of her board members. So it's no surprise that when her body decides to have an adverse reaction to something, that reaction is extra.

Her immune system overreacts to sesame the way a MAGA-head reacts to someone speaking Spanish. Though a completely benign presence, her basophils and mast cells go into full Karen overdrive and releases a massive amount of histamines in an attempt to sweep the 'alien invader' out. The result is that she swells like the size of a Trump inauguration crowd when the tale is related, ad nauseum, for years to come.

Her cheeks balloon out like the vocal pouch of a male frog in mating season. She gets the lips of Angelina Jolie after bad collagen injections. The swelling even squeezes her eyelids almost completely closed, just the barest lashed slits remaining so that she can see the justifiably horrified expressions of those who stumble upon her. The normally stylish and elegant CEO looks like a stress relief toy that's been gripped so hard at one end that its top seems ready to pop.

"Lena, I'm soooooo sorry." This isn't the first time Sam has said this since what will forever be known as the great brownie debacle of 2020. It's not even the tenth time. At this point, it's unlikely that the CFO, an accountant by trade and quite good at math, even knows how many times she's apologized. "I had no idea halvah was made with sesame."

Sitting mostly upright on a hospital room gurney, Lena doesn't respond. She can't. The most she can do right now is a fairly spot-on imitation of Darth Vader heavy-breathing post marathon.

"I just... I know you were talking about going vegan, so I didn't want to use chocolate or eggs. I thought carob and halvah were good choices, and the recipe had five stars so—"

Though disarmed of the glare that can halt a cis-gender, straight, white mysoginist at twenty paces, that doesn't stop Lena from trying. She whips her head around until she can see the torso of the woman standing next to her and tilts her head back until a face comes into some kind of focus. Sam has stopped speaking, though it's more likely guilt than the power of Lena's stare. Lena opens her puffy lips to tell Sam to stop apologizing, it's only making her angry, but only a slurred mumble comes out.

"I'm soooo sorry," Sam whispers, and if she wasn't desperately in need of medical intervention, Lena would walk out right now.

Even as she considers it, considers leaving and buying a case of Benadryl on her way out, a new voice comes from Lena's other side.

"Okay, Miss Luthor, I'm Dr. Danvers. It says here you're having an allergic reaction to— Holy cow!" Lena can only see a white lab coat over scrubs as she turns, but the doctor's view must be clearer. 'Holy cow' is one of the more diplomatic things she's heard.

"She's allergic to sesame," Sam explains. "It's my fault. I didn't realize what I gave her had sesame in it."

"Not a very common allergy. Let's get a better look at you." Bright blue eyes peer out at Lena from behind a pair of tortoise shell glasses, and warm fingers gently touch her face and down her throat. "Head back please." Lena does and gets a better look at loose strands of blonde hair. She's intrigued, and the fact that she can't get a better look at this woman is frustrating. "Okay, that's cool. Do you have any tingling in your extremities?"

The doctor steps back to write something on the chart, and Lena gets a better look. The hair is pulled back into a ponytail with several stray hairs framing her tan face. The ponytail curls over one broad shoulder, and from her lapel the name Danvers is clearly printed on an ID badge. When the doctor looks up again, a strong jaw comes into view. Then she smiles. If Lena could draw a deep breath, there would have been a gasp. The doctor is a stunningly beautiful woman, and Lena is entirely aware that she looks like a pale version of the Great Pumpkin.