"Sweet, and right, and merciful, I'm all but washed in the tide of her breathing"
I was released into Lex's custody the following week. I had been in hospital for nearly three weeks at that point-although I was comatose for the first ten days. It was long enough for my leg to have begun healing, long enough to determine that there was no infection, despite how angry and red the skin may look. I'm lucky. The bar that went through me was rusty and old. If it had grazed my bone, I would have had to have my leg amputated.
The nurses are reluctant to release me into the custody of someone I barely know, but there are thousands of people who need medical care more than I do, and Lex is quick to point out that he has enough doctors on his research and development team to provide round-the-clock care should I need it.
It frightened me that I couldn't remember any of that day. Whenever I had a quiet moment, I combed my memories, my brains, trying to bring up something, anything. I wanted to have the memory of my parent's final moments. I wanted to know exactly what had happened. No one would tell me who instigated the fight, who caused so much carnage. Lex demanded total silence on this subject from every doctor and nurse who helped me, for reasons unknown to me. I didn't have the energy or brainpower to argue with him.
The nurses brought up a wheelchair to help me down to the waiting car. My leg was still too weak to walk long distances without collapsing. The muscles had been severely torn, and it would take weeks of occupational therapy to be able to walk properly again.
The pediatric ward all gathered to wave us goodbye, and I smiled weakly and waved as the elevator door closed behind us.
"So." Lex said from behind me. "I'm taking you to my building. My actual offices and labs are all on the bottom floors, and I live above them. It's so much easier than commuting every day."
I stifled a laugh, covering my mouth with my hand.
"What?" Lex demanded, bending over to look at me. "What?!"
"Nothing." I laughed again. "Just the idea of you having to take the train into work everyday like every other person in Metropolis. I can imagine the headlines."
"Darling, I wouldn't take the train. There's much faster forms of travel available to someone like me."
"Someone rich, you mean." I giggled quietly.
Lex straightened again as the elevator door opened. A man in glasses stepped in, holding a laptop bag with the Daily Planet crest emblazoned on it. He smiled at me, and nodded at Lex stiffly.
"Mr. Luthor."
"Clark Kent." Lex's voice rose in pitch-a sign he was upset, I had learned. "The Daily Planet covering how many lives were destroyed in the fight, hm?"
The man adjusted his glasses, and shook his head.
"Just trying to right some wrongs." He said, and turned towards the opening door. We were on the ground level of the hospital.
What had once been an airy, beautiful foyer was now filled with cots. Doctors and nurses wound their way through, attaching IV's, and bandaging wounds. I closed my eyes as we wove our way through, trying to block out the moans of the dying.
We made it out the doors, and into a waiting town car. Lex all but lifted me into the passenger seat, and the slid behind the wheel. The car was sleek, black leather and silver detailing. The windows were deeply tinted, to protect from cameras, I suspected.
"I would have choppered you over, but the traffic in the sky is a lot worse than the traffic on the ground." He said, gesturing skywards.
Sure enough, helicopters whirred around the downtown core-news and medics alike. I bit my lip, and looked down. I still had no idea what had happened-and now I wasn't sure I wanted to. If three weeks later, there were still medical teams over the disaster site... I didn't want to think about it.
"What was that, in the elevator?" I asked instead, as we pulled onto the freeway.
"Clark Kent and I have a lot of history." Lex said simply. "We aren't friends, let's leave it at that."
"You're feuding with a reporter?" I asked dubiously. "Seems slightly out of character."
Lex laughed, and shook his head, sunlight glinting off his bronze waves.
"Feuding is not the right word, my dear. He's done a lot of things I don't agree with. And it got very personal recently."
I nodded, and pulled my cardigan closer to me. On the morning before my discharge, Lex had brought over a collection of clean clothes-leggings, skirts, dresses, and a multitude of sweaters. It was all very vintage-not in keeping with my regular style, but comfortable and much warmer than the flimsy gowns I had been dressing in. They seemed to follow a pastel colour scheme, and the fabric was soft and well made. I doubted that Lex himself had bought them, judging by his often-questionable choice of attire. Someone who worked for him, probably someone with young children.
The city rushed by us in a daze of chrome and glass. The roads were amazingly clear, and we wove through traffic easily. Lex hummed a little as he turned off the freeway and into the undamaged part of the business section of the city. Skyscrapers rose around me, blocking out the sun.
"Why me?" I blurted, without realizing I was talking aloud. "Why did you pick me to save, among everyone else?" It had been a thought stuck in the forefront of my mind ever since I had become aware of what had happened to me. The sight of all the injured people in the foyer had only made me more aware of the oddity of my situation.
Lex turned to look at me for a moment, his eyes blazing. I shrank back a little, worried that I'd angered him.
"Because, my dear, you called out to me. And I couldn't, in good conscience, let an innocent soul die. And now I can't let an innocent soul live on the streets, when she has lost everything, when I could so easily take care of you. It's not like I lack the funds to do so." He spoke with a tremor in his voice, and his hand on the steering wheel twitched as he turned into a dark parkade.
"Are we here?" I looked around at the hundreds of cars parked below the surface of the city.
"We are indeed." He said, and pulled into an empty spot. In a few seconds, he had helped me back into my wheelchair, and we were, once again, on an elevator. This one was glass walled, and so I could see down into the LexCorp building. The first floor was open and well-lit, with a basketball court on one end-the rest were open offices and labs, filled with people in suits and lab coats, who all turned to look as we rose past them. Lex waved to a pretty dark-haired girl, who smiled and waved back, blushing slightly.
"Your girlfriend?" I asked, pointing at her.
"Good heavens, no! That's my assistant. Mercy Graves. She's the one who set up your room at my apartment."
"Oh?" I blushed. "I'm staying in your apartment?" I frowned a little at the thought, and my heart beat a little faster.
Lex saw my face and laughed, biting his lip. I pouted a little and he tapped my nose playfully.
"Keep up that face and a little birdy will come perch on your lip." He teased. "Of course you're staying with me. Did you think I was going to put you in a lab or something?"
The elevator finally arrived at the top floor, and Lex keyed in a code. The doors slid open, revealing a spacious living room. The back wall was paneled in glass, showing off the view of the city and the bay. There was a large kitchen, and a second floor that opened out onto a glass balcony. The whole place seemed empty and lifeless. The furniture was sparse and harsh-edged. Modern, but lacking heart.
"I stay here when I'm working on big projects. I have a house out in the country that I'll take you to as soon as I have a few things settled here. It's much more comfortable, but far less convenient."
I gazed around the gorgeous room, and nodded, gravitating towards the huge window. A country home seemed more his style, and besides, what sort of billionaire worth his salt doesn't own some sort of mansion?
"How long will we be here?" I asked, stepping onto the plush carpet. I stumbled a little as my leg adjusted to the soft surface. I had only ever learned to walk on the hard hospital ground, and the slippery carpet was throwing my balance off.
"A week or two, at most. There's been a development in one of my research projects, so I want to be around while that's being sorted. And I think it's better to have you close to my doctors, hm? Oh, Ruth don't go near- "
He stopped as I touched the cool glass. Outside, where there had once been huge buildings, stood only rubble. Made miniature by the distance, search and rescue dogs roved the rubble, while volunteers dug. Fires were still being put out, and police surrounded the area.
"What happened?" I whispered. "Please, Lex, tell me." My voice broke, and I swallowed hard. I could feel the memories below the surface, trying to get out.
"No. It's for the best you don't know. Once I get you out of the city, you'll have more of a chance to heal mentally, before I fill you in."
I crumpled to the floor, images of my parents underneath tonnes of cement and steel and glass filing my head. Lex caught me around the waist, lifting my frail form neatly. I couldn't breathe as the sound of screams filled my ears.
And all at once, I was remembering. The fear on my mother's face as the building slid over them. The news vendor shoving me out of the way. Crawling into the safest space I could find, surrounded by corpses.
Lex saving me.
My lungs felt as though they were filled with the dust again, and I choked, gasping for breath. There was a high-pitched keening sound, and I soon realized that it was coming from my own mouth.
"Ruth." He said softly. "It's alright, you're safe. Please, just breathe." There was panic laced through his voice, and it had pitched up again.
I felt a hand stroking my hair, long fingers gently working against my scalp. I focused on that, on the calm filling the apartment, and very, very slowly, I came back to myself. Once again, I was crying, tears covering my face and Lex's shoulder. I sat up, and wiped my eyes furiously with the back of my hand.
"I'm sorry." I whispered. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have had to see that."
"Oh, Ruth, no." He took my hand, clutching it tightly. "Don't you apologize to me ever again. I should have known." He leapt to his feet, incensed.
"They warned me this would happen." He told me, as I pulled my knees into myself. "That you would remember if you were triggered enough. Visual reminders, they said. I should have blacked out the window. Oh dear." He was pacing now, hands gesturing wildly. He walked to the window, and smacked it with his palm. The sound of his skin against the glass startled me, and I gasped, the tears flowing freely again.
"I don't want to see it." I sobbed. "Make me forget again." I buried my face in my hands, turning away from the window. Lex sat on the couch next to me, and pulled my face to his chest, humming quietly. The vibrations in his chest calmed me, and I listened closely to the lullaby.
"Why didn't he save them?" I asked, my hysteria subsiding into anger. "Why didn't he stop it?"
"Who?" Lex asked.
"Superman." I cried. "I thought he was supposed to protect us all."
Lex stiffened at the mention of Superman. His hold on me grew tighter, and he laughed bitterly.
"No, dear Ruth. He wasn't going to save you. He was too busy killing innocents."