A New Life
by Corrie Hurst <hurstce@student.montevallo.edu>
Rated: G
Submitted October 11, 1997


*Special input by Paul Dompierre
Thanks a bunch Paul!

Now, without further ado, "A New Life."
Thank you. . .thank you!!!!


	The day dwindled in the distance as Lois stepped back to admire the
view of the beautiful sunset.  It seemed to be a perfect ending to a not so
perfect day.
	*How ironic things can be,* she thought, annoyingly, as she sat down
in a chair.
	Clark, her husband of two years, was out saving the day once again
and had left Lois in the middle of dinner.  Usually, his abrupt exits never
left her feeling insecure, but this time was different.  She did need to
talk to him about something very important and was about to tell him what
was on her mind, when all of a sudden, he got a call for help--something
about a fire in the inner city.
	*HA!* she thought grimly.
	Sometimes it seemed so unfair to have to share her husband with the
rest of the world.  They didn't know how hard it was to be pouring your
heart out and suddenly he would be whisked away to someone else who
appeared to be in more immediate danger at the moment.  Clark was always
apologetic, but sometimes that didn't even settle her foul mood.  She did
admit, however, that she had handled it very well over the past two years.
 Lois was so lost in thought she didn't hear Clark get back from his
rescue.
	"Lois?  Hey,"  he said as he moved across the floor to her.
	She looked up at him with a tear in her eye.
	"Honey, what is it?  Is something wrong?"
	She shook her head but knew in her heart that he could tell she was
in distress.  As the tears spilled down her cheeks, he rushed to her side
to comfort her with a warm embrace.  This only caused her to cry harder.
Finally, she pulled away from him and wiped her face with the back of her
hand.
	"What is it?" he said, looking concerned.
	He brushed her hair lightly away from her face and smiled softly.
She could see the concern in his eyes and decided to finally tell him what
had been plaguing her heart for the last few days.
	"Remember when I went to the doctor the other day?"  she said, shakily.
	Clark's heart immediately skipped a beat.  *What could be wrong?
Could she have cancer?  No, she would have told him sooner.  Could she be
pregnant?  No, she wouldn't be this distressed.*  A million other things
rushed through Clark's mind as Lois prepared to tell him what was wrong.
	"Clark, I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm. . .I'm. . .I'm
diabetic."
	She burst into tears and he pulled her towards him.  He began to
chuckle and she looked up, surprised.
	"What are you laughing at?"  she said through her tears.  "This is
a very serious disease.  Unfortunately, it runs in my family and I was just
the unlucky candidate."
	"I'm sorry, Lois.  It's just that with all of the technology we
have today, you really don't have much to worry about."
	"Well. . .Well. . .Clark, I can't have chocolate now.  What am I
going to do?  I love chocolate and now I can never have it because of this
stupid. . ."
	"Lois," Clark interrupted.  "What are you worried about?  You can
still have me and I'm pretty sweet,"  he said with a smile.
	He hugged her tightly and gave her a kiss on the cheek, then looked
at her intently. "You know that I'd never let anything happen to
you, right?  And whatever does happen, we're in this together,"  he said
while brushing his thumb across her cheek.
	She nodded and the tears returned as she hugged him back.
	Later that night, Lois and Clark were lying in bed.  As he was
reading his magazine, Clark stole a worried glance at Lois.  She was
huddled up under the covers waiting for him to turn out the light and go to
sleep.  After several more minutes of thumbing through an article he was
reading, Clark finally put the magazine down and turned out the light.  He
nestled down beside her and pulled Lois toward him in a warm embrace.  She
gladly entered his arms and almost instantly fell asleep.  Looking down at
his sleeping wife, Clark thought how lucky he was to have Lois and the life
they shared together.  With that, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
	The next morning, Clark woke to find that Lois was already up and
getting ready for work.  Slowly, he got up and headed to the shower, sleep
still clouding his eyes.  Within three minutes, though, he was showered,
dressed, and ready to go to work.  After glancing around the room and not
finding Lois, he walked toward the kitchen to find her sitting at the table
sipping coffee and reading the morning edition of "The Daily Planet."  He
stepped up behind her and gave her shoulder a squeeze.  She seemed
indifferent to his attempted affection and kept her eyes on the article in
front of her.  Clark was stunned by her reaction, or rather her lack
thereof, and sat beside her with a concerned look on his face.
	"Is there something wrong, Lois?"
	She put down the paper and glared at him.
	"You don't remember last night?"
	"What about it?"
	She abruptly stood up from the table and strode over to the sink.
Looking out the window at the spring foliage, Lois became temporarily lost
in thought until Clark came up from behind and put his arms around her,
startling her.
	"Do you have to do that?"  she yelled at him then pushing her way
out of his arms.
	Clark was completely caught off guard by her retort.  He was only
trying to comfort Lois in her time of need and was shocked at the reaction
he was getting.  She hadn't been this cold to him since the time when they
had first met.  *Was he missing something?*
	"Do what?"  he replied.
	She pushed him out of her way and walked to the hall closet to get
her coat.  Clark followed closely behind and retrieved his coat, after
which they left through the front door and loaded up into the Jeep.  Lois
got in the driver's seat, cranked up the car, and pulled out of the drive.
	"Lois, why are you so upset about this?"
	"Why shouldn't I be?"
	"Well, if it's about the chocolate then. . ."
	Lois interrupted, shaking her head.
	"Clark, it's not about the chocolate.  It's about me being sick and
not being able to do anything about it.  There's no cure for this.  I'm at
risk now for so many different things that I can't even count them,"  Lois
said.
	She paused for a minute, seeming to be lost in thought once again.
	"Do you know why my mother really quit drinking?"
	"Well, no.  I never really thought it was a nice dinner topic to
bring up,"  Clark said, trying to lighten the mood.
	Lois took a deep sigh and rolled her eyes at the comment.
	"She quit because she got this and drinking just makes it that much
worse, Clark.  The alcohol makes. . ."  Lois stopped, growing tired of
trying to explain herself to her obviously misinformed husband.  "Oh why am
I even trying to explain this to you.  You obviously don't understand how
serious this disease is."
	"Lois,"  Clark began, getting his serious tone.  "I do know how
serious this is.  But I also know you.  And I have never seen you back down
from a challenge.  You've seen what this disease has done to your family
and now, unfortunately, it's your turn to fight it one on one.  And I know
you can do it."
	*How can he always be so optimistic?*  Lois thought angrily.
	"Clark, this isn't cancer.  I can't go into remission.  This is it,
I'm sick and I always will be sick.  And there's no use in me denying that
I won't get better."
	Clark couldn't believe his ears.  Was Lois really willing to give
up that easily without a fight?
	"Lois, honey, listen to yourself.  Please tell me that you don't
believe that this isn't going to get better.  Diabetics do get better.  It
just takes time and patience.  If you just do what you are supposed to do
then pretty soon you'll be back to your normal self and back to your normal
life."
	"Clark, I'll never be normal again.  I might as well face it now.
I mean, I find out that I have a substantial increase in the risks for
heart
disease and kidney failure in one day and I'm supposed to feel normal about
this.  This is going to be a huge life change for me."
	"Lois, it won't be a huge life change for you.  It will be a huge
life change for both of us.  I would never let you go through this alone,"
Clark said trying to remind Lois that there were two people in this
marriage.
	As the Daily Planet came into view, Clark knew the conversation was
over and there was no more to be said about it until Lois was good and
ready.  They pulled up into the parking lot next to the Planet and quickly
walked to the building.  As they walked inside, Lois pulled Clark close.
	"Don't utter a word about what you know.  I don't want Perry to get
the way he gets if he finds out, okay?"
	"Okay," he said, shaking his head with a sigh.
	They got on the elevator and headed up to the City Room.  As soon
as the elevator doors opened and Lois and Clark stepped out, Perry headed
out of his office and called the two reporters over.
	"What's up, Chief?" Lois said, as she approached the older man.
	"Well, we've got a lead on that embezzlement story that I told you
to cover the other day.  I need you to meet with this guy to make sure he
knows what he's talking about.  See what you can find out, if anything, and
get back to me, pronto."
	"Will do, Chief," replied Clark.
	Lois and Clark immediately headed back to the elevators to chase
down their lead for the story they had been working on.  On the way to the
car, Lois began to feel a little light-headed but dismissed it for having
skipped breakfast.
	*Whoops.  I shouldn't have done that,*  she thought, kicking
herself mentally.  *Oh, well, I guess I can grab lunch later.*
	Unfortunately, the source that they had to talk to was a little
resistant and needed some coaxing for him to reveal what was going on.  Two
and a half hours later, Lois and Clark emerged not having learned much on
the embezzlement story and Lois about to pass out from near starvation. She
leaned on Clark for support and told him to drive the Jeep.  He climbed
into the driver's seat and pulled his seatbelt on as Lois pulled herself
into the Jeep and closed the door.  She felt too tired to put her seatbelt
on.
	*Gosh, now the whole world is spinning,*  she thought wearily.
	Lois realized she had to tell Clark that something was wrong but
found only a squeak escaped when she opened her mouth.  Suddenly, her mouth
was too dry to allow her to speak and she began to see her surroundings
gray a little.  Clark pulled out of the parking spot and into the traffic
lane.
	"So where do you want to eat?"  he said cheerfully.
	He looked over to Lois when she didn't respond and was astonished
at what he saw.  Half slumped in her seat, Lois sat there with her face
looking pale and ashen.  Clark immediately pulled over and lifted her face
up to his to get a better look at her.  As soon as he did so, Lois's eyes
rolled back in her head and she fell unconscious.  Quickly, Clark looked
around to see if there were too many people around to notice his sudden
change in attire.  He, in fact, did notice that there were many people out
on their lunch breaks and would see him if he changed into the red and blue
suit.
	Next, he did the only thing he knew to do and that was to get Lois
to the hospital as fast as possible.  He cut into traffic, suddenly causing
a minor fender bender behind him, but at the moment, he didn't care; he
was too worried about Lois and her well being.  As they reached the
hospital, Clark noticed an ambulance blocking the emergency entrance,
therefore, hindering his chances for getting Lois inside as quickly as
possible.  He hastily parked in a handicapped parking spot and got out of
the car.  Dashing around to the other side of the Jeep, he opened the door
and pulled Lois out.  With her limp body in his arms, he ran into the
emergency room and yelled for a doctor.  Immediately, a nurse behind the
counter realized what was happening and signaled for Clark to bring Lois to
a room.  While Clark put Lois on a stretcher, the nurse sent for a team of
doctors to come to the ER.  In a matter of minutes, the doctors came in and
ushered Clark out of the room.  They immediately set to work on Lois and
tried to stabilize her.  As the doctors worked on Lois, Clark sat in the
waiting room for hours, wanting to know what was going on with his wife
behind those closed doors.  Finally, a doctor came up to him.
	"Mr. Kent?" the doctor said, walking up to him.
	"Yes?" Clark said nervously, as he stood up.
	"She's stabilized.  As you already know, your wife is diabetic.
Unfortunately, she didn't take the diet, exercise, insulin, anything
seriously."
	"She was supposed to take insulin?"
	"Yes.  Twice a day.  She was supposed to have two types that she
mixed together to get different reaction times.  It helps keep the blood
sugar stable.  Apparently, she hasn't taken it yet."
	"Well, I haven't seen any viles or syringes around the house.  I
just assumed that hers was controlled by diet."
	"Wrong assumption.  Well, anyway she has collapsed into a diabetic
coma.  It could be irreversible.  Hopefully, at this state, she will come
out of it.  Only time will tell what happens to her."
	"Is there anything else that can be done?"
	"Not much.  It's all up to her now.  She has to want to pull through."
	Clark looked down at the floor and then at the doctor.
	"Can I see her?"
	"Yes.  She's in ICU on the fourth floor."
	Clark left the waiting room and got into an elevator.  He ascended
to the fourth floor and headed straight for ICU, dreading what he might
see.  Knowing how much he loved Lois and wanting more than anything to
spend his life with her just caused Clark to feel more helpless about the
situation.  It had been bad enough when Lois didn't even want to face this
disease, but now, more than ever, her life depended on how willing she was
to fight against it.  He opened the door and found her cubicle right in
front of the nurse's desk.  Walking in slowly, he looked for her angelic
face that seemed to be lost amid all of her now longer, silky hair.  He
instinctively grabbed her hand and brushed her face lightly with the other.
She didn't respond to his touch with her familiar cuddle which proved
almost too much for Clark to bear.  He sat down in a chair and tearfully
told her how much he loved her and wanted her back in his arms.  For a long
time he sat that way, not ever wanting to leave her ever again.
	The next morning, Clark woke with a start from a horrible
nightmare. He had dreamed about what his life would be like without Lois in
it.  The emptiness and coldness he felt without her there was just too much
to bear.  He would have rather died than to have to live that way in any
circumstance.  Clark took a deep breath and raised his head from where it
lay on the bed.  It took him a minute, but he realized that he had been
crying in his sleep.  Deftly, he wiped the tears away and looked down at
his wife, still in an unchanged state.  Looking at her at that moment, he
knew that he could never live without her and that she had to pull through
if either of them were expected to survive.  As he looked into her face, he
felt for her hand and realized when he touched it that she was still
unresponsive to his touch.  Realization hit Clark hard and fresh tears
sprang to his eyes and spilled down his cheeks.  He knew that he and Lois
had a love like no other and that it could survive almost anything;
however, he had seen how cynical she had been about finding out about her
diabetes and thought that maybe she wouldn't pull through.
	*Quit that, Kent!  She will pull through.  She's a fighter and she
will come out of this.*
	With anguish filling his heart, Clark left the room and flew to the
only refuge he knew--home.
	"Well, Son, you are right.  She does have to want to live for her
to pull through,"  Jonathan Kent said to his son after hearing everything
that had led up to yesterday's incident.  He put his arm around his son's
shoulders and gave him a hopeful and sympathetic glance.
	"Do you want us to come back to Metropolis with you?  I would be
happy to keep you company,"  Martha Kent spoke up. She also wanted to
reassure Clark that he had support and love in his family.
	"That would be nice, but don't you and Dad have a lot to do with
the spring harvest?  I mean, I don't want to inconvenience you guys,"
Clark said, with a note of depression in his voice.
	"Clark, your wife is in a coma!  Of course we'll come and help
out,"  Martha said.
	"We love Lois like a daughter and would do anything for the both of
you, Clark.  I hope you know that, Son,"  Jonathan said as he patted Clark
on the back.  "I can get the Irig's to help out with the harvest, anyway.
It'll be okay.  Let's just concentrate on getting Lois well,"  Jonathan
said, knowing his words would make his son feel better.
	"Thanks Dad. . .Mom.  I love you guys so much.  You are such a
great support for me and now for Lois, too.  I know that she loves you like
you were her own parents."
	"And we love her as if she were our own daughter, honey.  She has
done so much for you and for us.  I have really enjoyed her as a
daughter-in-law,"  Martha said, smiling.
	This comment caused Clark to smile with his mother and realize that
he had all the support he needed.  Now, if he could only convince Lois that
she had everything she needed, then everything would be perfect.
	The next day, with Clark and his parents in Metropolis, Clark felt
he was better able to cope with Lois' condition.  After breakfast, he and
his parents made their way up to the hospital and immediately went up to
ICU.  There, they found Lois in an unchanged state.  Clark pulled up a
chair and sat beside her with worry in his eyes.  His mother was
immediately by his side with an arm around him, squeezing his shoulder a
little for reassurance.  Jonathan came to the other side of Clark and
patted his arm to let him know that both he and Martha were there for moral
support.
	Clark looked imminently at Lois' face as if it would somehow
encourage her to wake up and see him looking over her.  He was always there
for her and she knew that.  However, this didn't calm Clark about the
situation because he felt that Lois was so unresponsive to him now.  His
hope had flown that first day when he had touched her cheek and gotten no
response.  Without hope, there was little that could be done and without
Lois, there was nothing left for him; he knew that.  That is what made it
so difficult.  He felt there was no way to reach her in her silence and
that was something new to Clark.  Almost always, he had been able to
intervene in time to save Lois from danger.  Now, he wasn't even sure what
to do.
	A tear began to slide down Clark's cheek as he was thinking of all
these things.  He clasped his hand around hers and held it there for a
brief moment before raising it to his lips.  Her hand seemed impossibly
small and lifeless now.  He slowly began to rub the top of her hand with
his thumb and placed it back on the bed.  As he placed her hand back on the
bed, he felt her squeeze his hand slightly.  At first he thought that is
was just wishful thinking, but it happened again.
	"Mom!"
	"What, Honey?"
	"She just squeezed my hand. . .twice.  That's the first sign that
I've had since she's been in here.  I haven't gotten any kind of response
until now,"  Clark said, excitedly.
	"Well, maybe it will happen again, Son.  Let's just wait a little
while,"
 Jonathan said, reassuringly.
	"Lois?  Can you hear me?  Hey, we're all here with you, but you've
got to pull out of this.  I know you can fight it.  Come on,"  Clark said
with new hope in his voice.
	Nothing.
	"Lois?  Mom's here, and Dad, too.  They both want to see you and so
do I."
	Nothing.
	"I need you so much.  I don't know if I could ever live without
you.  You're everything to me,"  Clark said, in almost a whisper.
	Nothing.
	With that, Clark's tears returned and slowly slid down his cheeks.
He felt that all his hope had just been dashed away.
	"Lois?  Honey, Jonathan and I are right here with you.  You've just
got to talk to us.  We're all here with you.  Clark's right, you're a very
strong person and we all need you to pull through.  We all know you can do
it,"  Martha said, putting a hand on Lois' arm.
	*What was that?* thought Lois.
	She had been in a dense black fog for what seemed like days and, all
of a sudden, she heard voices.  She had heard them before but not this
clearly or loudly.  Craning her neck towards the sound, Lois tried to
listen to the voices but she couldn't always make out what was being said.
	*There it goes again!* she thought.
	It sounded different, though, more like a woman's voice.  All the
other times, the voice had seemed deeper and more masculine  She listened
closely to this voice and heard part of what it said.
	"Jonathan and I. . .here with you. . .very strong person. . .need
you to pull through. . .know you can do it."
	*What?  Pull through what?  I don't even know where I am!  How can
I pull through anything if I don't know what I'm up against?*  Lois
thought, stubbornly.
	Then she heard another voice.  This one was a different male voice.
Lois was becoming confused and threw her arms up in frustration.
	*I can't make anything out of what you're saying!  Tell me what's
going on!  I know I have to find my way out of here, but I don't know how,*
Lois thought with despair and anguish.
	With that, she sat down in a heap and clenched her fists in fury.
	*I'm never going to find my way back!*
	Clark literally jumped out of his seat when Lois squeezed his hand
with such force.
	"Mom!  Dad!  She's doing it again.  Look at this!"
	Both of his parents looked on as they saw her knuckles nearly turn
white from the sheer force of her grip.  They were both amazed and
overjoyed with the turn of events.
	"Lois?  Come on, honey, I know you can do it.  Just listen to my
voice.  Concentrate Lois.  You can do it.  You've got to get out of this,"
Clark said.
	Lois heard the voice that she recognized from the previous
instances.  She listened, deftly, but still only got part of what was said.
	"Come on. . .know you can do it. . .listen to my. . .concentrate. .
.got to get out. . ."
	*Get out of what?  I still don't know where I am and I don't know
how I am supposed to get out of here,*  she thought, angrily.
	She tried to listen for more voices but didn't hear any at the
moment.  Slowly, she got up from where she was sitting and began to walk
around the darkness to find her way out.  Lois blindly felt her way through
the eternal murkiness, holding her hands up to help her find her way. There
were no walls, no doors, nothing.  This really confused her because she
didn't know of any other way to get out of this place.
	*I just have to find the door.  That's all.  If I just knew where
to go I. . .Wait!  There's that voice again.*
	Lois concentrated intently on listening to the male voice but still
only got part of the message.
	"Got to concentrate. . .listen to my voice. . .won't leave you. .
.love you. . ."
	Lois stopped dead in her tracks and let the words penetrate her
very existence.  Suddenly, she felt all the anger and panic leave her body
and sensed it being replaced with a soothing calm.
	*That voice.  It's so soothing. . .so comforting.  What am I
running for?  The voice said just to follow it.  Keep talking, I'm
listening.*
	All of a sudden, Lois heard the voice more clearly than ever before.
	"Lois you are the most wonderful thing. . .I know I can't live
without you, so. . .please come back to me."
	Slowly, recognition crept into Lois' face.
	*CLARK!  It's Clark!  Oh, gosh, how could I have been so stupid?  I
should have known.  He's always there for me when I need him.  Clark!  I'm
here!  I'm trying to find you!*
	After hearing Clark's voice, Lois began running into the darkness
once again hoping to hear his voice get a little closer.  She glanced at
her surroundings as she ran and saw them turn from black to a dark gray.
It was getting a little easier to see, but Lois still couldn't distinguish
anything in her surroundings, but by instinct, she knew that she was going
in the right direction.
	*I know I'm headed in the right direction now.  I've just got to
find Clark.  Everything will be okay if I can just find Clark.*
	Suddenly, Lois heard the voice again and hearing how close it was,
was able to make out everything that was said this time.
	"Lois, honey, we all need you to come back to us.  We love you.
You just have to fight it.  Listen to me and fight it."
	Upon hearing this, she ran as hard as she could toward the voice
and watched as her surroundings whisked past her faster and faster.  She
noticed that everything was becoming lighter and that it was becoming
easier to run towards the voice that had so urgently called her.  Suddenly,
she felt as if she were flying and she noticed that she was being hurtled
toward a bright white light.  She closed her eyes tightly to keep the rays
from blinding her.  It got brighter with every second and suddenly. . .
	Lois woke with a lurch.  Her eyes flew open and she looked around
to find that she was in a white room that was very dimly lit.  She looked
to her left and saw a window and several machines next to the bed that she
lay in.  Then she looked to her right and saw him.  His face lit up and he
began to cry with tears of joy.  Even after all she'd been through, she
tried to smile at him, but found she didn't have the strength.  But Clark
could see it in her eyes.  He knew she had heard him and found it to be a
glorious moment.  Lois noticed that Clark looked up to his left, then his
right, and said something to someone.  She glanced upwards briefly and saw
Martha and Jonathan standing next to him.
	*They were here.  All of them were here to help me pull through.
Clark was right, I didn't have to do it alone.*
	After the nurse came in and saw that Lois was awake, she
immediately sent for her doctor and allotted the family a few more minutes
alone.
	"Lois.  I knew you could do it,"  Clark said as he lightly brushed
her cheek.
	For the first time since she had been awake, Lois began to cry.
She felt so relieved to be back with Clark but still didn't know where she
had been or how they had gotten separated; however, that didn't matter
right now.  As Clark wiped her tears away, she looked lovingly into his
eyes before shutting them completely and falling asleep once again.
	"Well, Mr. Kent,"  Lois' doctor said as he came out of ICU and
headed over to where he and his parents were sitting, "she seems to be
doing much, much better.  As you can see, she's already come out of the
coma.  She is stabilized, but she needs lots of rest and some time to learn
how to handle her diabetes,"  the doctor said.
	Clark nodded.
	"From what you told me, she wasn't exactly willing to face up to
it.  We'll help her deal with that and you, also.  It takes a team effort
in
something like this.  She'll need a lot of support from you until she gets
adjusted."
	"I understand that.  I had tried to be supportive, before, but she
was just so cynical about it that I couldn't seem to get through to her.  I
mean, I have never seen Lois back down from a fight,"  Clark said this last
sentence with a small chuckle.
	"Well, she proved that she was a fighter by coming out of this,"
the doctor said, as he stood.  "I've got to head back downstairs for a
while, but I'll be up a little later to check on her."
	"Thank you," Clark said as the doctor turned to leave.
	Clark sat back in his chair and breathed a sigh of relief.  His
mother patted his hand and Clark just smiled.
	"You're glad to have her back," Jonathan said.
	"Oh, yeah.  Very glad.  I don't know what I would do if I ever had
to live without her."
	He smiled at his parents and thought about how lucky he was to have
everything he did.  All was right with the world and Clark couldn't have
been happier.
	A few days later, Lois was in a regular hospital room and doing
much better.  The color was beginning to return to her cheeks, which put
Clark at ease.  Of course, he never left her side for a minute.  He loved
her way too much for that.  And even though Lois had been through so much,
she had never looked more beautiful to Clark than at the that moment.  He
glanced at her lovingly and held onto her hand with a firm gentleness.
	"I love you, Clark.  I'm really sorry for being so stubborn about
this,"  Lois stated. "I really know how to mess up, don't I?"  Lois spoke
softly.
	"Lois,"  Clark began.  "You didn't know what was going to happen,
but I do wish that you had reacted to the situation a little differently.
I wish you would have believed me when I said that it would be okay,"  he
said, brushing his hand over her cheek.  "Even if it wasn't going to be
okay, I was still going to be by your side no matter what happened.  I
would never leave you."
	Lois leaned into his touch, affectionately, and smiled delicately
at him.
	"I know you'd never leave me, but I can't believe that you have so
much faith in me.  I know what I can face up to and normally something huge
doesn't scare me, but this was. . .different somehow.  I guess because I've
seen how restricted a diabetic's life can be by seeing my family members
who had it, it caused me to kind of. . ."
	"Go off the deep end?" Clark asked.
	"Well, I wasn't that bad!" she exclaimed.
	Clark just looked at her, cocking an eyebrow.
	"What?"  Lois looked at him and then swatted his shoulder.
	He doubled over as if he was hurt and Lois just laughed.
	"I love you, Lois and I will always have an enormous faith in you
because of that love,"  Clark said, after he sat up again.
	Lois looked at him intently and saw the love that they shared in
his eyes as he saw it in hers.  As she fully lay back against her pillows
and sighed deeply, Clark noticed the tiredness in her face and suggested
that she get some rest.  Naturally, she objected, but to Clark's surprise,
within minutes, she was asleep.  A huge smile spread across his face as he
glanced at his sleeping wife, knowing that together they could accomplish
anything.

THE END