"Dad?"
Clark woke up from his coma, the first thing he saw was Jonathan sitting beside him.
"You're awake, Clark."
Seeing Clark awake, Jonathan quickly came over.
"Are you okay? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
"I'm fine."
Clark shook his head to clear his groggy mind.
"How long did I sleep, Dad?"
"One day."
Jonathan touched Clark's forehead and covered him with a blanket, "Erik said you both were affected by the spaceship's radiation. You're very weak now."
"I just feel powerless, like my abilities disappeared overnight."
Clark stretched out his hand and gently made a fist, but then unwillingly loosened it, looking dejected.
"Sorry, I can't help you with anything right now, Dad."
"No, you shouldn't feel bad about this, Clark."
Jonathan patted Clark's shoulder, "This isn't your responsibility."
With a stubbly beard and red eyes, Jonathan stood up and looked out into the night, "I should be the one apologizing. I haven't fulfilled my duties as a father or a husband to you and Martha."
"I shouldn't have kept the spaceship a secret from you, Clark. I always hoped to find the right time to tell you everything. I used to blame and not understand why Martha went into the basement, but I was deceiving myself too. I was just as afraid as she was. I was afraid you and Erik would leave."
"I understand, Dad."
Clark was very understanding of his father's feelings, "I heard your conversation with Erik. If I wasn't mature enough, knowing these things might not have been good for me, right?"
Despite shivering uncontrollably, Clark got up, wrapped in a blanket, and walked over to his father.
"Clark, you...?"
Jonathan looked at his eldest son in slight surprise.
"I used to think I'd be treated differently. Sometimes I envied Erik for having more freedom, other times I envied him for knowing some truths earlier than me, but..."
Clark's throat hurt, and he started coughing.
"Cough cough...!"
Seeing Clark coughing, Jonathan quickly came over and gently patted his back.
After a while, Clark stopped coughing, took a deep breath, and said to Jonathan, "I know you and Mom always love me, right? To protect me and not let me get hurt, I've always tasted this bitter yet sweet medicine."
Clark hid in the upstairs hallway, hearing the true feelings and pain in Jonathan's voice when talking about him, he understood his father a bit more.
"Mom always told me to put myself in others' shoes. When you feel hurt, maybe the other person is already hurting."
Clark spoke solemnly to his father, "I couldn't understand this before, but now, I get it a bit."
Jonathan was silent for a moment, his eyes slightly red, and he patted Clark's shoulder, "I'm really glad you think this way, Clark. If your mom heard, she'd be glad too."
"How is Mom?"
Clark coughed again and remembered his mother's situation, asking Jonathan.
Jonathan sighed and didn't answer immediately.
"Dad?"
"It's not good. Helen said her condition is getting worse, and there's no best treatment method."
Clark's expression immediately turned tense.
"You too, Clark, you're the same."
Clark interrupted his father, "Don't worry about me. We have to help Mom. Maybe we can find a way."
"I won't give up on my family."
Jonathan took a deep breath, as if making a decision, and took a coat from the hanger, heading out, "If we need a miracle, I'll go find one!"
"You think the spaceship can cure Mom and me, Dad?"
Jonathan opened the door and shook his head, "I don't know, but I'll grasp the last hope. The doctors can't help you, so let me find a way. I'll go to Pete's house, maybe I can find a way to open the spaceship."
He showed Clark an octagonal metal piece and a rectangular stamp.
"This is our only miracle, the clue to opening the spaceship."
After calming himself a bit, Jonathan walked forward.
"I'll go with you."
"You stay here, Clark."
Jonathan stopped his eldest son, "You're too weak. Go back to bed and rest. Erik might be back soon, stay home and wait for him."
With that, he got into the car, started it, and drove away from the farm.
Boom!
Erik landed on the farm ground from the sky.
Wrapped in a blanket, Clark heard the noise, opened the living room door, and saw Erik walking towards him in the moonlight, holding a metal staff.
"Hey, Erik."
Clark called out to Erik, "Where were you?"
"Dealing with something."
Erik walked over, glancing at his coughing brother.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but Mom's situation isn't good."
Clark, though curious about what Erik was holding, quickly put it aside and talked about Martha.
"Helen said her condition is getting worse. Dad went to Pete's house to see if he can open the spaceship. I..."
Feeling a tightness in his chest, Clark paused and punched the door frame, saying in frustration, "I want to help, but I can't do anything right now."
"Clearly, you've been affected by the spaceship's radiation too."
Erik walked upstairs, "I think the best help you can give now is to stay in bed and rest, not cause trouble."
Entering his room, Erik placed the cosmic staff on the desk, holding the handle, trying to activate it.
Since his future self used it, it meant he had the qualifications and permissions to use it.
He closed his eyes, focusing his mental energy on the staff, trying to activate it with his mind.
But no matter how he tried to activate it with his mental and willpower, it didn't work.
The staff was like an ordinary stick, sitting plainly on the desk.
It didn't emit any light or vibration, as if it wasn't the source of the previous explosion.
Sitting in the chair, Erik looked out at the hospital in the distance.
His mother's face on the hospital bed was getting worse, her body functions gradually weakening.
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