Chapter 9- The Risk

                                    

                                          
Clark-
                          
"Rosie, please," I begged, my throat suddenly becoming tight. "I'm sorry," I croaked. "I made a mistake-" I clamped my mouth shut as my super hearing picked up an emergency transmission.
                          
'Mayday! Mayday! Engine 29, we've got six guys trapped inside and they're losing air fast!'
                          
"Damn it," I cursed. "I've gotta go."
                          
"So go," she huffed. "No body's stopping you. Not anymore."
                          
I turned back to face her before flashing off, a look of pain etched on my face. Her words felt like someone had ripped my heart out of my chest and I had to wonder, was this really the end?
                          
***
                          
I'm unsure of how long I had been there, but I currently sat on the edge of the bed staring ahead at the partially empty closet. The bathroom was also bare, along with the dresser drawers that had been left open in haste and emptied of her things. With elbows propped on my knees, my head fell into my hands as the reality of what happened finally sunk in.
                          
She left me-- Rose had actually left me.
                          
She had even quit her job at the Daily Planet and from the looks of things, she had no intentions of ever coming back. I stood up and angrily slammed my fist into the wall next to the closet doors. As plaster and large chunks of drywall fell to the floor, I donned my Superman suit and buried myself into the persona. 
                          
I knew she had been disgruntled for some time. She had said it herself, she didn't think I could love her and be Superman at the same time, but I had choosen to ignore it. I had taken her love for granted, and now she was gone. Clark Kent was nobody without Rose Montgomery. Maybe I should just make the switch permanently to Superman.
                          
"Clark?"
                          
Without even realizing it, I had flown back to Kansas. My Mother descended the steps of the front porch and threw her arms around me. 
                          
"It's good to see you, Son," she commented as she hugged my stiff form. "But is everything alright?"
                          
As she held me at arms length, she inspected my face and I was certain that even if I had tried better, I still wouldn't have been able to hide my broken heart from her.
                          
"She left me, Mom." My voice cracked as I finally said the words out loud. "I made the same mistake one too many times. I knew I was taking a risk, and she finally left."
                          
"Oh, Clark. I'm so sorry," she muttered as she tried to comfort me. "How long has she been gone?"
                          
"Two days," I croaked. "But it feels like a lifetime."
                          
"Maybe she just needs some time," my Mom suggested, but I knew that wasn't the case.
                          
"Everything's gone," I said shaking my head. "She packed up everything that was hers and left."
                          
"I know it's my own fault," I confessed. "I couldn't figure out how to balance being Clark Kent and Superman and now I've lost her." 
                          
"That girl loves you, Clark," my Mother insisted. "And she's probably just as confused by all of this as you are. Rose knows that Clark Kent loves her," she explained. "But it's Superman that broke her heart."
                          
With a renewed sense of determination, I followed my Mom into the house and headed up to my old room. I hadn't slept at all the past few days and I knew my Mother was right. I needed to get a good nights sleep and in the morning the two of us could come up with a way for me to win Rose back.
                          
Surprisngly, I had fallen into a pretty peaceful sleep and was startled awake the next morning to the ringing of the house phone.
                          
"Clark! It's for you," my Mom hollered up to me.