Sick Day

by Sostenuto

Summary: Jason’s unfortunate day leads to an unexpected meeting with his favorite superhero.

Jason White wasn’t feeling so well today.

Well, Jason knew that he was a little sick all the time... the kind of sick where you have to take your medicine everyday. He felt worse than usual, though. It wasn’t even the kind of sick that he needed his inhaler for, though he still had his trusty inhaler in his pocket. It was the kind of sick that made him dizzy, that made him want to lay his head down on the carpeted classroom floor.

But he didn’t think his teacher wanted him to lay his head down. She might think he was bored and wanted to fall asleep. He was one of the good kids, even though he missed the most days of school because he was sick a lot. It had gotten better, though. He didn’t miss as many school days as last year.

“Rhinoceros beetles are considered the strongest creatures in the world. They can lift up to eight-hundred and fifty times their body weight!“

Jason shifted and clutched his forehead with his hands. Looking over at his first-grade class in his ill state, he noticed that nobody else had any trouble paying attention to the video. Tanya was lying down on her stomach, with her hands propping up her head. Matthew sat with his legs crossed, his eyes fixed on the bug on TV.

Jason’s eyes wandered past his classmates. The commentary from the show had become merely background fuzz to him. A few strips of sunlight on the floor were even brighter than the TV. Jason didn’t know why, but he really wished Ms. Smith didn’t pull the blinds down to darken the room. In fact, if he could just move behind everyone to sit in the scarce light... for some strange reason, he knew it would make him feel a little better.

Jason debated with himself whether to travel or not. Everyone else was completely captivated by the show, and him getting up would be kind of out of the way... not to mention the constant throb in his head very much discouraged movement. Something else made him want to move there, though.

Before he could make a decision, the lights were turned on, and everyone groaned before getting up to return to their assigned seats. Jason sighed, his hand still at his forehead. He would have to see the school nurse.

---

“Well, you don’t have a temperature at all, young man.”

Jason groggily blinked up at the nurse. He almost didn’t have any willpower to disagree. He felt sick. Wasn’t that enough proof?

The nurse looked at him doubtfully for a moment, her arms crossed and the thermometer in her hand, but then her expression turned softer and her shoulders slumped a little. “However, I know you wouldn’t lie about how you feel. I‘ll call your mother and see what she says.”

---

Jason’s mommy closed the car door and got out her keys. Jason rested his head on his door, looking out the window to (unfortunately) now cloudy skies. She leaned over and rubbed his forehead with her hand a bit, then kissed him on the head. “I’m sorry you aren’t feeling well, munchkin,” she said sadly. Her cell phone rang.

“What? I thought Perry said the casino report wasn't due until tomorrow!“

Jason could faintly hear someone talking back through the phone in response.

“Listen, Jason is sick and since Richard is out of town I have to take him home with me. I can’t go back to the Planet now!”

Some more murmuring from the phone. Jason’s mommy hung up the phone and sighed.

“I’m really sorry Jason, but something came up and we have to go back to work. I know you‘re not feeling well but we won‘t be there long. I‘ll make sure of that.”

Jason knew his mommy would try her best.

---

Jason really didn’t appreciate all of the noise from the newsroom. With his arms locked around her neck, his mommy guided them safely through the frenzy to her desk. Since she started gathering some papers and was talking to Mr. Jimmy, Jason found himself looking for some place to sit down. Looking about, he headed for the nearest window. He pulled an errant chair against the window and planted himself on it. He leaned his head against the glass and looked to the sky. Where was that sun? He felt like he couldn’t breathe, but in a completely different way that had nothing to do at all with his lungs, and he knew his trusty inhaler wouldn’t help him with this one.

“Boy Lois, he looks really sick,” he heard Mr. Jimmy say.

Mommy kneeled next to Jason and put a hand on his forehead. She didn’t look happy.

“He doesn’t have a temperature. The school nurse said he isn’t having any kind of allergic reaction. Maybe it’s some bug he got from school... does your tummy hurt? You don’t itch, do you?”

Jason shook his head slightly and groggily pointed to his head. Mommy sighed, then leaned in close to speak softly to him.

“Listen, munchkin. Jimmy and I have to go to a meeting for a little while. Will you be all right here? I promise to take you home once it’s over, and then you can take a long nap. I‘m so sorry about you having to be here.”

After giving a long glare to Mr. Jimmy (who looked a little scared) she gave him another kiss on the forehead. “I love you,” she murmured in his ear. Jason made an attempt to smile. When she walked away, he faintly heard her talking about taking him to the hospital if he didn't feel better by the next day.

Jason looked up to the sky again, but nearly lost hope on the possibility of the sun shining through the clouds. He closed his eyes and settled with having the window to lean against and the chair to curl up in. He turned his forehead towards the sky just in case, though.

Jason came back to reality when he realized someone was crouched next to him. He halfway opened his tired eyes and looked over, wondering if mommy had already finished her meeting.

It was Mr. Clark.

Mr. Clark was staring at him very closely. In fact, he had never remembered Mr. Clark looking at him in such a way before. Even Jason knew he was a fidgety man, but he was very, very still right then. Jason furrowed his eyebrows. Mr. Clark slowly raised a hand and gently touched his hair. His palm moved down to his forehead, but Jason was so surprised at how warm his palm was that he pulled his head back a little and blinked at his hand in confusion.

Mr. Clark looked behind him. When he turned back around, he seemed to be unsure about something. He glanced down at his watch. Jason went back to leaning his head against the window.

But then Jason felt Mr. Clark slip his hands under his arms and lift him up. Jason didn’t argue, since he soon found out that Mr. Clark’s shoulder was really warm, too. He didn’t even pay much attention to the fact that Mr. Clark was walking very quickly somewhere with him in his arms.

He did notice, however, that Mr. Clark got into an elevator and they went up way faster than an elevator should.

---

Jason wanted very much to raise his head and look at the face of man holding him, but they were going up really quickly (which was scaring him a little!) and the man was holding him so very tightly to his chest. It didn’t take long for them to stop going up so fast, but by then, Jason had already correctly guessed whose arms he was in.

Jason had so many things going on in his head at once, he really didn’t know what to think. There was the reality that he was really high up in the sky (above all of the clouds, even!), the fact that Superman was holding him, and the idea that Mr. Clark was Superman.

Well, Jason had already guessed the last one a long time ago, but the other two details were enough to make him feel even more dizzy than before. Superman started talking, though, in a really nice way that made him so sure that everything would be okay.

"Jason... look. Look up at the sun," he quietly commanded.

As confused as he was, Jason complied. He held up his hand, prepared to cover his eyes, but was awed to find that the sun truly wasn't too bright to look at. Jason started feeling really warm, a warmth that spread all the way from his fingertips to his toes. His gasp led to his surprise at how reliable and healthy his lungs felt, and the pain in his head completely dissipated. He looked down at one of his hands, completely awestruck by the feeling of pure strength in it. His eyes darted up to Superman in confusion.

Superman didn't say anything, he just smiled at him, but Jason entreated him with his gaze. "It looked like you wanted some sunlight," he merely explained. Jason looked down, a little embarrassed. That was true.

But then Superman astonished Jason the most when he leaned forward and kissed him softly on the forehead, then enclosed him in a tight hug. "Let’s get you back to your mother, before she realizes you're gone."

They descended back towards the Earth, and this time, Jason could marvel at the sight.

"You always knew, didn't you?" Superman asked after a while.

Jason tore his glance from the view over to Superman, then nodded his head slowly.

"You're Mr. Clark," he stated simply.

"I trust you, Jason. Can this be our secret? Even from your mother?"

Jason blinked, then absentmindedly looked back down at his hand. He was so thankful for Superman making him feel so much better. It almost felt like he could do anything. He nodded. After all, he trusted Superman too.

They landed on the roof of mommy's work. Superman set him down, then glanced down for a moment.

"Your mother isn't back from her meeting yet. You'd best get back as fast as you can, before she‘s finished."

Jason nodded. He started to turn around, but a thought stopped him.

"Wait!" He shouted. Superman wasn't gone just yet. He ran to him and gave him the biggest hug he could muster. "Thank you," he said sincerely. Superman looked a little surprised, but hugged him back.

"No problem, Jason."

Jason stepped back and gave him one last grateful look, then started on his way back downstairs.

---

When Jason's mommy got back from her meeting, she looked very worried when she realized that he wasn't in the chair next to the window anymore.

"Mommy!" Jason called. She turned, and relief visibly spread to her face when she saw that he was standing--looking seemingly perfectly fine--next to her desk. She quickly moved over to him and gave him a big hug.

"My God, Jason. You're burning up!" She exclaimed. She put a hand to his forehead.

"I feel great, Mom. Everything's okay." Jason had no clue how to really convince his mom, but he didn't care so much. His mind was still up in the sky.

"Really? You feel all right?" She asked anxiously. She grabbed his chin and checked him over.

"Yeah, I feel fine." He shrugged, a content smile on his face.

His mommy held his gaze for a moment, then unexpectedly glanced over to the window. She walked over to it and even looked up to the sky. She gazed over at Jason, with a suspicious expression on her face.

Jason was sure his mom had guessed what had happened.

"Jason," she admonished. "You didn't play sick for the nurse, did you?"

Jason's eyes widened, realizing that that was exactly what it looked like.

"No!" He insisted. He shook his head. Mommy, of course, took his horror at her mistake for shock at her figuring out the truth. The look on her face said it all. She didn't believe him one bit.

"Come on, Jason. Let's go home," she sighed, and took his hand. Jason scratched his head and gave up. There was no other way to explain how all of a sudden he had gotten so much better.

He couldn’t help it, though. Before he left, he wondered if Mr. Clark was back yet. He looked around and saw him sitting over at his desk. He even caught his eye.

Superman was playing Mr. Clark again, but he winked at Jason.

FIN

Author’s Note: I hope you enjoyed this. I don’t really write (as you may have guessed), but I had this idea in my head for the longest time. Please review. It would really make my day. :)