Miranda rubbed the small of her back as she closed the case which held the free weights.  She was glad her shift was almost over; it'd been a long week.  She looked forward to tomorrow and the start of her long weekend off. 

Hearing the soft sounds of laughter she looked out toward the patio, smiling as she saw its source.  They sat as they always sat, Clark's hand slung over his shoulder as they rested after Lex's therapy session.   

Even though his leukemia was in remission now, he'd still been left weak, his muscles wasted after months of fighting the disease.  The passive-resistive benefits of their almost daily swims helped.  She'd been pleased to see the progress he'd made over the last few weeks.  They'd both fought so hard to make it this far. 

She'd been a PT long enough to know that most of it had to do with the love they had for one another.  She could teach Lex everything in the book and it wouldn't matter if he hadn't had the drive to get better.  He'd been surrounded by love all through his fight, not only from Clark but also from Clark's parents, their friends. 

She only saw them during the day but the night nurses had told her that he'd never been left alone, especially during the worst times.  Someone was always by his side, talking to him, touching him.  Just making sure he knew he was loved, that he was needed.   

Sarah has said that there were many nights that Clark never slept at all, even when they'd moved a cot into the room for him to use.  She said that Clark had laughed once, saying that Lex was sneaky, that as long as he stayed awake he couldn't try and pull any 'fast ones'.  Sarah told her that it'd hurt to see the fear he'd tried to hide as he said the words. 

But, somehow, they'd made it.  Lex had beaten incredible odds and there they sat, smiling in the sun.  Even with all of the advances that they'd made, they still lost so many patients.  That's why there was such a problem with burnout in their work.   Thankfully, this was one of the times that the good guys won.  She smiled again as she turned away from the door, giving them their privacy.

fin