as heavy as can be

He disappears for two weeks. No, that’s not true. He’s everywhere. He disappears from Lois’ life. He doesn’t call, doesn’t write, doesn’t reach out for her. The moment he left her arms in the destroyed train station, she lost him. He was there between her arms, his face against her belly, her hands soothingly brushing his hair and, for a brief second, she felt like he belonged to her, was hers to claim. But then he was gone, and the truth sunk in. He wasn’t hers anymore. He never was. He belongs to this planet, to its people. There were more important things to do than mourn, than hold her, and Lois knew that. She fears, although she will never recognize it, that there will always be more important things in his life.