As soon as Clark had gathered her into his arms Lois had wrapped her own around him, holding on with the little strength that she had left. Once the tears started it didn’t seem like they would ever stop and she pressed her face into his shoulder, all thought of trying to calm herself down forgotten as they traveled through the Fortress. Lois didn’t know what was happening anymore, too swept up by her loss to make sense of anything that was occurring around her, and for once she didn’t try to push through the pain and focus on some small part of the world to overcome all that she was feeling.
She was grateful that Clark didn’t leave. There would be some point where Lois knew she would want time alone, but this moment wasn’t it. She needed him there, needed to feel his heartbeat beneath her ear and his arms wrapped around her, steadying her as much as they could while she cried her heart out.
Eventually her tears stopped falling and her sobbing was replaced by hiccuping breaths, too tired to cry anymore. Her lack of sleep and the emotional turmoil she had been through was catching up with her, and Lois closed her eyes, not really seeing the point of keeping them open. It was hard for her to see the point to anything at that moment.
“Clark,” she finally said, voice raw and foreign to her own ears. Lois didn’t like how scared she sounded, how vulnerable she was in that moment. She desperately wanted to get back to the woman that she was, to gather all of her strength around her and keep going, but she was exhausted and that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon. She was barely staying awake as it was and knew it wouldn’t take long before she fell asleep. She also knew she didn't want to wake up in some strange room by herself. “Please don't go.”