Title: The View From the Nurses' Station
Author: razorbackgal0225
Rating: PG-13, to be on the safe side
Summary: The reunion of Lois and Clark, as seen through the eyes of a bystander
Disclaimer: Everything Smallville, Superman and related paraphernalia belongs to someone that is not me. I own only the original character.
A/N: This is going to be a long note, so be warned. This is my first attempt at a Clois work. I am a relatively new Smallville watcher, getting roped into the latest season. I'm now working my way through the old seasons. So, if I mess something in the timeline or a character's 'voice,' I apologize. However, I have become obsessed with Clois, especially since "Bride" and the result is this story. Please be gentle, I'm still feeling my way through this fascinating relationship. Thanks.
Part 1
"Here you go Lois. Fresh and piping hot," I said as I handed the cop of coffee to the young woman still yawning in the chair.
"Oh, thanks, Jenny, you didn't have to do that," she answered. I laughed to myself at her comment, the same she had made every morning for the last couple of weeks. We had developed a pattern. I would visit the coffee shop next door on my way in to work. And since her cousin-in-law's room was always my first stop, I would bring Lois as cup as well. This morning, I could tell she would need it, since she had obviously spent the night in Jimmy's room again. This was evident from both the slightly darker circles under her eyes and the still unmade cot up against the wall. I was disappointed in this fact, knowing that I would have to report it soon and he wasn't going to like that.
Jimmy Olsen was a lucky man. His internal injuries had been life-threateningly serious and many times in the first twelve hours he was in Star City General, we had almost lost him. But he was young and strong and now was in ICU, heavily monitored and unconscious. I had assured Lois that when his body was healed, it would let his mind know that it was okay to wake up. I told her that it was actually better for him to still be in a coma; that way his body would rest. What I didn't tell her was that I considered his state a blessing in disguise. Knowing his wife was missing would definitely be detrimental to his recovery.
I began my routine of checking Jimmy's vital signs and recording everything on his chart. If our pattern held, I was about to find out what sort of mood she was in. Since she had been a permanent fixture in the ICU, I had learned how to read Lois Lane's moods. Some days, she was more cheerful, chatting about current events, music, movies, whatever came into her mind. That happened occasionally, generally after she had retired to the penthouse across the street for a decent night's rest. Other times, and unfortunately more often, she was quiet, watching over Jimmy with sad, haunted eyes.
But once in the three weeks, she had talked about what happened to put her cousin's new husband in the hospital. That day, she sat in the chair next to Jimmy's bed, held his hand and told me about the horror that had been their wedding reception. I had heard the official version from the papers and the news, about the drugged up psycho that had attacked the guests and the groom, before carrying off the bride to who knows where. The story from Lois was basically the same, except that it starred some strange monster. A monster that had destroyed her little cousin's fairy-tale wedding and left Lois holding vigil over the still unconscious Jimmy. A monster that apparently still had Chloe.
As I wrote down Jimmy's slowly improving blood pressure, Lois asked quietly, "Have you ever been in love, Jenny?"
Her question caught me entirely by surprise. With the exception of relaying how she had come to be here, Lois wasn't one for sharing personal details. I knew the basics; where she lived, where she worked, her friends' names, but that was about it. As such, it took me a minute to respond.
"Yes, I have. Why do you ask?" I turned to face the young woman and noted that she was staring out the window. At my answer, she met my gaze.
"Did it work out?" I could tell this was going to be another rare glimpse into Lois's inner workings.
I shook my head. My sad story had happened long enough ago that it no longer caused pain to discuss. "No. It turned out I was in love with an image of a guy and not actually the guy himself."
She nodded in agreement, her eyes now focused on the floor. "I know what you mean," she said, her voice a little sad. "I have the opposite problem. I had this guy pegged as someone that I would never have romantic feelings for, and then wham! All of a sudden I realize that my idea of who I should fall for was all wrong. And that this guy might be it."
I waited a minute, making sure she was finished before adding, "Does this have anything to do with the phone calls you keep avoiding?" She looked up at me sharply, surprised by my question. I shrugged. "I keep hearing the same ring not getting answered, but you talk to every one else when they call." This was true; from my post at the nurse's station I could hear her phone and some of her conversations. I didn't listen on purpose, but on quiet days, it was hard to avoid. I knew she had talked to her father, her boss, Mr. Queen and a Senator, but there was one person that always got her voicemail.
"Yeah," she finally answered. "I just can't handle talking to him right now. Everything's still a little too fresh."
"What happened?" I asked, my curiosity getting the best of me. "Did he cheat on you or something?"
She chuckled humorlessly at my question. "Far from it. For one thing, I don't think cheating is in Clark's scout manual." Ah, so it was the elusive Clark that she was talking about. He had been mentioned a couple times in passing, her voice always breaking slightly when she said his name. "And another, you can't cheat on someone when you're not with them."
I bit my lip and considered my options. I could smile, offer a cliché or two and go about my business, leaving her to her musings or I could risk offending her by prying. As I had my 'orders' to keep him informed on how she was doing, I decided I was only doing as I had been told. And I had come to like Lois and wanted to help her through this mess. So I pushed on.
"So does Clark know how you feel?"
"No," her answer was quick and forceful. Then she appeared to reassess. "Well, I don't think so. God, I hope not. Not after what happened." I raised an eyebrow, hoping she would continue. "We almost had a…moment. At Chloe's wedding." She waved her hand in an effort to reduce the gravity of her prior statement. "We were interrupted by the reappearance of his ex. Lana." Her voice was filled with more than a little bitterness as she said the name. "And when she showed up, I was pushed to the back burner. Yet again."
I knew with her confession why I had been given my extra assignment. It wasn't just her missing cousin that was his concern; he obviously knew that she was contending with a cracked, if not broken heart. That was the reason he was worried about her mental well-being. Even someone as strong as Lois had her limits.
"So," I finally replied. "You think something might happen between them?"
She snorted, rather unladylike, but completely Lois-like. "Of course. They've broken up and gotten back together more times than Guns 'N Roses. She's probably settling back into the farmhouse now. Even though," she was building up steam now, anger evident in her tone. "Even though she broke up with him via DVD the last time. I mean, who does that?"
"A DVD?" I asked, shocked. I didn't know this Lana girl, but I already didn't like her. Breaking up through a recording seemed unnecessarily harsh, not to mention cowardly.
"Yeah, a DVD. And here she was supposed to be Miss Perfect and Sweet and she pulls that crap. Sometimes, I just want to…" she trailed off, then gave me a sheepish smile. "Sorry. I think I might have some pent-up hostility towards her."
I smiled back. "Sounds like she deserves some healthy anger thrown her direction."
Her momentary cheer wore off quickly. "It doesn't matter now anyway. She'll feed him a sob story, he'll buy it hook, line and sinker and everything will go back to the way it was before." She appeared to be talking more to herself than to me. "And after all the steps he'd taken to get over her. To become the man that everyone knows he should be." She shook her head, as if to clear those thoughts away. "But what do I know? I've got a worse track record than anyone when it comes to love."
I thought for a moment before I answered, knowing that this might be the only time she would open up this much. "Well, think about this. What if you're wrong? I mean the whole DVD thing could have been the straw that broke the camel's back. And," I paused, making certain that she was paying attention before I finished. "I can guarantee that you're not ever going to know what, if anything happened between them if you don't answer your phone. Which, by the way, I'm guessing he's not calling 3 times a day to tell you that he and Lana are back together." Her eyes hit the floor again and a look of embarrassment graced her face. "Look, Lois, I don't know you very well, and it's really none of my business. But you don't seem like the type of girl that runs away from much. And avoiding him smacks of running away. I'm not saying you should write him a love poem or anything, but letting him reach more than just your voicemail might be a good way to start." I took a deep breath, as I wasn't used to making long speeches of unsolicited advice. "He's meeting you halfway by calling. That's gotta be a good sign."
"Thanks Jenn," she said softly, as I left the room. I didn't want to overstay my welcome and I had other patients to check on. If I had guessed Lois's personality correctly, this was the most she had talked about her feelings in ages, and I wanted to give her time to recover.
A couple of hours later, after I had finished my rounds and was stationed at the nurses' desk, Lois emerged from Jimmy's room. I smiled warmly as she approached me. "I'm going to the diner around the corner and grab something to eat." I nodded in encouragement; it was a good idea for her to get out of the hospital. "If anything happens…"
"I'll call you." Lois was the primary contact for Jimmy, so any changes in his condition would be relayed to her first, if she wasn't there. She walked slowly to the elevator and disappeared from view. I could tell she was doing some heavy thinking, as Lois was never slow in anything she did. I hoped I had helped her; she was a nice girl and deserved happiness, especially with all the madness that was currently surrounding her.
Not two minutes after she had left, I heard one of her distinctive ring tones echo through the quiet ward. I frowned, realizing just how out of it Lois must have been, as she had never, to my knowledge, gone anywhere without her phone. I crossed my fingers that it wasn't Clark calling and missing her yet again, but before I could complete that thought, my phone rang.
"Star City General, ICU, this is Jennifer speaking."
"Hi Nurse Jennifer." I bit my tongue, trying to tamper my response to the easily recognizable smooth voice on the other end of the line. It belonged to the largest donor to the hospital, with a wing and a fellowship named after his family. His penthouse was where Lois was staying, when I managed to convince her to abandon the lumpy cot I had set up in Jimmy's room. The man whose request had caused my boss to ask me to pay special attention to Lois and make sure that she was doing alright.
"Hello Mr. Queen, how are you today?" I prayed that I didn't sound like a teenager at a boy band concert as I answered his normal greeting. Oliver Queen had been calling once a day since Lois and Jimmy had been our guests. At first, I had felt awkward when he asked how she was doing. It seemed like spying or something equally as unsavory until I realized that he was honestly concerned about her. And a few days later, I understood why he had to resort to asking me, because Lois was always 'fine' if anyone questioned her. I had been giving him updates once a day for the last couple of weeks, to make my boss happy and to give Mr. Queen some peace of mind.
"I'm doing great," he responded. I blinked in surprise; that wasn't a normal response from him. His answers were always more generic. I didn't have much time to consider this, as he continued. "I was trying to reach Lois and she doesn't seem to be answering her phone."
So it hadn't been Clark that was calling. "She stepped out to get something to eat and I believe she left her phone here." Part of me wanted to tell Oliver that Jimmy's condition was unchanged, just so Lois wouldn't be forced to relay the obvious, but I was bound by patient confidentiality, and he wasn't a relative.
He huffed impatiently on the other end of the call. "That's too bad. I have some fantastic news for her, but I guess she's going to find out in person." Again, I was shocked. Any news at all regarding the extended Lane/Olsen family had been hard to come by recently, much less fantastic, as he called it. "If she gets back before she has visitors, will you have her call me?"
"Of course, Mr. Queen," I said politely, covering my confusion. I was at a complete loss as to what he was discussing, but I didn't want him let him know I was that interested. I was the unit nurse, not the hospital gossip columnist.
"Thanks Jennifer." With that, he hung up, leaving me staring at the phone like a crazy person. I was so involved in deciphering his cryptic message that I didn't hear the elevator ding as it opened and delivered passengers.
"Hi, we're looking for Jimmy Olsen's room." The request caught me by surprise, so much so that I flinched visibly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," the voice apologized. I glanced up to see who could possibly be asking for Jimmy and then had to stop myself from flat out staring.
He was absolutely gorgeous. Black hair, blue eyes and a nice smile, all wrapped up in one tall, broad-shouldered package. He couldn't have more than 22 or 23, but his eyes looked older; like he had experienced more in those years than most people. Those same eyes were darting around the waiting room and nurses' station, as if he were looking for someone. At one point, I could swear he was trying to see through the walls into the rooms next door.
"Mr. Olsen is in Intensive Care and can only be visited by relatives." I didn't add that I knew the only family member that had been around and he wasn't it. That's when the girl standing behind him moved into view. She was a good foot shorter than him, with blonde hair and green eyes that were filled with tears.
"Intensive care?" Her voice cracked a little as she repeated my statement. "Oh my poor…" her voice trailed off as she placed her hand over her mouth, an effort to stop a sob from escaping. The hand she used was her left, and I saw the wedding ring on her finger.
My breath caught in my throat. "Please tell me your Chloe," I said in a rush, searching her face for any family resemblance with Lois. I didn't see any immediately, but my statement was confirmed anyway.
"Yes, I'm Chloe Olsen," she replied, tears forming in her eyes. "Can you tell me how my husband's doing?"
For thirty seconds, I forgot that I didn't really know these people. I forgot that I had only met Lois three weeks ago. I didn't remember that I had been taking care of Jimmy for that same amount of time. All I could think was that Lois's little cousin was safe and that maybe this would help my favorite patient recover a little quicker. I blamed my next actions on that.
I was out of my chair and around the desk in a flash, throwing my arms around the petite blonde. "Oh thank God you're okay!" I hugged her, not paying attention to the strange look that her friend was giving me. "Lois has been so worried about you, but now you're here and you're safe!" I pulled back and gave a quick once over, my nurse's instincts kicking in. "You are okay, aren't you? Have you been examined by a doctor?"
Chloe smiled nervously at me, throwing a confused glance at the man standing next to her. "Yes, I have and I'm fine." She took a step away from me and I realized that I had practically attacked a complete stranger. "I'd really like to see my husband though."
I had the grace to blush, knowing they must have thought I was crazy. "I'm sorry, it's just that," I paused, grabbing Jimmy's chart so that I could give Chloe the full picture, "I've heard a lot about you and I know how much you mean to Lois. I'm just glad you're back." I started towards Jimmy's room. "And now, I'll start acting like a normal person and take you to your husband."
Chloe nodded happily. She began to follow me and then asked, "Is it okay for Clark to come too? He's not technically family, but he might as well be." I tried my best to not react as I turned around. So this was the infamous Clark. He smiled sweetly at me; I was sure to convince me to let him see Jimmy and I had to remind myself to breathe. Now I could fully appreciate Lois's dilemma. If I were around Clark very much, I would have been half in love with him too. As I was thinking, he narrowed his eyes, as if he were concentrating on me.
"Are you Jennifer?" I knew my face must have registered my surprised, since he flashed that smile at me again. "Oliver's mentioned you. He said you've been great with Lois and Jimmy."
I pushed that information to the back of my mind, telling myself not to dissect that comment at the moment. "Yes, I'm Jennifer. And if it's okay with you Mrs. Olsen, Clark can see Jimmy for a few minutes." I led them into Jimmy's room and set about explaining his condition to his wife and friend.
This took about half an hour, Chloe peppering my summary with multiple questions and an occasional exclamation of sorrow. I broke the news that Jimmy hadn't regained consciousness yet as gently as possible, watching as Clark pulled her into a hug when she broke down. As I had with Lois, I tried to reassure her and give her hope that this was for the best, so that his body could heal. When I was finished, I left her at Jimmy's bedside, in the chair Lois had recently abandoned, holding her husband's hand and talking to him softly. Clark followed me back to the nurse's station, his blue eyes filled with worry.
"Do you happen to know where Lois is?" he asked quietly.
Before I could answer his question, the elevator door dinged again. The voice of the latest arrival echoed down the hall, announcing her presence. "Jenn, you won't believe this, I left my phone here. I hope it hasn't been bothering…" her voice trailed off as she approached the desk. I watched, fascinated, as she saw him. "Clark," she said, a little breathlessly.
"Lois," he replied. I bit back my grin of anticipation. I had a feeling I was in for a show.
I sat at my desk, entering patient information into the computer, but keeping one eye on the room across the hall. I was waiting as patiently as I could to get a chance to talk to Lois privately. Since she had returned from lunch, she hadn't been alone once, especially after her joyful reunion with Chloe. Watching the cousins greet each other had brought tears to my eyes and I could understand why neither one of them were quite ready to be separated. However, I had something important to discuss with Lois and I was hoping to get a word with her before much longer.
The topic of that discussion was standing near the door of Jimmy's room, his hands shoved in his pockets, smiling slightly at the girls' chatter. I noticed he hadn't let either Lois or Chloe out of his sight since they had arrived and doubted he would any time soon, causing me to wonder to what lengths I would have to go for that private talk with Lois. Luckily, Clark's phone rang as I was about to create some sort of emergency that required Lois's attention specifically, and he stepped around the corner to answer it. At that same time, Lois walked out of the room.
"Lois!" I hissed as quietly as I could. She blinked in surprise at my tone and came over to the desk.
"What? Is something wrong?" she asked.
"Yes, there's something wrong." I didn't give her a chance to respond, not wanting to worry her unnecessarily. "You have got to talk to that boy!"
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No, you know what, I've decided that I was wrong before. Smallville and I are just friends, and I can live with that. I'm not the kind of girl that he would fall for anyway, so I'm just saving myself from future heartache."
This time it was my turn to shake my head. "Whatever. I don't know how they do things in Metropolis, but here, if a guy that looked like that," I gestured in the direction Clark had disappeared, "looked at a girl like he does you, 'just friends' wouldn't enter into the equation."
She frowned and bit her lip, considering what I had told her. And I was speaking the gospel in this instance. Clark's blue eyes had followed every movement Lois had made since she had stepped out of the elevator. The only time his gaze left her was when she happened to glance in his direction, in which case, he would suddenly find the floor fascinating. It was quite possibly the sweetest and the most frustrating thing I had ever seen. If only both of them would look at each other at the same time, I wouldn't be forced to run interference, as I was now.
"Look, Lois," I began again, "it's obvious to anyone paying attention that he's not at all indifferent towards you." Before she could protest, I continued. "And you've already told me that you definitely have feelings for him." Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a dark head appear around the corner. I paused, wanting to make sure that the man in question wasn't listening. I would be surprised if he could hear us; he was a good 100 feet away and we were whispering. When I didn't see any other movement, I resumed. "I think you owe it to yourself, and to Clark, to at least talk to him. Hear him out."
"What makes you think he wants to talk to me?" she asked quietly. "For all we know, he's on the phone with her now." The resentment in her voice left no doubt to which 'her' she was referring.
"Lana, Schmana," I answered, waving away her concern with my hand. "He's here with you, and unless she's hiding in his back pocket, she's not around." I gave her my best forceful look and ordered, "Talk to him."
"Okay, okay," she said. "Message received Nurse Ratched. I'll think about it."
"You do that. And don't call me that. I'm not that mean," I muttered as Clark reemerged, now off his phone. He looked a little dazed, like he had been given surprising news. And when he looked at Lois, his eyes were so full of warmth and happiness that I had to suppress a sigh. It really wasn't fair that a guy could be that good-looking and be a total sweetheart as well. Lucky girl.
I went back to work, hoping to distract myself from the real-life drama occurring in front of me. It worked for about an hour; the visitors keeping to Jimmy's room. I was about to start my afternoon rounds when I saw Lois and Clark walk into the hall. I immediately started working on the computer again, waiting to see if they would stop where I could hear them. I hated to eavesdrop, but I felt I had a vested interest in the outcome of the situation, since I had given Lois advice.
"Lois, can we talk?" Clark said quietly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him glance in my direction. I typed noisily on the keyboard, demonstrating how busy I was.
"Um, sure, Smallville, what's up?" If I had been close enough, I would have shook her. She had obviously retreated to her original decision of ignoring what was between her and Clark.
"Why haven't you been returning my calls?"
She shrugged. "This is a hospital. I couldn't have my phone ringing all the time. It might disturb the patients." I rolled my eyes; she was going to have to come up with a better excuse than that.
"That's odd, since you managed to talk to Oliver every time he called. And my mom. And even Tess." I smothered a grin at Clark calling Lois's bluff. "What's wrong?"
"What could possibly be wrong? You brought Chloe back, just like you promised. Thanks, by the way," her voice was much softer than before. "I don't know what I would have done if something…"
Clark clearly knew Lois well. He reached out when she trailed off, grasping her shoulder in support. "I know, Lois. I love her too."
Lois nodded and took a deep breath. "Well, enough touchy feely for the day. It's about time for dinner and this place down the street has some great apple pie."
"I don't want any pie, Lois," he said, his words becoming louder as he became exasperated. I didn't blame him. "I want to talk about what happened at the wedding."
"And relive the Attack of the Swamp Thing? No thanks. There's no sense living in the past." She paused a minute. "How's Lana doing?"
I closed my eyes in frustration. Talk about living in the past. She had avoidance down to an art form and what better way than to bring up the dreaded ex. I held my breath, waiting on Clark's reply.
"She's fine, I guess. She's visiting Nell for a while before she leaves again. I haven't seen her that much."
"Really?" For the first time, I could hear the hope in Lois's question. Maybe Clark's obvious lack of interest in Lana would snap her out of the best case of denial I had ever seen.
"Yes, really. Look, about what happened at the wedding. I'm…I'm sorry." By this time, I had given up hiding my interest in the conversation and was avidly watching. Both of them were too engrossed in each other to notice my silent observation. Clark was slowly moving towards Lois, eliminating the distance between them. Lois, for her part, wasn't moving away from him. "I shouldn't have walked away like I did. But seeing Lana again, it was…" he frowned.
"Weird?" Lois supplied. The crease in his forehead disappeared as he realized that she understood.
"Yeah. I hadn't thought about her in so long and then there she was standing in front of me. I didn't know what to do." He was now standing a few inches away from her, his hand still on her shoulder. "But I shouldn't have left you like I did."
"You hadn't been thinking about Lana?" she asked. I thought I detected a slight blush on her cheek as she shifted her weight.
"No," he answered. "I've had other things on my mind lately."
"Right." I could almost see her defenses begin to reassemble. His comment must have reminded her of something. "Between Tess becoming your biggest fan and being attacked by psycho hooker in the elevator, I guess you have been a little distracted." She took a step back, effectively breaking the connection they had built. "I'm about to starve, so I'm going to grab something to eat."
I was a second away from leaping over the desk to stop her from leaving, when Clark reacted. Moving quicker than I thought possible, he grabbed her hand as she backed away and pulled her towards him. "I wasn't talking about that and you know it." He cupped her chin with his hand, forcing her eyes to meet his. "Were you lying about getting that sensor off your finger?" I didn't know what he was talking about, but from the expression on Lois's face, this wasn't a question she wanted to answer.
"Would it change anything if I was?" she responded. "Maybe our moment already passed."
Clark smiled and moved even closer to her. "It changes everything Lois." Slowly, slow enough that she could stop him in plenty of time, he lowered his lips to hers. I slapped my hand over my mouth to keep from cheering.
And that was some kiss! I finally looked away, deciding the couple deserved their privacy. Only after I made sure that Lois was an active participant, having wrapped her arms around Clark's shoulders. After a minute, I heard Clark say softly, "I think I'm ready for that Harley I've been saving up for."
I had no idea what to make of this, but it meant something to Lois. She threw back her head and laughed. "I'm no ten speed, that's for sure." After another kiss, she suggested, "Now can I have some pie?"
He chuckled, releasing her from his embrace. "You and your stomach. Why don't you check and see if Chloe wants anything. I doubt she'll want to leave Jimmy yet." Lois nodded, throwing a smile at me as she walked back into Jimmy's room. I was so busy congratulating myself on a job well done that I didn't notice Clark was standing next to the desk.
"Jennifer?" he said, getting my attention.
"Yes?" I answered.
"Thanks."
I blinked back my surprise, confused as to why he was thanking me. I stood from my chair, preparing to do my postponed rounds. "Thanks for what?" I finally asked.
"Are you ready to go Smallville? I've got Chloe's order," Lois made her way over to us, looking happier than I had seen her in the short time I had known her. Instead of responding, Clark grinned at me and trailed behind Lois to the elevator. By the time the doors closed, it sounded like they were arguing about what kind of pizza to get.
As I checked my patients before my shifted ended, I was still puzzling over Clark's gratitude. It was almost as if he knew I had been advising Lois to give them a chance. I glanced down the hall, to where he had been while Lois and I were talking. After contemplating for a minute, I shook my head. There was no way he could have heard us, unless he had some sort of super-hearing, and that was pretty far-fetched.
I said good-bye to Chloe and walked back to my desk to retrieve my coat. My replacement for the evening was settling in and I was about to walk out the door when the phone rang. I sighed deeply and picked it up, praying that it was a short call.
"Star City General, ICU, this is Jennifer speaking."
"Hi Nurse Jennifer." Okay, so I was glad that I had answered the phone.
"Hello Mr. Queen. Mrs. Olsen is here now if you'd like to speak to her." I knew from talking to the group earlier that Oliver had helped Clark in his search for Chloe, even lending them one of his private planes to fly to Star City.
"Actually, I was calling to talk to you. If I remember correctly, your shift is ending now. Would you like to have dinner?" My mouth dropped open, causing the night nurse to stare at me quizzically. Gorgeous and rich Oliver Queen was asking me out. I had to be dreaming. "Jennifer?" His repeating of my name snapped me out of my trance. I remembered the advice I gave to Lois and decided I could use a dash of it too.
"How do you feel about apple pie, Mr. Queen?"