The house was dark. He phased through the wall into the hallway, rematerializing and sinking to his knees outside his bedroom door. Danny stayed there, panting, with his forehead pressed to the wood. He felt blood trickle slowly down his face.
Light from his transformation briefly lit up the hallway, throwing his pale skin into sharp relief against the dark purple of the bruises forming on his arms and chest. At least he'd managed not to bleed on the wall yet—that would have been a pain to clean up later. Right now he just needed to sleep, though that would first require struggling to his feet, which seemed distinctly outside of his range of ability right at the moment.
He fumbled for his cell phone, but of course it wasn't in his back pocket. It was on his bed, right where he'd left it when he'd gone out hunting that evening. He wondered where Sam and Tucker were. The ghost tonight had been too powerful to let them come. He would never forgive himself if something happened to either of them, especially Sam.
Danny shifted off of his knees and leaned against the wall. Jack and Maddy wouldn't be home for another few hours, and Jazz wouldn't be back until tomorrow; he hoped that he'd be able to move before his parents got home. He closed his eyes, wiping the trail of blood from his cheek.
"Danny?!" The front door slammed and he heard the heavy tread of combat boots on the stairs. She was always there when he needed her most.
"Hi, Sam."
She skidded to a stop before him, dropping to the floor to wrap her arms around him. Danny winced, weakly returning her embrace. Sam dropped her head, her bangs falling over her eyes as she looked at his knee. She gripped his shoulder, her hand shaking. "You royal idiot. You could have gotten yourself killed."
"Sorry." He cupped his hand to her cheek. Her eyeliner had run. She'd been crying. "It was better for me to go alone on this one. I didn't mean to worry you."
"I would smack you if you didn't look like shit right now. Come on. Let's get you patched up before your parents get home."
"Thanks for rescuing me." He let her help him up, leaning heavily against her when he regained his feet. Sam slung his arm across her thin shoulders, bracing his wrist as she opened his door.
Twisting his wrist, Danny laced his fingers through hers. He placed a ghost of a kiss against the skin of her temple and whispered, "I love you."