Sam was startled out of her sleep as she heard the faint tapping on her bedroom window. She glanced at her bedside alarm clock momentarily before going to open her curtains.

'It's two o'clock in the morning… what have you done to yourself this time?'

As Sam opened the window, a bruised and bloodied Danny Phantom collapsed through the window. He fell to the ground with a thud, immediately reverting back to his alter ego, Danny Fenton. Sam reached under her bed to grab a first aid kit as the 16-year old boy moaned softly. Sitting down beside him, Sam assessed the situation. Danny had several cuts on his face, which were oozing blood and ectoplasm. His arms were badly injured and she could see the blood from his chest staining his white T-shirt. Before he had collapsed, Sam had seen that his jumpsuit was badly torn in several places.

"Danny?" Sam called, hoping to rouse him. "Danny?!"

When Danny failed to move, Sam began to feel more anxious. She quickly grabbed his wrist to feel for his pulse. Sam fought to suppress her panic as she struggled to find it. When she finally felt it, it was slow and weak. As Sam rolled Danny over, she discovered the source of her problem. Grabbing a pair of scissors from the first aid kit, she cut Danny's blood soaked shirt open to find a deep wound in his chest. Blood, mixed with ectoplasm, was coming thick and fast. Sam struggled to clean out the wound before packing it with gauze to stop the bleeding. As helpful as the first aid course she had taken was, when it came to Danny, improvisation was usually the only option.

Sam was jarred from her thoughts when she heard a soft groan coming from the boy in front of her. Sam checked his pulse again, delighted to find it easily and stronger than before. Brushing the hair out of his eyes, she moved to clean out the cuts on his face.

"Sam?"

"Shhh…" She quickly soothed him. "You need to rest."

Soft moans escaped Danny's lips as she continued to clean out his wounds. Sam maintained her tough exterior, but inside her heart was breaking. Danny, her Danny, had almost died… well, his human half had. His blood covered her hands, stained her clothes. It made her feel ill.

"Sam… that hurts…" Danny whined pitifully as Sam disinfected the multiple cuts and wrapped bandages around the deeper gashes on his arms.

Compelling herself to stay strong, she gently helped the injured halfa into a sitting position. Sam glanced down momentarily and saw the dark stain that spread across her carpet below the window. She looked away as a lone tear slipped down her cheek. A hand came to rest on top of hers. In one swift motion, she wiped the tear away before turning to smile at the boy next to her.

"How do you feel?" Her concern for his health was apparent.

"Like a semitrailer ran over my chest."

Sam smiled faintly as Danny attempted to joke. "What happened?"

"Let's just say, Skulker got an upgrade." Danny winced as a spasm of pain spread through his chest. "I only got him in the thermos when I used my Ghostly Wail, after he hit me point blank in the chest. I'm surprised I even made it here – that wail wiped me out."

Danny coughed violently, sending further spasms of pain through his body. Blood spattered the carpet. Sam had to suppress a scream as Danny collapsed into her arms. His pulse was steady, but still weak. Tears spilled down Sam's face as the bandages around Danny's chest continued to darken.

"Please stay with me Danny." Sam pleaded as Danny began to cough again. "You're killing yourself."

Danny's breathing eased as the coughing stopped. "Sam, I…"

"Shhh… you have to rest." Sam began to stroke his messy black hair, as his head was cradled in her lap.

Danny stared at her intently. Those baby blue eyes could always see right through her. Sam could see the sadness in his eyes. They say that the eyes were the windows to the soul. Sam could tell that his soul was tormented.

"No, Sam." Danny wheezed as his breathing became laboured. "There's something you need to know."

"No! Don't say that Danny. People say that when their going to die… please don't die Danny."

"Sam…" Danny was cut off as another violent coughing fit took over.

Sam held him close as the spasms of pain shook his body. Wiping the blood away from his mouth, she waited for him to continue.

"Sam, I…" Danny paused, looking her straight in the eye. "I love you."

"Oh, Danny." Sam murmured, tears filling her eyes. "I love you too."

But Sam received no answer. Danny Fenton was gone.