"Brianne! Brianne, where are you?!" came a frantic mother's scream. A dark-haired woman was staring, wide-eyed, at her home that was burning before her very eyes. Her husband, whose hair was a deep orange-red hue, stood next to her, and their 14-year old son on her other side, but no sign of her little 8-year old daughter, Brianne.
"Brianne!" she screamed again, but this time it was happier, relieved. Through the dark, billowing smoke and glaring fire, the mother could see the emerging figure of her daughter. A puppy ran ahead of her, Brianne staggering behind. She wheezed as she walked, but she managed a weak smile for her mother and brother. Her father was not fooled by her ruse.
"Thank God you're alive, Brianne...Come on, we have to get you to a hospital, pronto!" he said urgently, running a hand through her brilliant red hair that so resembled his own. Almost as red as the flames that mercilessly enveloped everything they had known.
"Daddy..I'm just...fine.." she protested weakly before falling into a coughing fit. With a faint sigh, she went limp in her fathers arms. Her mother screamed, a hand flying to her mouth in horror, and the dog sniffed her worriedly.
"She's not dead," her father said, trying to reassure the family. Relief was lacing his voice as he felt her pulse. "Just passed out from the fumes. Hurry up, we need to take her to the hospital immediately!"
Brianne was semi-conscious still, and as they pulled up to the hospital, she realized her older brother, Jake, was cradling her. She opened her eyes a slit to see him. He was looking out the window of the truck, unease clearly etched on his face. She looked a little past him, and even from where they were, she could see the dim glow of their smoldering home, and all the others as well. If se could have, Brianne would have smiled. Not because their house was burnt down, but because she noticed how packed the hospital parking lot was, and realized it would probably never be quite this busy again. And just as the thought faded, Jake was carrying her into the waiting room. Her mother and father went to the front desk.
It was the most sudden thing she'd ever felt, but as her parents talked anxiously to the receptionist, Brianne felt as though a hand had reached into her chest and clamped down on her heart. She wheezed, much harsher than she had before, and she could vaguely hear Jake shouting. She couldn't see, everything was dark and scary. Darkness and pain, lots of pain. And then, everything was silent, and she fell into a dreamless sleep.
When Brianne was awake, she found she couldn't open her eyes. Her eyelids were just too heavy...The pain was gone. Medicine, she figured, but she could still feel the doctors poking at her, calling things to each other that she didn't understand. She could hear a worried voice outside the room, crying "Where's my baby? Where's my little Brianne?!" That was definitely her mother, and then she heard a deep voice right by her ear, "It'll be okay..." As choked as it sounded, she knew that was her father. But where was Jake? Where was her brother? She could hardly remember where SHE was. Everything was a big, fiery blur.
Her mother was next to her now. Brianne could tell by her sniffling that she was trying not to cry and failing miserably at it. She couldn't make out the words, and she didn't really care right now. All she could think of was how cold she was. Didn't anybody give her a blanket? Was it so much to ask for one? The doctors had stopped moving and poking, and she heard these words clearly through everything: "We've done all we can. She's in the Lord's hands now." Her father sobbed a little, those choked back tears finally falling numbly on her hand, and her mother wailed, clutching Brianne's cold hand.
"Mommy loves you, Bri..." I love you, too, Mommy. I love you so much...And everything seemed to stop for an instant. She felt a peculiar sensation, and before she knew it, she was actually able to see. A grin spread across her face and she looked to her mother excitedly. "Mommy! I'm okay! Mommy, I'm okay, look! Stop crying!" But her mother paid her no mind. The smile faltered for a moment and she looked to her father. "Daddy? You can stop crying now! Mommy's just silly, but I know YOU don't want to keep crying...! Daddy!" She looked around at all the doctors. They looked grim, and a few hung their heads. One pulled forward the blanket they had been unable to put over her before, and covered her head. Or...should have, Brianne thought. It went over my head, but I can still see them...She looked behind her and let out a shriek. It was her own face they had just covered; she could see her red hair spilling out over the pillow. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at herself. She could see a certain transparency in her skin and tears welled up in her eyes as she looked around desperately. "What are you doing?!" she screamed at one of the doctors. "Take off that blanket, I'll..." the words died in her throat and the doctor that had covered "her" sadly said the last words she heard in that hospital.
"Brianne Hoffling, died at 10:06 PM, June 9th, 1998, age 8. Cause of death: smoke inhalation and a collapsed lung."
Don't worry, the next chapter really will be more about Danny Phantom xD I just needed a way to introduce Brianne, and that seemed easiest.