"Does first aid work on ghosts?"
Danny had his doubts that even if it did, this wound would need a lot more than bandages and sticking plasters to make it all better. The kit he'd stolen from its customary place in the hot water cupboard and which was now spread out on his bed was well stocked; explosions were a frequent occurance around the house after all and not all of them were without injury, but Jazz had put her foot down and refused to let the inventor pair's creative spirit try to "improve" it as they had nearly everything else. Which was a good thing, but it also meant nothing in here was ectoplasm based even as a starting point.
He looked at the burn salve and antiseptic. Did ghosts even get sick?
There was a strained noise behind him as the ghost tried to push himself up into a sitting position. It got about halfway before its arm wobbled and gave up and it fell back down with a grunt.
"I… don't think… so?" It managed in increments, sounding as uncertain as Danny's thoughts on the matter. "Not… as if dying… comes with a manual."
The gruesome chest wound was still bleeding freely, and while there wasn't a massive puddle like there'd been in the alley pooling on the nonslip mat Danny had swiped from the bathroom and pointed the thermos at, the splatters of viscous liquid that continued to drip there promised there would be eventually.
"How much of that can you even lose," slipped out. A human would have died five times over by now, or at least have fallen unconscious. Phantom wasn't doing a tap dance, but he'd been relatively alert the moment he'd been released. "Not strapped to a lab table, this is already five stars."
"Dunno," was the helpful reply. "Don't want to find out." It looked down at the hand that had remained firmly clamped to the gap for the duration, worry tugging at its expression. "It… should have started healing… already. I don't know why it's nnnnh!"
Danny jerked back as green lightening crackled over it, briefly giving everything in the room ominous green highlights. This was the second time it had happened after releasing the ghost, and the third he'd seen total, and that was enough to tell it was getting worse each time. The ghost gritted its teeth in a clear effort not to make a sound and failing, only managing to turn what would have been a scream into a high pitched keening as it's back arched and limbs twitched.
Danny had never seen a seizure, but this was probably what one looked like, he thought. Sans the eldritch electricity. He had no idea what to do, so he bit his tongue and waited the thirty seconds it lasted until the ghost went still like a string cut marionette.
"Phantom?"
He cautiously reached out and lightly shook its shoulder, trying not to jostle the wound. The hand had slipped from it at some point, and he thought maybe he could see something whitish green in the horrific green mess. Bone? Did ghosts even have bones? He winced at the low hum under his hand as he did so, like touching a power substation. This was the closest he'd ever been to a ghost, and the hairs on the back of his neck were alert.
He froze like he'd been dunked in liquid nitrogen when the free hand whipped up and grabbed his wrist, a little too tightly. Green eyes pinned him to the spot, before blinking and seeming to clear, and the hand released him and returned to the injury as the ghost tiredly relaxed, Danny's stillness ebbing in unison.
"Yes?"
Danny got his brain back in gear enough to remember what he was originally going to ask.
"Isn't there… someplace you could go to? Like a ghost hospital? In the Zone?"
Phantom burst out laughing and then quickly remembered why that was a bad idea.
"I've… never seen one," it managed, once the twinges subsided. "There's… someone I know but… I can't even get… to the Zone… like this."
"I could get you there." The ghost's eyebrows shot up into its hairline. Danny scowled and pressed on. "There's a thermos attachment to the portal, I could sneak in with you in it and get you through that way."
"S'cramped in there," the ghost muttered, but it wasn't a no. "You'd really do that?"
Danny nodded firmly. He'd already lied to his parents and harboured a ghost in his room, sneaking into the lab was just another part of the in for a penny, in for a pound. And it wouldn't honestly be that hard.
The ghost searched his face and seemed to like what it found there, before its expression hardened and it slumped on to its back. "Won't work."
"What?"
"Even if you… did get me in…" It held up the currently not occupied hand, ticking off fingers. "One, he's too… far from… the portal. Wouldn't make it… without help. Two, no one would."
It made a light chuckle that was probably meant to lighten the mood but failed due to its hysterical edge.
"I'm… not exactly… popular there. In fact… I'd probably be attacked… as soon as I came through." The raised hand dropped to its side. "Wouldn't last long."
There was an awkward silence.
"And I… won't let you… try to come with me. Too dangerous… for humans," it said in a preemptive tone.
Danny hadn't even been preparing to offer. There was being a good Samaritan, in the old sense of the term, and then there was being suicidal, and he knew where the line was and was in no way willing to cross it for a ghost he'd only met that day. He couldn't still help feeling a wave of the despondency of wasted effort. All that, and Phantom was only going to redie in his room instead of his parent's lab?
"There's nothing else?"
The ghost hesitated before replying, and that was already a bad sign. "One thing but… you're not gonna… like it."
"Just say it."
"Overshadowing. 'll stop me… falling apart. Should make me… heal faster." It sounded less sure about the last part.
Danny's first instinctual reaction was a visceral no. Despite not saying it aloud, he could tell from the ghost's sympathetic expression that it showed on his face. "Yeah," it said.
"How do I know you're not lying?" he burst out. "How do I know you're not lying about it doing that, or about it being the only option. What if you're tricking me. How do I know you're not just gonna swan off with my body and do horrible things with it and not give it back?" At some point his hands had curled around said body, as if to protect it. He felt a little nauseous.
The ghost looked stunned, and maybe a little hopeful and was that a flicker of being impressed? "You're actually… considering it?" A pause. "I trusted you… with the thermos, now… you trust me with this; I'm not lying to you… about it, and I won't… lie to you… about it. I promise."
Danny snorted, and the accompanying laughter had a high note to it. "Right, so you promise," he said skeptically.
Phantom scowled, and then his face dropped into something completely deadly serious, and, if Danny had to admit to it, kinda terrifying. "Yeah," it said. "I do, and I don't… break them. Ever." A smile twitched at its face, and the sudden tension dissipated, slightly too deliberately to be really comforting. "The truth, the whole truth, and nothing… but the truth, so help me God."
Danny was silent.
Phantom shifted, pressing the glove harder into the wound with a wince. "You don't… have to. You don't even… have to watch. You could just… suck me into that thing," it nodded towards where the thermos lay innocently on the bed, "and wait… a few days." It tried to smile."I don't mind."
"I'll do it."
This was a stupid idea. This was quite possibly the stupidest idea in the history of stupid ideas. And he couldn't quite believe the actual words had come out of his mouth. But they had, and he couldn't take them back. He swallowed nervously and held up a finger as the ghost opened its own to speak.
"But, only if you give it back when you're fully healed, and only if you don't do anything… evil with it." The ghost closed its mouth and nodded firmly. "Promise me on it," Danny insisted. A slight less scary but no less serious version of the serious expression settled on the ghost's face.
It nodded again. "I promise."
Danny let out a shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair, fidgeting.
"How do we do this. Before I change my mind."
The ghost rolled with some effort onto its side.
"Just… come closer. I won't… be able to… move far. And stay still. I'll do the rest."
A slick green hand joined the other on the mat and pushed Phantom up onto his hands and knees as Danny slowly moved forward like a man walking to the noose. He didn't want to be doing this, he didn't want to be doing this…
Phantom looked up at him. "Ready?" it asked. An unspoken do you still want to?
"Just do it," he breathed out in an irritated huff.
