Waking up in a hospital is not, and will never be, a comforting experience. No matter how injured you were or are, one always wake up with that sudden panic in their throat, staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling.

I had the feeling this was going to happen way too much. Often. Often, not much. Grammar sucks. And the way thoughts were going sucked.

It wasn't like I hadn't been waking up underneath an unfamiliar ceiling for a month already. The bandages were new. Ok, not really, I had been in the hospital before, post Jenny's the Accident. But what really was new was the pain. A lot of it. Too much of it, not concentrated only in my head like last time as a dull ache but everywhere. I mean, everywhere.

Not aches, but burns. Like my skin torn open for the world to see the flesh under it. My flesh. Not mine, Jenny's. Why was that so hard to remember?

Frightening to think that this could be becoming my new normal, was my new normal. Heh, frightening. I wondered if I was gonna see Fright Knight at all. That would be kinda cool. Very cool, actually, but less cool from the fact that me seeing him would probably be of him trying to kill some more innocent humans like myself.

Yet, something inside of me reveled at the thought of seeing the powerful ghost. The same kind of feeling like the unexplained disgust I felt at the sight of the Box Ghost. After the fear, of course. The same awe from the sight of Phantom or Danny at work.

At work? Where were all these weird thoughts coming from? Gosh, I hoped nothing had been knocked out with the hit I had taken at the hands of Jack Fenton. Or Mr. Fenton. It would be weird to call him Jack, being without 'memory'. And being a teenager.

Gah. I was sure to mess up. Eventually. Some time.

"I hate life." "Oh, good. You're awake." Aagh.


Needles suck, to let all readers know. Really suck, painful and everywhere.

"Do you really need more of my blood?" I asked, eying the way-too-happy nurse coming at me with yet another needle. She beamed, looking somehow both cheery and psychotic at the same time. "Of course, deary! The doctors want to check to make sure none of that nasty ectoplasm has done anything to you." I swear she actually licked her lips sucking the blood up into that needle.

"Vampire," I muttered under my breath. "A real vampire, along with ghosts. Great." "What was that?" "Nothing."

"When do I get visitors?" I asked, partly out of curiosity and partly out of a desire to distract myself from the needle going in my arm. "Oh, didn't I tell you? Your family is waiting outside." What?

"How long have I been asleep, exactly?"

She paused. That wasn't a good sign. "A week and part of another." She said curtly, the first time she had shown a sign of impatience. That long? "That's great. How much was it spent in-between life and death?" When the nurse doesn't answer, I add, "Pretty please?"

The please got her to loosen up. "Five days overall." Fantastic. I flexed my fingers. I didn't feel any pain, but then, I was drugged up at the moment (thanks to the nurse, after her dramatic entrance). Not incredibly so, just enough not to feel the agony that was surely lurking around the corner waiting for me.

If you can't tell, I'm not a fan of pain. I'm pretty sure most people aren't, unless they're masochists. Which I am not, for sure.

"Visitors are here to see you, now we're done taking blood." "Finally. Who are they?" "Your family, who else?" Oh yes. The family that was not mine. The little girl, Sarah, that hated me. The mom that wished for a different girl. The dad that didn't ever pay attention.

Yay, me.


"Oh, Jenny. We're glad to see you're doing much better now." The mother started off, wringing her hands dramatically. The dad didn't do anything but grunt in support. I think it was in support, anyway.

Sara glowered. She must still see I'm not her sister somehow. That's okay. Better that hate than to be pretending to be someone I'm not. 'Mom' chattered on, making small talk. 'Dad' nodded every now again. Only Sara said something I paid attention to. "Why did she get sick?"

I raised my hand. "I would like to know that too."

The nurse began her explanation. A long complicated explanation of how they weren't exactly sure, but the entire situation reminded the doctors of a severe allergic reaction. A reaction to ectoplasm, of all things.

"Wait, that means I have to stay away from the Fentons, right?" All of the adults in the room looked at me in varying degrees of sympathy. "That would probably be best, honey," Mom said gently. "The Fentons are often...incautious." She wanted to use a different word, I could tell.

Dangerous being the word we were all avoiding about the Fentons. For me, at least, though they were kind of a threat to most other people in Amity Park. Lovely, isn't it?

Me, I had a great feeling about all of this. Jack and Maddie Fenton seemed to always be in the middle of things causing problems (though that impression just might be because the main character was their son). No offense to them, but there are reasons you put safety features on dangerous objects like ghost portals. Vengeful half-ghosts just being one of the most rare side effects. Or halfas in general, really.

"Can I talk to Sara by myself? Please?" "Now why would you want to do that?" Mom asked, being the talker here. "Just want to sort out the 'you're no my sister' mess." I explained. She heistated for a moment, but then nodded. "Sure, we can do that. Tell us when you're done!" She called, shooing out the nurse and Dad before her.


Before long, I was in there alone with Sara. Who eyed me nervously. I beckoned her to get closer. Shuffling her feet, she came forward, though reluctantly.

Leaning toward her, I whispered into her ear. "I'm not your sister." Sara's eyes widened, and she replied, in the same tone of voice, "I knew it!" But then a quaver entered into her voice in the rest of her words. "What are you going to do to me, then?"

My heart ached. How could this kid think I could harm her for such a secret? Unless... "Exactly who do you think I am?" "Don't you know?" Some of her previous anger leaked in, replacing the fear. "A ghost!"

I laughed. "I'm no ghost." "Then...who are you?" Sara asked, blue eyes brimming with curiousiy. She appeared fairly assured I wasn't going to harm her, or she had merely forgotten that idea. I shrugged. "That's it. I really don't know."

Bare honest truth. It felt good telling someone at least part of the mess that was now my life. Even if that someone was only a younger kid. "You really do have am- am- amneshha?" "Amnesia," I corrected. "Kinda of. I have some memory, of being someone else."

"Can I tell Mom and Dad?" "You could. But they won't believe it, will they?" She deflated at this. "Yes..."

I sat back in my bed, trying to think of a way I could buy Sara's silence. I didn't need what I was telling her to get out to the adult Fentons. I had little doubt that it would be told to other playmates, but that probably wouldn't attract as much attention as one of my 'parents' saying, "Oh, my little Sara has this great story from Jenny about...". Besides, I could use a little goodwill from 'my' little sister.

"How about this?" I suggested. "I'll tell you stories every Monday night, before bed, and you won't say anything." Sara thought about it only for a moment. "Deal!" She declared, nodding her head so furiously I almost thought it was going to come off. "You can get Mom and Dad now, if you want."


The parents came in for a little longer, making small talk. Sara proudly informed that I was 'going to tell her stories'. Mom mouthed 'good job' at me and they left. Finally.

Finally, I was alone. In the dark. Lights out. Nightfall had sneaked up on me sometime after 'my' parents had left. The window let me see the sky. The moon sat high in the sky and the city still around the hospital still glowed. It wasn't too late. Not yet.

A green glow in the distance, getting closer. Danny Phantom chasing down another specter, probably bemoaning his lack of personal time.

I whispered his name. The name of what was once my favorite cartoon, the name of the hero, and the name of my new reality. "Danny Phantom." A smile. The green glow, ever so close, shooting through the wall like it was air... Now a lone ghost, floating in the midst of my hospital room, searching for his prey. "Where did he go...?" I heard him mutter under his breath.

I steeled myself. Prepared myself, in order to prevent myself from squealing in a total fangirl giggle. My time to make an impression for my first meeting with him. Well, second, but this would be different. "Nice to meet you, Danny Phantom."

End of Welcome to your Reality.