Ethan glanced from his panicking mother to his horrified father. Danny had frozen. Ethan gulped worriedly.
"Don't worry honey. You're going to be fine. It's not even that deep," Sam soothed her daughter frantically as she cut the t-shirt away with scissors in order to get access to the wound. With shaking fingers, Sam grabbed a rag from the first aid kit and soaked it in hydrogen peroxide.
"Honey this is gonna sting but I need you to be a brave little girl alright," Sam warned quickly before she began to clean the bleeding bite mark.
"Sam, we need to take her to the Hospital," Danny mumbled, finally breaking out of his trance. Sam glanced at her husband before nodding.
"Right. You're right. I'll get the car," Sam agreed as she taped down a clean dressing over the bite mark.
"No, Sam. That's not what I meant. I have to put her in quarantine," Danny corrected, regaining his composure. Sam turned to her husband, staring at him as she took in what he meant. Slowly she understood and nodded.
"Pack a bag for Lilith. I'll open a portal in the backyard. Ethan, go grab a change of clothes and meet with me outside," Danny ordered gently. Sam nodded and marched out of the room. None of the clothes in that room would be suitable. Glass was everywhere. But fortunately, there were some clean clothes downstairs Sam could pack.
Ethan hesitated to obey though. He finally seemed to notice that his father was injured as Danny shuffled closer to Lilith and carefully looped his good arm behind his daughter in order to scoop her up. Lilith was crying in pain still but once Danny propped her on his hip, she nestled her head in his shoulder and clung to him. Danny wrapped her in his ghost energy. It was taking everything in him to stay this calm. He wanted nothing more than to release the ghosts responsible for hurting his daughter and to destroy them. Ethan slowly walked away and into his room across the hall. He emptied his schoolbag on his bed and stuffed a change of clothes inside instead.
Danny walked his daughter through the house and into the backyard. Lilith was slowly calming down but he could tell that her wound was still hurting her. He stopped in the middle of the backyard. He turned his gaze down to his daughter and swallowed thickly. Was this disease lethal? Was he going to lose his little girl? If he had only been a few seconds faster! He would have stopped the ghost biting her. Now she was going to turn rabid. Danny wasn't sure if he could handle seeing his daughter reduced to an aggressive, insane beast that could and would hurt and possibly kill anyone she could catch.
"Hey dad, are you okay?" Ethan called as he came to stand beside his father. Danny forced himself to smile reassuringly at his son and nodded.
"Yeah. I'm fine Ethan," Danny lied, using Sam's most hated word for the first time in years. Sam rushed out of the house with a bulging backpack on her shoulder. She wordlessly offered to take Lilith and Danny let his wife take their injured child. He then lifted his hand and formed a portal to the Hospital in the Ghost Zone.
The family stepped through the portal and Danny turned around and collapsed the portal. Sam rushed towards the front doors and Ethan trailed along behind his mother. Danny easily caught up to his family and pushed open the door for his wife and daughter. Sam flashed her husband a quick grateful smile before entering the building. Ethan ran in after her and Danny followed. Sam then hesitated.
"Danny, where do we go?" she asked softly. Danny swallowed and nodded.
"We'll go straight to the quarantine and inform the doctors there. Then they'll show us to a room," Danny informed his wife, having taken infected ghosts into quarantine before numerous times. His daughter wasn't much different really. As much as Danny hated that fact.
Danny punched the lift button and waited anxiously for the lift to open. He could feel the crown sending pulses of comfort through him while also fluttering fearfully. He ignored the crown right now. He wasn't acting as Ghost King right now. He was a father with an injured child. This Hospital was their only hope to cure Lilith. Also, they couldn't risk Lilith biting a human and spreading the disease to the human populace. The lift doors finally opened and Danny ushered his wife and son inside before hitting the tenth floor button. Ethan blinked when he saw that. He remembered his father telling him that the tenth and ninth floors were for infected ghosts only.
It didn't take long for the lift doors to open again but the family was relieved when they did. The fear and tension in the lift was almost unbearable. Danny led the way through the twisting corridors to the central communal gathering place the doctor had claimed as a base of operations. He motioned for Sam to wait at the edge of the area and Ethan obediently stayed with his mother and sister. Danny took a quick steadying breath and marched over to the bunch of doctors fussing over a table of records. Danny coughed loudly to gain their attention. The group of five ghostly doctors turned to him and hastily bowed before one doctor stepped away from the table to handle Danny's needs, the other four returned to their records.
"My king, what do you require?" the ghost inquired graciously.
"I have two ghosts and I have my daughter. She was bitten by one of the ghosts in here," Danny explained, and lifted the thermos into view. The doctor gasped with concern and nodded frantically.
"Your parents told us their findings. We're currently moving bitten ghosts into quarantine. We're also moving already infected ghosts according to threat level. This floor will be filled soon. We're placing lower risk ghosts on the ninth floor. We'll be placing your daughter on the ninth floor, if that's to your liking?" the doctor explained. Danny nodded.
"That's fine. But… I don't think I should help you strap these ghosts down. Ask Skulker when he next delivers his captured infected ghosts," Danny replied, handing the thermos to the ghost. The doctor blinked but didn't question his king. The doctor placed the thermos on the table.
Danny joined his family again as the doctor lead them back to the lift.
"Danny, is something wrong?" Sam whispered worriedly. Danny glanced at her before stepping into the lift behind the doctor and their son. Sam frowned at her husband but didn't push the matter. She could tell that Danny hadn't told them something but she could also see that he didn't want to tell them yet. The doctor led them into ward 97 and into a private room. The doctor motioned for Sam to put her daughter on the bed. Sam spared her husband a quick glance before obediently setting the six year old down on the soft blankets.
"I'll need to have a look at the bite mark," the doctor informed the family.
"Do what you have to," Danny agreed easily. The ghost inclined his head to Danny before gently peeling off the red-stained dressing off Lilith's shoulder. The ghost then examined the injury before he left the room to get what he needed.
"Danny, what's going on?" Sam questioned as she perched beside Lilith and put a comforting arm around the girl's shoulders, being careful of the child's wound. Danny sighed softly, wincing at his own injuries.
"I was trying to tell you earlier. I don't want to scare any of you but you'll find out pretty soon anyway. Mom and dad figured out how this disease is contagious…" Danny began carefully. Sam nodded. Danny had been telling her that before Ethan and Lilith got attacked.
"What did they find out?" Sam pressed worriedly.
"It's transmitted through biting," Danny revealed. Sam gasped fearfully, turning horrified eyes to Lilith and pulled the girl closer to herself protectively. Ethan frowned in confusion.
"What does transmitted mean?" Ethan wondered softly. Danny licked his lips and glanced between both his children who were gazing up at him worriedly.
"It means that the disease spreads by sick ghosts biting not sick ghosts. That means… Lilith's going to get sick," Danny clarified reluctantly. Sam covered her mouth as a sob shook her frame. Lilith and Ethan shared a terrified glance before Lilith's eyes flooded with scared tears. Ethan turned to his father.
"There's a cure right? You've found a cure now. You have to!" Ethan begged. Danny swallowed thickly and hung his head sorrowfully as he shook his head.
"Not yet," he whispered regretfully.
The doctor returned with an armful of bottles and bandages. He set the items down on the table beside the bed and began treating the young halfa. Sam stayed by Lilith's side the entire time and Danny only left to source seats for the family. Danny sat beside his son and watched as his daughter was bandaged up.
"My king, we will eventually have to strap your daughter down. You understand that, yes?" the doctor ventured carefully. Danny closed his eyes in dread but nodded. The doctor nodded.
"I'm going to give Lilith something to help her sleep. Is that alright?" the doctor added, obviously the ghost feared upsetting the family.
"Please do. She's not been sleeping well," Sam mumbled. The doctor bowed his head.
"Thank you your highness," he replied before going to a cabinet in the room and unlocked it using his energy. Inside there was a jar filled with glowing white balls that almost looked like cotton balls. He unscrewed the lid and glanced at Lilith before pulling out a few. He closed the jar and returned it to the cabinet, locking it once again.
"Please lie back Lilith," the doctor instructed gently. Lilith slowly complied but she was obviously still scared by what was happening. Once the girl was settled the ghost sprinkled the cotton balls over the child and within seconds Lilith was sound asleep.
"What is that?" Ethan croaked, speaking for the first time since learning of his sister's fate.
"Sleep spores. Completely natural and harmless to help with sleep. She was clearly exhausted though, it's not normally that fast acting. I'll personally handle your daughter's case my king. I shall return in an hour to check on her shoulder," the ghost explained, bowing deeply to Danny.
"Thanks," Danny muttered distractedly as the ghost drifted out of the room.
The room was still and silent. Sam adjusted the blankets over Lilith gently. Ethan stared at his sister, his mind filled with fear and worry. Danny stared unseeingly at his daughter. His mind was whirling with what he could and should do to help his daughter. He wasn't a scientist. He couldn't go down to the labs to help out. He'd only get in the way. True he could go down to put pressure on them but that would only stress the scientists out. Ulfric's leering face swam to the surface of his mind. Was this his fault? He knew that he wasn't the cause of the illness. It didn't make sense that he would be. The crown chose and accepted his reign, which he knew it wouldn't do if his rule would endanger the Ghost Zone and its people. But… maybe he should have handled everything differently. Should he have taken his family somewhere safe? He could have taken both children to Phantom Keep and ordered Fright Knight to protect them. The ghost would have done so, laying down his life for the royal family. Should he have closed all portals before now? Was he being too hesitant? He should have been there to protect his daughter.
Ethan glanced at his father, the silence was deafening in the hospital room. His mother was fussing over the sleeping six year old, rearranging the blankets regularly, clutching the small girl's hand while Sam tried to push down her overwhelming fear and resulting tears. Ethan opened his mouth to say something but he didn't know what to say. Maybe his father had been right all along. Ethan couldn't protect his sister or himself from ghosts. Maybe he wasn't ready to get involved in ghostly politics after all. Especially if what his father said the other day in his office at the I.G.A. was true. He dropped his gaze to his hands, twisting his fingers anxiously, as he turned his thoughts back to the attack in Lilith's room. He stilled as he recalled the green glow that had encased his hand. He chewed his lip in thought as he tried to figure out how he did that.
"I didn't tell my parents about the illness," Sam broke the silence, her quiet comment much too loud in the heavy atmosphere. Danny blinked, moving his glazed over stare from the wall just behind the bed to his wife.
"What?" he croaked.
"I didn't tell them. My parents. They're… They might want to know about Lilith. And we should tell Jazz and everyone," Sam replied, her gaze not moving from her daughter's face for a moment. Danny licked his lips and nodding in understanding. Sam was right. Whether Pamela and Jeremy liked it or not, their granddaughter was gravely ill with a ghostly sickness. Lilith mightn't have displayed symptoms yet, but it was only a matter of time now. And despite his promise to his in-laws, they deserved to know the situation. Sam was also right that he needed to inform others in their personal circle. Sam was no longer at home, which meant everyone needed to know that they couldn't report to her directly anymore, he doubted Sam would be leaving Lilith's side any time soon. He didn't want to either but he was the one that could form portals.
"Okay. I'll tell them. Do you want them here?" Danny muttered. Sam sniffed and finally moved her gaze to her husband and shrugged.
"I would but you know how they are," Sam admitted. She really needed some support now but she wouldn't pull someone else away from their duties to get it. Danny swallowed thickly and nodded.
"I'll ask them and offer to make a portal to them then," Danny decided but made no move to get up. Part of him wanted to wait with Lilith until she woke up but he knew from experience that sleep spores could last a few hours. And he also knew that Lilith was tired and needed the sleep. But another part of him wanted to run away and never look back. He didn't want to see his daughter become a mindless beast. Watching his subjects attacking everyone and everything was hard already but he had been fortunate not to know many of the infected ghosts personally.
Sam attempted to give him a smile but it looked more like a grimace than anything else. Her gaze drifted from her husband to her son. Her eyes softened with guilt. In the chaos, both parents had ignored their oldest child.
"Ethan?" Sam called gently, causing Danny to turn to his son worriedly. Ethan blinked and looked up, pulling himself out of his thoughts.
"Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" Sam inquired gently, he had no obvious injuries but that didn't mean he was uninjured. Ethan shook his head.
"I'm fine. I- I didn't get hurt," Ethan replied softly before dropping his gaze back to his hands. The unspoken guilt for not protecting his sister was obvious to both parents. Danny opened to his mouth to comfort the boy when there was a knock at the door. Danny and Sam turned to the knock and saw a nervous nurse hovering there watching Danny.
"S-sorry my king. But the doctors want to call a meeting," the nurse informed Danny carefully. Danny blinked and nodded.
"Thank you. Are they on the tenth floor?" Danny replied as he stood up. He didn't want to leave his family but this could be about the cure for the sickness. The nurse nodded with a nervous curtsy, clearly not sure how to act in front of the royal family.
"I'll go now," he concluded, flashing the nurse a quick, strained smile. The nurse curtsied again before drifting away. Danny turned to his wife.
"I'll be quick," he promised.
"It's fine Danny. We can't be selfish, a lot of people are depending on you," Sam assured but it was obvious in her expression that she wanted nothing more than to be selfish and keep her family in the hospital room, together and relatively safe. Danny swallowed thickly and nodded, a stab of guilt and misery in his heart. He was putting the ghosts before his family again. That was how Lilith got hurt in the first place. His gaze fell on his daughter before he spun on his heel and marched out of the room towards the lifts. Lilith was counting on him to find a cure. That meant that doing what he was doing was for his daughter as well as his subjects. Finding a cure was imperative.
Danny stopped at the lift doors and waited for the doors to open. The crown was fluttering at the back of mind, pulsing reassurance and comfort through him. He brushed his mind against the crown's energy briefly, letting it know that he felt it and appreciated the crown's presence. But the crown wasn't helping. Nothing could quell the rolling fear and guilt in his stomach but finding a cure and seeing his daughter healthy again. The doors pulled open and Danny blinked in surprise when he saw Skulker inside. The mechanical ghost rose an eyebrow at him before Danny stepped in and let the doors close.
"Any idea what they found out? I was tracking down three different ghosts," Skulker muttered, noticing but not commenting on the heavy aura around Danny. Danny shook his head.
"No. But hopefully it's good news," Danny mumbled. Skulker frowned worriedly at his king.
"Alright. What's wrong? You look terrible and I'm not talking about your injuries," Skulker inquired gruffly. Danny hesitated before sighing loudly.
"Lilith got bitten," Danny revealed softly. Skulker froze in horror, ignoring the lift doors when they slid open.
"What?" Skulker gasped.
"Two infected ghosts attacked Lilith and Ethan. I wasn't fast enough to stop Lilith getting bitten," Danny elaborated before stepping out of the lift and stopping the doors closing before Skulker joined him.
Skulker licked his robotic lips and followed Danny through the winding corridors, at a loss for words. They found the central communal area a few minutes later. Skulker grabbed Danny's shoulder, stopping the halfa before he could join the gathering of doctors, including a couple of Far Frozen physicians, and his parents.
"I'm sorry to hear about the princess. A cure will be found and she, along with the other ghosts will be fine. I'm certain of it my king. I've known you a long time and I've never seen you fail when you apply yourself to a situation," Skulker muttered. Danny blinked in shock. He never expected Skulker to be reassuring him especially not with the conviction he spoke those words. Danny swallowed and nodded to the ghost, offering a small smile in gratitude.
"Thanks Skulker. I think you're going soft," Danny mumbled. Skulker chuckled.
"I assure you, if you weren't king, you'd be on my wall by now," Skulker retorted and led the way over to the table. Danny felt the tension in his shoulders fade slightly. He had needed that boost in confidence. His family was too frightened and worried to be able to comfort each other properly. An outsider's kind words were welcomed greatly, even if that outsider was an unfeeling robotic hunter like Skulker.
Danny took a deep breath, ignoring the twinge of pain in his chest from his injured ribs, and followed Skulker over to the table. Danny blinked as he realised that Vlad wasn't present.
"Where's Vlad? If we're having a meeting about the cure shouldn't he be here?" Danny pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
"We did contact him but he seemed to be busy trying a new method of synthesising a cure," Maddie admitted.
"Besides, my king, this isn't exactly about the search for a cure," a doctor interjected carefully.
"Then what is this about? I'd rather be with my family," Danny muttered with slight annoyance. Jack and Maddie blinked in surprise at the comment.
"Has something happened son?" Jack asked nervously. Danny frowned at his parents before scanning the doctors gathered around the table.
"Didn't you hear?" Danny ventured. Maddie and Jack glanced at each other worriedly before turning back to their son and shaking their heads. Danny's eyes slipped shut as he was forced yet again to think about his daughter's fate.
"Lilith got bitten. Sam and Ethan are with her in ward 97," Danny informed them. Maddie and Jack's faces went slack with shock and horror at the news.
"How?" Jack managed. Danny opened his eyes.
"Two ghosts attacked the house. They smashed through Lilith's bedroom window and I wasn't fast enough to stop them before Lilith got bitten. Ethan was there too but he's alright," Danny recounted. Maddie strode around the table to her son and pulled him into a hug.
"We're working on a cure. We're not going to rest until everyone is cured. Lilith and the ghosts," Maddie vowed reassuringly. Danny nodded as he returned the hug before pulling away.
"Thanks mom. I know we won't. So… you have news," Danny replied, turning to the doctors hopefully.
One of the doctors gave a quick bow to the halfa before he gestured at the large sheet of paper on the table. It depicted two maps, one of the human world and another being a detailed map of the Ghost Zone. There were numerous red dots all over both maps.
"This is a record of all the locations where infected ghosts were found either by Walker, Skulker, King Phantom or the I.G.A. Using records compiled by patients, comparing cases and portals on the Infi-map, kindly lent to us by the Far Frozen, we have managed to track the illness," the doctor explained before pulling a file out from under the map and opening it. Inside there were a number of documents which he distributed to Danny, Jack, Maddie and Skulker.
Danny took the page and scanned it with a frown. He saw a record of a number of ghost names with where they were found, telling the journey of the illness.
"How did you know who bit who?" he wondered out loud.
"Some patients were coherent and able to tell us. But we also compared bite marks to dental prints of the infected ghosts. These are the best illness pathways we made, but we have a few more with estimates and a few educated guesses on bite mark identifications," another doctor admitted with a shrug. Danny gave a curt nod and turned to the doctor explaining everything.
"Using those pathways and locations, we were able to map each infected ghost's route. It really helped when the Infi-map was brought in for mapping portal openings," the ghost resumed and pulled the original map away to reveal another map covered in red dots connected by numerous blue lines.
"We then tracked the time of each bite and worked back to where the first ghost of each pathway came from. We believe we have found the origin of the disease," the doctor revealed, pulling the map away again and revealed a third map which had a massive circle around where numerous blue lines converged.
Any guesses where that location is? Ghost Zone or Real World?
Any thoughts on how Sam's parents are going to react when they learn about Lilith being bitten?
Let me know what you guys think of the story so far.
Until the next chapter.