Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom, I'm a big fan and was feeling nostalgic.
Chapter 36: And Now We Wait
Danny's POV
You know, I'm honestly not sure if it's because Vlad's the one acting as my doctor or because my sister was babying me in front of him, but for some reason I was feeling super self-conscious. Well, more than usual anyway. Still, I was kind of surprised to actually see for myself that Jazz seemed to trust Vlad. At least from what I could tell anyway so she wasn't faking it or anything. And besides, unlike before Jazz wasn't naive about what he was really capable of anymore so I have no doubt that she WOULD give him a taste of the Fenton Ghost Peeler if Vlad pulled anything shady. Reflexively, I became a little anxious when she started joking around with him about that, thinking he was going to get angry if it sounded like a real threat, but when Vlad didn't seem to mind and could tell it was just a joke I relaxed a bit and even tried joking around with him too to keep my mind off this stupid blood transfusion business.
Still, what Vlad forgot to warn me about was was how boring this was gonna be...
He already took my pulse and a blood sample earlier and was setting up the blood-bag when I noticed something weird about it. I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I was imagining it but when it didn't go away I turned to my sister and whispered, "Psst, Jazz, can you see that?"
Jazz seemed to be so off in her own little world that at first I thought she didn't hear me when finally she turned to me and replied, "See what Danny?"
While Vlad's back was turned I nodded towards the blood-bag while Vlad was working on the saline bag on other side -or I think that's what it's called- and continued, "There's something funny about that blood-bag. It's...glowing."
"Glowing...?" Jazz wondered, squinting her eyes to take a closer look herself. "I don't see anything Danny. Are you sure you're not imagining it?"
"Jazz, come on, I'm-" I began when Vlad -having heard every word with his ghost hearing because, duh, we both had it- he explained in that familiar know-it-all tone of his...
"Of course she can't see it Daniel, it's just the ecto-restorative I added. Normally you shouldn't be able to see it either but I had to increase the dosage this time. And right now you are hyper aware of anything resembling ecto-energy since your ghost half knows it needs it, just like when you know you need water when you're feeling thirsty. Think of this as a sort of...ectoplasmic supplement designed to kick start your healing abilities again and restore the equilibrium with your human half and your ghost core," glancing at my sister to make sure she was paying attention too, Vlad kept going, "I told you this earlier, but I have had to use this on myself before so it's perfectly safe. Took several years to develop it in such a way that it could be diluted but as you can see it was well worth the effort. Be glad you don't have to worry about it making your condition worse since I will be monitoring you for the next few hours and-"
"The next few hours?!" I gaped, pointing at Jazz, "Are you crazy? My sister still has school you fruitloop! What if they think she's gone missing too? What if our parents coming looking for her here?!"
"Danny! Danny..." Jazz called, drawing my attention back to her when I started getting worked up but we couldn't risk it! I love my sister but if letting her stay was going to cause problems then-! "Hey, look at me!" she said, clapping her hands to my cheeks and patting them, "Do you really think Vlad would have asked me over if that was the case? School's closed today so the Axion people can install their spare ghost shield and test it. I meant to tell you earlier but we got sidetracked. Valerie's dad is in charge of the whole thing since he's head of security too so he knows exactly what he's doing. Vlad even convinced mom and dad to go give them some pointers when it comes to ghost shields to prove to me they're serious about not running off and picking anymore ghost fights if they can help it. Now, take a deep breath and relax, everything's fine."
Still unconvinced I did as I was told but there was still an uncomfortable tightness in my chest so it took a few minutes for it to finally go away. When I glanced up though both Vlad and Jazz looked concerned so I blushed and mumbled, "Sorry..."
"It's fine Daniel," Vlad smiled, bringing the IV bag over and hooking me up to it and checking my pulse one last time before starting the drip. "I should have explained it to you earlier but as I said I had another urgent matter to attend to and assumed your sister would inform you about what's going on. By the way, thank you for calming him down Jasmine."
"He's my little brother," Jazz replied proudly, making me blush a little deeper, "Trust me, this is nothing. Try getting Danny up for school in the morning when he decides to go intangible so I can't shake him awake! Last time he did that I had to-"
"Jazz, shut it! I mean it!" I hissed, which only made them laugh harder at my expense. Crossing my arms, I glowered in their direction, thinking Great, now both of the most annoying people in my life have teamed up to make fun of me, my own sister, and Vlad. I'm so totally screwed right now. Maybe I should just sleep through this after all instead of listening to these two talk about me like I'm not even here...
Speaking of 'not being here' when they mentioned that school was out today I thought, Wait a minute, if school really is out then why did Vlad say they couldn't come over? What the heck Vlad?
"Hold on," I called over to Vlad who was in the middle of talking to Jazz about the whole 'Danny's not a morning person' thing. "If school's out today then...why did you tell me seeing my friends would be so hard? I might not get a chance like this again and they...sure I'm still kind of freaked by what I almost did but don't they deserve to know I'm ok now too?"
"Oh Danny..." Jazz began, giving me one of those worried looks while Vlad on the other hand looked kinda pissed actually. And it reflected in what he said next.
With his dark blue eyes narrowed and hands resting behind the small of his back, Vlad said in a no-nonsense tone, "Daniel, your sister has already informed them that you are still recovering and asked them to keep their distance to reflect on their actions. Whether they choose to believe that I'm serious about helping you is up to them, but, I will NOT risk them spurring yet another panic attack. You may seem alright now, however, the fact remains that you've been through what was likely the most traumatic experience of your natural life -aside from this alternate future business- and their carelessness directly resulted in delaying that recovery. I understand your need for closure but I can assure you that seeing them now would do more harm then good."
"And since when have you known what's best for me Vlad?" I challenged, resisting the sudden urge I had to give him a list of every jerky thing HE'S done to me compared to them. "Up until now you've never given ANY of us a reason to trust you, that includes Jazz, so why should Sam and Tucker be treated any different? You said I could see my sister right? Well, I've changed my mind and want to see my friends too because after this I might not get another chance! And I don't want to add not seeing them again to the list of things I'm going to regret for the rest of my life!"
I was still glaring at Vlad when Jazz put her hand on one of mine again and began harshly, "Danny, that's not fair. This isn't about who did what to you, it's about doing what's best for you now! Vlad's right. Even though they care about you too those two stepped over the line. I don't care if they didn't know it at the time but Danny...you were in a really dark place when they pulled that stunt and you might have...you might have tried to kill yourself again if Vlad hadn't protected them and calmed you down. What they did was VERY wrong Danny, there's no sugar coating it. Our parents nearly killed you and then your best friends practically turned their backs on you for making a choice they couldn't agree with. A long time ago I might have even agreed with them about being wary of Vlad knowing his...history..." she glanced unsurely at Vlad who nodded, accepting that fact which surprised me, then Jazz continued gravely, "That was before though, before I realized that like our parent they're too blind to see what's right in front of them. The fact is, Vlad saved your life Danny. He didn't have to, but he did, and if Vlad really hated you as much as our dad he would have left you to die out there in that storm. If Vlad wanted to use you or experiment on you, he would have had you spirited you away the moment you were within his grasp regardless of your condition and made sure none of us could get anywhere near you. And Vlad has more then enough experience and know-how to take care of your health needs as both human and half-ghost. And most of all Danny, if Vlad didn't care about you he never would have confronted our parents in person for your sake or mine when he could have easily gotten them arrested by anonymously letting someone find out they shot their son while thinking that you were supposedly possessed. If VLad didn't care about you then I wouldn't be here right now helping him make sure you get better, and if nothing else, trust ME when I say that dealing with Sam and Tucker is just going to have to wait."
"But that's...!" Another shiver ran up my spine when some of that weirdo-ecto-boosted-blood began entering my system but I shook my head and ignored that feeling since I had to make them understand why I needed to see my friends too!
Noticing my discomfort Vlad made some adjustments to slow the drip down since I was getting too worked up and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he explained, "We've been over this Daniel. Look at you, you're already getting worked up again at the mere mention of those two! Enough is enough. As I explained to you before, multiple times I might add, Mr. Foley and Miss Manson are both still grounded until the end of the month. And if you think having your own sister here might look suspicious to any onlookers, imagine if you will what would happen if the now-former mayor suddenly invited two random teenagers to his home who were grounded BECAUSE they broke into his private property? Really now, I know you've been through a lot the past few days but you're smarter than this Daniel. If you're that concerned about telling them goodbye then I'm sure your sister would be more then happy to relay a message to them for you since she'll see them tomorrow at school anyway. As for you young man your time would be better spent focusing on your own well-being instead of everyone else's as I'm sure they'll survive without you for awhile with the new ghost shield installed at your school."
I...guess I couldn't argue with that but seriously? Why were both of them ganging up on me like this? Was it so wrong that I wanted to patch things up with my friends? Sure they were jerks to me but I really freaked them out when I went missing so I couldn't blame them for getting kind of upset. Still I...
My train of thought drifted when I felt another of those weird rushes of warmth pass through my system, but there was also this odd...twinge in my chest too. I couldn't tell if it was my heart or my ghost core that felt this way but the last thing I wanted was to give them another reason to act even more overprotective.
Once it passed I leaned further back into my pillows and shot them both an annoyed glare. "Fine, you win. This time. It's not like I stood a chance arguing against not one but two smart-alec's..."
Smiling at each other like a pair of idiots, Vlad and Jazz replied in unison, "Nope."
Vlad's POV
It was no surprise that Daniel was clearly very unhappy with us when we shot down his brilliant plan to invite those two poor excuses for friends over when their presence would only complicate everything again. At least Daniel couldn't accuse me of being too controlling since his sister openly agreed with me that seeing them at this junction was a bad idea and we took turns cutting him off at every angle whenever Daniel tried to get us to change our minds. Eventually, Daniel gave up which may also be a result of the side effects of the ecto-restorative making him feel ripples of energy pass through his system as it reenergized his ghost half in addition to the normal blood flushing out any traces of that awful infection.
I must admit we made a pretty good team and I'm glad Jasmine was on my side in all this since Daniel was more likely to listen to her advice then mine and accept it at face value. She was too honest for her own good really, yet when the need arose Jasmine could read people almost as well as myself which allowed her to turn the conversation in her favor. I could see now why Daniel might feel...inferior when always compared to that which is why I intended to take her advice to heart and praise and guide him rather then point out his flaws first. He was doing very well, and in fact was recovering much more quickly then I expected him to even with all the set backs. It was like night and day since the last time I was injured this badly -which yes only happened once in my early years after obtaining these powers- it took me well over a month to recover my strength. Then again, Daniel had my help to speed things along and he was a growing young man so really I shouldn't be surprised.
A comfortable silence fell about 45 minutes into the procedure and Daniel seemed to be drifting off unwillingly out of sheer boredom since he refused to look or speak to either his sister nor myself after we backed him into a corner during that argument about his friends. Outwardly, Jasmine seemed to be faring just fine but she did look a tad bit tired. Even so she gently pet her brother's hair despite him refusing to look at her yet before long Daniel's eyes drifted closed. Occasionally Daniel would shutter in his sleep and inhale sharply but it wasn't outright shivering which I for one took as a good sign. As for Jasmine I eventually convinced her to grab a book from the library if she was bored or help herself to some coffee. I hadn't had time to make breakfast this morning since I had stayed up almost the entire night myself and truth be told that was my 3rd coffee brew. At one point I bypassed getting a mug and drank the entire pot, which yes that's as uncivilized as it sounds but I obviously replaced the pot afterwards with a clean one before making the next batch.
Jasmine took me up on that offer and was kind enough to bring me a mug as well after searching the cupboards. I didn't mind since she had no reason to wander elsewhere when our primary focus was Daniel. I really hoped this would solve the problem we were presently facing, well, one of them at least because there was so much I wanted to do for Daniel and some of those preparations were well underway back at my castle.
Part of me was tempted to confide in Jasmine and ask for her advice regarding the next surprise I had in store for my little badger but then something made me hold back because...really I didn't want to share the credit for this gift. I wanted to build new memories with Daniel from now on that would some day make him forget all about the pain and suffering this town, his family, his friends, and even I've caused him. I'm sure Daniel wasn't going to have fond memories of my castle either even though it's been remodeled, for the 3rd time I might add, but with any luck what I had in store would change all that.
However, that like many things...would just have to wait. And although I was a patient man, I simply couldn't wait to see what expression Daniel made when he saw it. Speaking of which I neglected to give him the first of his belated birthday presents in my haste to call Jasmine over. I would just have to give it to him along with the others during the flight tomorrow or the next day depending on how well Daniel did during the transfusion. While Jasmine settled into the chair I normally sat in to keep a close eye on Daniel I checked his vitals again and so far everything looked normal. At least as normal as the vitals of a half-ghost could be but again, his normal would never be like a humans, not entirely which is why he was so fortunate to have me. Then again, perhaps I had it backwards and I was the fortunate one...
That thought made me pause and glance at Jasmine who glanced up from her book with a shy smile before returning to where she left off and taking her brother's limp hand in her own and lacing their fingers together, careful not to get tangled in the IV tube of course. I was almost taken aback by how...normal this felt. Almost as if I was a parent tending to their sick child, which to some extent was true since I saw Daniel as a son now more than ever. As for Jasmine, perhaps I was warming up to the idea of bringing her into the fold one day but for now the best thing I could do was ensure that she could safely complete her high school education and perhaps offer a scholarship so she wouldn't have to wait for acceptance. With her grades Jasmine could easily get into Harvard. Speaking of which, that was another thing that needed to be addressed. Daniel's education.
Checking to make sure Daniel was really asleep I decided to take a chance to ask Jasmine more about his personal life from her perspective before I made sure to get a recent copy of Daniel's records and start making lesson plans. Of course we'd have to wait until Daniel recovered and was emotionally stable enough to get instruction from a tutor but I was confident that without the usual distractions he would excel. And judging from the way Jasmine's eyes lit up the moment I made my first inquiry, she had just as much faith in her little brother as I did. Though perhaps I had so much more because not only would Daniel excel in school, but I would help his powers flourish so that this monster, this Dan character, would never pose a threat to anyone ever again.