Part V

Tuesday, 24th October

Jazz watched Sam pacing the second floor hallway from her bedroom doorway. She had just come back with Sam from depositing the horse in the Ghost Zone while her parents were busy taking care of Danny. When Sam had come through the front door with Danny limp beside her, a cold chill ran through her spine. She was sure their parents would be asking questions but so far they had taken his unconscious body and left them to the hallway. She sat down on the floor just outside of her door and watched Sam a moment longer, her brother's best friend chewing on a fingernail as she kept an eye on Danny's door. "Sam, Danny's going to be okay."

Sam stopped and dropped her arm down so she could hold herself. "You didn't see him pass out," she mumbled under her breath low enough Jazz almost missed it. She knelt down beside Jazz and added, "It's not… something's wrong with his ghost half."

"We'll see what they think," Jazz said, knowing the girl wasn't one for human contact but believing she needed a hug. She carefully put an arm around her shoulders, seeing how worried she was. Sam leaned into the hug a moment, taking deep, slow breaths.

The door to Danny's room moved, startling Sam out of Jazz's arm and on her feet.

Jazz looked at the door as Maddie stepped out, surprised to see the two. "There you are," Maddie said more to herself.

"How is he?" Sam asked as Jazz slowly got herself back to her feet.

"Danny seems to be the one percent of people who get the flu from the flu shot," Maddie exaggerated with a smile. "It just hit him a little hard, that's all. He should be good in time for Halloween though."

"That's good," Jazz sighed.

"Can I see him?" Sam asked.

"How long ago have you had your flu shot?" Maddie asked back.

"It's been a month," Sam waved off.

"Okay. If you want, you can bring him his dinner too," Maddie said with a smile. She led Sam down the stairs, leaving Jazz in front of her room.

Jazz turned towards Danny's room, stepping in to see Jack standing beside Danny's bed with a laugh in his voice.

"You must've got my side of the gene pool," Jack was saying.

Jazz stepped over to stand on Danny's other side, seeing him propped up by extra pillows behind him. He looked like he was overheating, his face flushed, as he gave his dad a polite smile.

"Well, I gotta go finish up in the lab," Jack said, patting Danny on the head. "Get well soon, Danny-boy. I can't wait to show you the Fenton Furnas. We've made some improvements."

Jazz watched her father leave the room before turning back to her brother, a smile on her face at his expression towards the new and improved Fenton Furnas. She remembered the last time it had made a debut. "Sam's getting your dinner. She's really worried about you, you know."

"I was worried about me," Danny offered, his voice already showing signs of being scratchy. "I don't particularly like going for a free fall."

"Free fall?" Jazz echoed, surprised at the term. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Danny admitted with a shiver. "Ugh, I hate this. I'm sweating. I shouldn't be freezing as well."

"What was your temperature?" Jazz asked.

"Ninety-five."

"That's high for you," Jazz realized.

"How does dinner sound?" Sam asked, getting Jazz to turn around and see the girl holding an old aluminum folding TV tray in both hands. She stepped over to the other side of his bed and waited as Danny repositioned himself to be able to eat before sitting it over his lap. "Your mom gave you the dinosaur tray," she added with a hint of a laugh.

Jazz gave a look at the dinner, a glass of water with chicken, rice, and lima beans, hoping her little brother would be up to eating it.

"Thank Sam," Danny offered, looking down at the meal before him.

"How you feeling?" Sam asked. Danny gave her a look, getting her to shrug and offer, "Sorry, standard question."

"I don't have my powers, I don't really wanna eat, and my body feels like it's trying to kill me," Danny retorted, leaning back against his pillows.

"Well don't push it," Sam said. "If a ghost shows up, we'll take care of it. I think Valerie's set up a messaging system so if anyone sees a ghost they can call her. If it gets really bad, Tuck will send her a call."

"Sometimes I wish she knew the truth," Danny mumbled, quiet enough Jazz almost missed it as he reached for his water to take a sip.

Jazz stole a glance at Sam, remembering her brother had dated the Red Huntress for a spell and still seemed like he liked her. She was glad, not for the first time, she had set aside dating until she was done with school. She liked Sam and respected what she had seen of Valerie, but only Danny could figure out where his heart lied.