Peter was getting uncomfortable sitting in the same position for so long.
He looked closely at the door that kept his left leg pinned. The door
seemed to wrap around it in a peculiar manner. Maybe there was someway to
get it lose without doing anymore damage to himself or the car. He tried to
turn his leg and felt the pain shoot up.
"Damn it," Dr. Venkman muttered. He let go of his leg and sighed.
"Peter, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Dani. I'm sitting up here with my leg stuck and freezing to death. What a great way to spend Christmas. Next year let's go somewhere tropical."
"You're cold?"
"I think I just said that. Did that PKE meter do more than just bump you on the head? Like jar your brain?"
"Not anymore than usual," Dani answered. "Hold on a second." Peter could hear her start to move around in the backseat and glanced back.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to get both of us warm. I have a blanket and you have more body heat." She started climbing over the front seat and Dr. Venkman looked at her.
"You're going to hurt yourself," Peter told her. "Lay back down."
"I will," she answered through clenched teeth. She plopped down where Egon had been sitting earlier. "We're going to share the blanket. It's very warm."
"But you could have just hurt yourself even more," Dr. Venkman said. "Who knows if your ribs are fractured or broken and if they're puncturing your lung or something else. You need to be careful." She gave him a look. "Don't give me that look. We're stuck here together until Egon comes back with help. We have to play nice."
"Whatever," she muttered. The young woman turned herself around making her back face the Ghostbuster than laid her head in his lap and covered her top half and his bottom half with the blanket. "Better?"
"A bit," Peter answered. He looked down at the young woman whose blue eyes were half-closed. They both knew she had to stay awake, but the cold and the pain were making it difficult. For both of them. "So, what do you want to talk about?"
"I don't know," Dani replied. "What's your favorite movie?"
"That's kind of an easy one. Do you want the answer I give to women or my real answer?" Dani let out a little laugh.
"Both," Dani told him.
"When it's a woman I tell her I love any chick flick that's just come out and that when I saw it I cried my eyes out. That though usually gets me actually sitting in the movie theater with that movie and I have to cry. Not always fun, but it helps me get to second base. Now, my real favorite movie is 'Rocky' because you just can't go wrong with a classic like that."
"While Ray's into the classics like Star Wars and Star Trek. I can't tell you how many times he has stuck one of those in the DVD player and I've had to sit through them. They're great movies, but after the twentieth time it gets old. I've been trying to get him to find some new favorites or at least watch something else. You should have seen his face when I stuck 'The Matrix' in. He instantly got into it and ended up explaining the movie to me. He told me to buy him 'Matrix Revolutions' than added we'd go see the third movie when we had a few minutes."
"Those are far a few between," Peter replied. "At least you've never had to watch 'It's a Wonderful Life' twenty times in a row. Ray loves to watch that on Christmas Eve right into Christmas day."
"Every Christmas?"
"Like clockwork." Dr. Venkman noticed the look on the young woman's face. "Hey, we're going to have our Christmas just like Egon said. It's just a day that can be celebrated whenever you want. We'll even go rent the movie and let it run over and over again. It'll be fine."
"Yeah, okay."
"Let's talk about something else," Peter said. "Like what do you plan to do next year? It's just a few days away."
"I don't know. I was thinking about going back to school. Maybe major in some kind of big science. I figure I better catch up with you guys. All I've got is a bachelor's in biology and I only have that because Newton forced me to. I wanted to do theatre, but he thought that was a waste of my time."
"You don't have to do that. We don't expect you to get a doctorate in biochemical engineering just to impress us. You can do whatever you want. Get a theatre degree and star in some Broadway show. Not everyone needs to be an Einstein."
"Sometimes I just feel stupid whenever Ray explains to me how something works. I don't understand half of what he's saying. It pisses me off."
"I don't understand half of what Ray and Egon say. My degrees are in psychology and parapsychology. They each have parapsychology degrees, but they also received degrees to talk in special science and techno-babble. I get lost too than I have Winston explain it whenever he gets it. So you aren't the only one."
"You're not going to let me sulk, are you?"
"Nope."
"Okay. My turn to ask a question again. Have you ever been in love?" Peter made a face.
"Pass. My turn. Do you believe in God? And if so, why?"
"I'm not answering until you answer mine."
"I did. I said pass. Now answer my question."
"Pass is not an answer unless you're on some kind of game show," Dani said. "This is not a game show unfortunately. No Bob Barker or Danny Osmond here. Just you and me."
"I don't want to talk about it." Peter crossed his arms on his chest and stared in front of him at the snow covered windshield. That was the truth. Peter didn't want to talk about it. He had been in love and it ended badly. Not just because he fell quote/unquotes in love with every pretty woman that walked by him than dumped him later or vice versa on occasion but because the one beautiful woman that truly loved him back walked away from him and she was in Europe somewhere playing her cello.
"Is it that Dana Barret lady? Did it really happen that way like it did in the movie?"
"Dani, I don't want to talk about it," Dr. Venkman told her angrily. "What part of that do you not understand? Is there too much snow in your ears? I never want to hear you say her name again."
"Don't get mad at me, Peter. I asked an innocent question. If I remember correctly you and the guys all told me I could ask questions whenever I wanted to. I'm sorry she's such a sensitive subject for you, but I guess I have my answer. You did love her and now you're upset she isn't part of your life anymore. I'd feel the same way."
"You don't know what it's like," Peter replied.
"I don't know," Dani repeated incredulously. She sat up and pulled away the blanket. She silently cursed herself for the movement. The young woman looked at the man with fire in her blue eyes. "I lost two people when I was five, Peter. Two people who I loved a lot and never had the chance to really get to know. You at least had a chance to spend some time with Dana. I don't remember half the time I spent with my parents. Don't tell me I don't know because I do."
"It's not the same," Dr. Venkman argued. "I lost the woman I loved."
"But she's not dead," Dani replied. "You can at least call her to say hi or something. I can't call my parents. Just like you can't call your mom, Ray can't call his parents, and Egon can't call his dad. Death is permanent, Peter. Love can hurt, but at least you still have the chance of running into her and talking about life." The two were quiet for a little while and listened to the wind coming from the outside.
"Are you in love with Ray?" Egon's cousin glanced back over at the Ghostbuster.
"Why are you asking that?"
"Because I want to know. You two have been together a few months and it's nearly impossible to separate the both of you at times. I'm surprised you didn't ask him to come along. He didn't seem to happy about spending Christmas away from you."
"I didn't ask him to come because I needed to focus."
"Focus on what?"
"Getting to know Aunt Katie and Uncle Cyrus," Dani answered. "With Ray around I'd probably just embarrass myself or something."
"Ray knows a lot about being embarrassed and it's not like you needed to spend the entire time talking with Mrs. Spengler and Egon's uncle. Egon's mom would understand if you wanted to sneak off and spend time with Ray. Besides Uncle Cyrus is an extremely boring man. He doesn't think a lot of what Egon does and when you mention your psychic ability and how you obtained it he'd probably give you a look like you grew another head."
"I guess I didn't think it through," Dani admitted. "The way Egon made it sound I thought it was also just a family thing. He didn't invite Janine so I didn't invite Ray."
"Let me tell you something about Egon's mom, Dani. She considers us her family just as Egon does. Sometimes family extends beyond blood relatives, Dani. Winston, Egon, and Ray are like brothers to me. And Janine's like a sister. Janine's not here though because she promised she'd visit her family. I'm sure Egon would have jumped at the chance to invite her along. You had every right to invite Ray."
"Next time I will." She laid back down and shared the cover once more. "And to answer your question it's yes."
"Yes?" Dr. Venkman said. He smiled. "Does Ray know?"
"He ought to. I say it enough. And whether he realizes it or not he says it right back." Peter laughed. Than he shivered. The man was still very cold despite the fact he had a nice thick quilt covering part of him and a warm body pressing against his leg. His mind than wandered off for a second as he thought of Egon and hoped the man had found help and wasn't wandering mindlessly through the snow covered terrain.
"Damn it," Dr. Venkman muttered. He let go of his leg and sighed.
"Peter, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Dani. I'm sitting up here with my leg stuck and freezing to death. What a great way to spend Christmas. Next year let's go somewhere tropical."
"You're cold?"
"I think I just said that. Did that PKE meter do more than just bump you on the head? Like jar your brain?"
"Not anymore than usual," Dani answered. "Hold on a second." Peter could hear her start to move around in the backseat and glanced back.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to get both of us warm. I have a blanket and you have more body heat." She started climbing over the front seat and Dr. Venkman looked at her.
"You're going to hurt yourself," Peter told her. "Lay back down."
"I will," she answered through clenched teeth. She plopped down where Egon had been sitting earlier. "We're going to share the blanket. It's very warm."
"But you could have just hurt yourself even more," Dr. Venkman said. "Who knows if your ribs are fractured or broken and if they're puncturing your lung or something else. You need to be careful." She gave him a look. "Don't give me that look. We're stuck here together until Egon comes back with help. We have to play nice."
"Whatever," she muttered. The young woman turned herself around making her back face the Ghostbuster than laid her head in his lap and covered her top half and his bottom half with the blanket. "Better?"
"A bit," Peter answered. He looked down at the young woman whose blue eyes were half-closed. They both knew she had to stay awake, but the cold and the pain were making it difficult. For both of them. "So, what do you want to talk about?"
"I don't know," Dani replied. "What's your favorite movie?"
"That's kind of an easy one. Do you want the answer I give to women or my real answer?" Dani let out a little laugh.
"Both," Dani told him.
"When it's a woman I tell her I love any chick flick that's just come out and that when I saw it I cried my eyes out. That though usually gets me actually sitting in the movie theater with that movie and I have to cry. Not always fun, but it helps me get to second base. Now, my real favorite movie is 'Rocky' because you just can't go wrong with a classic like that."
"While Ray's into the classics like Star Wars and Star Trek. I can't tell you how many times he has stuck one of those in the DVD player and I've had to sit through them. They're great movies, but after the twentieth time it gets old. I've been trying to get him to find some new favorites or at least watch something else. You should have seen his face when I stuck 'The Matrix' in. He instantly got into it and ended up explaining the movie to me. He told me to buy him 'Matrix Revolutions' than added we'd go see the third movie when we had a few minutes."
"Those are far a few between," Peter replied. "At least you've never had to watch 'It's a Wonderful Life' twenty times in a row. Ray loves to watch that on Christmas Eve right into Christmas day."
"Every Christmas?"
"Like clockwork." Dr. Venkman noticed the look on the young woman's face. "Hey, we're going to have our Christmas just like Egon said. It's just a day that can be celebrated whenever you want. We'll even go rent the movie and let it run over and over again. It'll be fine."
"Yeah, okay."
"Let's talk about something else," Peter said. "Like what do you plan to do next year? It's just a few days away."
"I don't know. I was thinking about going back to school. Maybe major in some kind of big science. I figure I better catch up with you guys. All I've got is a bachelor's in biology and I only have that because Newton forced me to. I wanted to do theatre, but he thought that was a waste of my time."
"You don't have to do that. We don't expect you to get a doctorate in biochemical engineering just to impress us. You can do whatever you want. Get a theatre degree and star in some Broadway show. Not everyone needs to be an Einstein."
"Sometimes I just feel stupid whenever Ray explains to me how something works. I don't understand half of what he's saying. It pisses me off."
"I don't understand half of what Ray and Egon say. My degrees are in psychology and parapsychology. They each have parapsychology degrees, but they also received degrees to talk in special science and techno-babble. I get lost too than I have Winston explain it whenever he gets it. So you aren't the only one."
"You're not going to let me sulk, are you?"
"Nope."
"Okay. My turn to ask a question again. Have you ever been in love?" Peter made a face.
"Pass. My turn. Do you believe in God? And if so, why?"
"I'm not answering until you answer mine."
"I did. I said pass. Now answer my question."
"Pass is not an answer unless you're on some kind of game show," Dani said. "This is not a game show unfortunately. No Bob Barker or Danny Osmond here. Just you and me."
"I don't want to talk about it." Peter crossed his arms on his chest and stared in front of him at the snow covered windshield. That was the truth. Peter didn't want to talk about it. He had been in love and it ended badly. Not just because he fell quote/unquotes in love with every pretty woman that walked by him than dumped him later or vice versa on occasion but because the one beautiful woman that truly loved him back walked away from him and she was in Europe somewhere playing her cello.
"Is it that Dana Barret lady? Did it really happen that way like it did in the movie?"
"Dani, I don't want to talk about it," Dr. Venkman told her angrily. "What part of that do you not understand? Is there too much snow in your ears? I never want to hear you say her name again."
"Don't get mad at me, Peter. I asked an innocent question. If I remember correctly you and the guys all told me I could ask questions whenever I wanted to. I'm sorry she's such a sensitive subject for you, but I guess I have my answer. You did love her and now you're upset she isn't part of your life anymore. I'd feel the same way."
"You don't know what it's like," Peter replied.
"I don't know," Dani repeated incredulously. She sat up and pulled away the blanket. She silently cursed herself for the movement. The young woman looked at the man with fire in her blue eyes. "I lost two people when I was five, Peter. Two people who I loved a lot and never had the chance to really get to know. You at least had a chance to spend some time with Dana. I don't remember half the time I spent with my parents. Don't tell me I don't know because I do."
"It's not the same," Dr. Venkman argued. "I lost the woman I loved."
"But she's not dead," Dani replied. "You can at least call her to say hi or something. I can't call my parents. Just like you can't call your mom, Ray can't call his parents, and Egon can't call his dad. Death is permanent, Peter. Love can hurt, but at least you still have the chance of running into her and talking about life." The two were quiet for a little while and listened to the wind coming from the outside.
"Are you in love with Ray?" Egon's cousin glanced back over at the Ghostbuster.
"Why are you asking that?"
"Because I want to know. You two have been together a few months and it's nearly impossible to separate the both of you at times. I'm surprised you didn't ask him to come along. He didn't seem to happy about spending Christmas away from you."
"I didn't ask him to come because I needed to focus."
"Focus on what?"
"Getting to know Aunt Katie and Uncle Cyrus," Dani answered. "With Ray around I'd probably just embarrass myself or something."
"Ray knows a lot about being embarrassed and it's not like you needed to spend the entire time talking with Mrs. Spengler and Egon's uncle. Egon's mom would understand if you wanted to sneak off and spend time with Ray. Besides Uncle Cyrus is an extremely boring man. He doesn't think a lot of what Egon does and when you mention your psychic ability and how you obtained it he'd probably give you a look like you grew another head."
"I guess I didn't think it through," Dani admitted. "The way Egon made it sound I thought it was also just a family thing. He didn't invite Janine so I didn't invite Ray."
"Let me tell you something about Egon's mom, Dani. She considers us her family just as Egon does. Sometimes family extends beyond blood relatives, Dani. Winston, Egon, and Ray are like brothers to me. And Janine's like a sister. Janine's not here though because she promised she'd visit her family. I'm sure Egon would have jumped at the chance to invite her along. You had every right to invite Ray."
"Next time I will." She laid back down and shared the cover once more. "And to answer your question it's yes."
"Yes?" Dr. Venkman said. He smiled. "Does Ray know?"
"He ought to. I say it enough. And whether he realizes it or not he says it right back." Peter laughed. Than he shivered. The man was still very cold despite the fact he had a nice thick quilt covering part of him and a warm body pressing against his leg. His mind than wandered off for a second as he thought of Egon and hoped the man had found help and wasn't wandering mindlessly through the snow covered terrain.