Hello

Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does.

Chapter Eleven

Don't Cry.

So that's where Danny found himself. Sitting on the jungle gym of his old elementary school, watching helplessly as his best friend bled to death. He felt like he'd been slapped. He wished he had thought about what he would say at a moment like this but even in his worst nightmares he hadn't ever put himself in this situation.

Sam's life hung in the balance and at the moment he seemed to be the only one in the world who cared which way the scale would tip. But still words weren't coming to him. He stared there at Sam's wrist as if he had never seen blood before. It seemed to cling to her skin the thick liquid forming a strange.

"Isn't it great, Danny," Sam whispered. He glanced up at her face. She had a quietly excited look to her. Her eyes were still hollow though.

He couldn't think in the stupor he was in. "What's great?"

She smiled at him a cruel cold smile. "I'm going to be gone soon. I won't have to deal with any of this anymore." She gestured vaguely with her still bleeding arm. Danny did notice this time that the slit was parallel to her palm, not from her wrist towards her elbow. He knew enough to know that it was less harmful. Still not good, but it was a start.

"How can that be good, Sam?" Danny couldn't believe what he was hearing.

She stared at him as if the question was in a foreign language. She continued staring at him a little to intently. He had to force himself not to break eye contact. "Life sucks," she finally said, airily. "You know that." It came out as a half question, half statement.

Danny blinked. "Well, yeah. But it doesn't mean you have to--do this." He stopped himself from saying 'kill yourself'. He couldn't bring himself to say it at the moment.

Her eyes lost focus and she stared at something vaguely over his left shoulder. "It must be so easy for you. All you have to do is think about it and you die. You stop breathing, everything just melts away." She focused in on him again. Despite the flushed look to her checks her skin was taking on a more white pallor. "I'm not like you, Danny. I have to do this the hard way."

She reached up to touch his check with her blood-covered hand. It took everything in him not to flinch away. He knew that would only make things worse. He hand felt chilled and the half-dried blood clung to his face. "You could come with me, Danny. I know it's been hard on you. You don't need this anymore. Neither of us do."

He swallowed. "No, Sam. This is where I need to be. This is where you need to be." She swayed dangerously, her gaze slipping out of focus again. "Come on. Let's go down on the ground."

Sam shook her head violently, her dark hair swirling. But she continued on with her same train of thought. "I don't want to die alone. I think it's going to be lonely."

This showed how off kilter Sam was. Sam had always been big on being unique, an individual, doing things her way when she felt like doing them. He had never heard Sam say anything about being alone before in her life, even when her parents went through that rough patch.

Sam's breathing was getting more labored and Danny was getting more frightened. If he waited too much longer she was going to end up dying in his arms. Some job of saving her I'm doing, he thought bitterly. He stopped and breathed in and out, focusing on what by now was becoming a second nature thing.

Her head snapped up and her eyes went right back into focus when she saw the familiar light. Danny Phantom sat in front of her same concerned look was the only thing that hadn't really changed. "Come on, Sam. I'm gonna fly you down."

Sam looked like a trapped little rabbit. "No," she shook her head mutely. "No, no, no!" She reached for the bar behind her and left a bloody handprint. Her hand slipped and she slipped backwards. Danny instinctively reached out and grabbed her by the waist. He pulled her towards him. Something in Sam snapped and she screamed.

Danny almost dropped her out of surprise. "Shh! Sam, it's okay. It's me. I'm not going to hurt you."

She whirled her head around and locked eyes with him. Blind panic shown in her eyes and there was a sort of hidden terror in her face. "Let go of me," she hissed.

Danny didn't understand. "Sam, I'm just going to get us to the ground—"

Sam shoved against him with both hands. "No, I refuse to do this again. You're just like them. I hate you! Let go of me!"

He managed to pin her wrist together with one hand while supporting her weight with the other. "Just like who, Sam?"

She pulled at her wrist and wavered again. "Them. I don't know who they are," she sobbed. She was frantic now and he could tell her mind was getting foggy.

He needed to do something and now. If not he was going to lose her, no matter what he had done so far. He pulled her to him. She protested weekly but something must have given cause she lay her head down on his shoulder. "I'm dying, Danny," she whispered in his ear, almost as if she herself was just realizing this.

Danny took of towards the ground, those horrible words ringing in his ears. She was dying. As Danny lay her down he watched her eyelids flutter then close. He shook her shoulders gently. It was no use, she was out cold. He stared at her deathly pale face and had to wonder if there was any saving her now.

Yeah, I know I updated yesterday but I want to get this done. This was the hardest chapter to write. I think it came out okay, but you tell me. My reviewers for the last chapter were: q.t a.k.a spice, Akiko, Sloane Miette, The Fuzy Llama, Weeble Wobble Chic, Dragon Blade5, Sakura Scout, Aeris9919, Moody Maud, RainbowSerenity, dannyphantomsgf, Spice of Life, Piezo, and Coldplayer813. Oh my gosh. I just almost posted the Epilogue. That would not have been good. This is what I call bad. LoL. Hope you enjoy the chapter.