A couple more hours slowly ticked by before anything changed. At Tucker's insistence, Danny had finally let him go back to the waiting room to bring their takeout and ate his lunch in the empty hospital room. He was a mess. He knew he was a mess, and there wasn't much he could do to fix it at the moment. He was worried as could be about Sam and now he was freaked the fuck out as well. Why the hell couldn't he remember everything? How did he almost kill-
How did he absolutely demolish Vlad and not recall any of it?
He couldn't help think about it all more as he quickly ate his food without tasting it and then returned to their waiting room once again after Tuck finished his own food.
Val was in her chair again and Dani was nowhere in sight, but she had said she would help keep Sam safe so he could assume for the moment that's where she was. So for the time being, Danny just dropped into one of the farther chair for the time being and pulled his phone out to mindlessly fiddle around on the couple games he kept on there. There wasn't much that could keep his focus, after all.
But after what felt like forever, Dani strolled back into the room. "They're starting the process to wake her up. Get on in there." Danny didn't need another word, though he did thank her quietly as he scurried past. Since Tuck had already gone into the security system now, he didn't bother going all the way to the bathroom to morph but instead found a blind spot where he could simply walk through the wall and disappear.
He wasn't sure of the actual process for the nurses and doctors to wake Sam up, so he had nothing for comparison as they went in and out of the room.
They'd had Sam's parents leave the room and wait in the hallway for the time being, so it was probably considered rude for him to stay... but he'd tell Sam that he had later and apologize if needed.
It felt like time was moving really slowly, but in truth, it was only maybe twenty minutes before Sam's restless shifting gave way to her eyelids fluttering. It took a short while longer before she actually seemed to stir properly and reacted to the voices of the nurses and doctor. Danny, obviously, could only watch on in silence and unseen.
"Samantha?" Danny cringed. The doc- he hadn't bothered to check the person's name yet among everything else going on- had only spoken to Sam's parents so far, so it's not like they would actually know what she preferred. But that wasn't a great start to waking her up. "Samantha, I'm Dr. Kris Echevarria. You're at Amity Park General Hospital. It'll be a little hard to talk right now, so can you nod if you can understand me?" As they spoke, Sam seemed to wake up more and slowly nodded after a moment of processing. "Okay, that's good. Do you remember what happened or why you're here? Take your time and just nod again."
Was that normal for doctors to ask? It seemed to make more sense to say what was wrong first? At least in his mind, it did. He really didn't have much experience with hospitals- he hadn't risked going to one since he got his powers and most things that ever went wrong before that were taken care of by an appointment or a trip to the school nurse.
Either way, Danny (and the doctor and nurse too, it seemed) waited tensely for some form of response from Sam. It looked like she was thinking hard for a minute before doing a sort of side-to-side wobble that wasn't a yes or a no.
Dr. Echevarria nodded, keeping their expression smooth but not robotic or anything. The nurse stepped out of the room and Danny could hear her begin to update Sam's parents that she was awake and they would be allowed in soon.
"Yeah, that's about expected. Blood-loss and anesthesia can both cause confusion, so it might be a little while before things are all sorted out. You'll have some time before you have to make any sort of statements... I'm sorry, but- do you remember about your arm?" It took everything Danny had to keep invisible. At least Sam's parents weren't making everything terrible for her at the moment, but he desperately wanted to be there for her properly at the moment rather than just hiding like he was. As if he'd be allowed in, though. He didn't know if he was more relieved or stressed as Sam nodded. She remembered.
The doc nodded slowly as well for a moment, expression softening. Their voice was even softer as well. At least they had decent bedside manners. "I'm sorry to say the damage was too extensive for a successful reattachment surgery. The scarring on your bicep is rather minimal, and you needed one minor blood transfusion to ensure successful healing. I heard your friends were there?" Another pause for Sam to nod, and Danny was getting frustrated at how neutral his girlfriend's expression was. "Right. They did some excellent first-aid on scene and until our team got to you. Aside from your arm, you have some general bumps and scrapes but don't have any other major injuries."
They gave her a moment to absorb the information before stepping over and picking up a small cup. "Can you try to drink a bit of water? Once you feel comfortable with it and can talk a bit easier, I can let your parents in to see you."
While Sam accepted the cup and tried to clear her throat before starting to sip on the drink, her face at least gave away a bit more at the mention of her parents. AKA the usual wave of annoyance that happened any time they were brought up.
"Now, unless you would really prefer for me to go over everything right now, I'd like to wait to discuss your future treatment options until you've had a chance to wake up more and feel up for it. For now, though, I'll let your parents come in whenever you're ready. And if you're still completely stable in another hour, I can let your friends come in two at a time."
Sam actually managed a sound when she cleared her throat this time but took another drink before trying to talk. "Are they okay?" It panged hard in Danny's gut how rough her voice was. That he couldn't just. Make this better. But at least the doc seemed capable, including in bedside manner. They didn't hesitate a bit to answer.
"None of your friends were admitted or had to be seen by our team. I do believe they've been worrying the nurses with how little sleep anyone can get in those waiting room chairs, but I'm sure they'll rest easier tonight once they've had the chance to see you." He could practically hear the silent 'and finally leave the hospital' that Echevarria was probably thinking, but. Well. He wouldn't be leaving, at least. He could try and encourage the others to go home for the night, but he just. He couldn't leave. Not while Sam was unable to protect herself. Even with Plasmius in the ICU, Amity Park was far too dangerous in general for any of them. They'd long ago made themselves targets by being the ones to fight the ghosts successfully.
"Wait, how long have I been out? Who all is waiting?" The panic came through no matter how rough Sam's voice was at the moment. Damn. When was the last time he'd felt so helpless? And still, what he was feeling was nothing on what Sam was going through.
"Less than a day. You were brought in and went through your surgery last night. From what I've been told, it's the friends who came into the Emergency Room with you who are waiting, but I can get their names for you if you'd like. We'll only allow visitors you and your parents permit."
After a moment, Sam nodded. "Can I get their names? My parents might not want them here..." Dr. Echevarria agreed easily and pulled their pager from their hip.
With an intense level of regret and guilt he would have to deal with deeper later, Danny floated through the wall towards the waiting room as the doc called in the request. If he wasn't there right when expected, he knew Sam's parents would do what they could to prevent him from visiting properly. And more than that, as much as they disliked him as a person and as their daughter's boyfriend. Well. They disliked Dani a fair bit more. The cover story that had circulated the most to explain why she wasn't around until a couple years prior was that she'd been in juvie for a long time before that. So while it meant there were fewer questions about who she was and why she wasn't in school, it also caused the Foleys and the Mansons to be very wary of the youngest Fenton.
When he touched down in the corner of the waiting room, he transformed before he faded back into visibility, updating the others before he was even fully there. "She's awake and they're about to let her parents in. One of the nurses should be coming down to get our names so we can visit her soon."
The tension his appearance had gartered seeped out of his friends and sister. "Did they say when?" Tuck asked, turning off the screen of his Switch to give his full attention over.
Danny shook his head, claiming one of the far seats so that there'd be less work for Tuck to fix the cameras. He was in the one safe corner when he showed up, but he still would basically come out of nowhere at some point in the video. "Maybe an hour if her parents say we can. If not, Sam'll probably have to fight them on it."
Val sighed. "They'll probably won't want us there."
"Oh, they definitely won't. But Sam will and they'll give in eventually." At least. He would hope she would want them there, but it had seemed like it when she was asking who was waiting to see her.
The conversation between Val, Tuck, and Dani picked back up where they'd been when he got back, so they all looked basically normal by the time someone from the desk came up the short hallway and over to the waiting room. "Can I get everybody's names, please? We didn't receive them from the ER report." Ignoring the excuse and knowing the genuine reason behind the question, the four of them rattled off their names with enough time in between for the attendant to write them down. "Allllright. Thank you for your patience and cooperation."
With that, they disappeared back around the corner. Time seemed to pass much slower once again while they waited this time, knowing they were all so close to actually being able to see and talk to Sam. But even Danny was good now. He didn't want to be missing when the time came for them to visit and while he could quell the ever-present anxiety that a ghost would show up when he wasn't there to protect her, Val's sensors should theoretically let them know if any ghost even showed up in the hospital. He'd actually forgotten that she had them until he'd returned to the waiting room and noticed the small light flash green on her hair clip.
And so once again, they waited and waited. But at least now, they had a deadline to look forwards to.
Finally- finally- after another hour, thirty-seven minutes, and forty-two seconds ticked by, one of the nurses Danny had seen most throughout the day walked into the waiting room. "Mr. Fenton and Mr. Foley?" She seemed a bit startled when Danny looked up at her, but then he realized he'd already stood up to go. Whoops. Tucker was normal, at least, raising his head in response at a regular, full-human pace. She recovered quick, at least. "Ah. Ms. Manson would like the two of you to visit her first. It's regulated to two visitors at a time for now, so you'll be switching out with Mr. and Mrs. Manson."
Without another moment of hesitation, Tuck put away his console in his backpack and stepped over beside Danny. Satisfied that they were ready, the nurse nodded once and led the way up the hall towards Sam. Legitimately, this time.