Chapter 5

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Danny asked doubtfully. Emily looked grim.

"Well…no." she admitted. "I'm not sure. But it seems like the only chance we have to save Sam." There was a pause as both of them considered all the things that could possibly go wrong with this…but then they reminded themselves that they were doing this to save Sam's life.

"But I need to be completely and totally alone with Sam." Emily continued. "So after you help me to her bed, leave us alone. I'll call you when I'm done." She held up one of Tucker's many PDA's. Danny nodded.

"Got it." He said. Then, squatting slightly, he lifted Emily off the bed and into a wheelchair. Her plaster-encased legs stuck awkwardly out in front of her. Danny noticed this.

"Ah, well, that can't be helped." He put his full weight behind the wheelchair and began to push. He stopped at the edge of the Intensive Care Unit.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" he asked for one last time. Emily nodded, sure of herself. "Yes." She said simply.

Danny held the door open while Emily wheeled herself inside. He gazed into her bright hazel eyes, and saw that she was on the brink of nervous tears. He gave her a quick hug. "Good luck." He whispered.

Emily wheeled herself to the edge of Sam's bed, letting her body get used to the peaceful silence only broken by the beep of the machines connected to her friend's body. Once again, she prayed to God that this would work. Then, she took a deep breath and prepared to do something she had only done once before, at the bedside of her dying mother. It had worked then, and she desperately hoped it would work now, not only for Sam's sake, but for her sake, and Danny's sake, and Tucker's sake…everyone that cared about this tough Goth girl.

Emily focused as she placed her hands on Sam's still body. She let her hands become intangible and slide through her friend's skin. She felt a strange humming in her mind, and knew that it was working, that she was one with Sam. Slowly and rhythmically, she began to massage. Slowly and steadily she worked, until her hands became tired and she couldn't do it any longer. Emily became aware of her surroundings again, and wondered just how long she had been sitting there, calling upon all of her powers to heal one of the few people who had ever truly understood her.

She took the PDA out of her pocket and sent a message to Danny, who had been waiting anxiously. A minute later, the door swung open and Danny stood beside her, staring at his best friend on the bed.

"Well?" he finally asked. Emily considered for a moment. She couldn't be sure, but she just had a feeling…"I think it's worked." She said.

And so it did. A few hours later, a nurse came bearing the good news: Sam was well enough to be moved out of Intensive Care and back into her old room with Emily. She was still unconscious, but should be waking up soon. The nurse looked amazed.

"On the brink of death…" she said, shaking her head. "Then miraculously healed." She left the room still shaking her head, and came back a few minutes later pushing a stretcher with Sam on it. Sam definitely looked a lot better. The color had come back into her cheeks.

Emily lay down on her bed and closed her eyes. Noticing her weariness, Danny gave her a slightly panicked, and concerned, look.

"I'm okay." Emily said weakly, noticing Danny's expression. "It's just that healing takes a lot out of me, and being that this is only my second time doing it…" she didn't have enough strength to finish the sentence. She closed her eyes again.

All of a sudden, a shockingly familiar ghost appeared in the room. Vlad Plasmius. Vlad scooped up Emily from the bed and held her in his arms. She tried to go ghost, but she was just too weak. Danny transformed into his ghost form, and faced his archenemy head on.

"What are you doing here?" he yelled angrily. Vlad smiled his evil smile.

"Oh, just kidnapping your crippled little friend over here. But luckily, she isn't useless for everything." And before Danny, or Emily could say another word, he phased right through the wall and out of sight. Danny chased after him, but Vlad turned a corner and disappeared. When Danny got there, Vlad was gone.

Danny went back to the hospital room, where Sam was starting to stir. He shook her awake.

"Sam! Sam!" he yelled. "We've got to save Emily!"

A/N: Two chapters in one day! I really am on a roll! By the way, I'm thinking that Danny made the crutches maybe like one day when he was bored or something. That's not really important. Where will Vlad take Emily? What has he kidnapped her for? Find out in the next chapter of Ghost Contradiction!