Chapter Two: You're All I Got
A few hours in the waiting room had passed with Tucker still in intensive surgery. Danny had lost count on how many exactly; he had purposely stopped counting at the two and a half hour marker. Tucker was going to get out after they were done saving his life, and that's all there was to it. He looked up as Sam shoved a cup of coffee underneath his nose, waking him back up from his current thoughts. He accepted it with a nod and she took her seat next to him, sipping on her own.
He watched Sam as she, almost in a rhythm, put her cup up to her lips and back down on her knee. She was so lost in thought over their friend that she didn't even have the power to drink coffee regularly. She stared at the white, clean hospital tiles on the floor until she felt Danny staring and looked toward him. She noticed his stare and smiled a little to tell him she was okay and finally took a break from her coffee. She had stopped crying as soon as they got to the hospital. That was also the same time that she was released from her own shock over the incident and noticed the tears. Danny let her wipe them away even though she needed to get it out. But if Tucker didn't make it, he knew they would come back.
They had arrived and told the doctors and the few police officers that were there about the ghost attack. Or more specifically Sam told them about the ghost attack and Danny told them he saw Tucker getting slammed into a wall. Danny was coming to find his two friends after they hadn't showed up at his house for a study group. The police and doctors believed their story. For Amity Park, ghost attacks weren't all that uncommon any more. But with two ghost hunters in town, Inviso-Bill a.k.a. Danny Phantom, and the mysterious girl hunter that rode around on a flying sled, the citizens didn't really worry much. Until tonight.
Sam went toward the little table with the coffee and crackers at the side of the waiting room while Danny asked about some blood that he saw at the scene. He saw it and turned Sam away from it before she could recognize the stain below her friend's head. True, Sam was strong and could take seeing injures and blood, but one thing she couldn't take was knowing that it was blood from one of her best friends of fourteen years. And that it was coming from his head. The doctor took it into consideration before Tucker's parents finally showed up and Danny gave them some room to talk to the doctor and the nurses. He and Sam had told them what happened. His job was done. At least for the time being.
"Danny?" Sam whispered and looked at the dark coffee in her hands, wondering if she should take another drink.
"Yeah Sam?" he shook out of his recent memories and took a quick gulp of his coffee, only to find it was stale.
"I want to thank you," Sam turned to him, "For catching me, I mean. My legs buckled and I couldn't really catch myself. Thank you for being there when I needed you."
"You know you don't need to thank me for that, Sam," Danny took her hand and squeezed, "I'll always be there for you. Just like you're always there for me."
Sam looked down at their hands and gave a small smile, "I know. I just wanted you to know that I do appreciate it."
Danny returned her small smile and then looked up to find a worried looking Valerie pushing through the emergency doors at one of the room. She clutched at her bag thrown over one shoulder and found Danny and Sam sitting at the far wall.
"How did Valerie know we were here?" Danny asked gaining Sam's attention away from their hands.
"She had called while you were still talking with the doctor. I guess she had stumbled onto the field and noticed that no one was there anymore. She called me to figure out where Tucker was- at least that's the excuse that she had given me- and I told her," Sam stood up and brushed off her pants, quickly taking and look back down at Danny, "She doesn't know about Tucker yet."
Danny looked away and Sam walked quickly over to Valerie and gave her a friendly hug.
"Sam, are you okay?" Valerie held her at arm's length and looked her over, "When you said the word 'hospital' I ran almost the whole way here."
"I'm okay… for the most part," Sam said and Danny walked up beside her.
"Hey Valerie," Danny greeted glumly.
"How'd you get here, Danny?"
"When Sam and Tucker didn't show up for the Government study group we had planned together, I went looking for them and found Tucker out cold and Sam trying to revive him."
"My God, Tucker!" Valerie's eyes shot wide open, "Where's Tucker? Is he okay?"
"Valerie, you gotta sit down," Sam guided her to the chairs she and Danny were sitting in only moments ago and squatted in front of her, "There was a ghost that attacked Tucker and I… Tucker… h-he hit a wall pretty hard."
"Sam, where is he?" Valerie stared deep into her friend's eyes.
"He's in surgery. Has been for a few hours now," Sam said sadly.
"Where are his parents?" Valerie asked.
"They're in another room with a set of nurses and a doctor talking about the procedure they're doing with Tucker. At least, that's the last place that I saw them," Danny explained sitting next to Valerie, "They haven't really told us much about anything."
"Damn ghosts. They're all over this city," Valerie hissed, "And I bet Phantom didn't do anything to help him either. Providing if was even there."
"He was and he did what he could," Sam said, "He was… stopped by the ghost and was just as defenseless as Tucker and I."
"I don't see why you defend him, Sam. He's just as bad as the rest of them."
Danny lowered his head into his hands, covering his face from view. Sam looked at him with a sympathetic glance and squeezed Valerie's hands for some kind of comfort. Valerie felt the gesture and gave Sam a small, appreciative smile in thanks. Suddenly, Danny began to chuckle behind his hands and gained a confused look from the girls. He saw them as he picked his head up and covered his mouth.
"I'm sorry," he choked back his laughing, "I just thought that Tucker would kill Sam and I as soon as he figured out that we brought him to a hospital. Well, at least got an ambulance to take him to a hospital."
Sam chuckled ever so slightly, "Yeah, he would flip with how much he hates hospitals."
Valerie giggled through her worry and knew very well about Tucker's phobia, "Remember that one Halloween when I wanted to be a nurse or a doctor and he went absolutely nuts? He dressed up as Death just to spite me."
"You didn't go as a nurse though," Sam said, getting up and sitting next to Danny.
"Nope, I went as an undead patient. Tucker didn't think it was so bad," Valerie began to smile again, "Isn't that the same year you two dressed as a bride and a groom?"
"Yeah two years ago. Sophomore year, wasn't it?" Danny thought back and laughed.
"We always joked that Tucker was 'death' and got in between you two so many times," Valerie and Sam began laughing.
"Yeah, what was it you kept telling us?" Danny laughed trying to think back.
"'Until death do us part,'" Sam put her finger up like she was making a point.
"That was it!" Danny patted Sam's knee in a fast motion.
"Yeah, that was a great year," Valerie smiled and wiped a tear from her eye. She just didn't know if it was from the laughing or her sadness, "How much candy did he get from that haul?"
"I think he bragged about it coming to a good forty some pounds," Danny thought back to that Halloween night, "I forgot how many times he had to go back out. I think at one point all three of us stayed at my place and watched a movie while he kept coming back to unload his stash and go out again."
"It was fifteen," Sam piped up and turned to Danny, "He went out fifteen times and finally collapsed on top of you and me when we were sitting on the couch."
"I remember that huge pile of candy, right in the middle of your living room," Valerie laughed and pointed at Danny, "Your sister got so mad because she just cleaned up from a Senior party she had earlier that night."
"Yeah Jazz was about to bite all our heads off," Danny cringed at the face Jazz had when she came down stairs to see what the noise was about.
"Well, then we got off easy by just cleaning the place up," Sam took a breath, "It was so hard cleaning all that up in that stupid costume."
"You're the one that wanted a corset on it if I remember right," Danny nudged her.
"Yeah, yeah… I may have been in white, but I was still Goth."
"What about that time he entered the first meat eating contest at school?" Danny suddenly switched it to another subject.
"Oh don't remind me," Sam folded her arms and pouted.
"Come on Sam, you got back at Tucker that day," Danny nudged her in the side, "From what I remember he ate so many hot dogs that just the mere mention of the food made him want to barf. You did quite a job of reminding him."
"Just wanted to make my point clear," she began to laugh and the other two joined in.
"But he did win. His pride and glory still stands on his bookcase in his room," Danny said and looked up to find a doctor and Tucker's parents walking toward them. Instinctively he grabbed Sam's hand and squeezed. She turned her head and her smile was gone instantly. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Valerie standing up from her chair and holding her hands together in hope of good news.
The doctor approached the three friends as if he was walking in slow motion. At least, that's what it felt like to Danny. Tucker's parents were right behind him, holding on to one another, their eyes to the floor. Sam squeezed Danny's hand hard and made him look at her. Her face was frozen on the three adults only a few feet away from them. Fear was written strongly on her features and Danny never felt a bigger urge to hold her and to tell her everything was okay.
"Mr. Fenton?" the doctor asked and Danny tore his gaze away from Sam's face and looked at the doctor. It wasn't going to be okay.
"Yes?" Danny asked, regretfully letting go of Sam's hand. Tucker's parents rushed forward passed the doctor and hugged both Danny and Sam tight.
"Thank you two so much for getting Tucker here!" his mother cried into Sam's hair, "I know he would have really appreciated it."
Sam gasped at the few words.
With that one sentence, that one phrase, both Danny and Sam knew that the impossible happened. Nothing was going to be the same. Nothing was going to be okay. Their friend was talked about in the past sense. Because that's what he was now. He was the past, just like memories, just like their unbreakable threesome. Gone. The past.
Danny patted his Mr. Foley on the back and looked over at Sam who was now clutching her eyes shut against Mrs. Foley's dress jacket. He looked back at Valerie who stood there with a question mark almost written on her face. She was going to ask the question, because she was in denial and would stay in denial as long as she could. Just so she wouldn't have to deal with the unbearable pain.
"What do you mean?" Valerie took a step forward, making the two parents look at her, "What do you mean he 'would have' appreciated it?"
"Valerie…" Mrs. Foley let Sam go and ran over to Valerie who stood there in fear of the news. The inevitable… Mrs. Foley hugged Valerie close and began to stroke the girl's hair. She looked at her hand and closed her eyes, "Tucker's gone, sweetie."
"No…no," Valerie began to struggle against the woman. She tried to push away, tried to get away. Mr. Foley came over and also tried to calm down the young woman, "You're wrong! Tucker isn't gone! He can't be gone!"
They had met Valerie around the same time that she came into the group. They knew that she and Tucker were going to the Senior Prom together. And they both knew that the two young people did care for one another. No matter who little or much it may have been.
"No… Tucker's…" Valerie mumbled as Mrs. Foley pulled her against her once again.
Softly the mother whispered in her ear, "We'll drive you home, Valerie. You're dad must be wondering where you are."
As she left with Valerie under one arm she looked back once again at Sam and Danny and gave one last thankful smile to her son's best friends. After his wife left through the doors he turned to Sam and Danny and put his hands in his pockets since he couldn't find any other use for them at the moment.
"I wanted to th-thank," he cleared his throat as tears began to threaten to come up again, "Thank you for everything you have ever done for Tucker. You two have been a constant in his life and I bet he will never forget that. If t-th-there is anything I c-can d-"
"No, Mr. Foley," Danny stepped up to the man, "If there is anything that we can do for you, give us a call. We may have been Tucker's friends, but you are still family."
Mr. Foley nodded and wiped some tears off his face before turning and leaving out of the emergency waiting room.
Danny turned around to find Sam hugging herself and breathing hard in concentration. Concentrating hard on not crying. She was holding it in. Danny walked over to her and with a good foot still between them, Sam launched herself into him, holding him tightly around the waist and burying her head into his shoulder. She was still fighting the urge to cry, and fighting hard. All he could do is wait until the fighting stopped and she would finally let it out.
The doctor cleared his throat and got Danny's attention back on him, "Mr. Fenton, Miss Manson, my name is Doctor Foudnt. I'm sorry for your loss. I don't know because of the tenderness of the situation if you would like to hear the reasoning behind your friend's death or not."
"There is no good reasoning for his death," Sam spat with venom from Danny's shoulder.
Doctor Foudnt didn't hear her and Danny just nodded and helped guide Sam to a small office just down the hall. They sat side by side and Sam still clutched onto Danny, not daring to let go of her last best friend. Doctor Foudnt sat behind his desk and noticed that Sam would refuse to look at him. She just clutched to her friend and looked at the sidewall of his office.
"Again, I am sorry for your loss. Losing a friend this early in life is very hard," he took a deep breath, "When he came into surgery he had a very bad head injury from which he had lost a lot of blood. His skull was fractured- Are you sure you want me to cont-"
"Yes," Danny nodded not missing a beat. It was hard to listen what Tucker had to go through in his last hours of life, but he had to know.
Foudnt only dropped his head a bit and took a deep sigh before continuing, "A piece of his skull had embedded itself into his brain. But that isn't what killed him. It was something in his vital organs; most of them in his abdominal area, where Miss Manson had told us the ghost had hit him. We believe that it was something that the ghost may have done that had stopped your friend's heart and eventually brain activity."
Doctor Foudnt stopped because that was all that he could tell the two. He had no other leads; the death in itself was one of a kind. He had no way of understanding it or explaining it. It was the first fatal ghost attack in the history Amity Park, at least that he knew of. He looked at Danny who had his fists clenched and a blank look in his face. He was stunned, he was scared. Understandably, his best friend had just passed away. The young girl was still holding on to him with the early gloss over her eyes that only foretold of more tears to come.
"The Foley's gave me your parent's numbers," Doctor Foudnt stood up from his chair and began to leave his office, "I'll give them a call to come and pick you up. For the meantime, you two can stay in here."
And that was it, he left and Danny and Sam where left alone in the office. A few seconds passed before Sam could feel Danny begin to move again. His heart began to beat faster, his breathing had become erratic. She looked up at his face and saw him fighting the same battle she was. One against the emotions and against the tears. He was strong for her at the field and he was trying to be strong for her again. But she wouldn't let him this time.
"Danny…" she leaned away from him and loosened her grip on him a little, "You can cry."
Danny gritted his teeth together and finally let out a scream of desperation. He collapsed forward and tears flowed down his cheeks for his friend. His best friend since he could remember. The one who always found a way around problems with his trusty PDA. The one who was there to bail him out when the going got tough. The one who wasn't going to be there anymore, ever again.
A gentle hand landed on his shoulder and his head spun to see who it was and found Sam's worried face looking down at him. He chocked back a sob as he tried to straighten himself up for her. She brushed some of his hair back and stoked his cheek. He looked at her and noticed she was shaking her head.
"Don't do that for me, Danny," she said, her voice full of sadness, "You cry all you need to. You don't have to act strong for me. You gotta let me be the support and strength from time to time."
"You are… and have been more times than I can count," he whispered and hugged her around the shoulders. He buried his head in the crook of her neck where it met her shoulder and wept. He couldn't hold back anymore and thanks to Sam, he didn't have to. She began to rub his back in a soothing motion and ran a light hand through his hair. She was strong and she was his comfort. Always was and always will be.
'Desire will pay for what he's done,' Danny's eyes glowed with rage as he cried, 'He had no right to take Tucker away from me and Sam. There is no way he will get away with it. I'll make sure of that.'
"It's not your fault," Sam said as she was smoothing out his sweatshirt on his back, "You did everything you could, Danny. We both did. So don't you dare blame yourself for this."
"I won't," he coughed at the squeaky voice that came from his mouth and closed his eyes, "And I won't let Desire get away with it either."
He felt her nod her head and a scary thought popped into his head, 'Desire could have taken Sam too. Or just have easily have taken her instead of Tucker.'
Sam felt Danny's grip around her tighten and she hugged him in reassurance that she was still there and wasn't going to leave him. Danny opened his eyes and looked at the small ponytail at the back of Sam's head. He could have lost her just as easily and he could have been left alone. His strength, his support and his will to fight would have all gone down the drain. But she was there, and Hell would freeze over before he would let her go.
"Sam… don't ever leave me," Danny whispered more to himself than to her, but she still heard it.
"Don't worry Danny. I'm not going anywhere," Sam let a few more tears run down her cheeks and waited for her voice to settle once again, "You're all I got."
a/n: Yup, sorry all, but I kinda killed Tucker. It adds to the drama later in the story and had to be done for the plot line. Sorry again, please don't kill me. What I would like are reivews though. Please? I'll get up the next chapter soon. I've been in a typing mood ever since I got sick, so I'll get it out without a problem. Please continue to read and I'll see ya next chapter.