"Maddie…is that you?" Vlad asked as he heard the second person enter the room.
"Yes, Vlad, it's me."
"Ah, Maddie, what can I possibly say? How can I possibly put my feelings for you into words?"
"Cut it, Vlad. You already tried that back in Colorado." Maddie gasped, surprised at the venom of her own outburst.
"Maddie, even you should know that I wouldn't dream of trying to win you over while in this state."
"So quit trying."
"I'm not trying. Maddie, you know I love you more than anything. More than even the Packers. You also know that I can never have you because you're married to Jack."
"So you're willing to give up your feelings?"
"No, but I'm willing to give up acting on my feelings."
"Yeah, great timing with that."
"Forgive me for trying to tie up the loose ends in my life."
"You shouldn't have let them get so loose while you were still living. Honestly, you could have said something before being on you deathbed, you know." Vlad sighed.
"I guess I'll never be able to even get you to see things through my eyes. Fine, I have nothing more to say to you. Send in Daniel." Maddie left the room in a huff and faced Danny.
"He wants to see you now." She growled. Danny gulped and went inside.
"Hey, Vlad," he said softly.
"Daniel…good to see you, my boy." Danny hesitated.
"I'm so sorry, Vlad."
"For what?"
"For causing all of this." Vlad was so shocked that he actually sat upright in his bed.
"You honestly think you were the cause of all this?"
"Uh…"
"My dear boy, my current condition has nothing to do with you. I promise." He coughed and sank back down to a recumbent position. "I should be apologizing to you. I caused you so much pain, so much misery; I deserve this fate."
"No."
"What was that?"
"No," Danny repeated, determination clearly showing in his ice-blue eyes. "Nobody deserves to die, Vlad. Nobody." Vlad coughed again.
"I'm almost glad that Jack got to raise you…you've become an upstanding young man, Daniel."
"Almost?" the elder halfa shrugged.
"I never said that I apologize for wanting you as a son, just for the means through which I attempted to obtain you." Vlad's breathing became shallow and the machines around him began beeping.
"Vlad!" Danny shouted.
"Daniel…let me give you one piece of fatherly advice…don't let the ones you love slip away from you…don't let Samantha follow the same path as Maddie, or you'll turn into me…"
"No, you'll make it through this, don't give up!"
"It's too late for me…goodbye, Daniel…goodbye, son." Vlad closed his eyes as the machines began beeping faster and faster. All of a sudden, they stopped. Everything stopped. Danny was panting as though he had just run a mile, but besides for him everything in the room was deadly silent.
Suddenly, Danny's ghost sense went off. However, instead of the usual blue, the spectral mist that he breathed out was bloodred. The mist traveled down to Vlad's prone body and entered his mouth. The corpse was surrounded by an eerie red glow and Vlad Plasmius stepped out of the body.
Vlad's ghost floated towards Danny. The halfa flinched, but Plasmius wasn't targeting him. The ghost flew right through Danny and then through the door behind him. Danny heard a scream and a thud.
He yanked the door open and saw Plasmius kissing Maddie. Jazz was passed out on the floor, and Danny surmised that it had been she who had screamed. Plasmius pulled away from Danny's mother, a look of contentment appearing on his face. Then he disappeared. Simply faded out of existence.
"He's…" Jack began, but couldn't finish.
"Gone." Danny finished for him. "He finally found peace."