Dracula was bitterly doing the accounts, starting to wish that he wasn't a good host so that he could bring himself to ask Davis for help. Then his phone rang, worrying him. Everyone knew that he was doing accounting and so wouldn't call him unless it was important. Then he saw the number on his screen and grew mixed feelings, because it was from the hospital. Was it good news or bad news about Joe's parents?

"Hello, Count Dracula?" Joe's doctor said after Dracula answered it.

"Yes...are you calling about Joe's parents?" Dracula asked concernedly.

"I'm afraid so, you see they went into a coma last night. I would like Joe Bradton to come over as soon as possible to discuss the matter."

"Of course, I'll go tell him." Dracula said sadly.

He hung up and slowly went downstairs. Joe was playing in the lobby with Dennis, Ericka, Johnny, Davis, Brock, and Winnie while Mavis was manning the front desk. Upon seeing Dracula's sad expression, they stopped playing and Mavis hurried over to him.

"What's wrong dad?" She asked.

"The doctor just called me, and I'm afraid it's bad news." He said.

"Did my parents die?" Joe asked worriedly.

"No, but they are in a coma. The doctor would like to talk to you about it."

"Oh...of course." Joe said sadly. "I want to go now in fact."

"I'll take him, you still need to finish the accounts." Ericka offered.

"Thank you, I'm not even halfway done with them." Dracula admitted.

"Want me to help?" Davis offered.

"Well...okay, but only because you asked." Dracula was obviously relieved by this offer.

"One second before you go." Dennis said to Joe.

He turned into a bat and flew away. When he came back he had Joe's teddy with him, which had been left in Joe's room (he often kept the window unlocked so that Dennis could fly in for a visit whenever he wanted).

"Thought you might want him with you." Dennis said.

"Thanks." Joe smiled, taking his teddy.

Ericka and Joe left, and Davis went upstairs with Dracula.

"Um...mom...what's a coma?" Dennis asked awkwardly.

Mavis sighed and she and Johnny looked at each other sadly.

"I'm afraid it's when someone becomes worse than unconscious." Brock said. "They're not dead, but they have to be put under machines that keeps them alive. It's always unknown whether a coma victim will survive or not, but the longer they stay in a coma the less chance they have of waking up."

Dennis and Winnie looked at each other with horror and sadness.

The trip to the hospital was silent at first. Joe wasn't ready to voice his fears or sadness and Ericka was unsure what to say. Finally Ericka couldn't keep one thing to herself any longer.

"It's always unfair when parents get hurt let alone dead." She said sadly.

"Oh...are your parents dead?" Joe realized sympathetically.

"Yes, they died when I was a baby. I don't even remember them." Ericka sighed.

"Well, you got a new dad in Vlad." Joe pointed out.

"True, a new eccentric dad." Ericka chuckled.

Joe chuckled too.

A bit more time passed with silence, then finally Joe had to voice his fears.

"I admit...I'm afraid my parents will die...but as long as I'm given godparents or adoptive parents quickly I think I'll be okay." He said before starting to shed a few tears. "What I'm really scared of is being put into a foster home."

"What would be wrong with that?" Ericka asked.

"I know someone at school who's in a foster home, and she's having a hard time getting adopted because she's thirteen. Apparently teenagers never have a good chance of being adopted. I only have two more years to go before I'm a teenager, so I may not be lucky in getting adopted either."

Joe continued shedding tears, trying to keep from crying, as Ericka sadly started thinking.

"Hello Joe, Mrs. Dracula. I'm really sorry about your parents being in a coma." The doctor said as they entered his office.

"Thank you...what's going to happen?" Joe asked quietly.

"Well, this is a tricky situation...you see when a child is in a coma it's usually entirely up to his or her parents whether the child should stay on life support until he or she recovers or not. However when parents are in a coma...I'm afraid children technically don't have the authority to decide what happens. As far as I know doctors do try to respect the child's feelings on the matter, but if it looks very unlikely that the parents will survive then the doctors may take the parents off life support no matter what the child says."

Joe continued trying hard not to cry.

"How long can someone stay on life support until it looks like they'll die either way?" He almost sobbed.

"Four to five weeks." The doctor sighed.

"Well...in that case if mom and dad don't wake up by the end of the sixth week, then you can take them off life support." Joe decided reluctantly. "I don't want them to suffer."

"Very well." The doctor agreed. "Would you like to visit them? They won't respond to you talking to them I'm afraid, but if talking to them will make you feel better then you're welcome to."

"Of course, I want to tell them my decision whether or not they can hear me." Joe nodded. "That way if they end up not agreeing with my decision they may tell me in a dream. Sometimes I have dreams of my grandma talking to me."

The doctor of course dealt with medical facts, not anything related to psychic powers, but he said nothing. Not only would it be disrespectful to Joe, but it also might unintentionally hurt Ericka's feelings. After all vampires had powers that counted as psychic powers, at least the ability to move things around.

They went to Joe's parents' room, Ericka deciding to wait outside and let Joe have some time alone with them. She now was trying not to cry as Joe talked to his parents, also looking as if he was having a hard time keeping it together.

After Joe was ready they left, still trying not to cry.

"You know...grandma once told me in a dream that one day I would get over my fear of heights." Joe said, wanting to talk about something else. "I really want to, so you think Dracula and the others would be able to help me?"

"I don't know for sure, but I do know that they'll be happy to try. I'd be more than happy to help too." Ericka said. "Maybe you could start by visiting our floor. You don't have to go near the windows, just see what our rooms look like. In fact Dennis has been wanting you to visit his room, he just hasn't asked yet out of respect of your fear."

"Well, it's a reasonable suggestion and I have been wanting to see Dennis's room." Joe agreed. "Okay."

Once they got back they saw Frank, Wayne, Murray, and Griffin now in the lobby. Dracula and Davis were there too, having finished the accounting thanks to Davis's math skills.

"Hey, we wanted to play when we learned about you visiting your parents in the hospital." Frank said. "Are they okay?"

"Y-no." Joe gave in. "They're in a coma and...it looks like...they're not going to make it."

He broke down and fell to his knees crying. Ericka knelt down to hug him and also started crying. Dracula went over to comfortingly put his hands on their shoulders, and everyone else watched also in tears.