Warning: Gore.
"He-hey Tuck."
Tucker groaned at the breathy, half-giggled call, rolling over in bed. He squinted at his phone through the darkness, drawing it close to pick out the numbers.
"It's 2 in the morning, Danny, go home."
"No, listen, Tucker, I gotta- did you know I'm an organ donor?"
He sighed, dragging his glasses off his night stand and sitting upright. Tucker pushed the aids onto his face, rolling his head around to give a sleepy glare to his glowing friend. An ambient green haze seemed to roll out from around the window as Danny grinned at him, wobbling in the air. His sharp smile seemed strange, green eyes turned in his direction, but not quite focused on him.
"-An organ donor." Danny repeated, blinking quickly, the corners of his mouth stretching into an almost manic grin. "You need anything? I… I De-liver now."
"What the hell are you-"
His breath caught in his throat, stomach lurching as he realized why his friend had woken him up.
White gloved hands were tucked close to his gut, shoulders hunched over as he cradled long, glowing coils of intestines. Danny's feet touched the floor, wide eyes and slit pupils trembling as they focused on nothing. Something viscus and green plopped wetly to the floor.
"Heh..It's fine if you don't have the stomach for it, just, lemme.. Ha, lemme try-"
Tucker was already leaping out of bed, a roar of panic flooding his veins with adrenaline as he flicked on his light and dove for the med-kit. Danny rolled his head back to stare at the ceiling, helpless giggles shaking his shoulders. He dreamily followed the urgent press on his shoulder, sitting, then laying down on the tarp Tucker had thrown over his bed. The hard plastic crinkled loudly, and Danny licked a streak of ectoplasm off his upper lip. He grimaced at the taste, another bead of it sliding from one nostril and down the side of his cheek to cling to the tarp. Tucker dug out an emergency kit they had put together, struggling to breathe through the fear and horror at what was in front of him.
He cringed when Danny lifted a hand, pulling up a loop of shiny intestine up to gesture.
"How's your anatomy? Mine's a bit..keheh" Green eyes slid shut, a faint hissing laugh slipping between bared teeth as Tucker yanked on medical gloves that were just a bit too small. He and Sam had probably mixed up the boxes, but there wasn't time .
"Danny, is anything ruptured? Tell me what happened."
He was already gently pulling the coils away from those careless hands, delicately inspecting them for damage. He'd stitched up arm and back wounds before, pulled together skin over muscle, but never… never anything like this.
"Tuckeerrrr, you look like a doc-terrrr…"
The abdominal flesh had been carved open from hip to ribs, the white gleam of two of them clearly visible behind the open flap of skin. Keep it clinical, this was just a…. Just a puzzle. Just a puzzle to put back together again. It was cold anyway, like freezer chicken. Danny swallowed, and Tucker couldn't stop himself from watching the pulse-twitch of several dark organs and twisting connective tissue that should not be visible . He batted away the green-slicked fingers lazily reaching for his glasses, the back of his tongue curling, throat closing as he tried to keep his own stomach from- nope!
He ducked sideways, ignoring the meaningless noise Danny churred as Tucker dropped to his knees emptied what little remained in his stomach, hacking uselessly and spitting into the trash can he'd dragged closer.
Oh god.
"What's the difference…heh... between me and an onion?"
"Jesus christ, Danny, Please stop." Danny either didn't hear the rasped plea, or ignored it.
"People cry when they cut an onion~"
Tucker spat again, swallowing and taking a few steadying breaths into his elbow before standing up again and changing his gloves, tying off the bag. Danny was wiping away the mess of ectoplasm on his face, absently licking a smear of glow off the side of his thumb. Tucker pointedly stopped watching.
Nothing seemed to be broken. The organs weren't damaged, they were just… loose. Spilling out. Fuck. Anxiety still thrummed through his spine, but the idea of his friend actually dying on his bed had him double-checking for damage before gently sliding what seemed to be a liver up back into the curve of ribs.
"Your jokes are awful." He muttered, mentally rearranging the ( ThankGodIt'sCold) wet coils before sliding his fingers gently into the mess of intestines.
"My heart's just not in it, today." His friend whispered, and Tucker had to pause as the teen coughed, body jerking several times before shaky breaths leveled out again.
"Terrible"
He shot a quick glare, finding the teen staring at him with a dopey grin, mouthing "tear-able"
Thankfully, some sort of supernatural healing was trying to help the process along, and as Tucker pressed the lengths of organ back into place, delicate connective tissue seemed to reach up to web them securely down.
"Wait, I've got another one-" "No." "I had a gut feeling-" "No" "That you're suffering from a lack" "Please stop." "of Vitamin-Me."
He paused, taking a steadying breath and staring at a spot on Danny's chest, watching it shallowly rise and fall. The tight nausea in the back of his throat slowly relented. He swallowed past the knot, and croaked his own stupid joke. He didn't know what if it was a reaction to fear, or if Danny was just out of his mind with pain.
"What do you call a communist Vampire?"
Danny hummed at the question, head lolling slightly as he tried to look at Tucker's face, neck no longer strong enough to lift it.
"Dunno."
"A red blood count."
That hissing giggle reassured him that his friend, at least, was still breathing. Still awake.
Still alive .
His movements were as slow and deliberate as he could make them, trying very hard not to panic and damage anything further. The last of the organs slid back into place, ghostly body already moving flesh and reaching with delicate tendrils of tissue to web it secure. Tucker was careful not to touch the waving strands, exhaling deliberately and trying to stay light with the next one.
"Is Osteoporosis contagious? 'Cause you're giving me a bone condition."
Danny groaned, and Tucker froze, thinking he'd done something to hurt him. But Danny just threw an arm over his face, sharp teeth still gleaming from a lopsided grin.
"Gross."
"Your FACE is gross."
The reply slipped out without even thinking, mind occupied by carefully unwrapping gauze and medical tape.
"I thought you liked my face."
Tucker ignored the whining pout, noting the breathiness of every word, and the way Danny's arm had fallen limply beside his head after a moment. The boneless sprawl was becoming more relaxed, and that worried him.
"That's why I got Life Alert."
Danny hummed a soft note, blinking slowly at the ceiling as Tucker carefully pulled the broken skin together, pressing gauze into place and taping it down. Hopefully, it'd be enough that the ghostly body would be able to repair things overnight.
"Why's that?"
Tucker made a note of questioning, tilting his head to look from a different angle, cleaning up the mess and trying to double-check that the bandages would hold.
"Why…hey.. Why do you have Life Alert?"
Green eyes were still unfocused, glowing dimly even through the overhead light of his bedroom's fan. God, he was tired.
One last check of the bandages, and Tucker flicked off the light before crawling onto his bed again, careful not to jostle his sprawled friend. Green streaks glowed across Danny's torso, a small puddle pooling by his hip, but ectoplasm tended to evaporate away once it got warm enough. As long as it didn't soak into anything and stain it first.
Danny yawned, tears beading in the corners of his eyes.
"You… ya ne'er answered my question."
"What question."
A too-weak arm pressed lightly against his shoulder, and Tucker obediently, tucked himself against Danny's side, sliding an arm over his chest. The gesture was probably brought on by pain and blood loss, but he wasn't about to complain about affection his friend normally never allowed. He was just painstakingly careful to avoid touching the stomach wound.
"Why'dyou 'ave Life Aler'"
The words were mumbled into the side of Tucker's head, and he couldn't help the small smile as his own body started to relax. He could feel the steady, if faint, pulse beating under his arm.
"'Cause I've fallen for you and I can't get up."
He felt the smile against his hair, and the whispered "thas' gay." before a long silence told him Danny had finally fallen asleep. Tucker closed his eyes, taking slow, deep breaths.
When the sun rose, he was still listening to a heartbeat.
They were alive.