Disclaimer: Still don't own Danny Phantom.

No Author's Note today. :( Sad.

Chapter Six

"Sammy, sentimental, aren't you?" Kates, as usual, was alone in our room when I came in. "A token of his love?"

"I wasn't going to save it," I argued, twirling the flower in my hands. "I was only going to give it to you. I know...I know it's hard not being out there." I walked over and placed the flower on her dresser, stopping at the window as I went by. The grass, the flowers, all that she was missing...

"Sam, don't."

"Come on, Kates, what are they thinking? They're the crazy ones, a little sunshine won't hurt! A little nature, a little...oh." The sound escaped from my lips without my meaning to.

Kates got up from her bed, shuffling over to stand next to me. "You see him, don't you?"

I did. I hadn't seen him, not lately, not since Danny had been around. If it hadn't been for the notebook, I might have forgotten completely. "Yes."

"Where?"

"By the pink flowered bush, and oh! Now he's behind that tree by the bench, over there! Oh, he's gone."

"I didn't see him," Kates said. She never did, but she always believed me, and she always tried. We were friends like that. "Sammy," she began, "I've got to go see the doctor tomorrow. I have an appointment."

--DP--

A flash of silver from side to side, green streaks around the trees, and then...a face at the window. Not my face, a stranger's, but one I knew so well. His. And he was mouthing something, "Help, Sam. Help."

I tried to ask him what it was. "What? What is it, Danny?" He just shook his head sadly - of course, because he wasn't Danny. And then he disappeared, and so did I.

The next thing I was aware of, was standing in the halls, and this time it was Danny that came running out of the big double doors.

"Sam! Help!"

And then he was running back, returning with a stretcher. A stretcher? I turned to look at the stretcher, and saw Kates, laid out all fancy and pretty, her face the most peaceful I had ever seen it.

Behind us, an ominous voice rang out. "We can't cure her," the doctor said, pulling up a sheet to cover her up.

"KATES!" I woke up screaming. "Kates!"

Sandy climbed onto my bed, stroking my hair. "It's okay, honey. Kates' gone off to her appointment, but she'll be back."

"She's in trouble," I murmured.

"It'll be okay, Sam," Irene added, coming over to comfort me. "Kates' condition isn't harmful. They've already told us that, this is just a check-up."

I turned toward the wall, repeating the bleak words from my dream, the same words a doctor had said a few years back, although he had later retracted them. "We can't cure her."

--DP--

"Sam, Kates is back!" Rosie yelled down, her head hanging out of her window, next door to our empty room, as she spied on Danny and me. "Thought you'd like to know!"

I grabbed Danny's hand. "We'll be right up!" I ran all the way from the garden up to our floor, dragging Danny behind me. "Kates!"

Kates was sitting on the bed when we burst in. "Hey Sam."

"How was it?"

Her red rimmed eyes met mine, and we both repeated the phrase. "We can't cure her."

"How did--?" Kates looked up at me, confused.

"A dream," I muttered. "Just a dream. I'll, uh, tell you about it later."

Danny backed up to the door. "Do you mind if I go?" With two shakes of our heads, Danny vanished.

"I dreamt about him last night," I said, sitting down next to Kates and attempting to distract her.

"About Danny? That's a good thing, you're making progress," she analyzed, but her voice was flat. "You like him?"

"I didn't just dream about Danny. I also dreamt about the other boy. The...the ghost," I whispered.

Now she was interested. "You did?"

"Yeah." I recounted the dream for her, even leaving in the sad parts that included her. "So, what do you think?"

"Someone's telling you to choose. If you did, who would you pick?"

I laughed. "It's an impossible choice. One is the stuff of my dreams for so long, but we've never met. And the other is Danny. He doesn't
even like me like that, for all you know, he could have a girlfriend. One out there."

"He doesn't." My look prompted her to continue. "I, uh, cornered him when you were in isolation," she admitted, blushing. "He doesn't have a girlfriend, and Sam, you just might have an admirer."

"I'm not falling for it."

"I'm not pulling your leg, Sammy. He said it. I asked him, 'Do you like Sam?' and he definitely said yes, well, after a lot of prodding. He's a hard one to pull secrets out of, but I have my ways." She smiled devilishly, before turning serious, the smile melting into a quivering mouth, her eyes reflecting the future tears. "I know you like him," she half-laughed, trying to keep the fun going for as long as possible. "And promise, promise you'll give him a chance, Sammy. For me. In case, I don't get a chance to have a Danny in my life."

My eyes held questions, even as I nodded. I knew not to ask, she'd only tell if she wanted to.

She did. "I know the doctors aren't always right, but they think I have a few months to live. And I'm not sure, but they might be right this time. Sammy, the tumor's back."

I'll probably update again sometime this weekend, maybe Sunday, depending on how much homework I have - and adding in sleep time, cause a girl needs to sleep and I really haven't been getting much lately. :(

But anyway, review! Tell me what you liked/disliked.