Chapter 4-Strange Behavior

The next morning, the women arrived at the firehall to meet the guys to go to the hospital to visit Ray. Janine brought a box of doughnuts, and they all had one. Everyone except for Egon, that is.

"Hey Egon, we're going to visit Ray." Winston called, "Are sure you don't want to come?"

There was no answer.

"Last call." Peter said.

Still no answer.

"Alright." Janine said as they got into the car.

Little did they know, Egon had been up all night working in the lab. He didn't want to go to sleep, as the memory of Ray getting trapped played out in his mind every time he closed his eyes. Plus, his mental resolve was beginning to break. He was't sure how much longer he'd be able to hold it back. And the weight on his heart was getting heavier.

The guys then arrived at the hospital. Again, there were no changes in Ray's condition. However, the smoke Ray had inhaled was cleared out, and he was on a nasal tube now, but not waking up. After a few hours, Jenny was sitting with Ray, and Peter, Winston, and Janine were sitting in the waiting room.

"I wish Egon was here." Janine said.

"Yeah, but he's not." Peter said rolling his eyes.

"Peter, don't be annoyed with him." Winston said, "This is probably a little hard for him, so he might not want to come for a day."

"It's been two days Winston." Peter said, "It's been long enough."

"Just don't say anything about it to him or antagonize him." Winston said.

After a few more hours, visiting hours were over, and they all headed back to the firehall.

When the Ghostbusters, Janine, Jenny, and Kylie pulled into the firehall, they found Egon standing by Janine's desk looking over some papers. It looked like that he had changed clothes and showered, as his hair was brushed, and there was no "shadow" on his face. But his eyes looked tired, along with dark circles under them. So Egon looked fine, but at the same time, not so fine.

"Hey Egon, we're back." Janine said.

"Oh hey." Egon said with a slight yawn in his voice.

"Man, what happened Spengs?" Peter asked, "Did something blow up?"

"For your information, I've only been doing paperwork, not experiments, you idiot!" Egon snapped.

"Ok, ok, calm down Spengs." Peter said, a little shocked by Egon's sudden burst of aggression.

"Sorry, I haven't been sleeping well." Egon said with a yawn.

Winston was about to say something about him not getting any sleep, but he didn't want to face Egon's death glare, which was pretty scary and intimidating.

"Hello? Anyone here?" said a female voice.

They turned to see Dana Barrett walk in. Peter went up and hugged her.

"Hey Dana." Peter said, "Where's Oscar?"

"Oscar's having a sleepover with one of his friends. And with Ray being hurt and all, I thought I'd drop by with a homemade meal." Dana said and signaling to the bag hanging off her arm.

"Is that spaghetti I smell?" Peter asked.

"Yes, along with a salad and a baguette loaf." Dana added.

"That was sweet of you Dana. Thank you." Jenny said.

"How are you holding up Jenny?" asked Dana.

"I'm doing fine. I'm just waiting for Ray to wake up." Jenny replied.

"We all do." Winston said, putting his hand on Jenny's shoulder.

"Come on, let's go eat." Peter said.

"Y'all go ahead. I'm not very hungry." Egon said.

"Come on man. You need to eat something." Winston persisted.

Egon decided not to argue. So the three Ghostbusters, Janine, Jenny, Kylie, and Dana all headed upstairs to enjoy a nice meal.

Upstairs, Winston got out the plates, and Janine set the table. They then doled out the food. Before eating, Winston lead a prayer for Ray to get better and wake up soon. However during the prayer, Egon felt like someone had just punched him in the stomach. It was getting harder and harder to hold back the emotions he felt.

"Peter, slow down." Winston said.

"I can't help it." Peter said with his mouth full, "It's really good."

"And don't talk with your mouth full." Janine added.

Peter didn't answer as he took another bite, but it was hot, and when it touched Peter's tongue, he yelled "HOT!"

Everyone laughed as Peter chugged down his water to cool his mouth. Everyone except for Egon, who seemed to be in another world.

"Oh, remember the time we were at that Italian restaurant, and these three Class 2's dumped those meals all over us?" Winston asked.

"Oh yeah." Janine replied, "You guys smelled like garlic and pasta sauce for a week."

Everyone, except for Egon, laughed again.

Egon was trying to keep his mental resolve under control. But then everyone began talking about Ray. The weight on his heart was growing heavier, and he was trying not to cry in front of his friends.

"Calm down Egon, calm down." Egon told himself in his mind.

"I can't! I don't know if I can keep this under control any longer." his brain replied.

"Just control it." He told himself again.

"Egon?" Peter asked.

"I can't! It's getting harder to ignore." Egon's brain fought back.

"Egon?" Peter asked again.

"WHAT?!" Egon yelled. "WHAT DO YOU WANT PETER?!"

"Whoa, Egon calm down." Peter said, trying not to antagonize his friend. "I was just trying to see if you were ok."

"I'm fine, thank you very much." Egon replied coldly and while gritting his teeth.

"Ok, I was just-" Peter started.

"If this is another one of your stupid questions, shut up." Egon snapped while glaring at Peter.

"Whoa Egon. You don't need to get that aggressive." Winston said. Egon turned in his direction and glared at him.

"Egon, what's wrong?" Peter asked, "You haven't been yourself lately."

"Nothing Venkman." Egon said coldly, "And stay out of my business, you nosy idiot!"

Peter was a little hurt by the remark. "Ok, I was just trying to help you."

Egon felt his mental resolve was gonna break. He then excused himself and went up onto the roof. Egon felt terrible. He had just yelled at his friend, called him an idiot (which Peter was most of the time), and he had given Peter and Winston a little bit of his death glare. Not to mention there was still guilt weighing heavily on his heart.

Egon tried his best to keep his mental resolve under control, but his brain had been right. He couldn't keep it under control much longer. Holding it back was giving him massive headaches and sick feelings. Egon rubbed his eyes. He then took out an old photo he had been keeping in his pocket. It was a picture of him and Ray when they were in college. Looking at the photo, Egon felt pain in his heart. He had hurt Ray, he had insulted Peter, he yelled at his friends. He felt like he was danger to the team.

"Maybe my father was right after all." Egon thought, "Maybe the only thing I am...is a mistake."

To be continued...