Hurting You, Killing Me

Chapter Thirteen:

Johnny's POV:

We'd had Danielle for almost three years and not once had anything gone wrong, until she got sick. It started out simple. She woke up with a sore throat and a cough one morning. That was it. Kitty gave her some cough medicine and instead of going to Ember's concert with Kitty, Danielle spent that night watching movies with me on the couch in the living room.

She seemed to be getting better by the time she fell asleep, though she coughed in her sleep for a bit. By the time Kitty got home, Danielle's cough had vanished and I had carried her to her bed and tucked her in. Kitty still seemed worried and, though I would never have admitted it to her, I was still worried too.

Some time during the night, Danielle woke up. She called from her bedroom, loud enough to wake up Kitty, at least. She got out of the bed so fast that it startled me awake. "Kitty?" I asked, as she practically flew out of our room.

After a short moment, it registered, and I was running into Danielle's room. She was propped up in her bed with Kitty holding back her hair as she vomited into a trashcan.

"Shit," I mumbled. I crossed the room and rubbed Danielle's back as she finished throwing up.

She fell back onto her pillows, exhausted. "I'll get you some water, sweetheart," I told her.

I walked to the kitchen and by the time I came back with a glass of water, she was leaning over the trashcan again. Kitty shot me a near panicked look over her head. I shook my head, trying to make her feel less panicked, even though I was freaking out on the inside.

When Danielle finished again, I handed her the glass and let her have a few sips of water. Kitty stood up. "I'm going to go wash out the trashcan and see if I can find some anti-nausea medicine."

I nodded and scooted closer to Danielle, placing my hand to her forehead; she felt warm. I wasn't sure how this whole thing worked. She was only a half-ghost, so was it normal for her to be sick?

"Danielle?" I asked. "Have you ever been sick before?"

She shook her head weakly and I felt my stomach drop with worry. Kitty walked back into the room then, holding the trashcan and a bottle of pink medicine. "Honey," she said to Danielle, handing me the trashcan and pouring some of the pink liquid into the cap, "this will help you feel better."

Danielle nodded, swallowing the medicine and handing Kitty back the cap. "Johnny, can I talk to you for a minute?" Kitty asked.

I handed Danielle the trashcan and leaned in to kiss her forehead, "We'll be right back."

I followed Kitty outside to the hallway, pulling the door slightly closed behind me. "Johnny, you're going to hate this, but I think we should call Danny."

"Are you kidding?" I asked. "Like he would even care, and besides, it's nearly midnight."

"Johnny, he's half-ghost. He might know more about this than we do."

I sighed, shifting my weight, "Fine. Let's call him."

I watched as Kitty pulled out her cellphone, but then I turned and walked back into Danielle's room. I didn't want to be away from her and I didn't want to hear the conversation that was about to take place.