A/N: Hi! Just letting you know I am still very much alive and do exist.

I am so, so sorry about the delayed update. I've got an overwhelming amount of work this semester.

In other words, less time to update.

I'll try my hardest to update at least once a month but, honestly, I'm not too confident.

College is overwhelming right now.

I don't own DP.

Paulina furrowed her brows in annoyance as she tossed out the towels from her closet, wincing as one of the brooms fell down to the ground, making a large clattering noise in the process.

Today was supposed to have been a fun stress-free day.

First of all, her grandmother had taken Stephanie out to the mall for the rest of the day; then, after a call from the office, her father had run out for a last-minute conference; and, finally, Sam had called in, using Danny's phone, to inform her that the teenager was sick and had to cancel practice.

That was just fine. The boy needed to rest, and Paulina needed to run a few errands.

Her schedule was completely free, and she had the rest of the day to her self.

The day which she would spend studying her Craft.

So, she'd gone to the marketplace to buy a few spices for one of the more difficult spells she was learning. She had then gone out to do some real grocery shopping to buy some ingredients for chicken soup. She could serve some for her family and make enough to give some to Fenton.

She had been walking home when she caught sight of a news crew setting up their equipment, eerily close to her house. She recognized one of Amity's more popular reporters, Tiffany Snow.

Paulina bit her lip and continued walking, ignoring the crew. 'I'm just a normal girl with no secrets and nothing to hide,' she thought to herself. 'I'm not a witch; I'm just a teenage girl with boy problems and lots of college applications to fill out.'

Unfortunately, her "act normal" plan became complicated in a matter of moments.

As she was passing her neighbor's house, she found a metal cylindrical container on the floor. She paused and, placing all her bags in one hand, picked it up.

Upon closer inspection, she realized it was a thermos. She furrowed her brows in confusion.

She glanced up and peered around the perfectly trimmed brushes until she noticed a pale, white color in between the leaves.

To her horror, Phantom's body was stretched out on the ground, almost completely concealed by the dark leaves.

Paulina's gaze flickered to the news crew before she continued walking, acting as if nothing had happened as she headed home. She dropped all of her groceries into the entrance, pulled out her car keys, and raced out the door.

She tried incredibly hard to appear as inconspicuous as possible. She parked the car in front of the brush where Phantom lay and, with arduous effort, hauled him the unconscious ghost to the side of her car.

She hadn't gone unnoticed.

One of the cameramen's interns flashed her an inquisitive glance when she slammed the door shut.

He was undoubtedly wondering why a female Latina with a black SUV was parked across the street.

She peered over her car and flashed the teenager that had noticed her presence a dazzling smile. He replied with his own infatuated grin.

She climbed into the front seat and gave him a flirtatious wave as she drove into her own lot.

She draped a blanket over the ghost's head and literally dragged his body into her house, at which point, the lady that lived across from her stared with a horrified expression.

Paulina ignored her, and slammed the front door shut.

Phantom groaned as she yanked the blanket off of him. "Come on, ghost boy," she had muttered, "you're coming upstairs with me."

He unsteadily rose to his feet, draping one arm over her shoulder as she half-carried him up the stairs.

This was how Paulina ended up rummaging through her closets for some kind of bucket. She had made a huge mess in the process.

Earlier, when she dropped Phantom onto her bed, he had managed to utter out a few words of explanation: he had the chills, was light-headed, and nauseous.

Judging from the constant brightening and dimming of his aura, she had immediately inferred he'd caught some kind of ectoplasmic virus.

Granted, she only knew this because she'd spent that past few days reading about these supernatural entities.

Finally, she snagged an empty mop bucket and dashed upstairs only to find that Phantom had risen into a sitting position.

His face was looking a sickly green color instead of its usual pale.

Paulina jumped and immediately rushed over to him. She placed the bucket in front of him, seeing as he was just about to hurl all over her carpet.

"Oh, god." Phantom moaned, gripping the side of the bucket. "I'm…" he took a breath, "…so sorry…you have to go through this."

"Quiet," Paulina commanded. "You must've caught something."

"You think?" Phantom weakly retorted.

Paulina sighed and placed a hand on the ghost's firm back, hesitantly rubbing soothing circles. "You stay in bed. I'll be down stairs, whipping up a remedy. I'm making chicken soup."

At the sound of the words 'soup,' Phantom heaved and regurgitated the contents that resided in his stomach. Paulina winced but continued rubbing his back.

She frowned when he continued shivering beneath her touch.

"Better?" Paulina questioned.

The ghost boy shook his head and Paulina sighed. "I'll be right back. Shout if you need anything."

She rose from her spot and picked up a blanket from the bed, wrapping it around him.

"Stay warm." She ordered before pulling out one of her Craft books.

She flashed Phantom a concerned glance before slipping out.

:~:~:~:

Paulina had placed the pots in their corresponding place, her eyes flickering to the open pages.

Her Spells book had only a handful of information on ghost illnesses, and she was rather disappointed to find that it only had a list of the basic and most common diseases. Lucky for Phantom, he had contracted a pretty common virus that she recognized immediately.

Judging by the chills, nausea, uneven breathing, and inconsistent aura she realized he'd contracted the Ghost Flu, which was significantly worse than a human flu.

According to her book, the illness would last about three days before their immune system flushed it out.

It was curious, though. There was nothing about vomiting. Hell, she didn't even know ghosts could throw up.

She brushed her thoughts aside and focused on her current dilemma.

There was no immediate cure, but the book had a remedy to rid the Flu's victim of the extreme symptoms, like the, nausea, and the irregular breaths.

Paulina meticulously read over the book, her eyes absorbing the information.

After carefully locating the ingredients, she immediately began bustling about the kitchen, chopping vegetables and adding herbs, boiling this and cooking that.

By the time she finished her cuisine, there was a monstrous pile of pots and plates in the sink.

She didn't mind, her thoughts concernedly drifting back to the sick spirit.

She gently picked up the tray, glided up the stairs, and slipped into her room.

The Ghost Boy was stretched across her large bed, his arm dangling over the side of the mattress and his cheek pressed against one of her pillows.

His lips, which were now the same shade of gray as his skin, were parted slightly, and his usually bright, silver aura had now dimmed so much, she could hardly even discern it.

His dull chartreuse eyes fluttered open when she placed the food on her nightstand.

"Come on," she ordered, moving over to stand by Phantom. "Sit up."

The ghost sighed and struggled to sit up.

He gave her a weary gaze as she accommodated the pillows, so that he may feel more comfortable.

"Good?" She questioned.

The boy peered up at her curiously, briefly glancing at the plates. "Uh...what's that?" He managed to croak out.

"That," she replied as she moved to pick up the tray, "is your food."

She placed it in front of him before placing her hands on her hips.

"Okay, first of all, I'm not hungry." Phantom replied. "In fact, if I eat I'm gonna hurl. Second of all, how do I know you didn't drug this?"

Paulina met his eyes. "Don't be silly, ghost boy. Ghosts can't even be drugged. And, to answer your first question, it's a remedy I made. If you eat it, you'll feel better."

Phantom's stare shifted from her to the bowl as he scrutinized its contents. "This is soup," he pointed out. "And I'm a ghost not a human."

"Yeah, well, this soup has herbs used to treat Influenza Z1."

"What?" Phantom flashed her an incredulous gaze.

"Influenza Z1, a common but terrible virus from the Ghost Zone. It may be incurable but the symptoms can be alleviated. I figured it would be more pleasant to consume if I mixed the medicine into the soup. And, yeah, you're a ghost, but you used to be human. You probably had soup at some point in your life."

Paulina sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "Listen, ghost. I was supposed to have a fun, stress-free day. But, as it happens, I found you stuck in a bush, of all places. I could've left you there or I could've let Tiffany Snow and her news crew find you, but I didn't. And, so help me god, if you don't make up your mind about eating that damn remedy that I took the time to prepare, I will throw you out of my house without a single thought. Then you can go find yourself someone else to take care of you."

The ghost once again peered down at his meal, hesitantly picking up the spoon. "Well," he muttered, "here goes nothing."

He dipped the eating utensil into the yellow-ish green, steaming liquid before shoving it into his mouth.

He chewed for a bit, swallowed, and blinked. "Hey, this is pretty good."

Paulina released a breath of relief. "Good. Now, try to eat it slowly. You won't do any good chugging it all down."

She paused and glanced up at the sickly phantom. "So, you want to tell me how you ended up in my neighbor's bush?"

He shook his head and, with trembling hands, continued wielding the spoon. "Alright," Paulina sighed, "well, how do you feel?"

"A little nauseas," he muttered between mouthfuls, "Weak, tired, exhausted. My body feels heavy, too."

"Well, you'll still be feeling pretty crappy the next three days but the herbs should get rid of all the nausea and vomiting. And, if I'm right, you'll also be breathing better in a couple hours."

Phantom smiled as he swallowed the last of the soup, leaning back against the bed and looking even more drained.

Paulina moved the tray aside and froze when Phantom's eyes fluttered shut.

"Hey, Phantom?" Paulina hesitantly poked his arm in an effort to prevent his falling asleep. "You-you can't stay here. I've got stuff to do and you'll just be in my way."

The teenager's eyes fluttered half open.

"Thanks you," he murmured almost incoherently, shifting his position so that he was laying face down rather than sitting upright, "for let me stay."

"But-" Paulina paused, peering down at Phantom. He seemed so...different. The few times she'd run into him (most of which were during her freshman year of high school), he'd seemed so in control and/or cocky, depending on what he was doing. He always had a witty retort in his mouth and stood tall and proud.

Now, here he was: pale, trembling, and vulnerable, but somehow managing to look peaceful despite his condition.

After much consideration, Paulina reluctantly decided to allow him to remain in her room, since there was no way to get him out unnoticed. She pressed her lips together and carefully laid a blanket over his body, smiling when he tightly wrapped it around himself.

She sighed and calmly observed him, eyes tracing over his still striking face.

After a few seconds, Paulina shook herself out of her trance. She immediately forced herself to remain busy. The Latina removed the bucket with his stomach's contents in it and tossed it out.

She cleaned her disorganized kitchen before instantly moving to hide her spell books and special herbs.

She even went so far as to finish her homework, even though it was still Friday.

She also periodically checked on Phantom and was relieved as she watched him quickly improve. He swiftly regained his color and eventually stopped trembling.

She hoped this meant he would wake up soon, especially since her father would be returning from work very soon and he would eventually become a hindrance.

She conjured up a million reasons for wanting him out of her house, but she had to admit his presence was extremely comforting.

Paulina frowned, realizing that there were only other three people who had that effect on her.

The cheerleader furrowed her brows and forced herself to concentrate on the math problem before her.

A/N: Okay. I should probably get back to studying for my two tests Monday. It's late and I seriously need to get a move on.

Reviews will be immensely appreciated.