Chapter 7-Feeling Guilty

The three, distraught Ghostbusters and Janine all drove to the hospital. Jenny, Kylie, and Mel had already up there. They were all worried about Egon and whether he'd live or not. Especially Peter. He had put his friend through so much pain already. And if Egon didn't survive, he'd never forgive himself.

Once at the hospital, Jenny told the guys Egon was up in surgery. They weren't sure how severe his injuries were, but they hoped they weren't severe. They all sat in the waiting room, waiting for an update on Egon. Finally, after 6 long hours, a doctor came up and told them about Egon's condition.

"Excuse me, are you the Ghostbusters? I'm Dr. Bell. Are you associated with Dr. Egon Spengler?" she asked.

"Yes." replied Ray, "How is he? Is...Is he still with us?"

"First of all, yes your friend survived the surgery. But he's in critical condition. Apparently, during the surgery, he went into a coma. There was some internal bleeding we were able to stop, but we found large traces of a poison in his blood. The poison did infect his heart and lungs a bit, but thankfully, we were able to get the poison out of his system and is on medication. He also had a minor skull fracture, bruises all over his body, and is suffering from malnutrition, dehydration, sleep deprivation, broken ribs, and hypothermia. Dr. Spengler also suffered a concussion due to being hit with, maybe a crowbar if I had to guess. And he also suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach. We were thankfully able to remove the bullet, but we won't know if there's any permanent damage until he wakes up."

"When will he wake up?" asked Winston.

"It might not be for several days." Dr. Bell replied.

"Can we see him?" Peter asked.

"Not right now. We want to keep him isolated for the next 12 hours for observation, but y'all can peek in and check on him. But it won't be easy to look at him." said Dr. Bell.

"We'll go peek in on him." Janine said.

"Are you sure?" Dr. Bell asked.

"Yes." said Peter.

"Very well." Dr. Bell said. She motioned for them to follow her down the hallway. She then opened the door to a room, and the boys and Janine walked in. They all gasped. Egon was lying in the bed looking pale, bruised, and sickly. He had bruises all over his body. His abdomen was wrapped in bandages. I.V. tubes ran into his arm, giving him medication for his infected heart and lungs. A cardiac monitor was hooked to his chest and was showing his heart was still beating, but in a painfully slow rhythm. And a tube attached to a ventilator ran down Egon's throat to help him breathe.

The guys were in shock. Especially Peter. He couldn't believe what he had done to his best friend. He 'd put him in a coma. Since they weren't allowed in for the next 12 hours, they all went back to the firehall. They were all shook up after what had happened.

Peter's face was stoned and cold. He looked worse then he had in the last week.

"Peter, are you ok?" asked Mel.

"Yeah, why?" Peter snapped.

"Because you don't look good and your attitude..." said Winston.

"Well, I'm sorry for my attitude!" Peter snapped.

"Peter, what's gotten into you?" Ray asked.

"BECAUSE IT'S MY FAULT THIS HAPPENED TO EGON!" Peter yelled.

Peter stood in shock. He hadn't really yelled before.

"Peter, what do you mean?" asked Mel.

"It's my fault Egon was abducted!" Peter exclaimed, "If I hadn't set that prank or said that hurtful comment, Egon wouldn't have been in this mess. I'm the one who put him in a coma with broken bones and poison in his heart and lungs. I'm the one who should've been abducted and beaten, but I'm not. Egon's the one paying for my immaturity. If he doesn't survive, I'll never forgive myself. I hurt my brother even more."

Peter felt tears run down his face, but he didn't care. He decided to let them see him cry.

"Peter, no one said it was your fault." said Ray.

"Yeah man." Winston said, "Peck was probably planning to abduct Egon for months now."

"But I hurt Egon's feelings. Heck, he probably thinks I don't care about him!" said Peter.

"No Peter. He knows you care about him. You held him in your arms and comforted him. You made him feel safe, knowing that he was in your arms. You gave him a sense of security." said Janine.

"Yeah, but I still hurt his feelings!" said Peter.

"A little, but you can apologize. Egon knows that you care about him, simply because you comforted him." Winston said.

Peter sniffed a little and said, "Do you think Egon will forgive?"

"He will." Ray replied, "He still needs you. And me and Winston. And 're a family after all. Peter, you and I took Egon in when he told us about his family. We knew how it felt to be rejected and unwanted. We could tell he wanted a family that cared about him. And we did. And you did too Winston."

"I know. From the moment I walked, I felt like you guys were the friend I'd been searching for. After being an only child my whole life, I finally got three amazing best friends/brothers." Winston said with a smile, "And that's one thing I'm not giving up."

"Peter, Egon will live. He's a fighter." Ray said.

"I hope so." Peter said with a sniffle. Ray and Winston put their arms around him to comfort their distraught friend. At the moment, Peter was happy to be in the company of his BFFs. But he was worried about Egon. He didn't want to lose his friend. Sure, he and Egon were complete opposites and they bickered a lot, but that was normal in friendships. Egon was a person whom he could trust. And who could protect him.

"Please Egon." Peter begged, "Don't die. I'm sorry I put you through so much pain. But we need you. I need you..."

To be continued...