He left Daniel alone for no longer than half an hour when he cautiously opened the door to the boy's hospital bedroom again. Vlad Masters felt extremely grateful that he had not been intercepted by a nurse, that someone hadn't heard Daniel's incessant wails and gone to check on him. That was quite frankly the last thing he needed, to be pegged as the man who made sick kids cry. He could almost hear the news reporter saying smoothly, "Vlad Masters, mayor of Amity Park, went to visit a boy yesterday he claimed publicly to be so dear to him, who'd been hospitalized after a car accident. When he left the room, Daniel Fenton was in tears and inconsolable. While the reasons for this are unclear at this time, a recent poll taken shows that nearly seventy-five percent of citizens say they don't plan to vote for Masters in the upcoming mayoral election."

He was certain he would have lost the election if he had been intercepted, and he was sure his troubles wouldn't end there. If he had caused injury to Daniel's chest when he'd tried to keep him from sitting up, he could be charged with assault. Suspicion of molestation would surely arise, which was of course completely incorrect, but who was to say if Daniel would be truthful if he was questioned? It was obvious had good reason to be upset; even if every hateful thing Vlad had ever done to Danny Fenton was forgotten, had this man not invaded his privacy by coming here and laughed at his injury? Vlad thought that this alone was enough to cause Daniel to lie in hopes he'd be convicted if he'd been discovered in this feeble state and asked whether or not he'd been raped. And so Vlad was undoubtedly grateful for this good fortune that he had not.

However, he could only hope that the nurses and doctors would not notice his slightly swollen chest and his red, bloodshot eyes, but he didn't think it would be an issue. Vlad was sure the hospital staff was used to seeing patients' eyes red—hospitals were, of course, filled with death and grief and an endless amount of tears, and Daniel's injury did not seem too noticeable, especially in his oversized hospital garb. Yes, he thought he would get away with it this time, that was, unless Daniel decided to mention the incident to them himself.

In hopes of preventing this, Vlad swung by the hospital's gift shop and bought Danny what he thought would appeal to him—a large, fifty-piece assortment of chocolates and cookies and a large, one pound bag of jelly beans. On impulse, Vlad also purchased a stuffed brown teddy-bear clutching a pink heart in its arms. He thought it would annoy Daniel more than anything, which was, to be quite frank, the only reason he bought it. When Daniel was annoyed, he was amusing. However, Vlad was sure he wasn't pushing it—how could Daniel do anything more than grumble angrily beneath his breath when Vlad had taken the time to go out and buy him a present, childish as it was?

"Danny," Vlad sang, pushing the door open as if nothing had happened merely an hour before. "I'm back."

Danny was laying in bed, reading a Stephen King book uninterestedly, now completely calm, his eyes dry. He did not look up when he heard Vlad enter, and he did not say a word as he glared into his copy of Misery.

Vlad stepped in, shut the door behind him, and smiled almost robotically. Glancing at the book, Vlad asked, "I read that when I was in college. How far are you into it?"

Staring hatefully into the book and refusing to make eye contact with the man, he growled, his tone ringing out with irritation, "She cut off his foot."

"Ah."

It became apparent that Danny had no interest in chatting, and he shifted in bed, turning away from Vlad as he flipped the page of his paperback book. Trying to uphold the conversation, Vlad said, "I'm glad that she only broke his foot in the movie. I don't think I could have handled it if she'd cut it off as she did in the book."

Laughing weakly, Danny said, his eyes still unmoving from the manuscript, "Oh, I think you probably could of. In fact, I think you could have done it yourself."

Vlad frowned, his brow furrowing. "Oh, come now, Daniel."

"I'm not joking."

Vlad sighed softly, watching Danny read. "I know you're not."

Danny finally set the book down and turned to glare at Vlad. "I can't read when you won't stop talking. Why are you even here?"

"Well…to give you your gift, of course."

Danny looked at him, surprised. "You got me a gift?"

"Yes, I did. It's just a little something to say I'm sorry," Vlad said, handing over the blue gift bag he'd shoved everything into on his way up in the elevator.

"Oh…well, thanks," Danny said dismissively, taking the gift bag and setting it on the floor by his bed.

"Aren't you going to open it?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Knowing you, whatever's in it is just going to piss me off."

Vlad grinned, unable to help himself. "Maybe."

Danny glanced at the bag, then at Vlad, then at the bag again, and, too "intrigued" to resist, picked it up and pulled out a handful of orange tissue paper, revealing the teddy-bear holding its pink heart.

Danny plucked it out of the bag, looking at it in confusion. "What the hell…"

When Vlad started laughing gently, Danny said, his face hardening in annoyance, "Vlad, are you freaking crazy?" However, this only caused Vlad's laughter to increase. Danny growled, threw the bear at Vlad, and shifted in bed so he now lay facing away from the chortling man.

"Wait," Vlad said, still chuckling. "Your real present is toward the bottom of the bag."

"Screw it," Danny grumbled.

"There's caaaandiiiieeee," Vlad sang, grinning from ear to ear.

After a moment, Danny slowly turned over and picked up the bag again.