The room was deathly still. The only sound was of Patricia's quiet breathing. Williams turned to Maddie.
"Well, he was here."
She nodded silently, not believing him. There was no way a bag of scum like a ghost would stay in one location for so long without terrorizing someone. Behind her, soft footsteps padded to the threshold.
"Hello?"
Maddie whirled around, her remaining ectogun trained on the intruder. Danny Phantom visibly paled at the sight, but remained where he was. His jumpsuit was torn off at the arm, and in his hand was a single flower. Their eyes were trained on one another, like a deer surprising a wolf.
Williams coughed, breaking the suspense. Danny strode forward, past Maddie, to the hospital bed. He placed the flower in a vase by the girl's bed and turned around. He cleared his throat nervously.
"Hey, she needs her rest. We should get out." He walked out into the hallway.
Maddie stared in disbelief at Williams. She was within a couple inches of an unrestrained, nonviolent ghost, and her heart wouldn't stop racing. He nodded to her and went to the hallway. She hesitated, and then stepped out after him, closing the door behind her.
They made quite a sight in the hallway. Maddie was staring at Danny, waiting for him to turn on them and destroy the hospital, Danny wasn't making eye contact with her, and Dr. Williams was trying to gently push them down the hallway to an another room. The looks of confusion drawn for their parade down the hall would have made Danny laugh, but he was too concerned with Maddie. Why was she here? Was Doctor Williams giving him over to research? If so, why did she have only one gun? His head buzzed with unsavory possibilities.
Maddie was also concerned by the other. He showed no signs of aggression, ghostly or otherwise. In fact, he seemed to be embarrassed or concerned, human emotions. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, and he cringed. Was he really that afraid of her?
The doctor pitied Danny profusely. He had seen what Maddie did to ghosts she had no grudge against, and was worried she thought 'helping' him would be vivisecting him.
Soon, the trio was herded into an empty hospital room. Danny wrinkled his nose at the smell of disinfectant. He wasn't as afraid of hospitals as Tucker, but his friend still had rubbed off on him.
Maddie, on the other hand, quickly assessed the escape routes if her foe became aggressive. The room had a small air vent above a sink cabinet combination, the door they came through, and a huge window that took up the entire outer wall. The vent was out of her reach, and the window didn't seem to open readily. So, one escape route. Williams closed the door behind them. No escape routes.
Williams sat down in a comfortable armchair, motioning the two into a chair and the bed. They watched each other carefully, deliberately not wanting to be the first to sit. Danny sat first on the bed, then, with hesitation, Maddie on the chair. Williams decided to break the all encompassing silence first.
"Show her." He said to Danny.
"I'm fine," Danny halfheartedly argued before holding out his right arm to Maddie. Had he have been anything but her rival, Maddie would have gasped at the young ghost's burns. From his forearm to his shoulder, the jumpsuit had been burned away, revealing greenly bleeding burns.
Maddie, eyes blazing, turned to Williams. "How long has it been like this? Where did it come from?" He smiled mischievously.
"Why don't you ask him?"
She once again made eye contact with Phantom, but her eyes were less vehement anger and more sympathy.
"Explain." His eyes shifted away. "Now."
"Well, I was, you know, flying around-" She quickly cut him off.
"What? You were just flying around?" He cringed.
"You know, looking for ghosts." Her brow furrowed. "I wasn't hurting anybody!" he exclaimed. "I was just trying to head off some ghost attacks, you know, so no one gets hurt…" Once again, Danny's gaze wandered away.
Maddie's eyes softened. Maybe she needed to act less condescending in order to get his trust. "Please, calm down. I just need to know how you got hurt." He brightened quickly and resumed his story.
"You see, I was looking for another person on the fourth floor, and I had five people following me, so I was watching them. Well, I saw an ectogun about to explode from the pressure, so I put a shield around the people. Then, the burning ectoplasm got all over my arm." Maddie nodded. An ectogun would explode under extreme heat, and the ectoplasm inside one would definitely burn a ghost like this.
"How long ago?"
"This morning, about seven." She nodded. Several hours, just as she had suspected. Briskly, she wiped her hands and turned to an astonished Williams.
"It wasn't too severe; it will heal naturally. I want you to bring me those ghost proof bandages that I gave you last week." He smiled and scampered out. Danny gave her a confused look.
"Ghost proof?" She nodded briskly.
"Yeah, so you won't float out of it." They both laughed at the joke. Danny, sensing an opportunity, swallowed and asked a question.
"Hey, can I make a phone call?"