Chapter Nineteen - Feeling Half Dead
He was alive, but honestly, was that a good thing?His neck felt worse than when it had when it had been sliced off. Every movement kept retearing blood vessels and breaths were agonizing even with the tube, making it so air didn't have to go through his mouth. Too bad he didn't realize that when he tried taking it out. No, every time he awoke, he felt like he was racing his body. Healing his neck with what little energy he had and completely unable to go ghost to be able to instantly heal the laceration. All of his energy had gone into keeping him alive after his head had been nearly cleaved off.His hand he didn't want to think about. He had regrown a finger once, and it had been excruciatingly painful. But that had been from a fresh, bleeding wound with live cells. His hand was anything but fresh. It felt like his fingers were still there that he could still move them. However, any time he tried to move the phantom hand, pins and needles would shoot all the way up his actual arm. He knew very little about what was going on around him. Only three things really stuck with him. First, Mr. Lancer and his aunt Alicia were driving him away from his haunt. Secondly, Valerie was somehow, miraculously, okay. Thirdly, his parents had not found out he was Phantom. They had talked to him anytime he had woken up, but he found himself focusing on healing his neck instead of their words. And when he would wake back up, he hardly remembered what he had asked before. Sometimes, his hand was tingling too much to sign, and he would just try to listen with his eyes half open. He didn't remember what he had been told. When they had stopped the truck, something had been poked into his good arm. Danny only realized it was an IV when it was changed out for a new bag as he had been lifted into a Fenton tent. The movement had hurt his neck and tore something. The drain, from trying to heal the damage, had his eyes rolling into his head as his body was laid onto the Fenton air mattress.Throughout the evening, he awoke constantly to make progress on his neck. No longer moving made healing much easier. The IVs helped him create new blood and forced him to heal more quickly or risk the blood breaking clots. He couldn't sleep, and he wanted to desperately. Sometime during the night, he had tried signing 'stop' with one hand before saying sleep. It must have worked because they didn't start another IV, and he slept long past the sun coming up through the tent. When he awoke, he was more coherent."Danny," his aunt signed as she spoke. Suddenly, he realized they both had started doing that. Was he having that much trouble focusing? "How are ya' feeling?" She asked, dragging his attention back to her. "Better," he signed, making her smile. He tried forming something to say in his head, "Hard to heal with blood pushing… but better now."It was the most he had signed at once. The strict woman seemed to have a weight lift off of her. "Is the sickness gone from you?"His brain played catch-up, trying to figure out what she was asking. Suddenly, he remembered the flu. He resisted the urge to shake his head and signed, "No ghosts." His ghost sense was quieter than ever, probably because his energy was so low.Alicia looked confused, "What do you mean?""No ghost bugs," he elaborated. "I sense ghosts, even the small ones." His good hand shook as he tried signing with his nonexistent one. The pain seemed to travel through his arms, and the gasp that formed on his lips pulled the tender parts of his neck. "It's okay, kiddo, don't rush this. You practically died again," she chuckled as his eyes widened. "Jazz gave me the rundown. Do ya' want another IV?"He thought about it before giving a weak thumbs up. His good hand was still shaking too much to attempt talking more. Danny closed his eyes as he started to refocus on his neck. So far, he had only focused on mending the muscles, throat, and circulatory system. The bones were mangled and needed to be repositioned before he could heal them. Something he had to do quickly, and he did not have the energy to do something so fast-paced. He needed to get the strength to go ghost to finish healing his neck and… see if he could regrow his handHis aunt walked out of the tent, and she was talking to Mr. Lancer as he fell into his work on his neck. Like so many other times, Danny did not notice when sleep overcame him. However, when he awoke, it was not to feel the IV. He actually felt lighter and energy danced around his core.He focused his rings across his body and quickly focused his energy on the bones in his neck. It didn't last long before he lost consciousness and reverted to human form.That happened twice more before he finally felt his tender bones stay in their proper place as he regrew them. When he was satisfied that they were strong enough to not re break, he turned his attention to his hand.It was worse than he anticipated, probably because he had ignored it to heal his neck. The tourniquet had killed all of the cells for his wrist. There were no living cells until just a couple of inches below his elbow. He could tell that Mr. Lancer and his aunt had tried cleaning what they could without removing the tourniquet. However, not only was the section of his arm dead, but there were maggots moving through the dead flesh. Eating at him.Disgusted and repulsed, he forced himself to phase the white wriggling creatures away from him and onto the tent floor. It took all of his energy, and that made Danny angry. He wanted to blast the small creatures. Instead, he sat up and proceeded to stomp on the foul creatures."Daniel?" Mr. Lancer called in shock as Danny looked up. "You should be laying down, your neck…"Danny interrupted, signing quickly, "I mended the bone, should be good now."Mr. Lancer looked at the ground and realized what he had been doing. The teacher's lip curled in disgust before he could stop himself, "I can get rid of those." Danny stood and realized it was a mistake as he felt dizzy. "Daniel, you should stay in bed.""Out," Danny signed angrily as the man wrapped an arm around him to help support him.Mr. Lancer gave a huff of exasperation as they walked away from the disgusting white things. Danny's legs felt numb and like jello, and he was grateful to sit in the camper chair a short minute later."Where's my aunt?" he signed after taking a few slow but large breaths."She went into town to get her new camper and some supplies," he answered. "How are you feeling?""Tired," he signed quickly before adding, "Angry." He gestured towards the tents and the tiny occupants."You should get some more rest," his teacher frowned when he made no effort to move. "What about the tube?""I'll take it out next," he signed. "Need more energy first.""Sorry about your arm," the teacher murmured. "We didn't know what we should do to it. If you can, heal it. Can you?"Danny closed his eyes, not wanting to answer for a minute. "Not your fault, I should have cleaned it sooner. Didn't think about it.""How about some bean soup?" he asked, gesturing to the pot on the ground near the open flames. "I'm afraid that is all Alicia had."He pinched his nose with his fingers signing 'funny' before agreeing to try food. He stared at the bowl that Mr. Lancer had placed on a camp table in front of his with complete disdain."I can help you if you would like?" his teacher offered. Danny signed no quickly and lifted the spoon with his remaining hand. It was pride that got him through the bow. The halfa was painfully aware of his teacher watching his struggle with the spoon before drinking an entire bottle of water. The man walked into the tent and cleaned the side of the bed before coming back and sitting."Mr. Fenton," the man started making Danny tense. "I know this may be hard, but we need to discuss your injuries so your aunt and I know how to help you. And we obviously need to clean your arm." Danny nodded slowly, but when he didn't elaborate, Mr. Lancer continued, "We have braces and bandages if you need them. How can I help you, Mr. Fenton?"Danny lifted his hand and paused before signing, "Might need a brace. The bone will be fragile for a couple of days. My arm…" his hand paused before continuing, "I can't heal from dead tissue. It needs to be sealed."He refused to look up at his teacher and instead stared at his fingers on his remaining, his only hand. "I think we will need to wait for Alicia to help with that part. But let's get that brace and get your arm cleaned up some."Giving a thumbs-up, Danny waited for his Vice-Principal to return with a dreaded neck brace. He let his eyes finally drift to the stump on his right arm. There was a chance that if he cut off the dead tissue, he could regrow his hand. He could also just be cutting off more of his arm for nothing. Mr. Lancer returned with a high-grade medical neck brace, and Danny motioned 'please' feeling useless. Once it was properly strangling him held out his injured arm."Is it okay to take the belt off?" Mr. Lancer asked."No," Danny signed, "Just wrap it until it can be sewed. It will bleed without sewing." Danny felt his eyes water as he made the sewing motion. His teacher must have noticed because the man became quiet.Tires sounded on gravel, and Danny looked up to see his aunt pulling a trailer up her old driveway. His teacher walked to the door, and Danny tried not to listen but unfortunately, his ghost hearing was returning."Lord of the Rings, I need your help," his teacher said as he approached her."Why is he out of bed?!" his aunt sounded murderous. "He said he healed his neck vertebrae, and I couldn't get him to go back. He needs help with his arm. It needs to be sealed, and he is not handling the news well," Mr. Lancer said."I was hoping that wouldn't be the case. Come on. By the way, I tracked down that boy. He lives only two hours north of here," she closed her truck door. "Don't get your hopes up. The only way this plan would work would be if he knew Sidney was dead." She walked closer and growled at Danny, "I wish I could say I'm upset by ya' defying bed rest. But I'm just glad to see your head on straight."Danny stopped himself from laughing before signing, "What about tracking down a boy for Sidney?" He added half the sign for ghost with his good hand before stopping. "Kiddo, you heard that?" Alicia asked."Super hearing," he made his funny half ghost symbol and pointed at himself."So what's the deal on this arm?" he almost wished his aunt was more sensitive as she dove into the question. "Are ya' going to be able to heal it down the road, or are we going to see the bone clean and stitch er' up?""Can only regrow from live cells," he used the sign for body instead of cells since it was easier with one hand. "But cha' can do it?" she asked.Danny paled and made a chopping motion on his arm. "Takes energy, and I've never done this much. Painful," he added as an afterthought.Mr. Lancer looked sick as his aunt frowned, "But ya' will go without a hand instead?""Ghost form… I can make a hand, like the hunter ghost with a suit," he answered."Ya' can't do that if ya' want to keep your identity secret," Alicia pointed out. "Doctors will want to make sure ya' are okay if they see ya' with no hand. I'm sure they will notice ya' being ten degrees too cold with body functions much too low for any human.""You're right," Danny signed begrudgingly."Of course I am," the woman snorted. "So, are we hacking off your arm tonight?"Mr. Lancer exclaimed, "Moby Dick, Alicia.""Oh, shut ya' flippers. If I hear one more book swear, I'll sock ya' in the face. Swear like a man or aren't cha'?" she asked with a huff.A quiet, very painful laugh bubbled through the tube from Danny's throat. "Not tonight," he signed. He pointed at the tube in his throat, "First. Then I need energy before," he made a chopping motion on his arm. "Good, it might be best if ya' get your parents to make that cut. Your dad has a steady hand for those kinda things… as much as it hurts to admit that," she grumbled.The thought of asking his parents to do that was a bit much, and he motioned for his aunt to wrap his arm. She started slowly, but when the wrapping got tighter, the phantom pain made him cringe."What's wrong, kiddo?" his aunt stopped as he hissed. "Are ya' bleeding?"He didn't know how to explain it, especially with sign language. He took a large gasping breath before signing, "Feel hand pain… hurts."Alicia looked to Mr. Lancer who looked confused at how Danny waved his hand for the hand sign, which normally took two hands to make. "He can feel phantom pains from his hand. I need ya' to hold his arm. This has to be tight and needs pressure. Danny, I'm going to give you a bite. Phantom pains are no joke, and ya' don't need to be screaming your throat back open."A short while later, he decided he did not want to know how Alicia knew that information. His eyes were swollen, and his throat burned as he sat, healing it in the front seat of his aunt's truck as they cleaned up the camp since they now had a trailer. Danny's arm was now strapped securely to his chest with his hoodie sleeve pulled over to hide his missing limb.He grabbed his aunt's phone and scrolled through the worried check-up texts before letting his fingers chicken peck a new message."I would ask everyone if you guys need a hand in Amity, but I think I already gave you one. ;)""Call me!!!" Jazz immediately responded. "Can't talk, working on it. Be careful," he texted."Love you," she replied. He groaned as he dropped the phone, telling her he did as well. The doors opened, and Lancer got in the back as his aunt finished his text."Good, ya' texted Jazz," she murmured while starting the truck. "Now, we are going to head up and see if we can get Sidney's murderer to confess before getting some dinner. Now, lay back and rest."Rolling onto his injured side, Danny stared out the window as Alicia drove away from her ruined house. His thoughts faded as the trees lulled in a deep sleep. He awake to the truck door slamming shut and opened his eyes to watch Mr. Lancer and Aunt Alicia walking up to a dingy little apartment. He cracked the window so he could hear better. Alicia's hand hovered over her concealed weapon as Mr. Lancer knocked on the apartment door. "Mr. Lancer?" a man asked as he removed the dead bolt from his side. Danny tensed as he heard a weapon slide into the stranger's pants. "I haven't seen you since high school.""Hello, Mr. Diggles," Mr. Lancer greeted, "I was hoping to have a quick word.""Sure," the man grumbled, closing his door. "What's this about?""I'm sure you've seen how Amity has a bit of a ghost problem. Recently, I recognized one of the ghosts as an old student of mine," Mr. Lancer started slowly. "A student? Who?" Mr. Diggles asked, Danny could barely detect the nervousness in his tone."Sidney Poindexter," Mr. Lancer confirmed the man's suspensions. "He told me his final memories of the dumpster before he died."Danny was surprised to hear Sidney had shared such details. However, his reaction was nothing compared to the man who reached for the gun in his waistline. Danny let his rings travel along his body and pulled the tube from his neck before masking the brace and replacing his missing hand with ectoplasm. He grabbed Mr. Lancer barely in time for the bullet to pass through the man harmlessly. "Drop your weapon!" Alicia shouted. The man did not move and instead stared in shock at Danny. Reaching with his good hand, Danny phased the gun from the terrified man. "I'll take that," Danny's voice was low and gravelly from disuse. "Did you really think Sidney wouldn't have friends? And never bring a gun to a ghost fight. It's even more useless than a knife at a gun fight. You can at least throw the knife.""I didn't mean to kill him!" the man whimpered as Alicia took the gun from Danny. "I just dropped him in the dumpster, and when I didn't see him later, I looked back in. He landed on tossed cafeteria knives. I never meant to kill the kid…""Then confess, let his family know. That's all we want," Alicia gave a nod.The man nodded, "Damn… my probation officer is going to be pissed."Danny went invisible and whispered to Mr. Lancer, making the man jump slightly, "I'll be in the camper sleeping… for maybe a day."Alicia cuffed the man as Mr. Lancer answered, "Wicked, don't scare me like that again."By the time Danny was human with one hand and laying on the bed less than thirty seconds later, he barely registered that Wicked was a book reference.@Sailor - toniSomeone has been murdered in Amity Park and it's up to two unlikely characters to solve the case.@Raven / schrodinger
Danny is involved in a rather disastrous incident, and is sent to stay with his Aunt Alicia while he recovers