OH HERRO.

I apologize for the crappy chapter title. I couldn't think of anything else. And believe me, I tried.

Sorry it's been a few days. College is a little crazy. Oh, that reminds me, some of you guys have been asking where I go to college, because you want to know where such super-awesome stories that I tell you about happen. I go to Richland Community College in Dallas, TX.

Pretty much just gave myself away, didn't I?

That's okay, most of you don't know my REAL name. So if you decide you want to come kidnap me by walking into the Administrations Office and asking for a Tori Stone, they'll look at you like you're crazy.

GO THUNDERDUCKS!

Not even kidding. Our mascot is a Thuderduck. He's holding a lightning bolt. Yay for community college.

And I know there's kind of a stigma about community colleges in the US. For those of you who just decided to judge me by assuming I'm an idiot that can't get into a 4-year, I actually chose to do community first. I can earn an Associate's degree here, which means that when I DO move on to a 4-year (which I will be doing) I won't have to take any core classes. I get to focus on my major.

Anyone wanna guess what my major is?

That's right.

Journalism. XD

Well that didn't have ANYTHING to do with this story.

I don't own Danny Phantom, but I do own Zane, Kyler, Lucine, and Nela. Go find your own creepy relatives!

That is all.

Relatives

Chapter Ten: The Emergency Room

September 8, 2011

Danny didn't bother changing back to Fenton as he crashed through the doors of the emergency room. Sam had been drifting in and out of consciousness as he flew to the hospital. A black stain was slowly spreading across her chest and stomach; the metallic smell of her blood made his stomach churn. Tucker had carefully removed the blade from her chest, which appeared to have drawn forth even more blood. Danny had been in the middle of yelling at him for it when Sam had stirred.

The nurses knew who he was. They didn't ask questions. Danny guessed he looked like hell; he certainly felt it. He watched helplessly as they hustled Sam to the back.

"Mr. Phantom, was there an attack?" One of the nurses asked me. She looked odd; not her appearance, just the way she was looking at him. She looked like she was meeting a celebrity. Word must have escaped Amity Park about him.

"Uh...no," Danny said, glancing down at himself. He looked perfect, his suit emmaculately clean. He realized it would have been odd if he had said that there was a ghost attack that resulted in Sam being stabbed while he looked perfectly find, albeit a little windswept. "No, no ghost attack. I...I found her in an alley."

"This is one of your sidekicks, right?" Another one asked from beside the star-struck nurse.

"No, she's not a sidekick, she's one of my best friends!" Danny said indignantly. The nurse's eyes widened.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know..." She said quietly. She looked as if she was afraid Danny would blast her with an ectobeam.

"Sorry...I'm just really worried..." He said, glancing down at his feet.

"Don't worry, Mr. Phantom. She's in good hands now."

They wouldn't leave him alone. Finally, he made up an excuse about needing to go back home and ran out the doors. He ducked behind a dumpster and quickly changed into Fenton, before bolting back into the emergency room.

The nurses had not moved. They were facing each other, looking deep in conversation. They both turned and stared at him when he skidded to a halt in front of them.

"Uh, Phantom just told me what happened!" Danny shouted, pointing out the doors.

"What were all of you doing in New York?"

"I was visiting Sam's relatives with her...is she okay?"

The nurses seemed to snap back to reality. They both bustled away, quietly murmuring about Phantom. Danny watched them go, trying to contain his frantic anxiety. He sat numbly in one of the chairs pushed against the walls of the emergency room, his eyes on the doors to the emergency room that Sam had disappeared behind. He glanced at the clock on the wall.

12:48 AM.

He shifted uncomfortably. The chair he had chosen looked like it had definitely seen better days; the cloth was worn and fading, and the metal supports of the chair were digging painfully into his legs. He crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at the clock again.

12:49 AM.

The doors to the emergency room slid open. Tucker bounded into the room, looking pale and lightly apprehensive, but otherwise okay.

"Where is she?" He asked quickly as Danny leapt to his feet.

"They took her to the back a few minutes ago, I haven't seen anything since..." His voice trailed as two more people followed in after Tucker. "No. What are they doing here?"

"Relax. Nela and Kyler gave me a ride, I never would have gotten here so fast if it weren't for th-"

"I don't care! They tried to kill Sam, I don't want them anywhere near her!" Danny glowered at the mother and son, who were gazing at him apologetically.

"You have to understand, my husband was...he was crazy. Please, Sam is my niece. I'm sorry that I didn't do anything to stop him, but you have to understand that we were both being threatened with death if we attempted to do anything. He...he told us that Sam wouldn't be hurt. He promised us that she would just be used as a jumpstart to bringing Lucine back...we couldn't do anything to stop him, we tried when we realized what would be happening to Sam...please, you have to believe me..." Nela sobbed.

"I love my cousin. Please let us stay and see her." Kyler murmured.

"Kyler!" Nela gasped. "You...did you...just speak?"

"Yes."

"You haven't spoken since Lucine died!"

"I love my cousin. I want to see her." He turned to Danny, staring at him levelly. "Please, let us stay and see her."

Danny glanced at Tucker, who nodded encouragingly. "Fine," Danny growled. His eyes travelled to the clock.

12:53 AM.

They sat in tense silence. Danny continuously glanced at the clock. When the clock read 2:17, an exhausted-looking nurse stumbled into the waiting room. She clutched a clipboard to her chest; she glanced down at it before looking back up at them cautiously.

"Are you all here for Samantha Manson?" She asked. They stood and nodded eagerly. "She had an extensive injury to her chest. We had to do surgery to move some scar tissue out of the way of her heart, just to make sure that it wouldn't cause a cardiac arrest. She briefly slipped into a coma, but came out of it almost instantly. We have her upstairs in the intensive care unit, but she should be recovered and ready for discharge within a few days. Are you her family?"

"We are," Nela said, placing her hands on Kyler's shoulder and stepping forward.

"We can go ahead and start the medical release forms, then. If you two would like to go up and see her while we work on this, feel free. She's in room 284," The nurse ushered Danny and Tucker around a corner, revealing a water fountain, a men's and women's bathroom, and an elevator. As soon as the elevator doors slid shut, Danny turned to Tucker.

"Do you believe them?" He asked.

"I do. They looked genuinely concerned when I told them what happened. Not surprised, but definitely worried. They don't even care that Zane is dead."

"How did that happen?" Danny asked as they stepped off the elevator and headed down the hall leading to Sam's room.

"When I pulled the knife out of Sam, I just dropped it...I guess the blade when through his heart. I killed Zane," Tucker shuddered and dropped his gaze to the tile floor.

"It was self-defense,"

"He was already unconscious when it happened..."

"He would have killed all of us if he had the chance. It was self-defense, Tuck. Don't feel bad." Danny patted Tucker's shoulder consolingly. Tucker gave him a grateful glance, before stopping short.

"This is her room," He pointed to a closed door. Danny felt his heart jump as his eyes rested on the plate mounted on the door that had 284 etched into it. He cautiously twisted the knob to the door and stepped inside, blinking rapidly so that his eyes could adjust to the darkness of the room. Sam was laying on one of the beds, her head turned toward the door. Even from a distance, the boys could tell she had a huge amount of gauze wrapped securely around her chest and torso. The nicks and scratches she had recieved while attempting to escape her ravenous un-dead cousin stood out in sharp relief now that her blood had been cleared from her skin. Her eyes were half-lidded and trained on the boys.

As soon as Danny saw her amethyst eyes boring into his, he cried. He couldn't help it. He had been scared, no, terrified, that he had killed her with that knife; he had been torturing himself with thoughts like If she dies, it's your fault..., so to see her watching him, fully alive and aware, was a gift more precious than any he had ever known.

"S-Sam, I'm so sorry..." He moaned. He couldn't even bring himself to sit beside her, knowing that it was his fault she was experiencing so much pain.

"Hey, sh, it's okay, calm down," Her voice cracked as she lifted a shaking hand toward Danny. He darted to her side and grasped it immediately, his eyes never leaving hers. "Don't apologize."

"But I...I stabbed you," He shuddered.

"I told you to."

"I almost k-killed you..."

"No, you didn't. Zane did. You didn't have anything to do with that. Danny, you saved me. As usual," She chuckled weakly. "Thank you."

Danny did his best to return her smile, but found it difficult. "Danny, really! I'm okay, I'm going to be perfectly fine. Stop beating yourself up over this."

"It's not just that that's bothering me..." He glanced down at her hand, which was still held firmly between both of his own. "Seeing you...like that...on the bed, with the knife in your ch-chest...and, thinking you were gone...it made me realize that I need to tell you something." He took a deep breath, glancing quickly up at Sam, before blurting: "I really like you and I want us to be more than friends!"

Sam blinked. "You...what?" She whispered.

"I...I really like you...a lot...and I want us to be...more than friends," He mumbled, his eyes on his knees.

"Really?" She asked breathlessly. Danny's eyes shot upward; she looked ecstatic for someone who just got stabbed.

"N-No," He summoned all of his courage. "I don't just like you...I love you, Sam. I love you, and I want you to be mine."

Her eyes began to water. She nodded, apparently speechless. Danny leaned forward and softly pressed his lips against hers, and for a moment, he forgot everything else. That is, until he heard a click followed by a loud snigger from behind him.

"Oh yeah, forgot I was in here, didn't you?" Tucker asked mischeviously as Danny whirled around. He brandished his PDA. "This is going on the internet. I'm actually thinking about getting it blown up into a poster, making, like, a thousand copies of that poster, and hanging them up all over town. This is going to be fun."

I kind of love Tucker. Like, a lot. That poster thing seems just like something he'd do.

Ugh. I wish I had a friend like Tucker. I would die laughing every day.

SPEAKING OF DYING LAUGHING.

I work at a small neighborhood office supply store. There's a woman that works there who has a British accent that I wish I had. Today, she tried to speak with a Southern twang (which according to her I have...I don't hear it).

Let me tell you, British accents and country twangs DON'T MIX WELL.

But on the bright side, I collapsed on the floor because I was laughing so hard at her. She doesn't think it's funny.

IT'S FUNNY, SARAH. TRUST ME.

There's only a couple more chapters I'm planning on writing, unless any of you guys want to see something else with this.

Hm, well, that's all I can think to put.

You should probably review, if you don't want me to make Zane come back and kill everyone. Because I swear, I will. He's standing behind me right now.

...

OH GOD, WHERE'D HE GO?

Help me...?

- Tori