Quiet, monotonous dripping echoed through the dark hospital room. Bright, green ectoplasm bubbled and sloshed gently inside the plastic bag without care for what was happening around it.
The transparent tube periodically gushed with ectoplasm released from the drip chamber directly into a sickly, pale blue arm. The muscles occasionally tensed up, but there was no issue as long as the recipient got fresh doses of the abnormal liquid.
Kai twitched under the heated blanket, his gaunt skin stretched painfully as he frowned in his sleep. Dark, poisoned veins uncomfortably stood out on his flesh. Concurrently, an iciness clustered somewhere deep in his body.
It ate at him, thousands of tiny sharp teeth ground away. Yet, the icy pit never crept upwards to consume the rest of him. It remained right where it was, snarling and gnashing viciously but, in a sense, wary. A soft breath slipped out of Kai's mouth.
Red eyes widened in attention to the slight sound. They glowed in emotion as Dan opened his mouth and clamped his jaw shut. Suffocating darkness imposed itself again; his eyes dulled when he closed them, determined to ignore the sight before him. No matter how much it drew Dan's attention.
An awful mix of a sweet, metallic scent and chlorine burned Dan's nostrils. His nose scrunched up in disgust, and he held up a hand to block the foul odor. In the back of his throat, a burning welled up. Dan's ghost core thrummed against his chest as he uncomfortably swallowed it down. In no time, his body jolted violently.
An acid-like… substance found its way back up. Dan's other hand shot to his throat, fingers
latched around it. He gradually pressed on the pulsating muscle to regain his cool. An excess of sweat made its way down his jawline.
This… wasn't an emotional reaction. Dan's stomach churned, a scorching fire that lit up his insides. He felt every last bit of it. Tiny claws scraped away at him. As unrelenting and viscous as the hot ectoplasm pounding through
his body.
Desperate to spill out of him. Dan wanted to be sick. A low hiss snaked past his tongue. Followed by a soft groan as one hand went down to his side, the other moved to massage his forehead. Heat spiked through Dan, and sweat stuck to his face like molasses. He shifted around on the spot, his body tensing.
He needed to leave. Now. "You're turning pale. Do you need help?" Dan startled slightly at a voice.
Right. The human surgeon.
He avoided Dr. Chambers' calculating gaze. One step back, two steps-
White flooded his vision, and Dan skidded to the side, his feet planted firmly on the floor. A dull ache throbbed in his body. Soft colors slowly put his vision back together, though slight
darkness blurred the edge of it.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" Jazz's voice cut through Dan's mind fog.
A delicate hand held his arm as Dan steadied himself. Inhaling sharply through his nose, his core hammered in his chest. He peered down at himself as if just seeing himself for the first
time before his eyes flicking to the side.
Eyes wide in concern and frazzled red hair spoke for Jazz. Her slim form heaved with heavy breaths, her complexion paler than usual. It was a wonder she hadn't passed out already.
Interestingly, the gun holster was absent from her hip. "M'fine…" Dan mumbled out uncharacteristically. Inquisitive eyes stared at him so intently that Dan hastily tore his gaze away after a minute. Right back to Kai's still silhouette, as calm as can be. He gritted his teeth.
There was a pitter-patter of hurried footsteps, and Jazz appeared next to the bed. She hovered for a few seconds before she bent over, her hand lowering to touch Kai's arm.
The gentleness displayed sent a sharp stab of pain through Dan's core. It came to a lull and grew quiet. His
chest panged with emotion, he imagined crushing it down with a twitch of his fist.
The hallway was empty for now. As colorful as the walls were, it was still reasonably dim. The overhead panels still cast that eerie, white shroud. No human would be able to walk down the hall without being seen. But ghosts can appear and disappear at will. All the more, the reason
to slip away.
Dan slowly edged away, Jazz and Kai's silhouettes vanishing behind the wall. His breath was quiet, almost deathly still, and he cautiously glanced around. Outlines of the hallway furniture crept
onto the edge of his peripheral vision. Easy enough to avoid.
Slinking along the wall, Dan snaked past the leather chairs and benches. Only the faintest shimmer of his spectral form indicated he was there, nothing but a mere shadow. Dan's eyes peered in all directions.
The same hush followed, seemingly watching Dan's every move. He hated it, to be honest.
He was aware of it more than he would've liked. Hovering over his shoulder like a ghost. Voices jolted Dan from his darkening thoughts. The quietness crumbled. He recognized Jack's long-reaching voice, booming down the hall and bouncing off the walls quickly. A heavy breath
blew out of Dan's mouth, his chest thrummed with tension anew, and he began to back away from the sounds.
A female one then overlapped with Jack's, just as loud. Never minding the furniture or the fact that Jazz would realize he had tried to leave, Dan found himself back outside the room. He stood by the door frame, barely visible, should someone look.
His eyes rebelliously tried to peer inside. It took far more effort than necessary to stop himself. Arms folded, Dan leaned against the frame, his body unusually heavy. With half-closed eyes, he absently listened to Jazz's murmurings with Dr. Chambers while attempting to will away a
mental fog.
Despite the surrounding noise, the hall still felt empty. A different kind of emptiness to fall through for an eternity, as it swallowed up everything around it.
What seemed like an eternity was about a minute before Dan stirred. He sensed two people by the doorway. Overwhelming enthusiasm permeated the air. Orange and blue jumpsuits greeted him. Seconds later, in whispered voices, they vanished inside.
Dan closed his eyes again, content to just hang around out here. The hospital room was already small, to begin with; he wouldn't have enjoyed being cramped in there. Not to mention, well, he didn't want to be reminded of Kai's current state.
Quiet babbles flowed out of the dark room, making the silent hallway stretch out in a way that couldn't be perceived by the naked eye. It wasn't literal, just a horrible, sinking feeling. Lost deep in his mind, Dan snapped out of it when his body stumbled. He stared down at the
squeaky-clean floor before he quickly straightened his posture.
Dan tore his eyes away, ignoring the haunting light in his reflection's eyes. His body tingled with that stare boring into him, even when he turned away. A weak breath escaped his mouth, and slick sweat streaks became known again. More noise came from the room, and hushed voices
rose to hurried conversations. Indistinguishable, as Dan hadn't been paying much attention.
He heard his name. Jazz's head popped out of the doorway, and her hair swayed to the side. "Get in here. You need to listen to this." Finality in her tone, she popped back inside before Dan could respond.
Growling softly, Dan begrudgingly entered the cramped room. He didn't go in far and propped himself on the door frame. Just enough to placate Jazz; otherwise, she would've tried to drag him inside by any means. A heavyset melancholy hung over the room, now bathed in a deep
blue light.
Dr. Chambers stood to attention. Stoic stiffness to ensure he had a clear headspace to speak the facts. He surveyed the peculiar family before him. It wasn't every day he saw a dynamic comprised of both humans and ghosts. There was that tension cutting through them like a
knife, they clearly had differences between them.
"I'll start with the good, and then we can work our way through the bad," Chambers said, his arms folded behind him. Jazz tensed slightly at the words while Dan's ears twitched, indicating that he heard.
"The good news is that we've managed to flush most of the poison out of his system."
Chambers gestured behind him. "It took a physical toll on his body, not to mention afflicted with some kind of fever. Give it a few days, and he'll come around."
Maddie interrupted, "Wait-excuse me, poison? What poison?"
"It stumped us too," Chambers replied with an apologetic shrug, "we theorized that it's harmless to humans, which is why we didn't detect it immediately, but incredibly harmful to ghosts."
"The bad news is that I don't think he'll fully recover from long-term exposure," the doctor continued, "his muscular and skeletal structures have degraded so much it's amazing his body didn't fall apart at all."
"Ghosts have healing capabilities if that's relevant," Dan said, cocking his head.
"That would explain why his body remained intact as it is…" Chambers rubbed his chin.
"De-degraded, how?" Jazz asked in a shaky voice. Her hands quivered violently as she stepped back to give herself space to process the information.
Behind the group, there was a slight clatter as Danny finally showed up. He placed a hand on the frame to steady himself, panting heavily. He heaved a breath in confusion after hearing the last bit of Jazz's question.
"About time you showed up," Dan growled out.
"Shut up…" Danny growled back, his eyes flickered a neon green.
Chambers stared at the bickering Phantoms before they quickly became silent.
"We've determined it's a slow-acting poison, but the process was sped up with how much of it was injected into his system. It ate away at the muscular and skeletal tissue until it eventually broke down."
A loud cough disrupted the explanation; all eyes went to Jazz, who turned away. Her slim figure quailed with every slow, deep breath she took. Silent, she wobbled to the second hospital bed near the door and slumped down. The frame creaked, weighed down not just by Jazz
herself, but the wave of emotions toiling through her entire body.
She took another breath, staring blankly down at her equally shaky hands. Rapidly blinking, her face twitched with fresh tears.
Chambers was by her side instantly, prompting the others to react.
Namely, Dan was upright and alert. The doctor loosely held Jazz's arm, gently thumbing for her pulse. "She's in shock, I'm going to
get a blanket, keep an eye on her, and I'll be right back."
Once Chambers left the room, Dan approached Jazz with the grace of approaching a frightened animal. He slowly came to a stop and kneeled down in front of her. Balancing himself by resting
his arms on his knees, Dan looked at her. "Kai's…" Dan started weakly and grimaced, "going to need the both of us, you know? He will need your help reigning me in, or who will tell him about my best behavior?"
He didn't even try to smile at the pathetic joke attempt. Dan looked down at the floor, glad to note that it wasn't as clean as out in the hallway. A creak drew his attention back to Jazz, who blankly stared. She only shifted slightly in response.
Just as Dan stood up, the door opened, and Chambers returned with a blanket folded over his arm in a compact size. He unfolded the material and carefully wrapped it around Jazz's quaking shoulders. She automatically gripped the seams of the blanket, breath shaky.
The conversation fell off, and the information weighed too heavily on everyone's minds to keep going. Dan found a place next to Jazz, his form towering over hers, even on the hospital bed. Jack and Maddie had a hushed conversation while Danny was deep in thought, indicated by how he leaned against the wall.
Finally, "It's late; visiting hours were over a few hours ago; you need to go home now. These two-" gestured towards Kai and Jazz, "will be staying overnight; the younger Miss Fenton can leave tomorrow if she doesn't exert herself anymore."
Maddie broke away from her husband's side and bent down before Jazz. "Sweetie, just rest up tonight. I'll return in the morning with a fresh change of clothes."
With a kiss on her daughter's forehead, Maddie took Jack in her arms and left. Danny already had one foot out the door when their footsteps faded. A concerned look back, another glare at Dan, he was gone.
Chambers pinned Dan with a look, "That means you too."
"I'm staying," Dan said shortly, his eyes narrowing.
"If something happens, we need-" the doctor stopped when he heard a growl. One look at his ghostly visitor, and he stepped back.
"I said," Dan bared his fangs, his body hunched forward. "I'm staying."
"Alright, I suppose an extra set of eyes would be helpful…" Chambers relented, albeit reluctantly, "Call for a nurse if you need anything."
At last, solitude reigned, Leaving Dan and his thoughts alone. Mechanical, controlled breathing seamlessly flowed with the stillness while Dan rummaged through his thoughts.
He was conflicted. Initially, he wanted to leave for reasons still not yet known to him. An ugly feeling rose up in him before he swiftly crushed it, ignoring the niggling in the back of his mind.
Dan stayed because they would've noticed he was gone, and right now, Jazz was the only one keeping him here. When she goes, he goes.
That's what Dan told himself, anyway. His ghost core ached with a different emotion. A fuzzy, uncomfortable feeling in the back of his mind.
A weak gasp of air. Dan's eyes sharply veered to the side. Jazz's quivering form heaved with every breath, fast and desperate like she broke the water's surface.
Her grip on the blanket tightened, and she pulled it closer around her. Soon, it grew quiet and steady. A contemplative silence. "Why won't you look at him?"
Dan stiffened, his ears tipped downwards. His body sagged with the answer weighing down on him. Rather than respond, his hands tightened into fists and pressed them into the mattress. As expected, he never looked up higher than the bottoms of the furniture.
A sigh. The disappointment actually imbued itself into her tone. Prickling in unease, Dan kept his eyes down and avoided catching Jazz's gaze.
"You know, they say that talking to someone, spending time with them, or making physical contact, Jazz said, all disappointment is suddenly gone, "helps them come out of their comatose state."
Dan still didn't respond. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. "I'm not saying this just because it's a proven scientific thing," Jazz continued, not caring if he responded. She missed Dan's sharp look, "you love Kai too."
"How do you know that it'll work?" Dan finally spoke for the first time. He was rattled when she said…, but he shook it off.
"
I… I don't…" Jazz fumbled with her words, taken aback by his bluntness. After a moment or two, she finally found the words again. "Something's bothering you, isn't it? Want to talk about it?"
"What is there to talk about?"
"Don't be stupid," Jazz said haughtily, "ever since we arrived here, you've been acting like Kai didn't exist most of the time."
The soft hum of hospital equipment in the background replaced Dan's voice. He soundlessly moved his mouth. He had something to say, but the words refused to formulate. The deep blue swirled around him, enveloping Dan in an endless sea of nothingness. Nothing to show the
way. Tiny blips of light flickered in the darkness. Dan rapidly blinked to make them go away.
A piece of equipment beeped a steady rhythm from the side.
All this time, Jazz waited in inquisitive silence and patience. She could've kept pressing him, but she knew him better than anyone else. Dan was that type of guy who, while powerful, still fell victim to emotional stress, to a point. All the little things that made him tick, his emotional
beats, how…
"It's weird, alright, without him," Dan said with a slight hitch.
"Weird, how?" Jazz cautiously prompted.
"It's not a feeling, it's-" Dan stopped, his jaw clenched shut with a sense of déjà vu hitting him. A conversation he's had too many times to not tune into her intentions. "You're not going to psychoanalyze me, are you?"
"Depends on how much you tell me," Jazz replied, cracking a tiny smile. In a blink, it was gone.
Dan hummed quietly in acknowledgment. The beeping in the background seemed to sync with the beat of his core.
"You have to admit, though, you and Kai have been joined at the hip shortly after you met." Inhaling sharply, ears tilted back down, a light warmth flushed through him. His core beat a
little faster.
A lull in his mind tempted him to look up at the hospital bed in the corner, if not just a little. Dan still fought it. "Yeah, well, he's familiar," as soon as he said that, he grimaced slightly. That came out a bit wrong. It was still Kai, just not in the same vein as Dan knew him.
"Familiar because you knew him in the other timeline, right?" Jazz already knew this. She hoped the prompting would get the ball rolling and let Dan unload his troubles. She had tried asking him about his future, but he continually rebuffed her. What was there to tell, he had told
her.
Dan nodded slightly. "No wonder you warmed up to him so quickly. It usually takes you quite a while to tolerate someone," Jazz commented.
"He and I," Dan said with a faint chuckle, "I've always believed we were stronger, and we are."
Hook, line, and sinker. Jazz shuffled closer to Dan to hear better. She carefully inched her face around the blanket.
"I feel lost without him. Kai kept me from… losing myself," Dan said slowly. He stared down at his hands and flexed his fingers. "In a world that never cared for me, he was my lifeline because I was also his lifeline; the world broke him, too."
"And you're not used to seeing Kai like this," Jazz spoke Dan's thought out loud. The nagging in Dan's mind intensified with the presence of the beeping. It rang through his head, louder and louder.
"I keep thinking he's going to get up any second now, and he'll walk it off like nothing happened," he said with a wry grin.
He's in denial, realization lit inside Jazz like a Christmas tree. With how closed off and agitated Dan became, she wondered if he was trying to emotionally protect himself. And failing.
"Are you sure you're not going to psychoanalyze me?" Dan asked again, disbelief in his voice. And there goes my plan to make him talk. Jazz rolled her eyes a little and puckered her lips into a slight pout. She folded her arms and sank back into the comfort of the blanket.
She looked up at Kai's bed, pondering what to do next. Well, since they were already here, it wasn't like Kai would be moved to another room
anytime soon. Standing up, wobbling slightly, Jazz held her hand to Dan's arm.
She gripped tightly to keep herself upright. Her body buzzed with a nervous rush of adrenaline. "Get up."
"Why?" Dan inquired suspiciously. The beeping equipment relegated itself into the background. He could focus a little better now, he supposed.
"Please, just get up." Jazz repeated insistently.
No verbal response, but she felt the tenseness of his muscles moving as Dan slowly got up. His silhouette towered over her, his eyes nothing more than eerie red dots in the darkness. Even without the small room being crowded, the space was still suffocating. The walls shifted around; they stretched as far as their eyes could see, lengthening the room from all sides.
It was the shadows playing tricks on them. They were just tired.
Dan's insides twisted in nausea and apprehension. A sickly sweat replaced the embarrassed flush. He kept his eyes down, absently counting the number of smooth tiles while his blurred reflection stared back at him.
Jazz's hand kept a tight grip on him to keep him from pulling
away. It wasn't like he wanted to fight her anyway. He was too worn down to expend such energy.
In harmony, they walked together. Missing not a step, they crossed the room, and in no time, they were at Kai's bedside. He never moved or made any sound indicating he knew they were there. Deathly still and eerily calm.
Jazz said nothing. She stepped away and let go of Dan's arm, leaving him to face Kai himself. Her silhouette teetered on the edge of his eyesight. Far enough to give him space, close enough to catch him if something happened. Dan's chest puffed up with a slow breath. It whistled quietly
through his fangs, his core hummed with emotions he had yet to identify.
Finally, against his will, Dan looked at Kai for the first time since he entered the room. All this time, he fought the urge. He didn't have any reason why. He just didn't want to. Almost immediately, a sense of disgust rose up in him like lava.
Blinking rapidly to will the sensation away, Dan saw Kai's pale skin give a luminescent glow in the wake of the world outside. It was said ghosts were in their purest form during this time of day. The witching hour. For a split second, Dan nearly smiled at the sight.
Cautiously, he lifted a hand and glanced at it. Conflict shone in his eyes. They veered back and forth between himself and Kai's slumbering form. The last time Dan touched Kai, he trembled ever so fragilely under him. It was such a foreign experience that Dan admittedly didn't want to
feel it again.
He guided his hand towards the bed, then pulled it back.
Tension tethered itself back into his body. Dan missed the look of disappointment on Jazz's face.
His hand fell back to his side, numb like his ghost core. The spectral thrum came to a lull, and then there was an unspoken yet quickly shattered silence.