Chapter 13

Jazz and Danny had been in the waiting room for hours with no word. It was nearing midnight.

Danny texted his friends: "Still no updates." He frowned, putting his phone in his pocket.

Danny's senses were heightened, causing his anxiety to increase tenfold. He wasn't sure what was going on with his hearing, but he could hear everything happening in the hospital. Heart monitors beeping loudly, people groaning, sobbing, shallow breathing. He tried to hone in on his father's room, but he couldn't.

A monitor started to speed up, suddenly. It kept getting faster and faster before becoming one continuous beep. "Clear!" He heard the defibrillator hum and hit, several times. Moments later, he heard a doctor say. "I'm so sorry. We did everything we could."

He lowered his head into his hands. Jazz placed a hand on his shoulder.

When the automatic doors opened, they both perked up. It was just some visitor leaving the emergency room.

They waited for another hour before their mom came out. Her eyes were red and puffy. "He's stable."

Jazz and Danny breathed a sigh of relief and got up and hugged their mom.

They followed her down to his room.

He was in there, sleeping peacefully with an oxygen mask on and a monitor connected to his finger.

Jazz rushed to hug him. Danny's brows furrowed. "Did they say when he'd wake up?"

"They can't be sure, but likely sometime tomorrow."

"Do they know what's going on?"

"They are running blood tests right now."

There was a knock on the door. It was the ER doctor. "Hello. Mrs. Fenton?"

He shook her hand after she nodded. "I'm Dr. Hill. Jack is stable now, but he did suffer a reaction. In his labs, we saw elevated levels of ectoplasm. We think his episode was caused by this."

"Elevated ectoplasm in his blood?" Maddie said.

"Yes. We believe perhaps long-term exposure to ectoplasm may have caused this."

"Well, forgive me for saying this doctor, but that's just ridiculous. We've been working with this type of equipment for over a decade."

"I am aware of this. That's why I believe you should be tested as well. It's under-studied, but ecto-radiation is potentially causing adverse reactions."

Maddie crossed her arms. "Oh my gosh."

"If you don't mind me asking, what has changed in the past month that might've caused this?"

"The ghost portal is working now," Jazz pointed out.

"That is true. But how would it have gotten into his bloodstream? It makes no sense."

"I'm not sure, but we are going to do everything we can to figure it out. In the meantime, we have him on a strong antibiotic that should treat the foreign ectoplasm like antibodies and wipe it out. We will have him here for observation to make sure the antibiotics are effective."

"Okay, thank you so much, Dr. Hill."

"Of course," he said, nodding to all of them before leaving.

"Is it possible?" Danny asked. "For ectoplasm to get into the bloodstream from just being around it?"

She crossed her arms. "Not to my knowledge. I'm going to have to check my own blood. But I'll need a control. Think you can do that for me?"

His eyes widened. "What?"

"It's like we did when you were younger. Looking at the blood under a microscope! You loved those experiments. This time it is important."

"Um, but what about Jazz?"

"Sorry, Danny. I have vasovagal syncope."

"Huh?"

"I get whoozy at the sight of blood."

"Oh yeah…but wait, my blood can't be a great control. I mean, I've been down in the lab a lot!"

"It's nothing compared to the many years your father and I have been doing this. Don't worry. It isn't going to hurt. Just a little poke. Didn't you just do this at school? It's no different."

"Right." How am I going to get out of this one? He thought to himself.

Danny barely slept a wink when he woke up the next morning. His thoughts were racing. Ectoplasm in Dad's blood? The more he thought about it, the more ludicrous it seemed. He wasn't the one who went into the portal and became half-ghost. Unless…

"What if Dad's a half ghost like me and Uncle Vlad?" He whispered. Then he recalled his father wanting to rip apart ghosts molecule by molecule. "Yeahhhh, I'm gonna say no."

His phone started ringing. The number said "unknown."

He answered anyway. "Hello?" Danny said.

"Daniel, what on Earth were you thinking?" It was Uncle Vlad.

"Well, I –" A burst of static popped on the other end. "Where are you? There's a bunch of interference."

"I told you I'm on business. I heard about your little stunt with the pilot," he said sternly.

"He was going to crash, and I saved him! What's the big deal? You haven't saved any innocent people from certain death? I mean, what are we supposed to do with these powers if not use them to help people?"

"Oh, Daniel. You have a lot to learn, don't you? I don't have time to argue. Don't use your powers again until I get back. Do you understand? As halfas, it's important to float under the radar. Too much attention is bad for all ghosts, but especially our species. I hope you understand."

"I guess so…"

"Daniel."

"Sure, whatever you say…anyway, we have more important issues right now. It's Dad. He's really sick. He was admitted to the hospital last night."

"Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that."

"What's weird is, he has ectoplasm in his bloodstream."

"Ectoplasm? That is strange."

"Have you heard of it? The doctor said it is probably continuous exposure to ectoplasm, but Mom isn't so sure."

"Well, I'm sure the doctors are doing everything they can."

"You think antibiotics will help?"

"Of course, Daniel. I have to go now."

"Wait - when will you be back?"

The busy signal rang out, and Danny shrugged.

Jazz and Danny drove to the hospital. When they got there, Danny told her he needed something from the vending machine. "Suit yourself," she said, walking to the elevator and going up to the third floor, where their dad had been admitted.

Danny peered around him to make sure no one was looking. Just as he was about to change, he spotted a camera on the wall. He sighed and went into the bathroom. "I'm going gh—"

An elderly man came out a stall and frowned at him. "Kids these days," he said, shaking his head as he went to wash his hands. Danny tried to look inconspicuous as he leaned on the hand dryer. He jumped when he accidentally turned it on behind him.

He chuckled and nodded to the man, who had one eyebrow raised behind his thick glasses.

Once the man finally left, Danny changed. He floated a little before flying up and through the ceiling. "I might need a map," he realized as he got up to the second floor.

A nurse gasped when she saw him. "Oops! Um - " Danny said, turning invisible.

She screamed and rushed down to the nurses' station. "Linda, I think this hospital's haunted!"

He walked down the hallway to the elevators and found a map. "Where would a blood lab be?" He grimaced as he walked back to the same nurse who was recovering in the waiting room. "Hey, um, sorry to –"

"What? Who's there?"

"Oh sorry," he said, turning visible.

"Oh my gosh! I - I - You - wait a minute! You are that superhero from the news last night."

Danny blushed. "Um, heh, guilty as charged... Look, I need to find the blood lab. Do you know where that would be?"

"Fifth floor, phlebotomy! But what do you need with –"

"Great, thanks! Bye!"

Danny turned invisible and flew through the ceiling and up to the fifth floor. "Phlebotomy," he said to himself, scanning the room names. He found it and went inside.

Along the right wall, there was a glass chest filled with test tubes of blood. "Okay, I should be able to just get a tiny bit from one of these tubes and pass it off as my own," he said, then he spotted his dad's tube. "Curiosity killed the cat," he said, grabbing the tube.

He eyed the windows to the hall. There were people passing, but no one noticed he was in there. He was invisible after all.

He got a sterile dropper and placed a drop of blood on a slide then a drop of saline. He placed it under the microscope and looked. It appeared almost normal, like Tucker's back at school. However, when he zoomed in closer, he could see very small flecks of green. It wasn't like the circlets he saw in his own blood.

He placed his dad's test tube back in the case and chose a different one. He placed a few drops of it into another tube, and then placed the sample back into the case.

"Hope this works," he said, placing the tube in his pocket. He heard the knob suddenly rattle and panicked. He tried to go intangible but couldn't do it. He rushed under the counter despite being invisible and waited there.

The door quietly opened and closed as he heard soft boots on the tile floor. Whoever it was was apparently a master of stealth because Danny could barely hear them.

They opened the case and put a few drops of blood into a clean test tube. When they walked past the counter, Danny recognized the boots and teal jumpsuit immediately. Mom? When she left, he finally felt he was able to leave too, and he phased through the floor to his dad's room.

"Jazz, the Fenton Peeler isn't quite finished yet, but if you see that son of a gun ghost boy, you use it, and you use it well," Jack told Jazz.

"Um –"

"Dad!" Danny exclaimed, running to his dad and giving him a big hug.

"Not too tight, not too tight," he strained.

"Oh sorry," Danny backed away, underestimating his strength.

His father chuckled, hitting him on his shoulder. "Like father like son, eh Danny?"

Danny chuckled awkwardly.

Jack continued to laugh, but then started coughing. He coughed more and then some blood came up. "Dad!" Jazz and Danny shouted.

When he stopped, he waved their concern off. "The doctor said it's normal. Don't worry."

"It's impossible not to worry, Dad," Jazz said.

Jack sighed then changed the subject. "So, did you see that ghost on the TV, Danny boy? Living - well un-living proof ghosts exist! Finally, people will start taking our work more seriously."

"Yeah, that was crazy," Danny said.

"I'll believe it when I see it in person," Jazz said, sitting on a big armchair with her legs crossed and a book in her hands. "What did they call him again?"

"Phantom," Danny said, then rubbed his neck when he realized he answered a bit too quickly. "Um, at least that's what I thought they said."

Jack shook his head. "These menaces need to be stopped. And once I'm back on my feet, Maddie and I will be the ones to do it!"

"Didn't that Phantom guy save that pilot though?" Jazz said. "Look, I'm not convinced the whole thing wasn't staged, but shouldn't we be thanking him if it's true?"

Danny began to nod in agreement, but Jack shook his head.

"Jazz, you will soon learn that ghosts always have an ulterior motive. Just when he gains Amity Park's trust, he'll break it. You'll see."

Danny gulped. "So anyway, how about the weather today?"

Jack and Jazz looked at him confused before Maddie came inside. "Oh! Hi Danny. Jazz, can you stay here for a bit while Danny and I run our experiment at home?"

"Sure," Jazz said, turning a page in her book.

"Jack, honey, I'll be back soon," Maddie said, giving him a forehead kiss.

After setting everything up, Maddie looked into the microscope. "Let's see here. Your blood looks normal. Just regular red blood cells."

Danny breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Now your dad's blood - oh, that'll be our little secret, by the way."

He nodded.

"Hmm. Definitely some anomalies here, no doubt. Small green fragments in the blood, consistent with the appearance of ectoplasm," she zoomed in and focused the microscope. She sighed, shaking her head.

"And mine," she said. She looked into the microscope and examined. She squinted as she adjusted the settings. "Hmm."

"What?"

"Well, there's nothing abnormal," she said, looking at Danny. "Do you want to have a look?"

He nodded. She changed out with Jack's blood. "Definitely some green," Danny said, pretending he hadn't seen it before.

"Okay, and here's mine." She slid her blood sample under.

Danny adjusted the settings and looked around the sample. Not a single speck of green.

"So that would mean…" Danny trailed off.

"Whatever made Jack sick wasn't ecto-radiation!" Maddie said cheerfully.

"Great! Then what was it?"

Maddie frowned. "I'm not sure…we are always so careful not to breathe in any particulates or contaminate anything. It just doesn't make any sense."

"Do you think the antibiotics will work?"

Tears came into his mother's eyes, and she looked at Danny with doubtful eyes. He swallowed hard, quickly realizing the gravity of the situation.