Disclaimer: I am neither a medical nor automotive professional and did no research on anything.

Chapter Four: Just Crazy Enough to Work

"I don't have a problem with caffeine. I have a problem without caffeine." - Unknown

Maddie

After crying in my husband's arms for a while, I lean my back against the kitchen wall and slide to the floor. When Danny and his friends went to the lab, I felt sad, guilty, angry. Now, I feel completely empty.

This is it. I can feel it. This is the moment when my son gives up on me.

And, who could blame him?

"I keep doing this," I say to no one in particular.

"Maddie…" Jack crouches down in front of me. "Maddie, Danny will come around."

"I don't think so, Jack," I say miserably.

Jack bites his lip then puts his brave face back on. "You know our son. No matter how he feels about someone, he's always willing to hear them out. He just needs a few minutes to cool off. You guys have fought before, and you were always able to smooth things over. This won't be any different."

His words are confident. His face is not.

He knows damn well why this is different. It's because this time I know that Danny is a ghost.

And, Jack doesn't even know about what I said to Eileen. In his eyes, this is just another terrible mistake that can be fixed.

In reality, it's my third strike.

Jack pulls me to my feet, and I lean against him, needing his support physically and emotionally. We stand there and hold each other until we are startled apart by black blur whizzing past us.

"What was that?" I ask, not expecting an answer.

Moments later, Sam and Tucker are barreling out of the lab and into the living room, calling after Danny.

Jack and I glance at each other in shock before joining our son's friends.

"What's going on?" I ask.

Sam whirls on me, her worry turning to rage in an instant. "Like we're gonna tell you anything!"

I flinch even though I deserved that.

Jack intervenes. "Kids, if something happened to Danny, we need to know."

Sam softens the slightest bit. "We can tell you, Mr. Fenton."

"At least, we could," Tucker corrects, "if we knew. Danny said he had an idea, then he chugged Ecto-Dejecto and took off without a word! I don't know if it's the fixation," Tucker twirls his finger around his ear, "but that guy's getting loopy on us."

Ecto-Dejecto is meant to be a spray that seeps into a ghost's skin. Drinking it probably wouldn't hurt Danny, but the thought still sends goosebumps crawling up my arms.

Danny Fenton, what are you up to?

Danny

"You're gonna put us out of business."

The half-joking, half-concerned voice makes me turn around. Dr. Nigel Kumar - a man with light brown skin, salt-and-pepper hair, and a mustache - approaches me in the hallway. He's the medical director here at Robert Stine Hospital, and he tends to show up when I do. Like everyone else who works here, he's used to me visiting the patients and, since developing my healing powers, helping with illnesses and injuries until my Healing Touch wipes me out.

It usually happens right out of the gate, particularly with illnesses. But, it seems like guzzling Ecto-Dejecto worked the way I hoped.

The very first thing I did upon my arrival was rush to intensive care. As an angel, I can sense when someone has twenty-four hours or less to live. There was only one person in intensive care, and he was elderly man with Stage 4 terminal cancer. Ordinarily, I couldn't possibly have the strength to cure something that severe.

But, ordinarily, I'm not hopped up on Ecto-Dejecto. I let my Healing Touch do its thing, and after an eternity, the doctors found me and forced me to stop. It's common knowledge that I'm putting my life at risk every time I use my Healing Touch, but I didn't mind that they wouldn't let me keep going.

Because I stopped sensing his impending demise. I don't know how much I've prolonged his life, but the doctors shooed me out to run tests.

Since I wasn't drained the way I normally would have been, I kept going. So far, besides the cancer patient, I've healed three broken bones and restored a smoker's lungs to what I assume is factory condition. I'm getting tired, but I still have some gas in the tank.

I stop and wait for Dr. Kumar to catch up to me even though I'm itching to keep moving. "Eh, what's up, Doc?" I couldn't resist.

Dr. Kumar fights a grin, though I'm sure he's heard that one before. "I hear you've been using your healing powers a lot. As grateful as I am…" He trails off with a raised eyebrow.

I raise my hands placatingly. "I'm good. I can keep at it for a little longer. Unless there's some doctor reason why I shouldn't?"

Dr. Kumar scans me up and down. "You do seem to be in good spirits." The corners of my mouth quirk upward. He rolls his eyes. "No pun intended."

"I'm okay. Really," I assure. "I found a way to make my Healing Touch last longer, and I want to see how far I can go. So far, the results are amazing!"

Dr. Kumar is pacified but still wary. "Well, in that case, I won't stop you." He wags his finger back and forth. "But, don't push yourself."

"No promises," I sing as I spin around and seek out my next patient.

Then I hear some familiar voices behind me and glance down the connecting hallway. Kwan, Dash, and Star are walking by, and what I hear makes me sneak over to listen.

"You think her parents will really make her quit after this?" Star asks.

Kwan replies, "I don't think they have the authority."

"But, she isn't eighteen yet," is Star's frightened response. "Doesn't that mean they do?"

Dash snorts and links his fingers behind his head. "Nobody's got authority over Paulina. But, you're right about one thing, Star. Her folks will definitely try."

That's where I decide to interrupt. "Excuse me."

I catch up to them, and they turn to me with a startled, "Danny!" from Dash and an equally startled, "Phantom!" from Kwan and Star. Last year, Dash and Paulina became friends with my ghost-half, and once they renounced their bullying ways because of it, I revealed my secret identity to them. Kwan and Star, however, are clueless.

"I couldn't help overhearing." And, eavesdropping. "Did something happen to Paulina?"

"There was an accident at her job," Dash explains somberly. "She burned her hand real bad."

Paulina has a desk job at the local auto shop. And, yes, that is the last job you would expect the prettiest girl in school to take willingly, but Paulina has a no-longer-secret passion for cars. Her parents don't like it, and I'm sure they like it even less now.

"Where is she?" I ask. I raise my hand and let the soft yellow glow of my Healing Touch envelope it. "I can fix her right up."

The A-listers gawk at me like they forgot I can do that. Then Dash grabs my arm, and we all rush to Paulina's room.

The poor girl is curled into a fetal position on the bed. She raises her head at our arrival, revealing the tear streaks on her face. "I said I wanted to be alo- Danny? What are you doing here?"

"At the moment, fixing your hand." I don't bother asking permission before kneeling at her bedside, taking her bandaged hand, and letting my powers do the rest. "Tell me what happened."

Paulina covers her mouth and blinks away tears until she's composed enough to say, "Thank you." She clears her throat. "That already feels a lot better."

I wink at her and release her hand. "It's what I'm here for. Now, what are you here for?"

Paulina lies back on her bed. "My boss decided that he didn't want to wait until I turned eighteen to start training me on the car stuff. I was thrilled! But, while he was showing me some stuff under the hood, one of my co-workers tripped and rammed right into me. I fell forward, and the palm of my hand landed on the engine." She shivers at the memory. "It was still hot. My co-worker feels pretty bad about it." She nods toward the card and flowers on the end table beside her.

Star comes over and lays her arm over Paulina's headrest. "Third degree burns, the poor thing!"

"Well, they should be three less degrees burned now," I assure. "Do your folks know?"

Paulina groans and flops her hand on the bed. "Probably. Once they get here, they're going to be singing I-told-you-so's."

Paulina's parents were furious when they found out she forged her father's signature on a work permit to get her job. Their sexist asses want her to either work at her father's company or marry some rich guy or just live off of her inheritance.

"We'll handle them, Paulina," Kwan says. "When you told us to leave, we planned on sticking around anyway."

Paulina smiles in thanks.

I stand up. "I can stick around too, if you- Whoa."

My vision swims, and I feel beefy arms lock around me from behind when my knees buckle. I feel the transformation begin, but I fight it off because Kwan and Star are in the room.

"You good, man?" Dash asks. All eyes are on me now.

"Yeah. Sorry." I wiggle out of Dash's grip. Every time my transformation starts, even if I don't let it finish, a little bit of my energy is restored. I still feel weak, but I can stand up on my own now. "I found a way to temporarily strengthen my healing powers, but I guess it still has limits."

But, I still went so much longer before almost switching forms. Any other time, trying to save a cancer patient would have wiped me out within minutes, maybe even destabilized me, and look at how much I did afterwards.

Hope flares in my chest, almost enough to dissipate that persistent fixated ache.

"Maybe you should sit down," Kwan suggests.

He starts to grab a chair for me, but I wave him off. "No, I'm okay."

"Why do you need to strengthen your healing powers?" Paulina asks. She glances at her unaware friends and cups her hands around her mouth to whisper, "Is it for Reaper?"

"Yeah," I whisper back. Since everyone is looking at me in those curious ways - minus Dash, who at least has a general idea of what's going on - I decide that there's no harm in being vague. "There's this ghost I know. They've been suffering from… I guess you could call it a chronic illness. And, they've had it for over five thousand years."

"Damn!" Star laughs in disbelief. "How long do ghosts live?" When we all stare at her, she blushes. "Nevermind. I just heard myself."

I swallow a chuckle. "Anyway, I think I've figured out how to help them. Though, my plan might require a little tinkering."

Before I can say anything else, a nurse bursts into the room, breathing hard. "Phantom! Finally!"

I'm at her side in an instant. "What is it?"

Once she catches her breath, "Jeffery Wilkins, the cancer patient you treated?"

My stomach clenches. "What about him?" Did I make his cancer worse? Did I bump it up to Stage 5? Is that even a thing? Did I make it a thing? Is Mr. Wilkins dead?

Then, I realize that this nurse is smiling. "His cancer is gone." I hear startled gasps from the A-listers behind me. "Of course, he'll need follow-up appointments to make sure it doesn't come back, but-but we can't find a trace of it!"

All four A-listers crowd around me in a swarm of praise and glee. I'm too numb from shock to notice. Maybe the fixation, but all I can think is that this could work.

This could work.

This could work.

A few things happen after that. First, I rush to Mr. Wilkins's room and see that his wife and son arrived just in time to hear the good news. The four of us cry together for a while, and I get showered in gratitude.

Then, I remembered that I left my friends and their friends in the lurch and reluctantly went back to Paulina's room. Good thing I did, because her parents arrived and were going off about how she should never have gotten that job. The door was closed, but the screaming match could still be heard, not helped by the three extra teenagers in the room. I saw Caroline - the biggest and scariest person employed here - stomping down the hall, but assured her that I'd deal with it.

I did so by phasing into the room and screaming, "EVERYBODY SHUT IT!"

Which brings me to where we are now.

Everyone in the room is staring at me, and I can see that Paulina has been crying. All her rich friends are standing around her. Star has her arm linked around Paulina's. Kwan is holding Dash back. Paulina's parents are out-numbered but still keeping combative stances. It's clear that Paulina got her sexy curves from her mother, who is a white woman with wavy dark brown hair and a face that screams "Botox addict." Paulina's coloring, meanwhile, is from her Hispanic father, who is tall and beefy. I was intimidated by him the first time I saw him, back when I was fourteen and still getting used to seeing scary things. Nowadays, the man is just that: a man.

A man who, along with his trophy wife, is making my friend cry.

"What the hell is this?" I snarl at the parents. "She has one accident at the job she loves, and you respond by yelling at her?"

Mr. Sanchez is the first to respond. "With all due respect, Phantom, this has nothing to do with you. Or, any of you," he adds to the other teenagers.

I jab my index finger in his and his wife's direction. "You yell at our friend. You make her cry. It has everything to do with us. Paulina is finally openly doing what she loves, and you're criticizing her for it! She's your child! I don't care that you don't approve of her not doing what you want her to do. You should be happy that she's happy!"

"Thank you!" Star exclaims.

I'm not done yet. "Do you know how sick of this she is? How much it hurts to know that you hate her because of things she can't control? She didn't ask to be this way!"

At this point, Dash and Paulina usher me out into the hallway. A passing nurse glances at us in surprise, and Paulina shoos him away before asking me, "Are you okay? I mean, thank you for that, but…are you okay?"

I mentally replay everything I said, and embarrassment cuts through the anger. I scrunch up my shoulders and don't meet my friends' eyes. "Sorry. I, uh…had a fight with my mom. I might have projected a little bit."

"I'd ask if you wanna talk about it," Dash says before pointing his thumb over his shoulder, "but we've got other problems."

"Do you want me to stay?" I offer. "I promise to tone it down."

Dash puffs out his chest and jabs his thumb at it. "We can handle her parents. Besides, we know you've got that fixation thing going on."

"Yeah," I confess. "I guess I'm not really myself right now."

For a number of reasons.

"You look wiped," Valerie comments from the other side of the counter.

I groan. "I feel wiped. Can I get a number four with a Pepsi?"

After leaving the hospital, I realized that I wasn't just tired; I was starving. It must have been a side effect of draining so much energy almost at once. No wonder Danielle used to eat all the time.

So, here I am at the Nasty Burger and in human-form. I'm glad Valerie is at the counter today. She knows my secret and knows about my fixation, which means she doesn't have to ask why I look so worn out.

No one is in line behind me, which is why I lean in and whisper, "But, I think I figured out a way to help my grim."

She hums with interest and whispers back, "I'm about to go on break if you wanna fill me in."

A few minutes later, I'm sitting in a booth with my double cheeseburger, fries, and soda. I've just swallowed my first bite when Valerie sits down beside me.

Since I'm holding the burger, I point with my pinky finger to the empty space in front of her. "You're not eating?"

She makes a disgusted noise. "If you had to spend your shift smelling grease, you wouldn't either."

I chose a booth as far from other people as I could, but they're still too close for comfort. So, the rest of our conversation has to be in hushed tones that will make people think we're a couple. I wonder what my actual girlfriend would say about this. Especially since she knows I used to have feelings for Valerie.

Putting my rumbling stomach aside for now, I give Valerie a brief rundown of what happened at the hospital, leaving out the scene with Paulina's parents.

Valerie gives me a congratulatory slap on the back after I get choked up telling her I cured terminal cancer and still had energy to burn. "Damn, Fenton!" She realizes she raised her voice and lowers it again. "All that in one go?"

"I know!" I cheer quietly. "And, I have a plan."

I outline my plan to Valerie, who purses her lips and raises a skeptical eyebrow. "Is that safe?"

"If Grim agrees to it, I'm going to find out."

I feel more energized after finishing my meal, so I sneak off to go ghost and open a portal to Reaper's lair. (Reaper was released from the medical ward this morning, and I might have neglected to bring that up.) I waste no time in finding them and dragging them to their private study.

Since they are eight feet tall, I have to float to be at eye level. They are wearing their usual light brown cloak with the hood that hides their face in shadow, but that hood is down since it's just us.

Reaper listens with a severe, thoughtful expression and their hand cupped around their chin as I rant. I explain what Ecto-Dejecto is and how it allowed me to do so much at the hospital. Finally, I tell them my plan: hook up an IV of Ecto-Dejecto to me so that I have a constant stream of it while using my Healing Touch on their core. (And, because that stuff tastes awful.)

Once I'm finished, Reaper lowers their hand. "What you are describing sounds like suicide. I will not allow it."

I make a small startled noise that only has a little to do with the way my core claws at my ribcage. "But, Grim, I really think this could work."

"Or, it could destroy you. I will not allow it."

Reaper tries to walk past me, but I float in front of them. I can't stop myself from wincing as my core shrieks in my chest. "Grim, please! What do you have to lose?"

"My son," they reply with their eyes narrowed in my direction. "This conversation is over."

They pull their hood over their head, masking their face once more, and start to move past me again. I try to keep arguing, but my core chooses that moment to explode again. Not as badly as when Mom destroyed Reaper's medicine, but it's bad enough that I fall out of the air with an agonized shout.

Through the pain, I feel myself shift back into human-form as two large, bony hands catch me before I hit the ground. I bite down on a moan and curl up against my parent's chest. I pant and grit my teeth so hard that it's a miracle they don't break. It feels like my rib cage has shattered, the pieces falling through my body and scraping the soft tissue within.

When the pain fades to a dull throb, I realize that Reaper has sat down on the loveseat. They don't let go of me. I'm torn between wriggling free to preserve my dignity and throwing my arms around my parent.

"You are fixated," Reaper says regretfully. "I knew this would happen. It is precisely why I never told you of my frailty."

The part that wants my arms around them wins out. "Grim, when I heard you were in the hospital, all I could think about was when Jazz was sick."

The memory makes me rest my head on Reaper's chest. Obviously, I hear no heartbeat. Instead, there is a quiet hum that sounds stuttered, as if trying to mimic a heartbeat. So, that's what a broken core sounds like, I think as tears pool in my eyes.

The scene plays out in my head as though I am watching it in real time. I was fighting a butterfly-like ghoul, and I grabbed it and threw it, not caring where it was going until it was too late. It crashed into Jazz's hospital room of all places, because it's me so of course it would end up there. I had injured the ghoul, so it leaked ectoplasm all over the room. Jazz got covered in enough of it that it aggravated her illness to the point that she fell into a coma.

There are two reasons why she survived. One was that I just so happened to develop my Healing Touch around that time. The other is that I sought out Reaper for help - that was how we met, so at least some good came of it - and they opened a portal to the hospital for me in the nick of time.

What if Reaper isn't so lucky? What if one day they don't make it to the Far Frozen in time?

A tear rolls down my cheek. "You've done so much for me. I just want to do something for you."

After a moment, Reaper sighs and brushes their knuckle under my eyes. "What a kind and foolish child you are. My actions require no repayment."

"I know, but I want to give it to you anyway." I twist out of their arms and return to ghost-form. My wispy gray tail flutters beneath me as I float in front of Reaper. "I get why you're hesitant, but I have a gut feeling that this could work!" I can no longer see their face, but I picture their pensive expression. "Think about it. My Healing Touch is less draining because my transformations restore my energy. You said it yourself. I'm a halfa, Grim. I'm the first half-human angel in history! What if that's the reason no one was ever able to fix your core?"

Reaper lifts a lecturing finger then freezes. They touch their finger to their chin in thought. "'What if,' indeed…"

I like the way they said that. "Does that mean you'll let me do it?"

Reaper rises from their seat, towering over me as usual. "Return to Earth for the time being. I must check on something. What I find will determine my answer."

They head for the door, and I call after them. "Uh, Grim? Where are you- And, they're gone."

Ancients.

Reaper

Clockwork was in the form of an old man with a long white beard when I arrived at his lair. Now as he leads me into the main room with its many ticking clocks, he shifts into the body of a small, chubby-cheeked boy.

I lower my hood once we are away from the Observants' prying eyes. "It is Danny Phantom, is it not? He is the one you spoke of so many years ago. The one who will heal my core."

A knowing smirk pulls at Clockwork's lips. "You wouldn't be here if you didn't know the answer to that question."

A shiver runs up my spine. It is a sensation equal parts frightened and eager. My imprint's plan plays through my mind. I confess that his idea is a good one, but the thought of losing him leaves me unwilling to partake in it.

Thus my visit with the only one who can answer with utmost certainty. "I do not need to tell you of my son's plan for restoring me, so I will ask you this." I look my old friend in his wholly red eyes as his body shifts once again, this time into a clean-shaven middle-aged man. "Will he live?"

"He will," Clockwork assures. "In both the human and the ghost sense of the word."

"Will there be any lasting effects?"

"None." In a blink, Clockwork is an old man once more. "His recovery will be a long and slow one, but he will recover. And, with no permanent damage to speak of." He places his right fist over his core. "You have my word."

I should be satisfied with that answer, but I have known this man for the entirety of my existence. "There is something you are not telling me."

"Of course there is." His form's constant change is mostly subconscious, but I feel as though he shifted into a smirking child on purpose. "But, too much would change if I told you everything. Time is moving as it should, and you know my purpose is to keep it that way. Sometimes that means I must withhold information from the ones I hold dear." He raises an eyebrow and turns into a middle-aged man. "Would you tell your son how many of his human loved ones will one day join him in the afterlife?"

I have to look away. My ability to tell who will and who will not become a ghost is part of the reason I do not engage with Earth creatures. This became impossible when a halfa imprinted on me, yet I keep my distance from his human companions to the best of my ability.

Clockwork is right. I could never break Danny Phantom's heart by telling him that only his father will be a ghost alongside him. I only pray that my son never asks about such a thing.

"That is an entirely different power," I argue. "But, your point has been made."