Chapter Seven: Here for You

"Life is hard, but it's even harder if you're stupid." - Unknown

Jazz

Paulina's boss gave her the day off to recover (she didn't tell him that Phantom healed her hand), and Valerie has the closing shift. As for Dash, he feigned an illness to get out of football practice. As a result, all eight human Team Phantom members are crammed into the Specter Speeder as Tucker flies us to the Far Frozen. Mom, Paulina, Dash, and Valerie are pressed against the windows, taking in their first real look at the Ghost Zone. The rest of us are amused in a "been there, done that" sort of way.

"Why is everything so…green?" Dash asks.

"It could be the high concentration of ectoplasmic radiation," Mom speculates.

Dash doesn't turn away from the window but flashes Mom a thumbs-up. "Whatever you just said, Mrs. Fenton."

"I wanted to take samples when I was here with Danny," Dad says, "but he wouldn't let me." He smiles wistfully at the memory. "Every time I wandered off, he grabbed me and said, 'We're on a mission, Dad,' in an increasingly irritated tone."

Valerie waves her hand in front of her face. "I'm sweating my ass off. Are you guys sure we need all this gear?"

We'd told everyone to bundle up because the Far Frozen is called that for a reason.

"Trust me," Sam calls back from the shotgun seat. "You'll thank us when we get there."

"How much longer till we get there?" Paulina asks.

"I can see it up ahead," Tucker says. "We'll be landing soon."

Uncomfortable silence falls until Tucker lands the Specter Speeder outside of the medical ward. Blistering cold seeps into the aircraft the moment I open the door.

Valerie shakes beside me and stuffs her mittened hands into her jacket pockets. "You were right, Sam. I do thank you."

We all shuffle out into the snowy mountainous landscape.

Everyone except me, Sam, and Tucker hang back when Frostbite approaches. "Salutations, companions of the Great One!"

"Great One?" Dad asks. "You mean Danny?"

Frostbite laughs. "Why, who else would I mean? Jazz, I assume this is the group you informed me about?"

I spread out my hands. "This is everyone." I gesture to each person as I make my introductions. "These are our friends, Dash, Valerie, and Paulina. And, these are my and Danny's parents, Jack and Maddie." They all say some awkward hellos.

Frostbite bows in greeting. "It is always an honor to meet the Great One's allies."

"What's all this 'Great One' business?" I hear Dash whisper.

Sam whispers back, "We'll tell you later."

Frostbite goes on. "I am Frostbite, leader of the Far Frozen and head of our medical ward. As well as Danny's personal doctor."

The tension seeps out of our group once the unaware know that this seven-foot tall monstrous creature is trustworthy.

"How's Danny?" Mom asks desperately. For obvious reasons, she is the most strung up among us. I'm hoping this whole mess serves as a wake-up call for her.

It would be the only good thing that came of this.

Frostbite drops the cheery act. "Not so good. I trust that you all know how he ended up in this predicament?" We confirm that we do. "Well, Danny used up nearly the entirety of his energy through his overpowered Healing Touch. This left him with only the bare minimum amount required for him to, frankly, do little more than exist." A few of us gasp. Mom fights a sob. I try not to throw up. "Thankfully, we were able to wrestle him away from Master Reaper in time. Otherwise, we would be having a very different conversation."

"How does that work, anyway?" Dad asks. "Why is the Healing Touch so draining?"

"The Healing Touch works by drawing strength," Frostbite cups his hands around a small space on his chest, "directly from the user's core and transferring it into the injured and/or sickly target. To keep it simple, the user transfers a little bit of their life force into another."

Something Danny probably knew and didn't care about. I shiver from more than the cold.

"The good news," Frostbite says, "is that the core naturally replenishes itself over time. However, due to the sheer amount of energy used, it is going to take a very long time for Danny to recover enough to regain consciousness."

"How long?" Paulina asks.

"That is difficult to say," Frostbite admits. "Especially given his human-half and his use of your invention." That part is directed at Mom and Dad, though not unkindly. "In the case of someone who is fully dead, it would only take a few days. But, again, his human-half complicates the matter significantly. We are doing all that we can to keep him stable. I'm afraid that is all I can say with confidence."

Which isn't much…

"Can we see him?" Tucker asks.

Frostbite smiles in a grim understanding. "Absolutely. But, for safety reasons, I can only allow three of you in his room at a time. The rest of you are welcome to wait in the lobby."

After a brief discussion, we decide that Sam, Tucker, and I will go in first. Followed by Mom and Dad then Paulina, Dash, and Valerie.

Sam, Tucker, and I follow Frostbite in silence. The reality of what happened to Danny is finally starting to sink in.

I remember when I was in the hospital. Well, I don't remember falling into a coma, but the events that led up to it are forever ingrained in my brain. Vlad Masters, long before he started atoning, tried to poison Dad but I took the bait by mistake. (It was a long time before I could eat salsa again.) Just as I was really starting to recover, one of Danny's ghost fights got out of hand and left me covered in ectoplasm. Whether it was Vlad's poison or a general medical issue, I don't know, but the ecto-contamination didn't mix well with my already weakened body, and I was out for a night and a day.

Something tells me that Danny will be out for a lot longer.

Is this how he felt when he was walking down the hallway to visit me? Am I about to learn how he felt sitting at my bedside?

We part ways with Frostbite once we reach Danny's room. No door has ever looked so ominous.

Tucker breathes in deeply then lets it out.

Sam touches his arm and says kindly. "You don't have to come with us, Tucker."

"No, no, it's fine," Tucker replies with a trace of dissociative mania. "It's not like I'm in a hospital! I'm just checking on my bro after he defeated a really strong ghost and passed out from exhaustion in his bedroom."

Tucker refuses to let me help him with his latrophobia. I'm going to keep offering, though.

Sam slowly, hesitantly opens the door. We creep into the room and take in the horrible sight.

My little brother, usually so unironically full of life even in his darkest moments, is just…lying there with tubes and wires sticking out of him. He doesn't open his eyes and smile at us. He doesn't do anything.

If this is how he felt when I was in a coma, then it's no wonder he cried so hard and held me so tight when I woke up.

I only move because somebody needs to break the spell. Sam and Tucker follow me to the foot of Danny's bed. Tucker is shaking hard enough that I assure him, "He'll understand if you need to leave."

"I-I'm fine," Tucker stammers. "It's just his room. I've…I've been here…m-millions of times…" He breathes out a hysterical giggle and fans in hand in front of his face. "I don't remember it being this warm in here, though."

Sam takes Tucker's hand in hers. "We'll come see him another time," she says to me. "I'll tell your parents they can come in."

She sends Danny one last tearful look before leaving me alone with him.

"Danny?" I say. "Little brother?"

He doesn't respond. A shaky sigh leaves me. How long is this going to take? A few days? A few weeks? (What if he never wakes up?)

Apparently, I've been standing still long enough for Mom and Dad to make their way in here.

"Oh, son…" Dad breathes out. He doesn't hesitate to pull a chair close to Danny's side and sit down. He asks me, "Has he…done anything?"

My throat is too tight to speak through, so I just shake my head.

Dad's eyes shift elsewhere, and I follow his gaze. Mom is standing in the doorway with her head down and her arms wrapped around herself. I can already tell that this truly is the slap in the face she needed. Or, the hammer.

"You can come closer, Mom," I say.

Mom shrinks into herself more. "I…I don't know if he wants me here."

"Sure he does," Dad says with a sad smile.

He waves Mom over, and she hesitates before joining us around the bed. Around the endlessly kind and stupidly selfless boy who has been through far too much.

Valerie

A year ago, if you told me Danny Phantom was in a coma, I would have jumped for joy. If you told me that I would be paying him a serious visit alongside Dash and Paulina, I would have laughed in your face.

Past Me was a very different person. Present Me is horrified by the sight of her friend unresponsive in a hospital bed.

The three of us are standing around Danny's bed, with me at the foot of it. Not gonna lie. I feel like I'm staring at a corpse. And, not in the "Danny Fenton patented 'zombie with superpowers' joke" kind of way.

Dash pokes Danny in the cheek and asks, "Do you think he's cold?"

"Maybe you shouldn't touch him too much," Paulina warns. "You don't wanna mess with anything."

Dash jerks back from Danny.

I answer Dash's question. "He's a ghost. He can't even get cold."

I recall a conversation Danny and I had during a major heat wave last summer. It started with me questioning how he was wearing long sleeves without getting heat stroke. This led to Danny explaining that ghosts don't feel changes in temperature unless they're caused by another ghost. Apparently, the temperature he feels no matter the weather is "comfortable."

"I used to hate the heat," he'd said wistfully. "But, honestly? I kind of miss complaining about it. Now the only way I know how to dress without drawing attention is by seeing what everyone else is wearing. I'd give anything to feel the sun on my skin again. Or, to breathe a sigh of relief when I enter a warm room after being out in the winter cold."

I sigh. "Can you believe we all used to hate this guy? In one form or the other."

Dash and Paulina glance at each other then hang their heads, feeling the shame alongside me.

Tucker

I have never been so pissed at myself.

My best friend, my brother from another mother, is in a coma. He is lying there, silently fighting for his life. Danny Fenton has had my back since kindergarten, and that bumped up tenfold when he got his powers.

Now he needs me more than ever, and was I there for him? No. Because I froze. Not in the sense that I was freezing my ass off, even though I was. I froze in the sense that I chickened out. At least Sam went back into Danny's room when I told her she didn't have to stay with me.

I didn't go back, and I hate myself for it.

It was like this when Jazz was in a coma, too. I was managing until I saw her in that bed. Danny was in the Ghost Zone because he had a lead on a cure, so it was only Sam who saw me freak out. Not that that made it better. I still couldn't go back in there, just like today. It would have been one thing if Jazz or Danny had only been taking a nap, but…

"You know he's just happy you came, right?" Sam says after I gripe to her about it.

"I know," I groan.

We are walking to our individual homes after leaving the Fentons'. The fall air is brisk, but nowhere near cold enough for our jackets, which are now hanging off our arms.

Moments later, Sam asks, "You get Eileen's text?"

"Yeah," I say. "School is gonna be weird."

On the way back to this realm, we all received a mass text from Eileen, stating her plan to keep anyone from asking where Danny Fenton is. Since she is a teacher and can't do it herself, she is going to have one of her duplicates shapeshift into a Danny lookalike and go to class in his place. When (yes, when) Danny wakes up, she is going to give him a crash course on all the learning he missed. She also added that we are free to ignore the duplicate because she knows how awkward it will be.

I feel especially bad for Eileen because she can't ignore it. Danny is in her homeroom and has her for last period. Though we can't prove it, we all suspect that she ensured Danny was in those exact classes again this year. (Last year was the year those two met, so that had been pure coincidence.)

Sam and I fall into companionable silence until my attention is diverted. I glare at the large blue sign with the white text that directs people to the hospital. I know it's ridiculous to think it, but I could swear that stupid sign is mocking me. So many people have no trouble entering a hospital or any other medical place when they need to. Lucky bastards, all of them.

I don't even remember how my phobia started. It feels like I've always been this way. I hid it from my friends for years out of embarrassment until they caught me freezing up at the nurse's office. The nurse's office! Who's afraid of the Casper High school nurse? She's a tiny woman who looks like she's younger than the students she treats and probably weighs double digits soaking wet!

Sam sees where I'm looking and encourages, "Maybe it was the initial shock. When we go back tomorrow, you'll be more mentally prepared."

Yeah, right. The only way I'll be prepared is if I lived in a hospital.

Hm…

When I get home, I grab my backpack. Along with my homework, I stuff my PDA and my Nintendo DS Lite - already charged and set up with Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia - and a water bottle in there. Both of my parents are at work and I don't have my own car, so I have to bike to the hospital. Mom's always telling me to get more exercise anyway.

I hope you're happy, Mom. By the time I arrive and attach my bike to the rack at the edge of the parking lot, my legs feel like jelly.

I hike up my backpack as the usual nervousness pools in my stomach. This is why I didn't bring any food. I knew I would have no desire to eat. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Maybe I'll try meditating while I'm here. It works for ghosts, and enough humans do it that it must work for us too.

The hospital's huge lobby is empty aside from the white woman at the front desk, who looks up at my entrance. "Can I help you?"

She's very pretty, and she seems to be in a good mood. Both of those observations ease my anxiety just a smidge.

I walk up to the desk like my instincts aren't telling me to turn right around. "Hi, uh," I check her nametag, "Francine. This is a weird question, but would it be cool if I sat in the lobby and just kind of chilled for a while?" At her confused expression, I explain while hoping my face isn't as red as it feels. "I'm…trying to get over my doctor phobia, and, um, I thought…you know…" That I wouldn't feel this stupid in practice.

"Oh," Francine says. "Um, I guess that would be okay."

"Thanks," I say awkwardly.

I set my backpack in a chair in the far corner of the room to be as out of the way as possible. I plop down in the seat beside it then take another deep breath and will myself not to retreat to some pleasant place in my mind. This isn't the zoo or a modeling agency or-

The lady at the desk could be a model.

No. No. "I am at the hospital," I say under my breath. "This is a safe place where they only want to help."

So what if this place smells like disinfectant and sick people? Or, that they jab you with sharp objects that inject God knows what into your system? Or, that millions of people die in these places-

My whole body quivers as if trying to shake the awful thoughts out of me. I'm just sitting here. Nothing's happening. I am fine.

I pull out my homework and do my best to focus on math. But, my traitorous mind keeps wandering to all the horrible things that could be happening in this place. I give up on homework after staring at the textbook on my lap for a while. Normally, I would get all my homework out of the way on Friday so I can enjoy the weekend. But, yesterday I was occupied by Danny's drug mix and all the drama that followed.

I wonder what Danny will do with the remaining drugs when he wakes up, assuming he still has them. He'll probably store them away for snacking.

My best friend eats drugs and suffers no ill effects, and the thought barely phases me. This is what my life has become. Yet, I would give everything I have to watch him chow down on painkillers right now.

Video games will serve as a better distraction, so I put my homework away and pull out my DS. After playing for a while, I realize two things. The first is that I was too busy drawing circles around pocket monsters to remember to be scared. Which is good because I was able to sit in a hospital without issue. It's also bad because the point of this was to know where I was and still be okay.

The second thing I realize is that I need to hit the men's room.

I ask where that is, and the receptionist points me in the right direction and promises to watch my stuff while I'm gone.

I hesitate once I find the restroom, which is thankfully close enough that I don't have to walk too far into this place. Who knows what kind of gross, unsavory things have happened in this restroom? How many sick people have used these toilets and urinals-

Wait, am I a latrophobe or a germaphobe? Am I a latrophobe because I'm a germaphobe? I've never thought about it before.

I need to stamp these thoughts down. It's a hospital. They probably clean these restrooms every hour on the hour.

The mental image of Danny Fenton lying in a hospital bed prompts me to enter. I'm doing this for him. I'm conquering my fear for him. And, if that means I have to use a urinal in a hospital's public restroom, then that's what I'm going to do.

My bathroom break is as uneventful as it would be anywhere else, but I am proud of myself regardless. I've played video games and used the bathroom in a hospital. That anxiety is still gnawing at my gut, but I haven't froze up once.

When I leave the restroom with my head held high, I see two people, a black woman and a white man, heading down the hallway. Scratch that. Three people, as the woman is holding an infant swaddled in a blue blanket. The parents look happy.

They start to pass me, and the mother stops and holds out her child. "Would you like to see my son?" She asks me out of nowhere.

Her husband rolls his eyes and tries to usher his wife forward. "I'm sorry," he says to me. "He's our first child, and I think she's going to be showing him off everyone in town."

Ah, that's why they look happy. See? Not everything that happens in hospitals is bad.

"It's cool," I assure. I get a glimpse at the tiny, sleepy light brown bundle. "He's gorgeous."

"I know," the mother says with a grin.

The father shakes his head fondly and succeeds in pushing her toward the reception desk.

I shake my own head with a chuckle and walk back to my seat. That mother reminds me of Danny and his son, Bub. They aren't related - Bub imprinted on Danny - but Danny loves the little guy like they are.

Wait…

I curse under my breath and hurriedly dig my phone out of my backpack. I call Sam and silently beg her to pick up.

The moment she answers, I say as loudly as I dare with the couple and the receptionist so close, "Does Bub know about Danny?"

Sam doesn't speak for a moment. When she does, I can hear the guilt in her voice. "Oh my god, I forgot about Bub! What are we gonna tell him?"

"I don't know! How do you tell a one-and-a-half year-old his only parent is down for the count?"

Reaper

I ran into my grandson on my way back to the Far Frozen, where I hope to pay my child a proper visit. This cannot be kept from Bub. Gossip spreads like wildfire in this realm, especially when ghosts as powerful as Danny Phantom are the source. It is best that Bub finds out from family.

I simplify it as much as I can for one so young. I tell Bub that I had been sick for a long time, and his father used up all of his energy to make me well again. As a result, he would be in a deep sleep for a very long time.

"How long?" Bub asks worriedly.

"I do not know," I say honestly. "I only know that he will not awaken for some time."

As we float through the viscous atmosphere, my eyes remain on the babe beside me. Sheer coincidence gave imprinted father and son a similar coloring; they both have white hair and light gray skin, though Danny Phantom's is a shade darker. That is where the similarities end, however. Bub's eyes are wholly red but have vertical pupils, and there are tiny fangs in his mouth.

Bub looks straight ahead with a frightened frown. Spectral infants - be they born as ghosts or living creatures - begin their existence with a different mindset than the infants on Earth. Tucker Foley once compared Bub to a human four-year-old.

Young ghosts' minds develop better when they are able to roam free and learn as they go. Parents and grandparents are meant as guides or allies, assisting when needed and providing a safe place and companionship for the child.

In other words, I don't care what Clockwork will have to say about it. I am telling my grandson.

"Your father will wake up," I say. "I do not know when it will happen, but it will happen, Bub. There is no doubt."

Bub's tense expression melts away. "Okay. Oh, um, and Grandper?"

"Yes?"

"I like you without your hood. You're less scary."

I inwardly flinch until I remember that Bub had never seen me without my hood before now.

When we arrive at the medical ward and make our way to Danny Phantom's room, I remind Bub of how important it is that he not touch anything. And, that his father may not respond to him.

"I know," Bub drawls. "Daddy's sleeping. I get it."

His tone wedges a knot in my throat. Despite their lack of blood relation, the resemblance truly is uncanny. Bub even possesses two of Danny Phantom's powers: the Ghost Sense and the Ghostly Wail. This is not merely because of the imprinting - it is common for infantile ghosts to inherit a power to two from ghosts they spend a lot of time with - but it is certainly noteworthy. (Bub also possesses Pyrokinesis; I used to speculate that he got it from me, but medical tests show that it is a power he was always meant to acquire.)

I open the door and enter the room first, with Bub floating in behind me. One would expect it to become easier to look upon Danny Phantom's comatose human body after the initial shock. Alas, I am quick to discover that such a thing never gets easier.

At least we are not alone in the room.

Eileen Merryweather had been on her way out. Now she stops and looks up at me with vague recognition. Like Bub, she has never seen me without my hood.

"Hi, Grandma!" Bub whispers before happily flying into her arms.

Eileen Merryweather nuzzles him. "Hey, tyke."

Bub presses a finger to his lips and shushes her. "Daddy's sleeping. Humans need a lot of sleep. And, Grandper says that Daddy is going to need a lot a lot of sleep."

Neither of us has the heart to tell him that is not how it works.

"Right," Eileen Merryweather whispers with a strained smile. "Of course." To me, "I'm sorry. I could swear I know you."

Bub giggles and points to me. "That's Grandper, silly!" Nevermind the fact that he too failed to recognize me at first.

"Oh." Eileen Merryweather gets a better look at me and exclaims, "Oh, wow!" Bub shushes her again, and she lowers her voice. "You look great! I mean, I've never seen you without your hood, but I'm guessing Danny's…situation wasn't for nothing."

"Not nothing, no," I say with a forced smile. Suddenly, my phone vibrates, and I pull it out to check it. "Pardon me. It is Pandora."

I step into the hallway to take the call. I barely get a greeting out before Pandora starts talking.

"Remember when we used to have our little mani/pedi sessions?"

I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Pandora, this is not a good time."

"Hear me out," she pleads, her tone softening. "You and I are both worried about Danny, but I know how much worse it is for you. So, instead of moping about, why not prepare for when he wakes up? Don't you think it would make him happy to know how well his plan worked? Despite the obvious, of course."

She has a point. Even without his fixation, Danny Phantom will be positively ecstatic. "I am listening." Mostly because when this woman gets an idea in her head, there is no stopping her.

"I propose a full makeover! Not just nails, but new clothes, too! And, maybe a smidge of makeup-"

"You know that I do not care for makeup."

"Just a little? Some eyelashes would really make those gorgeous green orbs pop!"

Eyelashes? "I have no body hair of any kind, Pandora. I never have."

"I know, but they make artificial eyelashes now. You simply glue them directly to the edge of your eyelid."

The mental image alone is enough to make my eyes hurt. "I believe the modern term is 'hard pass.'"

I picture Pandora rolling her eyes. I also question the authenticity of her voluminous eyelashes. "Fine. But, I really think a new look would make you feel better. And, think of how pleased everyone will be to see how healthy you are now! Especially Danny," she sings with an implied wink.

I suppose it wouldn't do me any good to sit around and fret nonstop. "Perhaps I will humor you. But, no eyelashes. That sounds like torture."

"You know what they say," Pandora replies pleasantly. "Beauty is pain. Oh! Before I forget, you did say that there was another imprinted parent, correct? Eileen Merryweather, right?"

"Yes…" I reply tentatively. "She is with me now, actually."

"Perfect! Put her on. I'd love to invite her to our beauty session! And, maybe Danny's human mother as well. And, his sister. Get the whole family some reprieve. Besides Danny's imprint. Bub is, what, a year old? We'd probably bore him into a second death. Do you think Danny's human father would be interested?"

"I… Truthfully, I do not know the man well enough to say."

"Well, find out. Invite him if that's his thing. Now put Eileen on the phone."

This will turn out either very well or very badly with no in between.