1/10/25: Chapter 44 already? That's insane! This is so much longer than originally planned.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

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Chapter 44: Descending

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Vlad had managed to calm Danny down without the use of drugs, but the weak man had tired himself out and had passed right out as soon as his adrenaline stopped flowing.

The intensity with which he had called out with his core startled Vlad. The young man was absolutely petrified of Sam.

Speaking of Sam, she was in Jazz and Tucker's room resting while they were in the hospital. She'd had a very bad seizure–far worse than normal–and had yet to wake. Bruce wasn't concerned for Sam's health just yet as she had been running on fumes for days and her body needed the rest, but he was terribly concerned for the baby.

He'd run another blood test on the goth and determined she was five weeks along. That early in the pregnancy with a seizure that bad could have dire implications. The doctor went in every hour or so to check on her and to do an ultrasound to check the tiny fetus.

When Danny next awoke, it was the next morning. There was some initial panic when he opened his eye, but it died fairly quickly. This was the third time he'd woken up in this room, and now that he was more than 24 hours without a dose of the drugs, his core had awakened.

He could feel the power humming within his chest, the steady pulsing throughout his body, and the energy buzzing just beneath the skin. He hadn't felt that thrum of power in a while, and it helped to ground him in the moment.

That, coupled with how many times he'd woken up here, began to sow the seeds of doubt on whether this was a hallucination or not. The power felt real and, as he lifted his hand in front of his eye, he could see it was real as he conjured ice in his hand.

He swallowed and slowly lowered his hand, his gaze settling on the ceiling for the time being. He didn't feel as weak as he'd been before and the pain was mostly background noise.

With his now activated core, it was burning away the remnants of the drugs, especially the hallucinogen, and memories in his mind were slowly becoming clearer. He shuffled through them, filing the more painful ones away for later scrutiny, while he analyzed the more benign ones first. His gaze darted around the ceiling as they played in his mind, some like a broken record as he scrutinized the sounds, sights and conversations. There were several he realized were obviously hallucinations as conversations or even just things in the background didn't make sense.

Others he was pretty sure were real, but it wasn't always easy to tell. Just because it seemed to fit with where he was and what was going on, doesn't mean it truly happened. He closed his eye in frustration, choosing to stop for now as it was giving him a headache.

He sat up, wincing when it pulled his back. He was grateful when he was able to tap into his core to dull the pain, something else that helped him believe he really was home. He managed to sit up, and then piled some pillows up behind him and pushed himself back to rest against them.

He sat like that for a while, simply thinking. It was nice, for change, to just sit there and think, especially without the pain nipping at his heels like an angry yorkie. For now, he tried not to dwell on the hard stuff, because he knew the moment he did the panic would set in, so for now he simply thought about anything and everything that didn't have to do with him being kidnapped again and all the baggage and pain that came with it.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there like that before Bruce appeared in the doorway. The man entered, checking his watch as he made his way to the side of the bed. When he finally looked up, he stopped dead in his tracks as he noticed the young ghost sitting up and watching him.

The doctor warily bit his lip, but noticed Danny's lack of panic. "Are you alright?" he asked tentatively.

"I think so?" Danny responded, but it was more of a question than an answer.

"You were a bit…afraid the last few times you woke up," Bruce explained, resuming his walk to the bed. He put his stethoscope on and went to place it on Danny's chest to check his core, but the ghost quickly leaned away, giving a sudden distrustful look at the doctor.

"Ah, sorry," Dr. Tanning said awkwardly, pulling back some. "I was just trying to check your core."

"I don't," Danny started, pausing briefly to swallow hard. "I don't want to be touched if I don't have to be."

Bruce nodded. "I understand. Though, there will be times I will need to, especially to change your bandages."

Danny's gaze settled onto the bed. The poor ghost looked highly uncomfortable, and almost like he was becoming flighty again, but nodded.

"Would you like something to eat? I doubt they fed you," the doctor offered.

The young ghost finally realized just how hungry he was and placed a hand on his stomach as it seemed to growl on cue. He nodded and then asked, "How long was I there?"

"A little over six days," the balding man answered.

The young man looked terribly confused. "It felt like weeks…"

Bruce's instinct was to squeeze Danny's shoulder in comfort, but he couldn't very well do that right now. He simply sighed and left and made his way to the kitchen, where he was surprised to run into Vlad getting a cup of tea. "He's awake," he told the billionaire. "And he's much calmer."

Vlad's eyebrows reached his hairline. "He is?"

The doctor hummed his affirmative and opened the fridge, pulling out some melon and berries. "He's hungry, but I don't want to start him on anything heavy."

Once the plate was prepared, both men returned to Danny's room. The young ghost was surprised to see Vlad, but indeed did not panic at the sight of him.

As they came around the bed, Danny spoke up. "When will my eye heal enough to open it? It's kind of annoying only seeing out of one. My depth perception is really off."

He realized something was wrong when both men exchanged glances. Finally, "Daniel, your right eye is open," Vlad answered.

Danny lifted his hand and touched his right eye, finding it was, indeed, open, but he couldn't see his hand in front of it. In fact, he couldn't see anything on that side.

Bruce placed the plate of food on the bed. "I know you don't want to be touched, but I think you should let me examine that eye."

He could see the indecision on the young man's face, the spark of fear that crossed his features. He also watched as Danny mentally pulled himself up by the bootstraps and forced himself to nod.

Bruce sat on the bed and requested Vlad bring him his bag, to which the billionaire politely obliged. He then pulled out his ophthalmoscope. "Hold as still as you can, please. I'll try not to touch you."

He looked carefully at Danny's eye before using the scope to look inside at the retina. He could tell the poor ghost was uncomfortable, especially when he started to feel the bed shake from his trembling. Thankfully, it didn't take long for the doctor to see the problem.

He pulled back with a sigh. "How did you obtain this injury?"

Danny furrowed his brow as he thought. "My memories are…jumbled. But I think Mira did it with a knife when I called her a bitch. She got me back with it, though, because the cut sure hurt like a bitch," he responded.

This time it was Vlad who sighed. "You can't control your mouth, can you?"

Danny gave him a wry smile. "Never could."

"Well, I'm afraid it's not good news. The knife cut into your eye, which is why it was so painful: the eye is covered in an incredible amount of nerve endings. Your core is already healing the outer damage, but your retina was hit, and it doesn't look like it's healing," Bruce explained.

"I don't understand," the ghost started. "Ki-oh said it was intact."

"You saw Ki-oh?" Vlad asked suddenly.

Danny nodded, glancing between the two men at the heartsick look they both adopted. He felt like he was missing something.

"It was so swollen that he was likely mistaken, but not on purpose," the doctor replied.

Danny's gaze flitted around the bed. "Unless I never actually saw him…" he said quietly.

"Did he happen to mention Do-hee?"

The ghost was wary again, not liking where this conversation was going. "I thought I heard her screaming; Mira even said it was Do-hee, but Ki-oh assured me that she wasn't there."

Bruce remained quiet, not trusting himself to speak. He glanced at Vlad, who reluctantly took over. "Daniel…Mira was right. Do-hee was there. She didn't…she didn't survive."

Danny did nothing at first, which alarmed the two other men. In truth, the poor man's brain was trying to comprehend what they just told him. Do-hee was dead? But she didn't deserve it…she didn't deserve any of it.

Bruce noticed the shaking in Danny's limbs starting again, his now wide and frantic eyes darting around the room. "It's my fault," he said softly. "It's all my fault."

"It is not your fault, Danny. These things just happen," Dr. Tanning tried to console him.

The ghost kept shaking his head and repeating that it was his fault until a thought occurred to him and he paused. "Wait, what else was real? I saw Tucker a bunch of times, but it was always different so I don't know…"

Vlad floated around to the other side of the bed and sat down, making sure to keep his distance. His gaze was serious and it started sending tingles of panic down Danny's spine. "Most of the Tucker's you saw were likely hallucinations, but the last time…it was real."

"Oh God, Tucker…" the ghost cried as the tears started flowing, his trembling hands coming up to cover his ears as he started to rock. "It's my fault…I did this," he said between sobs. "I-I'm pathetic. I'm a waste of space…"

"Daniel, he's alive. He's at the hospital recovering, he's going to be fine," Vlad said reassuringly, but the ghost was too far in his head to hear him.

"It should've been me, I don't deserve to be here."

The billionaire reached over without thinking and grabbed the ghost's hands to force Danny to look at him. "Daniel, you need to stop talking like that."

Danny startled and yelped, pulling his hands away from Vlad and throwing himself back against the headboard. The young man watched Vlad with terror in his eyes, hands still up around his head as if protecting himself.

Vlad held his hands up. "I'm sorry, little badger. I handled that wrong."

"He is right, though," Bruce commented, Danny's distrustful gaze switching to him. "You shouldn't talk or even think like that. You are not a waste of space and you do deserve to be here."

Danny's lips trembled. "But Tucker–"

"Is fine. Battered and bruised, yes, but recovering," the doctor cut him off. He then pushed the plate of fruits over to Danny and gestured with his head at it.

Danny remained where he was for a few moments, it taking time for his mind to uncurl from the fetal position it had wrapped itself in. Once it finally did, his hands came down and he visibly relaxed some, though was clearly still on edge. He reached for the plate and then hungrily started eating thinking that surely nothing had ever tasted so good.

"Good lad." Bruce said before standing, noting the way Danny suddenly leaned away from him at the action. "I need to check on Sam. I'll be back."

The name sparked something in Danny and he choked on the fruit, coughing. Once recovered he began the panic loop he'd been stuck in yesterday. "No, no, no. She's here?!" he cried.

"Daniel, she's not Shade. She never hurt you, that wasn't real. Besides, she's recovering herself and won't be in to see you," Vlad responded quickly, hoping to stall the young ghost's panic attack.

Bruce nodded. "She's not a threat to anyone right now, so please, do not get upset."

There was a war within Danny then. One side very much wanted to be upset and panic over the news that that woman was here, but the other side–the more rational side who still loved her–was concerned at their words. Was she okay?

He held his head and shook it, letting out a growl of frustration that he couldn't trust his memories or his emotions. He felt weak and pathetic, just as Shade had called him. He could feel the pinpricks of anxiety running up and down his spine, tempting him to simply freak out and flee. Then he suddenly became aware of the pulsing of his core and latched onto it, using its steady and predictable rhythm to ground him in the moment. He swallowed hard, Adam's apple bouncing.

"Is she alright?" he asked softly.

Bruce shared a glance with Vlad. He hadn't expected the question with how strong the young man's fear seemed to be, but it was a start. "She had a particularly bad seizure yesterday and has yet to come out of it," the doctor answered.

"And the ba–" he cut himself off as he was painfully reminded by his memories that she'd gotten rid of the child. But wait…had she? They said it wasn't real. He gathered his courage and glanced up at Bruce. "And the baby?"

"I am monitoring it closely. She's only five weeks along, but even now I can tell that it's tiny and underdeveloped. She's been pushing herself very hard to find you, so my only hope is that she can rest now and take care of herself," he responded honestly.

Danny's confused gaze settled on the bed. So it hadn't been real. At least that part of it, that Shade, hadn't been real. Sam did still carry their child. Had she slept with Declan? Had she tortured him at all?

He was hopelessly confused and it was written all over his face. "What's wrong, little badger?" Vlad asked gently.

"I just," he started, his frustration showing a little in his tone. "I just don't know what actually happened and what didn't." He brought his hands up and covered his face in despair. "Shade told me she killed the baby."

Vlad's core went out to the young man. "I can promise you that was not real. Anything you saw with Sam or Shade in it was not real. She and I were tearing this city apart to find you, she was never there."

Bruce gave the ghost a sympathetic smile before finally leaving to check on the goth.

The pair of ghosts sat there in silence for several minutes. Vlad was trying to not make it awkward as it became obvious Danny was desperately trying to hold himself together. He seemed to be quietly breaking apart, losing himself in the memories that he couldn't quite decipher.

Finally, "I can't describe the fear I feel…at just the sound of her name."

Vlad sighed, looking down at his hands in his lap. "I know it will take time, but I hope you understand that the Sam or Shade you knew in that place was not real, that the Sam here is, and that she loves you very much," he explained, gaze going back to the ghost.

But Danny looked even more upset at his words. "I don't know what I feel," he admitted softly.

"Do you still love her?"

The young man sighed. "No. Yes–maybe? I don't…I don't know. Everything is so jumbled and confusing. I need time and space from that place. I need distance to help understand what happened and what was real. I need to decipher my feelings on it all."

Vlad nodded. "Giving yourself time would be a wise first step," he agreed. "But also…this is affecting Sam rather badly–it's likely why she had a seizure last night. While you're taking the time you need, try to be sympathetic to her as well, meaning try not to run away and scream at the sight of her."

Danny winced but nodded, sitting there for a bit in silence. His core was helping to ground him but he needed something else…he looked up suddenly, Vlad seeing hope in the man's eyes for the first time since waking. "Can I see my kids?"

–

Tucker was restless. He was immensely grateful to be alive and recovering, but his fear of hospitals was starting to come to the forefront now that he was healing. He really wanted out of here.

Jazz was getting fed up with his fidgeting. He kept pulling on things and making alarms go off, constantly asking questions, and trying to get out of bed on his own. Even the nurse was starting to get a hard edge to her voice every time she needed to come in to reset his IV or reprimand him to stay in bed.

The nurse was currently in the room for the thirteenth time in two hours fixing the IV he kept inadvertently pulling on.

"When can I go home?"

She sighed. "Mr. Foley, asking that question every ten minutes isn't going to change my answer. If it was just the broken leg, you could go home, but you suffered severe burns along your left side that need to be monitored."

The dark-skinned man groaned. "Please? The ghost salve is healing it well and I have a doctor at home. I really don't need to be here."

Jazz shook her head, hand over her face.

The nurse stopped what she was doing and gave him a hard look. Tucker slowly eased away from her, thoroughly creeped out that she was maintaining that look and not even blinking.

"Okay, okay," he relented, looking away.

She finished what she was doing and then left without another word.

"You really need to stop annoying the nurses," Jazz commented with a sigh.

Her husband really wanted to kick his feet like a toddler. "I just want to go home," he moaned.

Jazz rolled her eyes. "I think you're more of a child than Chase," she noted, but with mirth. She was trying not to be too hard on her husband. Afterall, he did just go through a traumatic experience and she almost lost him.

And honestly, despite his phobia of the hospital, he really had been a champ so far. It was only after nearly 48 hours that he was getting antsy.

Tucker laid there in the bed looking pitiful before sighing and grabbing the remote. "At least they moved us into a room with a TV that works. The last room was so boring!"

Their previous room had a broken TV, which, at first, hadn't mattered. Tucker had slept quite a while, not only from exhaustion, but also because of the pain meds. The burn's were more painful than anything he'd experienced, but the doctor had told them it was a good thing because it meant the nerves were intact. But the ghost salve really was working quickly, and his pain levels were now manageable with some mild ibuprofen.

He turned the TV on and flipped through it. It was mostly commercials and boring things he didn't want to watch. News, news, more news, oh look! New— he stopped, flipping back to the last news channel.

They saw Sam in front of a podium giving a speech. It wasn't real time, but a recording of the day before, with the news anchor giving commentary on it, but what they were talking about is what got their attention.

"The charges against Ms. Manson has been dropped, but rumors are still circulating among the citizens on what actually happened, despite the press conference–"

"Charges?" Tucker said, looking over at his wife. She looked just as surprised and confused as he did. She turned to him and shook her head.

"I've kept Vlad updated on you, but he never mentioned this," she said.

"Ms. Manson was charged with the attempted murder of Danny Phantom, the attempted murder of Tucker Foley, and for the murder of Do-hee Yoon. Mayor Roswell called the charges a witch hunt by a power hungry congressman who was too quick to point the finger without evidence. One thing is for sure, Mayor Roswell has not made any friends with his statement."

"Holy shit," Tucker said, mouth hanging agape. "I can see why they didn't say anything."

"They probably didn't want to worry us," Jazz responded, shaking her head in disbelief.

"We're getting out of here," he suddenly said, reaching for the nurse button.

"Tucker–"

"No," he said firmly, giving his wife a look that left no room for argument. She was taken aback as this was a side of Tucker she'd never seen. "If you saw the way Danny reacted to Sam, you would understand that there's no way they're at home comforting each other. She's probably there freaking out by herself so she doesn't worry anyone else. She needs us," he emphasized. "We're going home."

She bit her lip and watched him carefully as he hit the button, a hard look of determination on his face. "Alright."

–

When Sam came around she was groggy and confused. She groaned as the first thing she truly became aware of was a pounding headache.

The goth startled a little when a cool cloth dabbed her forehead. She opened her eyes to see Tucker smiling at her, his good arm wiping her brow.

"Tucker!" She said, trying to sit up. She stopped suddenly as her head pounded harder and brought a hand up to hold it.

"Easy there, tiger," he said fondly with a tinge of concern. "I heard you had a really bad seizure. Try not to push yourself."

She peeked an eye open to glare at him. "You should be in the hospital, not worried about me."

Her tone and glare set him off, opening the dam he'd tried to keep closed. His glare matched hers. "No, you haven't eaten and barely slept in days. You need to start taking better care of yourself, especially now that you're pregnant. You better eat your lunch, or so help me, I'll force feed you. And don't think I won't!"

She was surprised at the veracity of his anger, the very un-tucker-like attitude that drilled into her heart. But she saw it for what it was: worry. He was terribly concerned for her and it was coming across as anger.

Her look softened as she laid back again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you."

"You're damn right," he huffed, dabbing her forehead some more. "It also gave me a really good excuse to leave the hospital."

She chuckled at that. "Of course it did."

Jazz appeared then with food and Sam perked up. "That's what we want to see," the redhead said with a smile.

The goth sat back up, albeit slower this time, and then dug into the egg salad sandwich.

After she devoured half of it, she finally spoke again. "How bad was the seizure this time?"

Tucker shrugged. "We weren't here, but Bruce said it was really bad. You scared the crap out of Maddie."

The goth looked guilty. "Oh man. I feel bad."

"Well, I would say you can't control it, but I really think your lack of self care contributed this time," Jazz said in a stern tone as she finally sat in a chair.

The goth looked good and chastised. "Sorry," she said sheepishly before setting her sandwich down on the plate. "Do you know if Dr. Tanning checked the baby?"

Jazz nodded. "He says it's okay, though really tiny. You need to eat and rest so it can grow."

Sam nodded, but paused. Her next question was a bit harder. "Have you…have you seen Danny?"

The couple shook their heads. "He was sleeping," Jazz responded. "They said he's pretty disoriented when he wakes, so we figured we'd go in after he was awake."

The goth smiled at them, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Are you okay?" Tucker asked.

She knew what he was asking, and it wasn't about her physical health. She tried to smile again but she choked on it as her emotions took over, before she finally shook her head. She didn't trust herself to say anything so she just kept quiet, trying not to show how much it was affecting her.

Her best friend reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it tightly. "You know he loves you. It may take time, but he'll come around. After all you've been through he can't just stop loving you because of this."

Her dull, sorrow-filled eyes met his. "We'll see."

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1/13/25: Awkward way to end this one I guess, but I need to get moving on the next!