I'm Going Ghost....

A Ghost's Nightmare * 4

Danny: I told you! I told you! What in the world, Opal? How could you?

Opal: Look, it wasn't my idea, honest.

Danny: But you wrote it!

Opal: Well, yeah. Look, Danny, I'm sorry. I bet it'll turn out in the end.

Danny: It'll turn out? in the end? How is any of this going to work out? All you care about it your stupid story. You just, you just...I can't believe you. Leave me alone.

Opal: Danny, wait.... Ugh, well. Are you guys still here? Hmm....

     Pizza wasn't for dinner, and no movie was playing as the Fenton family celebrated another big test survived by its youngest member. No, Danny had spent the night in the emergency room while his  mom and sister and Tucker all went into urgent care on account of him failing his CAT test, and not just failing but cheating as well, a one way ticket to the side of the road. The dread was building as reports came in about the whereabouts of Jack Fenton and Samantha Manson. Why hadn't he saved them?

     Danny had sat in the halls, ruminating on these recent events and waiting for the procedures to end alongside Mr. and Mrs. Foley who wouldn't even look at him, not that he blamed them. They were also helplessly awaiting results in knee-jerking anticipation. All Danny could do was count tiles on the floor so that he didn't lose himself. It was the only way that he could stop himself from feeling cold, a frigid iciness which seemed to freeze his insides. He had to be strong despite not knowing for whom he needed to be strong. He looked up whenever the doctors exited the operation room before quickly casting his gaze back down.

    He had looked up, hearing the sound of a door swinging open and saw the doctor near him. An icy shiver crawled up his spine when the doctor stopped and, looking down at his clip board, shook his head.

    Danny barely heard the, "I'm sorry," before burying his head in his hands while the footsteps receded back into the belly of the beast.

     Danny's lips formed a rueful smile at the thought of Tucker who was always afraid of hospitals. If only he would be saved instead of becoming an extension of this nightmare. If only it was one. If only he was a ghost right now seeing these horrors vividly play out before some ecto-green haze. That was how most of his nightmares ran; that was how most of his sleep ran. He always awoke as a ghost, which was why he learned to keep his bedroom door shut even while resting, and a small part of him would feel a little tired upon waking, but seeing Sam and Tuck's faces had cheered Danny up easily. The rueful smile cracked into a frown. He wished this was a nightmare, no matter how vivid it might have been.

    Footsteps had echoed through the hall, a pair of heels clicked against the tiled floor. All at once they stopped, and, with effort, Danny picked up his head to see the doctor shake her head, whispering the well meant comfort, heralding another death to Tucker's mom and dad.

    "He fought to the last," her soft words echoed in Danny's mind, "he didn't want to go."

     Danny's gut twisted as the icy frigidness descended upon him. He found himself thinking, "Then why didn't he fight harder? Why did he go? Why did he leave me, leave us?"

     Danny quickly shook his head and ran for the stairs. The elevator felt too much like flying and he might actually lose it, if he got a taste of being a ghost again. At the thought of flying the freezing at his core enveloped him demanding ghostly release. Danny fled to the stairs. Every footfall against the stair steps was welcoming. When Danny made it to the lobby, he could see light on the other side of the paneled glass. Escape!