Day 36: Waiting Room/Lobby 2

[notachick]

Okita hadn't been expecting it when his nurse suddenly appeared in the Game Room. He'd expected to be left alone like last week, but instead she gently took him by the arm and told him he needed to say goodbye to Kaden for now. Okita assumed it was time for his visitor and waved goodbye to him, only to be led off himself. The swordsman had

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[notaghostreally]

"You're very lucky, Danny, to have two visitors in a row!"

Danny wasn't sure what to make of the statement. He didn't know whether to be glad to see familiar faces who weren't Vlad, or to be anxious in case they might've been brainwashed or clueless or whatever was up with Jazz last week.

Once he stepped into the waiting room, he began to wonder who would be visiting him. Tucker? Sam? His parents? Not like it really mattered, since Danny had no idea what he would say anyway. "Help, I'm stuck in a crazy house that's trying to kill me" hadn't gone over so well last time.

Sitting up straight in his seat, unintentionally on alert, he waited for his visitor, praying that they wouldn't act the same way Jazz did.

[damned_visitors]

Well this was going to be awkward. Though really, Victoria supposed that visiting a mental hospital always would be. No matter how well you knew the person or how happy you were to see them, it didn't change the fact that they were stuck in a home for crazies.

All right. Smile now. Look friendly. Don't look at the other people.

He was easy enough to spot, fairly normal looking compared to some of the patients here, and Vikky waved at him. Grin like you mean it. "Hey, Danny! Good to see you!"

[notaghostreally]

He'd been preparing himself for Sam or Tucker or his family. But Valerie? Not so much. He blinked stupidly for a few moments, trying to figure out how to respond. All his mental preparation was now wasted since he never expected Valerie to come. Sure, Valerie was a nice girl and a good friend (never mind the whole "trying to hunt Danny Phantom" bit), but he didn't think she'd go so far as to visit him.

"Hey, Val! You're, uh. You're visiting, I guess!" He grinned weakly. Jeez, how awkward could this get? She probably thought he really was in here because he was nuts. Well...if that ever came up, he figured he could explain the situation. Right?

Oh, who was he kidding. She'd been standing there not 30 seconds and already he was unsure of what to do or say.

[damned_visitors]

"Vikky," the girl corrected quickly. At least he'd said something that started with a 'V' and hadn't addressed her as 'Sue' or anything. "Two K's," she made sure to clarify.

"But you look well!" Albeit dressed in that horrible Landel's gray and, once again, stuck in the middle of crazies. Calling her by that name. But that was okay! She could handle that. A little more time here and he'd be back at school just like before. "So, uh... Yeah. Hi."

[notaghostreally]

"Vikky? But your name's Valerie! How do you get Vikky from 'Valerie'?" Was this what Hikaru had been talking about? Fake names? But Valerie (Vikky?) wasn't actually in the Institute...did it work both ways, then? What did they do to Valerie?!

"Hey, Va--Vikky. Why are you visiting me here?" Honestly, he wouldn't have expected her to visit with the way they had last been, and furthermore, he wanted to know how she figured out he was even here. Was it common knowledge Danny had been sent to the loony bin? Oh no, he could just imagine what would happen to him when he got back to school...

"Not that I don't want you here, I mean!" he added on hastily, realizing that his question made it sound as though she were unwanted. If there was one thing Valerie wasn't, it was unwanted.

[damned_visitors]

"My name isn't Valerie!" Vikky insisted a bit more strongly than she probably meant. She was forced to calm herself immediately afterwards. Getting mad at Danny wasn't going to help anything. He was sick. At least he wasn't calling himself something else.

His question did hurt, though, and there was more forced smiling on her part. She was darn dedicated and he should appreciate it. "What, is it wrong to get visits from your girlfriend now? I don't embarrass you, do I?"

[notaghostreally]

If Danny didn't know better, he would've almost thought Vlad just came in and called her "badger" or something (even if Vlad only ever called Danny that). "Okay, okay, it's Vikky, I get--girlfriend?!"

She was his girlfriend? He was her boyfriend? That--how did that happen?! Danny was pretty certain she cut that relationship off before it even really started, and there was also the matter of Sam, and--how was that even possible? How did that happen?

Not that Danny didn't like it, he still sort of like-liked her, but...

Oh man. This was way too confusing. Finally, Danny found the words to speak up, his words almost squeaking.

"No, nothing wrong with that! You don't embarrass me at all, Va--Vikky. It's just...I didn't think you'd know where I was!"

[damned_visitors]

"Yes, girlfriend," Vikky confirmed while being very much annoyed that it was necessary to do so. Danny was lucky that he had the excuse of being mentally unwell, otherwise she might not have been as friendly about things. She was still tempted to belt him one, but no. She was too good a girlfriend for that.

At least he was warming up to the idea. That was promising. "Of course I knew where you were. And you'd better be glad to see me. There are men just waiting in line to take your place, you know." All right, that part wasn't exactly true, but Vikky wanted to give him something to be thankful for.

[notaghostreally]

At the very least, Vikky acted exactly like Valerie. It was comforting in the sense that it was exactly the same girl he knew before, just with a few minor differences, but it was also jarring for the same reasons. This was Valerie, and at the same time, it wasn't. How was he supposed to react to that?

"Does everyone at Ca--" No, don't mention Casper High. Maybe that wasn't the name of the high school they went to, according to 'Vikky.' "Does everyone at school know I'm here?" Danny could just imagine Paulina and Dash rubbing it in Sam's and Tucker's faces.

"And don't get me wrong, Vikky! I'm really glad to see you! I mean...I really didn't expect to see you here. I'm glad, but I only just found out a few minutes ago that someone was going to visit me today."

[damned_visitors]

"Is that why you didn't get a chance to dress in your finest?" Vikky smirked. She probably shouldn't say anything, considering all the patients here were stuck in the same uniform, but it was so... blah.

The mention of school did leave her somewhat uncomfortable, but it had been bound to come up sooner or later. She shrugged as though the matter was hardly important. "Most do. It's kept on the low, though. Don't worry about it." He could hardly be blamed, really, given the circumstances surrounding his admittance.

[notaghostreally]

"Oh, yeah, because I definitely have my clothes here," he said sarcastically, giving Vikky a grin. Sure, she wasn't the same girl as Valerie (in some strange, messed up, Landel's kind of way), but right now he felt more at ease with her than he had with, say, Jazz.

"Really? Why do they know about it?" For now, Danny wasn't going to worry about whether or not Vikky really went to Casper High, or if she thought Danny went to some other school. And he didn't want to risk asking her, either. For all he knew, they might as well be going to Frankenstein High or something. In which case, it wouldn't really affect Danny if--no, when he got back home and went to school again.

That didn't mean he wasn't curious, though.

[damned_visitors]

Vikky faltered. Had he blocked out the memory? How could he not remember what had happened? And worse... how was she supposed to explain it to him. She could lie?

"Ah... well, you know... you're a popular guy and all that..." Right. Even with most of his memory gone it was doubtful he'd believe something like that. Not that he wasn't cute, obviously. "All right. The accident was a big thing on the news. People were bound to hear."

[notaghostreally]

Immediately, Danny was on edge. Vikky's tone was more than enough, not to mention that whatever this accident was, it was on the news. If it was on the news, it was obviously big, and Danny had a suspicion that he was involved. After all, the Amity Park news station had a section devoted entirely to ghosts--especially him.

"Accident?" He raised an eyebrow, suddenly sitting up straight in his seat, alert. "What do you mean, accident? What happened, Vikky?"

[damned_visitors]

"It..." Vikky frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "Look, you really don't remember? I don't want to go upsetting you by bringing it up. It might not do you any good and then the nurses will be upset with me and..." How was she supposed to say it? She didn't expect to have to go over all of this.

"There was the explosion at the Tasty Burger... You know. They said there was something wrong with one of the heaters..."

[notaghostreally]

Tasty Burger? She couldn't have mispronounced the real name of the fast food restaurant--phonetically, 'tasty' and 'nasty' didn't sound the same at all. Regardless, Danny got the idea, and his stomach churned, a deep pit of worry developing.

"Explosion at the Tasty Burger? Who was in the explosion, Vikky?" He gripped the seat of his chair tightly, hoping that the answer wasn't going to be the one he was expecting.

[damned_visitors]

Vikky glanced around, hoping some method of escape would make itself readily available. She couldn't go over all of this with him again. She really couldn't. "I...I... OH LOOK AT THAT HAIR. Do you think that's her natural color, because if not the dye job is spectacular!"

She gawked at Shiki for a moment, though she doubted Danny was going to fall for the hey, look over there! routine.