Disclamer: Practically all this story is is (a parody of "The Man by the Window" by Harry Buschman, substituting Butch H.'s Danny Phantom characters in.

In Amity's Mercy Hospital, two males, both in bad shape, were confined to a room in the cheerless recovery wing on the eleventh floor. It was a small room, provided with a dull yellow division curtain and beeping machines to keep them company. Both occupants were victems of lab accident, resulting in a fatal case now known as ecto-acne. Vlad Masters had been at the hospital for nearly 20 years after his "ghost portal accident" in his college days, barely recovering after all the surgeries on his lungs and face. He was in severe pain most of the time, and every afternoon the nurse came in and propped him up to a sitting position to clear the accumulated fluid. He sat there by the window and between labored breaths told his teenage roommate, Danny, all the things he saw outside.

It was good for Danny. Danny Fenton was recently transported to the hospital last month when he was electrocuted by his parents' ghost portal by mistake. Since his whole body was electrocuted, he lost tremendous amounts of cartilage and thus became temporarily paralyzed. He was forced to lie perfectly still on his back until healed. All he could see was the ceiling curtain track and the face of the nurse when she bent over him.

The two talked through the long night and during the early morning hours. They spoke of their families and friends, their dreams and their realities. They were restless and resentful of their confinement in Amity's Mercy and the waste of the precious time left to them. More often than not the two bickered and butted heads to the point where the hospital staff thought they should be separated. Although they did not see eye to eye often, they were filled with sadness of losing their only companion and thus behaved when staff was around. That was not the worst, nor was the tests or quarentine. Worst of all they lost track of the world outside.

Whenever Mr. Masters was propped up by the window, Danny would ask him, "What do you see Vlad?"

Mr. Masters would hesitate before answering, partly because of the pain and sometimes because he shared some foul mood at the boy. But redgardless he spoke, carefully choosing his words to be worthy of the scene, "To begin, the day is bright and the sun is shining high children must have the afternoon off from school ... they're all over the park. Makes sense, the nurse said there's a school board election."

"How would she know?"

"If you listened for once little badger, you would have heard she had to get a sitter. Her little boy is - over there, in the park. Judging by the uniform attire, I believe he's the one by the lake. He's playing with a sailboat and it's headed for this little string of ducks ... ah, what a sight."

"Details, fruitloop. It's not like I can exactly see what going on."

"The little boat, Daniel. It sailed right through the line of ducks ... now it's headed for the other side of the lake. The little kid is running frantically around the lake trying to get there before his sailboat does. You should take this as a lesson; have an iron hold on what is yours, or it will slip through your fingers."

"Gee, I wish I could Vlad, but I'm kinda stuck counting dust bunnies while you ruin my pictures with crazy talk." Danny closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "I wish I could see out the window. Then I wouldn't have to listen to you twisting it all up."

Although his companion couldn't really see him Vlad turned to the boy and smiled.

"You will, you will, as soon as they let you sit up. You're sick and weak, little badge, or are you too stubborn to realize that?"

Danny scoffed. "I'm not that bad but I know my limits, Fruitloop. I'll be up and out before you know it." He smiled ruefully. "I'll probably even beat you to it."

The man smirked. "We'll see about that, Daniel." and finally leaned back onto his pillows.

Every day the park was different, and every day Vlad had a different story to tell.

"It's cloudy today...rather windy as well. You can see ripples on the lake."

"Any kids in the park today?"

"Not so many as yesterday."

"You'll tell me when you see something, Vlad, right?

The man turned his head back to the window. "If you are so desperate for a scene, I do see a couple walking under the trees at this end of the lake."

"What do you mean, 'couple'?"

"Don't act so stupid, boy! They're walking together. The man has his arm around her and her hand is on his shoulder. They just stopped underneath the willow - you remember the willow, little badger?"

"Of course. What are they doing now?"

"What do you suppose?"

"How the hell do I know! I'm layin' here flat on my back. You can see. I can't."

"Language." The man tsked. A moment or two passed and Vlad turned to Danny.

"They're kissing. Satisfied?"

"I guess... they still at it?"

The billionaire took a quick look out the window. "No, they're walking off arm in arm. When I recover I will be able to do that once again with the woman I love. How is Maddie doing, by the way?"

"Are you seriously asking me this? You're not getting my mom, a loney guy cat."

And thus the days were spent. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the teen on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One Danny particarly enjoyed was when the billionaire described a parade passing by one warm afternoon. Although the youngest couldn't hear the band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the Vlad portrayed it with descriptive words.

"Are you sure it's the Casper High School Band? My sister Jazz is in the band."

"What color uniforms?"

"They wear red and white. Jazz plays the clarinet."

"Patience little badger- they're a block away. I cannot pick out a clarinet a block away. I do spy the tubas and the drums however."

"She marches right in front of the tubas."

"Ah, now I see her. Her hair gets lost in the school colors."

"Yeah, she really hates that."

One hour a day may not seem a lot but for both patients it was an hour that sustained them throughout the sleepless nights. Danny would close his eyes and relive the scenes that Vlad had painted for him. Vlad, in turn, felt as a great artist might feel- having power painting a picture for someone who could not see. Weeks passed away and with each day the two grew closer. Their talks of the future included each other while the present listed endless banter. They were connected together now in more ways than one.

The nurse was particularly energetic that final afternoon. Her rubber soles squeaked on the tile floor as she put on the brakes next to Mr. Masters' bed. "Three o'clock, Mr. Masters. Time to sit up and get some air into those lungs." No response. She rapped on the side rail of his bed. "Let's go, let's go ... Mr. Masters... " There was a pause, then she spoke his name more gently. "Mr. Masters, Mr. Vladimir Masters... oh dear God, no. Please, no."

Danny woke up to her increasing tone, instantly worried."What's the matter with Vlad? Nurse? What happened?" She turned and with her hand covering her mouth, she ran from the room.

She was back in a moment with the floor doctor and a specialist. Two nurses followed them with an EKG machine. Danny lay there and tried to make eye contact with someone, but all eyes were on the billionaire.

The floor doctor straightened up and shook his head. "He's gone," he said, "Been gone at least a half hour or more." He waved off the two nurses with the EKG machine. The surgeon searched for a heartbeat at Mr. Masters' wrists, neck and leg. He finally straightened up also and closed Mr. Masters' eyes. The nurse was shaken and the floor doctor put his arm around her ... "It's okay. It's okay. It happens. Nothing you could have done." He pulled the sheet up. "Let's get him downstairs."

The nurse, the last to leave, was still sobbing; she looked at Danny as she left. "I'm sorry Mr. Fenton."

Blinking back tears, the teen gave a shaky smile. "It's not your fault."

"I know. I just hate it when these things happen. I'll never get used to it. Are you okay? Can I get you something?" She brightened up a little and said, "There's good news for you, by the way. Your X-rays show the cartilage is building - you'll be starting on re-hab." He listened to her shoes squeak on the tile floor as she hurried out of the room.

He lay there looking at the covered figure. The man who had been his family, his eyes, for the past month. Now, with his own eyes closed, he could see the park, the children by the lake, the lovers, the parade - as clearly as the day Vlad described them. "What would this year have been like without the Fruitloop? Never got a chance to thank him, did you Danny?" His fingers clenched the bed rail. "Course you did- you had all the chances in the world." He wished he'd taken the time, once in a while, just to say, "Thanks Vlad. Thanks for seeing for me." Now it was too late; who was going to see for him now? His vision blurred and he bit back a sob.

Who...

A sleepy eyed attendant came in with a gurney. He pulled it up to Vlad's bed and looked at the silent teen. "Lost a bunky, huh?"

Without waiting for an answer, he pulled a curtain around the billionaire's bed and went to work. When he pulled the curtain back again, the bed was empty.

The bed stood empty against the wall by the window. Danny could still see Vlad there, looking out the window with the back of the bed cranked up. His face would often break into a little smirk when he saw something to humor him, and he would turn the scene into words so Danny could see it with him. He wondered if the nurse would let him have that bed by the window. He was responding to the first week of therapy and his spine was better now; there was less pain and it was torture to lay there not knowing what was happening outside.

"How are we doin' Mr. Fenton?" The nurse charged in pulling a cart with one hand and shaking a thermometer down with the other. Without waiting for an answer she put the thermometer in his mouth. "Gonna give you a sponge down afterwards Mr. Fenton. Don't take it personally. "

"Can I ask you a question?" Danny said around both sides of the thermometer.

"What's on your mind, hon?"

"I was wondering if I could be moved to the bed by the window - where Mr. Masters used to be."

"Sure. Why not? You're gonna have a new bunky soon, she can take over on your side. I don't know what you want with the window though, there's nothing to see out there."

"The world is out there."

The nurse shrugged, "It's up to you, hon. I'll roll you over when I'm done, okay?"

He wanted to be alone when he looked outside. What was out there was between Vlad and him. Nobody else had a right to that view, it was theirs. When the nurse was finished with him she wheeled Mr. Masters' bed out of the way and rolled Danny over to the window. He waited, watching her finish up around the room. Finally he heard the squeak of her rubber soles fade away as she walked out of the room and back down the hall.

He tried to sit up and a stabbing pain in his lower back stopped him cold. He held tightly to the bed rail until he could stand the pain no longer and dropped back panting and drained of strength. His eyes squeezed shut and he counted to ten, waiting for the pain to subside. Then he tried again. He was able to raise himself on one elbow. The pain in his lower back was fierce and unrelenting but he stayed with it. His chin was almost on a level with the window sill, and if he could just ... just push a little more ... that's all ... just an inch more.

Slowly, painfully, he got the inch and he brought his face to the window. Danny grinned triumphantly and opened his eyes to look out. He let out a gasp.

There was a brick wall- nothing!

Nothing but a brick wall.