As ghosts, we tend to get sick very rarely. There is only about one or two things that cause us to become ill. Being the unlucky ghoul girl I am, I have experienced the horrendous feeling of ethereal illness during my stint in the mansion.

It was in the holiday period, about 2 weeks away from All Hallows eve. I had been feeling more and more downcast and miserable as the day progressed, something quite unlike my usual upbeat demeanour. By 6pm, I could barely stand without getting dizzy and falling over. Concerned, (and possibly using it as an excuse to visit his beloved) the headless knight went to get Madame Leota.

 As soon as she saw me, Auntie knew something was up and promptly sent me to the seance room for a checkup. It appeared I had gotten something known as ethereal influenza to us. (I referred to it as the plague during my stint of illness to be overly dramatic) I was ordered to go to bed and remain there till I felt better and could act as hostess once more. Madame Leota wanted to stay with me to keep an eye on my condition but couldn’t. She had to try and fill in for me , conduct her routine seances and keep everything running smoothly in my absence while also needing to mix up some voodoo mixture to feed to me every 3 hours. It just couldn’t be done singlehandedly.

The news of my illness worried the other haunts. As concerned as they may be for my own health, they were more worried for their own. Ethereal influenza is highly contagious and none of them wanted to be the one to catch it off me. This meant that the job of keeping an eye on me wasn’t one anybody wanted to do. My knights in shining armour came in the form of a decomposing skeleton and a slightly insane haunt with awful puns. Upon hearing about me, Ghost Host flung open the door and came striding in with Master Gracey in tow. Upon seeing that they had my attention they brandished a very ancient first aid kit triumphantly.

Nobody else but G.H and Gracey sat up with me for a whole week straight and doted on me with blankets and soup. It was a touching act on their part. Especially since I vomited thick ectoplasm juice onto Nooseneck’s lap and all he did was wipe my mouth with a towel and give a sympathetic smile. Not one to shy away from duty, he then lifted up a bowl he rested on his lap and patted my back murmuring ”Get it all up and out of your system Tessie. You’ll feel better soon. I promise”

I was touched. I was a contagious lump of supernatural goop who had a high risk of making them both ill yet they stayed by my side. For the first time in ages Dorian was truly slefless and ignored his own looks and condition to care for me while Ghost Host painted the perfect picture of being a doting nurse. when I was asleep he patted my hand sympathetically or tested my temperature and while I was awake he and Dorian entertained me with stories from their mortal lives or sung songs. Whenever Madame Leota was free she too came and joined us. Together the four us us had a great time.

 That, my fellow happy haunts and foolish mortals, is friendship at it’s finest. This is why I love those 3 haunts so much. It was a time when my love and affection for them was sealed and I owe them so much for the concern they showed.