They had been waiting for ten minutes, but to Goku, it felt as if he had been waiting for Frieza to transform over and over again…at least two centuries. "Bulma," he whimpered, "how long will this take?"

"Would you STOP ASKING ME THAT!" she practically shouted back. After a stern glare from the receptionist, Bulma quieted her voice to a harsh whisper. "Why don't you go outside for some fresh air or something? I'll be fine by myself."

Goku immediately perked up at the mention of 'air' and 'something'. "Thanks Bulma!" he said excitedly as he dashed outside. Bulma just shook her head and swore to Kami that it wasn't her fault Goku was a moron.

In the meantime, Goku was outside admiring the flowers and grass and sky and green men. Wait…green men? "Hi, Mr. Kermit. Long time no see!"

"Damn it! I'm PICCOLO!"

Goku laughed and scratched his head. "Oh, right…."

"Anyways, what have you learned?"

"Well, Vegeta's sick."

Piccolo twitched. "I don't care about that. What about Vegeta and Bulma?"

"Oh! Well, uh…I haven't really learned that much…."

"Meaning nothing, right?"

"Yeah! Hey, how'd you know?"

The Namekian just sighed. "Never mind. We need to see if they're at least attracted to each other. I'll tell you what: let's just communicate telepathically." Goku blinked. "You know, I'll communicate with you soundlessly." Blink. "I'll talk to you in your mind."

"What you're saying sounds impossible."

"Especially since you don't have a mind."

"What'd you say?"

"Nothing! Just go back inside and wait with Bulma. I'll tell you what to do from there."

"Okay!" Contentedly, Goku skipped into the hospital while Piccolo swore to Kami that it wasn't his fault Goku was a moron.

"Hi Bulma!" Goku called as he got within earshot. "Did you miss me?"

"No."

"What was that?"

"I said, 'Of course I missed you!'"

"Aw, you're such a great friend!" Goku gave her the biggest bear hug he could muster. After Bulma managed to shove him off—no easy feat for a woman with her size and strength—they sat down to wait. Almost immediately after, the doctor walked up.

As the doctor and Bulma talked, Goku did what he does best—smile and nod as if he knows what's going on. He did pick up some phrases like 'pneumonia' (is that some kind of food?) and 'seven to ten days' (man, it takes forever to make!), but as for everything else, it was way above his head.

The doctor was finally done talking to Bulma. She turned to Goku and said, "Come on, let's get out of here."

Goku nodded and added, "This place gives me the creeps. This is where they give people needles." He shuddered then started to follow Bulma as she walked down the hallway.

Goku? Goku, are you there?

"Huh?" Goku looked around.

Goku, don't say anything aloud. Just talk with your little brain.

Okay, I'll do that. Wait a second…who is this?

IT'S PICCOLO, FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING HOLY!

Oh, I didn't recognize you.

I guess. What are you doing now?

Bulma and me are walking to Vegeta's room.

Does she seem worried?

Goku slyly looked at the blue-haired woman out of the corner of his eye. She seems to be thinking right now.

Good. I think that's a good sign. Tell me when you get in the room.

With a curt nod of his head, Goku continued down the hall, jumping whenever he heard (or thought he heard) a syringe being filled. Eventually, he and Bulma finally reached the room where Vegeta was resting in all his sickly glory.

Okay, Goku thought with all his might, I'm here. What now?

Now you have to tell me everything that happens, replied Piccolo.

Hmm…Bulma just poked Vegeta and he woke up and said he wasn't sick and now—

STOP! I don't want a play-by-play description here. Tell me how they're interacting.

Wha?

How are they talking to each other?

With words.

Nng! No! In what way? Manner? Method?

Uh…well, they're arguing now.

Good! What about?

"You are NOT walking out of here. You're not strong enough." Goku watched as Bulma planted her feet, bracing for the inevitable retaliation.

"MOVE!" Vegeta shoved against her as hard as he could, but she pushed back just has hard.

Well, Bulma doesn't seem to want to let Vegeta walk out of the hospital, but, you know Vegeta! He doesn't want to be seen in a wheelchair.

Intriguing….

Yeah, well, she should let him go—oh! She just did. He's walking down the hallway now.

And what does Bulma look like?

Mad.

Goku was a little off the mark on that one. Bulma was absolutely livid. She tossed her hair back marched out into the hallway, keeping a close eye on Vegeta the entire time. The car ride back was even more uncomfortable for Goku. Even the proud Saiyan Prince seemed to be affected, for as soon as the threesome walked into Capsule Corp, he claimed he needed to sleep and practically passed out on the couch.

In the kitchen, Bulma was frantically cleaning the dishes, taking her anger out on the breadcrumbs left on her plate. Suddenly, she stopped. Her shoulders sagged, her eyes became weary. She was defeated.

"Thanks for helping me at the hospital, Goku. I don't think I could have managed him by myself."

Goku shrugged, but some warning bells went off in his mind. This is weird, Piccolo….

What? What happened?

She's thanking me. She's not angry anymore; she looks sad.

Odd. Just act natural.

"No problem. Chichi was in a bad mood today." When Bulma didn't laugh at his (very poor) joke, Goku frowned at her. "Bulma?"

"Oh. Yeah." Blankly, the young Saiyan stared at her. Usually she'd make some snippy remark. But she didn't say anything. Bulma eventually caught on to Goku's gaze. "What?"

"Are you okay?" Out of the blue, Bulma was in Goku's arms sobbing. Well, this is new.

What now?

She's crying.

Excellent. It's because Vegeta scared her.

WHAT DID HE DO TO HER!

No, idiot, he didn't purposely do it. She's scared that Vegeta's sick.

Really?

Why don't you ask her?

"He scared you, didn't he." When she didn't reply, Goku said, "That's what I thought."

Hey, that's what I thought, thank you very much.

But Goku couldn't answer because he was being yelled at. Something about not needing help.

"Now you sound like Vegeta," the young Saiyan laughed. The mere suggestion caught Bulma by surprise.

After a little while, she shot back, "No way! He's stubborn, conceited, demanding, and—" She trailed off, too heated to elaborate. Goku just laughed at her some more.

"Doesn't that sound familiar?" His face fell when he realized Bulma would kick his ass. He scrambled for the door but turned when he heard his name. Funny, but Bulma didn't look mad at him. She finally murmured, "He'll be okay, right?"

Goku quirked an eyebrow. "He's Vegeta. I'm sure he'll be fine in a week or so." That being said, he scampered out the door.

"Phew! That was a close one. But something odd is going on in that house, mark my words…." With that uncharacteristic witticism, Goku took off back home.

Yay! A new chapter! And a nice long one, too.

Trunks: (rolls eyes) You call two and a half pages long? What are you on?

Star: Red vines!

Kyo and Trunks: (blank stares) She really has gone insane.

Star: Pfft! As if I wasn't crazy before. Have you seen the stories I've written?

Kyo: Touché.

Trunks: Yeah, that one story was pretty bad, you know, that—

Star: (whacks him with the infamous tack hammer, knocking him out) We don't want to give away any secrets, now do we?

Kyo: What's with the tack hammer?

Star: Oh, this is the tack hammer used to knock Trunks out all the time. (hangs it back up in its display case)

Kyo: …weird….

Star: Okay, readers! I'd appreciate a review, thanks! And have a good New Year!

Kyo: (dejectedly) We all know it won't be the year of the cat….

Star: Aw, you poor thing! It's okay! (scratches him behind the ears and he purrs)