Lemme know if you sense any plot continuity problems... I'll do my best to either fix it or explain it. Or both! Hehe. -- 18
Roses
-- Chapter Ten --
"Serendipity"
The Hospital. That's where Vegeta's ki-signature was strongest. Goku hope he'd reach Vegeta in time... If Goku didn't make it, it could all be over for Vegeta. The sudden surge of power coursing through one's body when they went Super Saiya-jin was enough to kill someone, if they didn't have the control...
And then, as though to say "nyaa!!" and stick out her tongue, Nature decided now was a good time for rain! Huh. Funny how things worked, wasn't it?
Vegeta knew now. He knew what Kakaroto felt like. All this power... Everyone in your command... It was no wonder Kakaroto was so strong. He had this power. Ha. And now Vegeta had it. He would make the world tremble at his feet, make the world KISS HIS BOOTS!!!
But... Something was tugging at the back of his mind. Not something... Someone. Bulma. He had promised her...
He turned to her, watched her. The wind that his power created whipped her pale green hair around her face. She was so inert, so helpless... So beautiful. He went to her, and lifted her gently from the sheets. No one stopped him. One of the doctors passed out, thudding to the ground.
Vegeta turned his cool, cruel gaze on the other doctors.
"I will not soon forget this."
And then he flew up, straight through the roof, sheilding Bulma with one hand.
Goku got there just in time to see Vegeta tear through the roof of the hospital, something white and limp in his arms. Vegeta, or checking for survivors? The first time wasn't easy. It was hard to concentrate on your objectives when you went super Saiya-jin. Goku himself had had more than his share of difficulty keeping from killing Freezer instantly. And Vegeta didn't exactly have the strict self control that Goku prided himself on. Checking for survivors it was. Vegeta would fall out of SSJ eventually, and Goku could follow after him and make sure no one else was hurt. He nodded to himself, then flew down into the hole that Vegeta had left behind him.
- - -
She woke out of inky blackness, and left behind demons that were screaming for her blood. She still couldn't see. There was wind in her hair, fresh breezes, gale force storms, all sorts of gusts and zehpers, all at once. Her head hurt, but she could smell Vegeta nearby. That was good. It meant she was safe. She reached for him, and he held her hand gently.
"You ok now?" He sounded so concerned... It must be bad, or he would just mock her for her Human weaknesses. But there was something different in his voice, something she was familiar with, but couldn't quite nail down.... She'd figure it out later.
All she could get out was a weak grunt. She laughed at herself... She sounded just like Vegeta right after he woke up in the morning!
"You passed out." Thank you for stating the obvious, Vegeta. Her head ached. She was thirsty too, her throat was painfully dry.
"Water..?" Bulma was amazed at how quiet and pained her voice sounded. What had happened? She felt dizzy again.
After a few moments, she felt something cool brush her lips, and realized with a start that it was glass. A strong hand behind her back helped to push her up to a drinking possition. She sipped, and her throat hurt badly. It felt like it was swollen to the size of a thick lead pipe!
"You blacked out again. I had to wait for you to wake up." Huh? When did this happen?
"How...How long was I out??"
"About three hours this time. Better than four days. That's your record so far." Record? Had she blacked out that many times? What had happened???
"Trunks..."
"He's alright. He was worried about you, but I calmed him down." God? Please don't let him say that he had threatened Trunks. "And no, I didn't threaten him. I just told him that you'd be ok in while. He sat in here with you for a day or two, but got so tired he fell asleep. I carried him to bed, so he wouldn't wake up and find you unconcious again. ...Or something." A note of sorrow in his voice. Something was definately wrong, but what? Why wouldn't he tell her?
"What...." She coughed, interupting her sentence... Oh it hurt... She swallowed with difficulty, and was glad when she felt the glass at her lips again.
"Don't try to talk anymore. You'll get tired." Was this HER Vegeta? The same one that had teased her every chance he got?
"Shut up, you old fool... And tell me what the hell happened..." More coughing. She felt like she was hacking up a lung, and she tasted blood.
Waiting. Nothing but waiting. Bulma was feverish at times, twisting and turning in her unconcious nightmares. He knew that she was fighting for her life, and all he could do was wait. After getting her settled and falling out of SSJ, he had sent Trunks away. No son should have to witness their mother in such pain. As for Vegeta? Just waiting, and the familiar feeling of being helpless. He lived his entire life in different types of Helplessness, but this was a new one to him. He couldn't do anything for her, only cool her fevers with icewater and rags, or hold her when she cried out. He hadn't left her side in this week, not even to eat.
Sometimes she would come through the mists of her nightmarish dreams long enough to say something to him. Most of the time, she asked for things that he couldn't give. Asking him to save her, pleading him in a voice he found hard to ignore. There was no way that he could help, but lord knows that he had tried. He even tried praying, leaving her bedside long enough to fly to the nearest temple and light a stick of incense for her. Nothing seemed to work.
"You should sleep now."
"Oh hush... I've had enough sleep, according to you." She was joking, but her raspy voice held such pain in it that it was hard to believe she COULD joke.
"You still should. You're still weak." He touched her forehead, checking for another fever. Bulma's mother, had been a huge help. She had taught him what she called 'tricks of the trade', things that Bulma had done for Trunks. Womanly things. His nose twitched in barely repressed repulsion, but as long as Trunks didn't know that Vegeta was doing 'womanly things', it was alright. Had to set an example for the boy.
"Can...Can you even see me, Bulma? Can you see??" She was staring at the ceiling, and he knew the answer before she said it.
"...No. I can't." She squeezed his hand tighter. "But I can smell you, and I can smell the roses you brought in. I know you're there, and that's all that matters, right?"
"Is there anything that I can do?" He was lost again. He pulled his hand away from hers just long enough to remove his gloves, then slipped her hand back in. It was so small compared to his. He almost cried.
There was nothing he could do.
Night had fallen, and Trunks was busy helping Granpa clean out the lab. It was easy work, but Granpa kept huffing and puffing about it, like it was hard.
"Yo! Where do you want this thingy??" Trunks held up a huge console, with little effort.
"Oh! Carefull, carefull! That's very expencive!" Granpa looked so funny when he'd wave his arms around... heheh....
"Ok... Where do you want it?"
"In the corner, over there." Granpa pointed to a corner, almost hidden behind rows of counters. Trunks moved to carry the console over to the corner, holding it high above his head to avoid knocking over the items on the counter.
Granpa was lookin at him funny again... Kinda scared, kinda not. It confused him. He couldn't understand why Poppa had sent him away. Mama was hurting. He should be there, not in this stinky old lab with stinky old Granpa. Gramma Bunny was alright. She made him food and drinks and stuff. But Granpa? He was always down here in this lab... Trunks sniffed the air near the corner. It was stuffy. Granpa didn't get out much.
"Oops!" Trunksn had accidentally knocked into one of the counters, and a whole bunch of pills fell off it. They scattered and rolled on the floor in all different directions. "Sorry Granpa, I'll clean it up, promise!"
Trunks set the console down with a hollow thud, and bent to pick up the pills. No.. .Not pills. Capsules. He studied them. This one was for that neat little motor-bike that mom built, and this one was for a house... What was this one?? He read the lable. 'EDPM - Capsule #448-294-B'? He wasn't familiar with it...
He stuck it in his pocket so that he could ask his mom later.
(Next chapter: "Big Things Come In Little Packages")