I know, it's about time I got the next chapter out to this. Just to let you know, this is the fourth copy of chapter 4. I couldn't decide how I wanted to start it off, but I finally got it the way I wanted cuz this is suppose to be sad and stuff. Special thanks goes out to T.K. Hater for the name suggestions. The other names I got were umm... they were weird. I will be sure to hurry with the next part, since it is the last. Thanks to everyone who emailed me, bugged me, and reviewed this fic. You got me working hard on this too!! I'll go now so you can see how screwed up things get. Bye
I don't own DBZ/GT and probably never will.
Five Steps, part four
by: Ashley
"Mr. Briefs?"
Trunks sighed for the umpteenth time that hour. It seemed like everytime he saw a nurse or intern they came to tell him horrible things about Videl or his kids. He looked away briefly before turning his attention on the woman a few meters away. "Yes?"
"Would you please come here for a moment?"
Trunks walked up to the nurse and waited for what she had to say to him. He didn't even try to hide the annoyance in his voice, "What is it?" He crossed his arms and eyed her with a mix of caution and annoyance.
The nurse spoke soft enough so no one else would hear but him. "Mrs. Son is recovering rather quickly and she is doing better than expected. The baby boy isn't showing the usual signs that come with underdevelopment. In fact he's in the nursery if you would like to see him." She paused as she saw the relieved look that came over his face before he visibly tensed up again.
"What about Hikaire?"
The nurse seemed baffled for a moment before recovering. "The baby girl's heartbeat decreased even more. Her right lung collapsed and--" she looked up when a hand pushed her folder out of her view. "Mr. Briefs, sir?"
Trunks moved his hand away from the folder slowly. He was right about his assumptions of the nurses and the interns. He did his best not to growl the words out, but they came out in a hurt voice. "I don't want to hear what's wrong with her. Is she going to make it?"
The nurse's stern features softened slightly at this man's concern for his newborn child. Sadly she shook her head. "She's not expected to make the night. I'm sorry sir."
Trunks let go of the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. After a long pause he asked where the nursery was. Trunks quickly thanked the nurse for her assistance he stalked off to see his newborn son.
When he got to the window he looked around for 'Yomatkii Briefs'. When his eyes landed on the baby he smiled slightly. It amazed him that even after everything he had been through the past four and a half months with his parents and friends it was all worth it. The baby was a splitting image of his mother. He had her hair, nose, and her pixie shaped face. 'At least he has my eyes,' he thought while smiling again.
"He looks just like me, doesn't he?"
Trunks jumped from surprise when he felt a hand touch his arm. He looked down at the hand and smiled. "Yeah. How did you get out of your room? You should still be resting."
Videl's face scrunched up in annoyance at the sound of worry in his voice. "I rested enough. I just wanted to see my babies. I don't have to have permission to see my own kids, do I?"
He chucked softly for a while then kissed the top of her head. "No, you're right. He's adorable. Have you seen Hikaire? They wouldn't let me stay in the delivery room since I was panicking slightly."
"You were doing more than panicking, but so was I," she gave him a brief smile before continuing on, "I only got to see her for a moment after I came to. The nurse told me where she was and I'm on my way there now."
He looked at her in concern. It troubled him slightly that she looked so weak in the wheelchair, but he knew otherwise. He had heard the hurt in her voice when he mentioned their daughter's name. "Don't worry, doctors are not right about everything."
Videl cast her head down and spoke softly. "But they may be right about this. Trunks, she was so small. I knew she had trouble breathing the moment I saw her. She was barely breathing and she looked like she wasn't ready for the world."
"Don't worry, things may turn out to be the unexpected." He rubbed her hand in assurance. "I never got to see her, what does she look like?"
Videl smiled slightly at his way to get her mind from the inevitable about her newborn daughter. "She's gorgeous, except all those ugly tubes make her seem like an antique china doll."
He rolled his eyes and smiled briefly. "C'mon, you can show me the way to where she is." He helped steer Videl away from the window to the IC units. They rolled by a few rooms before they saw 'Briefs' on a clipboard on the outside of a door.
"This is it," Videl reached behind her to touch his hand in reassurance. "I'm warning you now it's gonna hurt to see her, but the hurt is worth it all. She's just gorgeous."
He breathed in deep and nodded at the mother of his kids and opened the door. The room was illuminated by the light given off from the various machines. He opened the doorway wider so he could steer her into the room more easily. "I don't see where she is." He quietly commented closing the door behind him.
"She's behind that curtain. Are you sure you're prepared for what you're about to see?"
Trunks pushed her closer to the curtain to acknowledge her question that he really wanted to see her. He put the brakes on her chair when they reached the ivory colored curtain. He pushed the curtain away carefully making sure nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Videl watched his reactions carefully. She saw the flood of emotions cross his face when his eyes did lay upon the same blue of the girl in the box. His hands traced the box uncertain if he would hurt her more. 'I warned him, it hurts.' Careful not to destroy the mood, she spoke quietly. "Are you okay?"
Trunks smiled at her through half-tears. "I'm about as fine as I can be. You're right about her. I know why you said she was gorgeous, she looks just like you! The only thing I see in her that's me are my eyes." He left the conversation drift off after his last comment.
He smiled down tenderly at the little girl in the box. It was impossible to believe that she may not make it through the night. 'Well, whatever those idiotic doctors think, I'm staying here with her and I'm not leaving her side.' Trunks gave another smile to his daughter in the incubator before he looked over at Videl.
"Do you think they can move you and Yomatkii in here? I... I don't want her to be alone if something does happen to her."
Videl felt her heart turn to mush at his sincere words. She would have rolled up to him if he hadn't put the brakes on. "I think we can work things out." She went quiet again, thinking of possible ways to get him to tell their family about their children. Careful to word the words out right she asked, "Trunks, don't you want to tell you family about the kids? I talked to my father before going to see Yomatkii and he said he'll be by tomorrow with flowers and toys for them."
Trunks felt twenty years older than normal. Just the mention of his folks almost caused him hives, but he heard the hesitation in her voice. "I'll tell my mother, father, and sister. The rest can learn on their own. I don't feel like listening to Pan and Marron's crap about how I should rot in hell and it's my fault the kids were born too early."
Videl gave him a pity smile and tilted her head to the side. "Don't worry, I'll handle Pan. She should learn to get used to you, I mean, you are the father of her brother and sister."
Trunks looked at her with a mixed expression. Most of the time he would have to defend their relationship to others, but this wasn't like most other times. A small smile tugged at his lips. "You know, that has to be the first time someone has said that to me without hate or malice. It's nice."
She didn't know whether to feel sorry or to laugh at his comment, but that small smile of his warmed her heart before she went into a contemplative mood again. 'I am sad that I put you through all this mess Trunks. I really am, but I know I shouldn't be, you've already been through enough.'
Videl jumped a bit in surprise when he let the breaks off of her chair. "C'mon, we need to find someone who can set up this room for us. If anything does happen to her, she doesn't need to be alone." Trunks steered Videl out the room in search of a doctor or someone.