Ok! I know Veggie is slightly out of character here. But you have to admit, when you watch the series, he doesn't act quite as uncaring with Bulma as he does the rest of the cast. Plus, in the Buu saga, he does admit that he held Trunks when he was a baby. Who knows how often this occurred, but he DID do it!

Chapter 3: The Diagnosis

            Bulma had been out for only a few minutes when the doctor finally came in. He knocked on the door lightly as he entered, a sad and worried look on his face. Placing the chart he carried under his arm he reached and shook Dr. Briefs hand, but at seeing the look on the dark haired man's face, he refrained from extending the greeting.

            "How's the baby?" Mrs. Briefs clamped down on her husbands arm for support.

            "I was really hoping that Bulma would be awake. She should hear this." He sighed.

            Vegeta leaned down over the blue haired woman and shook her gently, but his voice was commanding. Almost rough. "Woman. Wake up. The doctor is here."

            Her eyes flitted open and she blinked a few times to clear them. "Doctor? My baby? Is he alright?"

            He sighed again. "I'm afraid the news I have to tell you isn't good. The bullet lodged in the last vertebrae just above your sons, err, tail. I had to remove it to get to the fragments that the bullet caused when it impacted the bone. I did everything possible to correct the damage, but I'm afraid it was just too extensive. The injury to the spinal cord was just more than anyone could have repaired."

            "What are you saying? Will he..live?" she asked through trembling lips.

            "His chance of survival is good, considering. He's a strong little fellow. He'll have to stay in the incubator for several weeks yet, until his lungs fully develop." He paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I'm so sorry, but I'm afraid your son will never be able to walk."

            Mrs. Briefs broke down into a ball of tears, her husband patted her on the back, to stunned to really be comforting.

            "I have to go and finish this paperwork. If you have any questions, just have the nurse come and get me. Again, I'm truly sorry." He bowed his head and left the grieving family.

            Bulma just stared at the door for a moment, her lips quivering slightly. "This is all my fault."

            Vegeta looked down at her, slightly confused. It was bad enough the idiots on this planet couldn't fix his brat, now the woman was loosing it. And he didn't have a damn clue as to what to do. He was angry. He wanted to kill someone. How dare someone invade his life like this?! Try to kill his mate. Cripple his son. Someone was going to pay. Dearly.

            "Shut up woman. You had no more control over this than I did."

            "If I had just sat in the drive through. I was in to big a hurry. I wanted to get home and help Mom with the party arrangements." She felt numb.

            "Oh, honey! You mustn't blame yourself. It was just a horrible accident. There's no way anyone could have known this would happen."

            "Be quiet!" Vegeta yelled. Comforting wasn't his forte and he wasn't going to start trying it now. "Leave. I wish to talk to Bulma alone."

            Dr. Briefs nodded and drug his wife out the door. "We'll go get some coffee."

            "You don't have to be rude to my parents. Their upset." She frowned at him.

            "Humph." He shut the door and stood at the foot of her bed. "There has to be something we can do. I will not accept such a lame diagnosis from that idiot. So stop feeling sorry for yourself and think." He watched the sorrow on her face turn to anger. Good. She thought better when she was pissed.

            "I love you too Vegeta!" she hissed at him and turned even redder when he smirked back at her. Her mind raced. She wasn't a medical doctor! If people were made of circuits and wiring she'd be a miracle worker, but… Wait! "Senzu beans!" she shouted, her face lighting up.

            Vegeta arched a brow. "Do you have any?"

            "No. But I bet Goku does. I'll just call and have him bring some over." She reached for the phone, but the pain in her abdomen made her fight off a wave of nausea and dizziness.

            "Settle down woman. You're no good to me dead. Your father can fix the GR, but I have no intentions of raising that brat on my own." He growled, but his dark eyes flashed worriedly at her. "What's the number?"

            He picked up the phone and dialed. It rang several times.

            "Hello?" a female voice asked.

            "Is this Kakarot's mate?"

            "Huh? Vegeta? Is that you?" a slightly stunned Chichi stammered.

            "Of course it is woman. Who the hell did you think it was? Where's that idiot man of yours? I need to speak to him."

            Her face contorted. "Now just hold on Mister! I have no intentions of letting you speak to my Goku until you learn some manners! Got it?"

            "Woman! I don't have time for your polite bullshit! This is an emergency! Now get that idiot on the phone or I'll have to come out there and find him." he added the threat.

            The phone clanked loudly, and he could hear her yelling in the background. He laughed lightly at the language he was hearing. No wonder Kakarot was terrified of his mate.

            "Vegeta? What's wrong? Chichi said it was an emergency." Goku's voice was filled with concern.

            "I need some Senzu beans."

            "Gosh, I don't have any."

            His face fell. "Can you get some?"

            Goku sat down heavily on the table. The tone Vegeta's voice took actually scared him. "I can go to Karin's place and see if he has any ready. Are you at home?"

            "No. I'm at Capital Hospital. Room 430. And keep this quiet."

            "Yeah, sure Vegeta. I'll be there in a few minutes." He hung up the phone and glanced back at his not to happy wife. "I'll be back for dinner Chi." Then he was gone.

            "Saiyans." She growled.

            Bulma sighed as the pain finally ebbed. "Now you need to call Yamcha."

            "What?!"

            "You can't just waltz into ICU and give him a Senzu bean. There would be to many questions. I have a plan, but we need Yamcha. He's the only one I know who can do the job I have in mind."

            Vegeta growled and dialed the number she told him. "This had better be a damn good plan woman."

Ya! Senzu beans. Can they really cure anything? Will Goku be able to get his hands on any? And Yamcha working with Vegeta? Will the miracles ever cease? I'll have the next couple of chapters out by this weekend. If you want to be on a mailing list, let me know in your review.