It had seemed to Gohan that he was just in his own car when he awoke to the
strange place. At first it was dark and objects were blurry, but as he blinked a few times
colors and images came into focus and he took his first good look around the room he
was in.
The room was horribly small with pale yellow on the walls. A shelf close to the
ceiling supported a television and a poor excuse for a sheet was dangling to his left acting
as a poor divider. From the snoring sound he knew he was not alone in this room either.
He tried to sit up but was quickly forced down by the dizziness that overwhelmed
his senses. Gohan massaged his temple with his palm trying to bring his world back into
order. He was slightly annoyed to find that there was a bandage encircling his forehead.
His first thought was to pull it off, but decided against it when he saw the faint dye of red
on his fingers from where he had touched the bandage.
Growing increasingly more perplexed and annoyed by his current condition he
summoned his energy and let it work against gravity. He smiled as he slowly levitated off
the bed and set his feet on the cold, tile floor.
He cracked his knuckles and stretched out his arms trying to remove the knots that
were starting to form in his shoulder blades.
When he had finally gathered some normal sense of self he moved toward the
door of his small room. It became immediately apparent to Gohan that he was in a
hospital. This sent his mind into a million different directions.
'What happened to me? Wasn't I just in the car with…Videl!' The image of her in
the backseat next to Pan with bright lights behind her head suddenly came to mind. The
jerk in the car…Gohan hit himself in the head. That proved to be a horrible idea since it
managed to knock off his sense of balance and he barely managed to reach out and catch
the doorframe.
The dizziness and weakness in his knees soon passed and he stood up strait. Quilt
and confusion were clearly etched on the coal-colored eyes.
'Videl and Pan were in danger and I managed to get knocked out. What kind of
father am I??'
Gohan walked towards a desk where a lot of nurses were standing and talking
together. None of them noticed the young man until he coughed.
"Excuse me, would one of you be able to help me?"
What he didn't expect was for every one of them to turn around and greet him
with looks of utter surprise. He could have sworn he saw one or two of them pinch
themselves.
Not understanding their confusion he simply raised an eyebrow at them all and
tried again.
"My name is Son Gohan. I need to know where my wife Son Videl and Son Pan
are."
Each and every one of them seemed to be lost in some strange stupor as they
stared at him. Finally an older woman with short black hair approached him.
"Honey, do you remember anything?"
Gohan rolled his eyes up, gazing at the ceiling as if it held the story of what had
happened in the car.
"The jerk in the car behind us kept ramming into my bumper. I told my wife to
take out daughter and get out…" Gohan shook his head; "It's all blank after that."
The nurse nodded and took him by the arm. He felt her trying to lead him
somewhere and allowed her to walk him away from the stupefied looks he was getting.
She passed the room he had just left and led him to an area filled with rows of chairs and
tables with magazines laying on top of them. There were only two other people on the far
end of the room, but they looked so wrapped up in their own worries that they noticed
nothing else.
The nurse sat down in a chair and pulled him into the one beside it.
"Honey. I'll try to be strait forward." Gohan nodded his head and listened
intently, "When the ambulance found you there was a piece of metal from the steering
wheel rammed into your forehead. I mean a full three inches of metal were actually
embedded in your frontal lobe." She ran a circle over the center of her own forehead,
"The doctors were afraid to remove it, but you had such strong vitals that they decided to
go for it. We expected you to be out for at least a couple of days, if you even returned to
life at all."
"That's why I got those looks…" he murmured to himself, "I've always been
strong, and a fast healer, so don't make a big deal about it…"
The older nurse then took his hand and smiled a sad smile at him, "You seem like
such a nice boy, and I hate to be the one to tell you this…"
"Tell me what?" the shyness that had always been evident in Gohan's voice was
gone replaced with a quiver of fear.
She suddenly seemed to find anything but his face more interesting to look at but
a gentle squeeze from his hand brought her eyes back to his own. Gohan noticed the
tightening of her jaw and how the wrinkles around her eyes became more apparent. He
also saw her eyes brighten with the faintest bit of water.
"Where's my wife?" Gohan whispered just loud enough to be heard.
"She died before we could get her here."
He felt his entire chest go cold and all the air left his lungs.
"M-My…daughter?" he mouthed more than said it.
The nurse looked behind the shaking young man to see a familiar, kind face
topped with wild, black hair standing directly behind him.
It was her turn to tighten her grip on his trembling hands. The muscular fingers
became hotter in her grip and she could swear that he was starting to glow faintly.
"They got her here as soon as they could, but it was too late…"
"I got to hold her." A new voice interjected. Gohan lifted his head up to see his
father standing above him. "She…Panny…she died in my arms."
Gohan let his gaze travel down to the turquoise carpeting and let this bit of news
settle in. He felt like he couldn't get enough air, no matter how hard he tried.
'Videl?…Pan?…gone? Just like that?'
He felt the warm hand of his father on his shoulder but violently shook it off.
Gohan turned his head and glared at the nurse.
"What happened to them?"
The fire in his now slightly blue-green eyes scared the nurse and she found herself
at a loss for words.
"I-She-They…a car hit them. The police said it was a deliberate act. They-ah!"
The sudden heat that passed over her body cut her off. Gone was the young man
that had been sitting beside her not a second ago. There now was a god-like being with
golden hair that stood on its ends to form long, upward spikes. His haunting black eyes
where pools of green and blue clashing against each other. All ready tight muscles were
expanded to their limit and his clothes nearly ripped to conceal the new mass.
The nurse covered her mouth with her hand and slumped against the chair where
she fainted.
Gohan turned to face his father.
"Who did this?" All the peace and discipline were gone from his voice and all that
remained was the venom.
Goku focused his energy and widened his stance. He needed to be ready to
transport Gohan and himself out of the hospital if his son became too angry. All the
energy flowed through his veins and rested in his two fingers on his left hand. He need
only push a little more with his mind and the two could be a hundred miles away in a
second.
But it proved unnecessary. With a golden flicker the blond hair and the green eyes
were gone and all that remained was the mild mannered Gohan.
Goku raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
The angry young father raised his eyes to meet Goku's.
"I'm sorry." The old humility was back if not a little fear, "Can you tell me who
did it?"
The elder fighter nodded and the energy once again flooded evenly throughout his
entire body.
Once again he looked down at his son. He remembered all the years he had
missed with him and how much it really showed now. It was painfully uncomfortable
having to talk with him about anything beyond martial arts. To Goku it seemed almost
funny that he had come so far in all these years of training, but he was still on some
primitive communication system with his own flesh and blood.
"He's dead already, Gohan. His car rammed into a pole as he was trying to get
away. They got him to the hospital but he died an hour ago."
The news far from relieved Gohan. He had wanted to strangle the life out of
whoever did it with his own hands. It was cruel that the man's own stupidity and a pipe
of metal had deprived him of vengeance.
Now Videl's and his daughters'…d-deaths…would go unavenged. Gohan felt
sick with himself once again that a mere two inches of metal into his brain had prevented
him from protecting his family.
"Who was he?"
"Just…some guy that Videl busted a long time ago…"
Goku had gone to the man after he was brought in, and he had been as mad as
Gohan had been a few seconds ago. The man had barely been breathing with a collapsed
lung and other deadly forces working within his body would quickly finish him.
The man, almost giddy at the time of his death, had told Goku that Videl had
ruined his life, he had been only too glad to destroy her's.
If Goku hadn't have known what sort of Hell that pitiful worm's soul would
surely be going to he would have killed him right there. He sure didn't feel pity for the
guy, but he wasn't about to filthy his hands when he knew what was coming to the poor
sap.
And Goku sure wasn't going to tell his son what the man had told him. The spirit
of power within Gohan was at bay and dormant for the moment. Goku hopped he left the
story at that.
Gohan did, thankfully, and took in a long breath. It's amazing how much
devastating news a mind can take in within a few minutes.
But Gohan did need one last piece of information.
"Can I see them?"
The father's eyes widened and he looked questioningly at his son.
"Are you sure you want to? I know your upset, and angry and…"
"Take me to them. I need to say goodbye."
"I don't know where Videl is-."
"I do."
The two fighters turned to see the nurse from a few minutes ago trembling behind
them. Gohan sighed in relief that she hadn't been hurt in his rampage a few minutes ago.
She apparently hadn't been completely scared with him.
The nurse laid her wrinkled fingers on the crook of his arm.
"Honey, listen to me now. As much as you think you want to see your wife right
now, I don't think you should." She shook her head and raised a hand up when he tried to
protest; "You don't want to see her like she is now. You need to remember how beautiful
she was. Please…"
Gohan nodded and let a tear slip down his face at the thought that he'd never
wake up to that beautiful face again. They would never spar in the backyard, she'd never
cook him dinner…That special time they set aside to give each other massages after hard
says of work would be no more.
"Can I see…"
The nurse nodded, "Pan is just downstairs, follow me."
The two started walking towards the elevators, but Gohan noticed that his father
remained behind. He turned around to face his father.
"Dad…I can't do this alone."
Goku turned his head away and clenched his fists. He cursed this weakness.
"Gohan. I watched her die. I don't think I can see her again. I'm sorry I can't…I
can't be there with you."
Deep down Gohan understood the real meaning behind his words. His father was
sorry he couldn't be there for him now, and for all the times he couldn't be there for him
in his teenage years. Gohan nodded.
"I understand, dad."
Once again he turned and caught up with the nurse. All through the elevator ride
and the long walk towards the room the nurse kept her hand on his shoulder. He almost
laughed at the thought that such a tiny woman could give off so much strength.
Then they were there. In a tiny room with pastel pinks and blues on the walls and
finger paintings hung on the wall.
The machines had been unattached from her little body and her tiny arms. In the
metal crib she lay just like she were sleeping. Gohan knew she wasn't just sleeping but
wanted to believe it so much.
He felt the warmth of the nurse's hand leave his back and knew she had left to
leave him with his dead daughter.
"Pan…?"
She didn't move, he knew she wouldn't, but it helped to entertain the notion.
He reached her crib and kneeled down so he could be eye to eye with her. He
reached through the bars and ran a finger along her chubby cheek and then brushed away
the soft, black hair of her mother's from her forehead.
The tears felt without control now. They poured down his angled cheeks and
choked him.
They fell with the knowledge he would never see her grow up. His mother would
never get a chance to spoil her and his father would never get a chance to train her. Videl
would never get to take her on shopping trips and they would never get to go camping.
His mind reeled with millions of "would nevers".
Minutes, or maybe hours later the tears finally stopped but his breathing was still
ragged. Finally he found his voice again.
"I really am fast you know. Your dad really is one of the fastest there is." He
paused and rested his wide hand over her little one, "I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough for
you."
Knowing that staying there any longer would wear down his sanity he carefully
stood up and felt his muscles burn and his knees pop from kneeling too much. It was
nothing compared to the wear and tear he had just put on his heart.
Running his hand once more over her cheek he leaned down and kissed it. Gohan
then leaned over her ear and kissed it just like he had when he had first got to hold her in
his arms.
"Be a good girl for your mother…I'll get there when I can."
With that he stood up, and walked to the door. The brighter lights of the hall hurt
his teary eyes as he turned once more to look at his silent daughter.
He wanted to say sorry once more, but something within him didn't have the hear
to and so he just walked away with the image of Videl telling him to turn the radio down
and the sight of Pan, sleeping safe in his rearview mirror in his mind.
strange place. At first it was dark and objects were blurry, but as he blinked a few times
colors and images came into focus and he took his first good look around the room he
was in.
The room was horribly small with pale yellow on the walls. A shelf close to the
ceiling supported a television and a poor excuse for a sheet was dangling to his left acting
as a poor divider. From the snoring sound he knew he was not alone in this room either.
He tried to sit up but was quickly forced down by the dizziness that overwhelmed
his senses. Gohan massaged his temple with his palm trying to bring his world back into
order. He was slightly annoyed to find that there was a bandage encircling his forehead.
His first thought was to pull it off, but decided against it when he saw the faint dye of red
on his fingers from where he had touched the bandage.
Growing increasingly more perplexed and annoyed by his current condition he
summoned his energy and let it work against gravity. He smiled as he slowly levitated off
the bed and set his feet on the cold, tile floor.
He cracked his knuckles and stretched out his arms trying to remove the knots that
were starting to form in his shoulder blades.
When he had finally gathered some normal sense of self he moved toward the
door of his small room. It became immediately apparent to Gohan that he was in a
hospital. This sent his mind into a million different directions.
'What happened to me? Wasn't I just in the car with…Videl!' The image of her in
the backseat next to Pan with bright lights behind her head suddenly came to mind. The
jerk in the car…Gohan hit himself in the head. That proved to be a horrible idea since it
managed to knock off his sense of balance and he barely managed to reach out and catch
the doorframe.
The dizziness and weakness in his knees soon passed and he stood up strait. Quilt
and confusion were clearly etched on the coal-colored eyes.
'Videl and Pan were in danger and I managed to get knocked out. What kind of
father am I??'
Gohan walked towards a desk where a lot of nurses were standing and talking
together. None of them noticed the young man until he coughed.
"Excuse me, would one of you be able to help me?"
What he didn't expect was for every one of them to turn around and greet him
with looks of utter surprise. He could have sworn he saw one or two of them pinch
themselves.
Not understanding their confusion he simply raised an eyebrow at them all and
tried again.
"My name is Son Gohan. I need to know where my wife Son Videl and Son Pan
are."
Each and every one of them seemed to be lost in some strange stupor as they
stared at him. Finally an older woman with short black hair approached him.
"Honey, do you remember anything?"
Gohan rolled his eyes up, gazing at the ceiling as if it held the story of what had
happened in the car.
"The jerk in the car behind us kept ramming into my bumper. I told my wife to
take out daughter and get out…" Gohan shook his head; "It's all blank after that."
The nurse nodded and took him by the arm. He felt her trying to lead him
somewhere and allowed her to walk him away from the stupefied looks he was getting.
She passed the room he had just left and led him to an area filled with rows of chairs and
tables with magazines laying on top of them. There were only two other people on the far
end of the room, but they looked so wrapped up in their own worries that they noticed
nothing else.
The nurse sat down in a chair and pulled him into the one beside it.
"Honey. I'll try to be strait forward." Gohan nodded his head and listened
intently, "When the ambulance found you there was a piece of metal from the steering
wheel rammed into your forehead. I mean a full three inches of metal were actually
embedded in your frontal lobe." She ran a circle over the center of her own forehead,
"The doctors were afraid to remove it, but you had such strong vitals that they decided to
go for it. We expected you to be out for at least a couple of days, if you even returned to
life at all."
"That's why I got those looks…" he murmured to himself, "I've always been
strong, and a fast healer, so don't make a big deal about it…"
The older nurse then took his hand and smiled a sad smile at him, "You seem like
such a nice boy, and I hate to be the one to tell you this…"
"Tell me what?" the shyness that had always been evident in Gohan's voice was
gone replaced with a quiver of fear.
She suddenly seemed to find anything but his face more interesting to look at but
a gentle squeeze from his hand brought her eyes back to his own. Gohan noticed the
tightening of her jaw and how the wrinkles around her eyes became more apparent. He
also saw her eyes brighten with the faintest bit of water.
"Where's my wife?" Gohan whispered just loud enough to be heard.
"She died before we could get her here."
He felt his entire chest go cold and all the air left his lungs.
"M-My…daughter?" he mouthed more than said it.
The nurse looked behind the shaking young man to see a familiar, kind face
topped with wild, black hair standing directly behind him.
It was her turn to tighten her grip on his trembling hands. The muscular fingers
became hotter in her grip and she could swear that he was starting to glow faintly.
"They got her here as soon as they could, but it was too late…"
"I got to hold her." A new voice interjected. Gohan lifted his head up to see his
father standing above him. "She…Panny…she died in my arms."
Gohan let his gaze travel down to the turquoise carpeting and let this bit of news
settle in. He felt like he couldn't get enough air, no matter how hard he tried.
'Videl?…Pan?…gone? Just like that?'
He felt the warm hand of his father on his shoulder but violently shook it off.
Gohan turned his head and glared at the nurse.
"What happened to them?"
The fire in his now slightly blue-green eyes scared the nurse and she found herself
at a loss for words.
"I-She-They…a car hit them. The police said it was a deliberate act. They-ah!"
The sudden heat that passed over her body cut her off. Gone was the young man
that had been sitting beside her not a second ago. There now was a god-like being with
golden hair that stood on its ends to form long, upward spikes. His haunting black eyes
where pools of green and blue clashing against each other. All ready tight muscles were
expanded to their limit and his clothes nearly ripped to conceal the new mass.
The nurse covered her mouth with her hand and slumped against the chair where
she fainted.
Gohan turned to face his father.
"Who did this?" All the peace and discipline were gone from his voice and all that
remained was the venom.
Goku focused his energy and widened his stance. He needed to be ready to
transport Gohan and himself out of the hospital if his son became too angry. All the
energy flowed through his veins and rested in his two fingers on his left hand. He need
only push a little more with his mind and the two could be a hundred miles away in a
second.
But it proved unnecessary. With a golden flicker the blond hair and the green eyes
were gone and all that remained was the mild mannered Gohan.
Goku raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
The angry young father raised his eyes to meet Goku's.
"I'm sorry." The old humility was back if not a little fear, "Can you tell me who
did it?"
The elder fighter nodded and the energy once again flooded evenly throughout his
entire body.
Once again he looked down at his son. He remembered all the years he had
missed with him and how much it really showed now. It was painfully uncomfortable
having to talk with him about anything beyond martial arts. To Goku it seemed almost
funny that he had come so far in all these years of training, but he was still on some
primitive communication system with his own flesh and blood.
"He's dead already, Gohan. His car rammed into a pole as he was trying to get
away. They got him to the hospital but he died an hour ago."
The news far from relieved Gohan. He had wanted to strangle the life out of
whoever did it with his own hands. It was cruel that the man's own stupidity and a pipe
of metal had deprived him of vengeance.
Now Videl's and his daughters'…d-deaths…would go unavenged. Gohan felt
sick with himself once again that a mere two inches of metal into his brain had prevented
him from protecting his family.
"Who was he?"
"Just…some guy that Videl busted a long time ago…"
Goku had gone to the man after he was brought in, and he had been as mad as
Gohan had been a few seconds ago. The man had barely been breathing with a collapsed
lung and other deadly forces working within his body would quickly finish him.
The man, almost giddy at the time of his death, had told Goku that Videl had
ruined his life, he had been only too glad to destroy her's.
If Goku hadn't have known what sort of Hell that pitiful worm's soul would
surely be going to he would have killed him right there. He sure didn't feel pity for the
guy, but he wasn't about to filthy his hands when he knew what was coming to the poor
sap.
And Goku sure wasn't going to tell his son what the man had told him. The spirit
of power within Gohan was at bay and dormant for the moment. Goku hopped he left the
story at that.
Gohan did, thankfully, and took in a long breath. It's amazing how much
devastating news a mind can take in within a few minutes.
But Gohan did need one last piece of information.
"Can I see them?"
The father's eyes widened and he looked questioningly at his son.
"Are you sure you want to? I know your upset, and angry and…"
"Take me to them. I need to say goodbye."
"I don't know where Videl is-."
"I do."
The two fighters turned to see the nurse from a few minutes ago trembling behind
them. Gohan sighed in relief that she hadn't been hurt in his rampage a few minutes ago.
She apparently hadn't been completely scared with him.
The nurse laid her wrinkled fingers on the crook of his arm.
"Honey, listen to me now. As much as you think you want to see your wife right
now, I don't think you should." She shook her head and raised a hand up when he tried to
protest; "You don't want to see her like she is now. You need to remember how beautiful
she was. Please…"
Gohan nodded and let a tear slip down his face at the thought that he'd never
wake up to that beautiful face again. They would never spar in the backyard, she'd never
cook him dinner…That special time they set aside to give each other massages after hard
says of work would be no more.
"Can I see…"
The nurse nodded, "Pan is just downstairs, follow me."
The two started walking towards the elevators, but Gohan noticed that his father
remained behind. He turned around to face his father.
"Dad…I can't do this alone."
Goku turned his head away and clenched his fists. He cursed this weakness.
"Gohan. I watched her die. I don't think I can see her again. I'm sorry I can't…I
can't be there with you."
Deep down Gohan understood the real meaning behind his words. His father was
sorry he couldn't be there for him now, and for all the times he couldn't be there for him
in his teenage years. Gohan nodded.
"I understand, dad."
Once again he turned and caught up with the nurse. All through the elevator ride
and the long walk towards the room the nurse kept her hand on his shoulder. He almost
laughed at the thought that such a tiny woman could give off so much strength.
Then they were there. In a tiny room with pastel pinks and blues on the walls and
finger paintings hung on the wall.
The machines had been unattached from her little body and her tiny arms. In the
metal crib she lay just like she were sleeping. Gohan knew she wasn't just sleeping but
wanted to believe it so much.
He felt the warmth of the nurse's hand leave his back and knew she had left to
leave him with his dead daughter.
"Pan…?"
She didn't move, he knew she wouldn't, but it helped to entertain the notion.
He reached her crib and kneeled down so he could be eye to eye with her. He
reached through the bars and ran a finger along her chubby cheek and then brushed away
the soft, black hair of her mother's from her forehead.
The tears felt without control now. They poured down his angled cheeks and
choked him.
They fell with the knowledge he would never see her grow up. His mother would
never get a chance to spoil her and his father would never get a chance to train her. Videl
would never get to take her on shopping trips and they would never get to go camping.
His mind reeled with millions of "would nevers".
Minutes, or maybe hours later the tears finally stopped but his breathing was still
ragged. Finally he found his voice again.
"I really am fast you know. Your dad really is one of the fastest there is." He
paused and rested his wide hand over her little one, "I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough for
you."
Knowing that staying there any longer would wear down his sanity he carefully
stood up and felt his muscles burn and his knees pop from kneeling too much. It was
nothing compared to the wear and tear he had just put on his heart.
Running his hand once more over her cheek he leaned down and kissed it. Gohan
then leaned over her ear and kissed it just like he had when he had first got to hold her in
his arms.
"Be a good girl for your mother…I'll get there when I can."
With that he stood up, and walked to the door. The brighter lights of the hall hurt
his teary eyes as he turned once more to look at his silent daughter.
He wanted to say sorry once more, but something within him didn't have the hear
to and so he just walked away with the image of Videl telling him to turn the radio down
and the sight of Pan, sleeping safe in his rearview mirror in his mind.