Chapter 4: Under the Knife
"Well I have some good and bad news..." The doctor said as he came out to the waiting room. Vegeta instantly stood up and looked at the doctor gravely. "The good news is your grandson is all right for now. The bed news is he won't be for long. We've got him stabilized but aside from major surgery and experimental medication there's nothing more we can do for him."
"So what your telling me is that he's probably going to die?" Vegeta snapped.
"No there is a surgery that has proven effective in treating kids like Kaden with this deteriorative type of the disease. And to aide in the healing process there is a new drug that isn't approved yet but is showing promise." The doctor soothed.
"What all is involved with this surgery?" Vegeta asked skeptically.
"All we have to do is find a compatible tissue donor and implant the tissue where necessary. With any hope it will take and start regenerating." He replied.
"I already know a compatible donor. But I'll need to talk to my son and the donor. How soon could you do surgery?" Vegeta wondered looking at the doctor intensely.
"As soon as a donor is ready..." The doctor answered a bit shaky.
"Look give it to me straight. How likely is it that this surgery is going to work? I just lost my wife a few hours ago. I don't want you to get my hopes up for my grandson only to have them crushed." Vegeta clenched his fists and looked away towards the floor.
"There's a fifty percent chance that it will work for his type of the disease. With the medicines, that's up to oh say sixty percent maybe a bit more. It's never easy to give a accurate gauge." The doctor responded with bleakness in his voice.
"I'll be back in an hour..." Vegeta responded as he turned and walked out of the waiting room. He founded Trunks and Marron as they were coming down the hall with Mari. "Kaden is going to have surgery as soon as I get back with a tissue donor." He said in passing as he walked by them and towards the exit.
"WHOA! WAIT! WHAT?" Trunks shouted as he ran after his Dad.
"I said he's having surgery." Vegeta replied as he took to the air in Super Saiyan form. Trunks chased after him.
"When did this happen?" He asked when he caught up.
"A few minutes ago..." Vegeta responded plainly.
"Why does he have to have surgery?" Trunks probed worried.
"Look if he doesn't have he's going to die. If he does have it the there's a 50-60 percent chance he'll live. If I were you I'd take the chance." Vegeta snapped.
"I agree." Trunks said sadly as they flew for a few minutes in silence. "You said something about a donor... Do you know one?"
"Who's the only other quarter Saiyan?" Vegeta asked looking at him.
"Do you really think Pan would do it?" Trunks looked doubtful.
"Oh she'll do it if I have to drag her kicking and screaming." Vegeta answered intensely as he picked up on Pan's ki and shot off into the night sky. They soon found Pan out of a date with her boyfriend. Trunks stopped his Dad and they landed a ways back so as to not embarrass her to much.
"Please let me handle this for her sake Dad." Trunks pleaded in a whisper as they walked up.
"Just make it quick." Vegeta snapped.
"PAN! Thank Kami we found you!" Trunks called out. Pan's head shot around and her eyes sank when she saw who was behind her. She took a deep breathe then turned around slowly.
"Ahhh. Hi..." She half groaned.
"Look Pan I'm really sorry to bust in on your date but I have a huge favor to ask you." Trunks began in a serious tone. "Kaden needs surgery and we think you maybe a compatible tissue donor."
"What? Has his disease gotten that serious?" She asked worried.
"Is going to die for sure without the surgery." Vegeta snorted.
"Oh no! I can't let that happen to the little guy!" Pan gasped. "We have to go right now and find out if I'm compatible or not!" She grabbed their hands and started dragging them off. "Sorry babe but this is way more serious than our date! Call me in a few days!" She called back as they marched down the street.
"Thank-you so much Pan. You have no idea what this means to me." Trunks beamed as he hugged her when they were out of view of her boyfriend.
"No problem." Pan answered happily. Trunks took off and Pan went to follow. As she was about to take of, Vegeta grabbed her arm. She looked at him strangely a moment before he spoke.
"If theirs is anyway I can repay you for this name it and it's yours. Even if I have to get the Dragonballs to do it." He said with an odd look in his eyes.
"We'll negotiate later. Right now let's just get to the hospital." She answered with a smile. Vegeta smirked and chuckled.
"You're definitely not like the rest of your family." He mused as they took off for the hospital.
"We're all ready to run the blood test." The doctor chirped when he saw Vegeta charge into the waiting room. "Where's the potential donor?"
"Right here." Pan called out as she ducked around Vegeta. She gulped and took a deep breath. "I'm ready to go come on where's my room and those stupid smock thingies?"
"Well just hold tight there. We need to run a blood test to see if you're compatible." The doctor chuckled. "Come this way please." He motioned for her to follow. Marron stopped her as she passed by. They looked at each other a moment before Marron hugged her in a silent thank- you. Mari smiled at her teary-eyed from a chair behind her Mom.
"I just hope I can help the little guy." Pan said in a tough serious tone as she pulled away and continued to follow the doctor down the hall. A few minutes later the doctor came back into the room smiling.
"I almost couldn't believe it myself. They're almost a perfect match! Are they siblings?" He looked at Marron and Trunks.
"They're not even related." Trunks mumbled a bit dumbfounded. He looked at his father. "How did you know they would be compatible?"
"Lucky guess." Vegeta grunted. "They are what they are. Think about it." Trunks nodded in silent understanding. He didn't want it to get around there was an alien, half aliens and quarter aliens running around.
"Well in any case." The doctor shook hi head. "Miss Pan is insisting on going on with the surgery right this second. She's in getting prepped but we can't go through with it until we have parental consent." The doctor looked around. Gohan suddenly came half stumbling into the room as he ran over a table.
"I got here as fast as I could!" He panted as he rubbed his shin.
"Are you Pan's father?"
"Sure am. Do I need to sign some papers or something?" He asked looking around.
"Right now all we need is this one saying you understand this is a major procedure and you give consent for your daughter to be a live donor, so on and so forth." The doctor pointed to a form a nurse handed Gohan. Gohan quickly scribbled his name on the paper and handed it back. "You can fill these out during the procedure." Gohan took a small stack of paperwork and sat down to fill it out.
"Just as long as Kaden gets better from all this and Pan wants to do it's all fine by me." He responded as the doctor and nurse disappeared into the operating area.
"Hey where's Videl?" Trunks asked looking around.
"She's coming she just wasn't fast enough." Gohan chuckled. "Plus she's stopping to tell Goten what's going on. We thought he might like being in the loop. I mean he's is Kaden's godfather and all. Better question would be where's 18?" Everyone looked around but couldn't see her anywhere.
"I'll go find her..." Vegeta mumbled. "I can't just sit around here the whole time anyways." Turned and walked out of the room.
"I just can't believe this night..." Gohan sighed. "I can't believe I couldn't be here for Bulma either..." A tear welled up in his eye. "I'm going to miss her."
"We all are Gohan..." Trunks sighed as he came over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Gohan sighed again then went back to filling out the paperwork.
"Where are you woman?" Vegeta grunted as he wandered around the roof of the hospital. "I know you're up here somewhere."
"Well I have some good and bad news..." The doctor said as he came out to the waiting room. Vegeta instantly stood up and looked at the doctor gravely. "The good news is your grandson is all right for now. The bed news is he won't be for long. We've got him stabilized but aside from major surgery and experimental medication there's nothing more we can do for him."
"So what your telling me is that he's probably going to die?" Vegeta snapped.
"No there is a surgery that has proven effective in treating kids like Kaden with this deteriorative type of the disease. And to aide in the healing process there is a new drug that isn't approved yet but is showing promise." The doctor soothed.
"What all is involved with this surgery?" Vegeta asked skeptically.
"All we have to do is find a compatible tissue donor and implant the tissue where necessary. With any hope it will take and start regenerating." He replied.
"I already know a compatible donor. But I'll need to talk to my son and the donor. How soon could you do surgery?" Vegeta wondered looking at the doctor intensely.
"As soon as a donor is ready..." The doctor answered a bit shaky.
"Look give it to me straight. How likely is it that this surgery is going to work? I just lost my wife a few hours ago. I don't want you to get my hopes up for my grandson only to have them crushed." Vegeta clenched his fists and looked away towards the floor.
"There's a fifty percent chance that it will work for his type of the disease. With the medicines, that's up to oh say sixty percent maybe a bit more. It's never easy to give a accurate gauge." The doctor responded with bleakness in his voice.
"I'll be back in an hour..." Vegeta responded as he turned and walked out of the waiting room. He founded Trunks and Marron as they were coming down the hall with Mari. "Kaden is going to have surgery as soon as I get back with a tissue donor." He said in passing as he walked by them and towards the exit.
"WHOA! WAIT! WHAT?" Trunks shouted as he ran after his Dad.
"I said he's having surgery." Vegeta replied as he took to the air in Super Saiyan form. Trunks chased after him.
"When did this happen?" He asked when he caught up.
"A few minutes ago..." Vegeta responded plainly.
"Why does he have to have surgery?" Trunks probed worried.
"Look if he doesn't have he's going to die. If he does have it the there's a 50-60 percent chance he'll live. If I were you I'd take the chance." Vegeta snapped.
"I agree." Trunks said sadly as they flew for a few minutes in silence. "You said something about a donor... Do you know one?"
"Who's the only other quarter Saiyan?" Vegeta asked looking at him.
"Do you really think Pan would do it?" Trunks looked doubtful.
"Oh she'll do it if I have to drag her kicking and screaming." Vegeta answered intensely as he picked up on Pan's ki and shot off into the night sky. They soon found Pan out of a date with her boyfriend. Trunks stopped his Dad and they landed a ways back so as to not embarrass her to much.
"Please let me handle this for her sake Dad." Trunks pleaded in a whisper as they walked up.
"Just make it quick." Vegeta snapped.
"PAN! Thank Kami we found you!" Trunks called out. Pan's head shot around and her eyes sank when she saw who was behind her. She took a deep breathe then turned around slowly.
"Ahhh. Hi..." She half groaned.
"Look Pan I'm really sorry to bust in on your date but I have a huge favor to ask you." Trunks began in a serious tone. "Kaden needs surgery and we think you maybe a compatible tissue donor."
"What? Has his disease gotten that serious?" She asked worried.
"Is going to die for sure without the surgery." Vegeta snorted.
"Oh no! I can't let that happen to the little guy!" Pan gasped. "We have to go right now and find out if I'm compatible or not!" She grabbed their hands and started dragging them off. "Sorry babe but this is way more serious than our date! Call me in a few days!" She called back as they marched down the street.
"Thank-you so much Pan. You have no idea what this means to me." Trunks beamed as he hugged her when they were out of view of her boyfriend.
"No problem." Pan answered happily. Trunks took off and Pan went to follow. As she was about to take of, Vegeta grabbed her arm. She looked at him strangely a moment before he spoke.
"If theirs is anyway I can repay you for this name it and it's yours. Even if I have to get the Dragonballs to do it." He said with an odd look in his eyes.
"We'll negotiate later. Right now let's just get to the hospital." She answered with a smile. Vegeta smirked and chuckled.
"You're definitely not like the rest of your family." He mused as they took off for the hospital.
"We're all ready to run the blood test." The doctor chirped when he saw Vegeta charge into the waiting room. "Where's the potential donor?"
"Right here." Pan called out as she ducked around Vegeta. She gulped and took a deep breath. "I'm ready to go come on where's my room and those stupid smock thingies?"
"Well just hold tight there. We need to run a blood test to see if you're compatible." The doctor chuckled. "Come this way please." He motioned for her to follow. Marron stopped her as she passed by. They looked at each other a moment before Marron hugged her in a silent thank- you. Mari smiled at her teary-eyed from a chair behind her Mom.
"I just hope I can help the little guy." Pan said in a tough serious tone as she pulled away and continued to follow the doctor down the hall. A few minutes later the doctor came back into the room smiling.
"I almost couldn't believe it myself. They're almost a perfect match! Are they siblings?" He looked at Marron and Trunks.
"They're not even related." Trunks mumbled a bit dumbfounded. He looked at his father. "How did you know they would be compatible?"
"Lucky guess." Vegeta grunted. "They are what they are. Think about it." Trunks nodded in silent understanding. He didn't want it to get around there was an alien, half aliens and quarter aliens running around.
"Well in any case." The doctor shook hi head. "Miss Pan is insisting on going on with the surgery right this second. She's in getting prepped but we can't go through with it until we have parental consent." The doctor looked around. Gohan suddenly came half stumbling into the room as he ran over a table.
"I got here as fast as I could!" He panted as he rubbed his shin.
"Are you Pan's father?"
"Sure am. Do I need to sign some papers or something?" He asked looking around.
"Right now all we need is this one saying you understand this is a major procedure and you give consent for your daughter to be a live donor, so on and so forth." The doctor pointed to a form a nurse handed Gohan. Gohan quickly scribbled his name on the paper and handed it back. "You can fill these out during the procedure." Gohan took a small stack of paperwork and sat down to fill it out.
"Just as long as Kaden gets better from all this and Pan wants to do it's all fine by me." He responded as the doctor and nurse disappeared into the operating area.
"Hey where's Videl?" Trunks asked looking around.
"She's coming she just wasn't fast enough." Gohan chuckled. "Plus she's stopping to tell Goten what's going on. We thought he might like being in the loop. I mean he's is Kaden's godfather and all. Better question would be where's 18?" Everyone looked around but couldn't see her anywhere.
"I'll go find her..." Vegeta mumbled. "I can't just sit around here the whole time anyways." Turned and walked out of the room.
"I just can't believe this night..." Gohan sighed. "I can't believe I couldn't be here for Bulma either..." A tear welled up in his eye. "I'm going to miss her."
"We all are Gohan..." Trunks sighed as he came over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Gohan sighed again then went back to filling out the paperwork.
"Where are you woman?" Vegeta grunted as he wandered around the roof of the hospital. "I know you're up here somewhere."