CHAPTER FOUR:  Pray to a Higher Power

PART THREE…Your Guess Is As Good As Mine…

Millie cast a concerned look in her direction as she entered the room.  "He's been in the bathroom ever since he got off work, and that was hours ago!" she explained, moving to gather her coat.  "My lectures start in a few minutes, I'll see you later.  Tonight, back at our room, right?"

Meryl nodded.  "But if he's…you know…Well, then, I may not be back.  It depends.  But have a nice dinner without me, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am."  Millie pulled on her coat and left.  "Poor Mr.Vash," she muttered to herself in the hall.

"Vash?"  Meryl knew he could hear her as she gently knocked at the door, but the long pause yielded no answer.  "Going to sit in there all night?"

He sniffled a couple times.  "I just need a minute longer, please."

Meryl sighed impatiently.  "I've got to pee, Vash.  Get out of there.  Now."

A high pitched, rather unmanly whine was followed by rustling.  The door finally opened.  Vash kept his face down.  "Hi, Meryl.  How was your day?"

"Pretty uneventful.  Now sit down and have a nice chat with me," she demanded, plopping into a seat and ushering towards the next.  "You've sulked long enough.  It's time to use your brain, buddy."

Vash stood there, contemplating his escape.  "I think I left something in the classroom.  I'll just go and…"

"Oh, that is the lamest yet.  Sit."  She was dead serious, and the stern stare she gave him melted his will.

He sat, removing the thick disguise glasses and resting his head in his hands.

"Good.  Now let's go over the facts again.  Something's bound to make sense...So the last time she was conscious was…23 days ago, right?  And did you notice anything strange then?"

"No, like I said before.  Really, I'd rather not talk right now, let me just-"

Meryl pounded the wall with her fist.  "Damn it, Vash, don't you care about her enough to figure it out?  Think about it calmly.  Me and Millie, we aren't knowledgeable at all about 'your kind'…we don't understand this.  But you can.  I know you can.  Just try a little harder and, for God's sake, let us know what you're thinking for once!"  She paused and relaxed a little, not wanting to toss him into another hopeless crying fit.  "All I'm saying is, if you go over what we DO know, you'll probably feel better.  It's not as bad as we think, probably."

"That's what I'm hoping," he mumbled.  "But don't think I haven't gone over everything, each detail in my mind, over and over…And nothing.  The more I think about it the worse I feel," he added, running a hand shakily through his mussed hair.

"Maybe you're thinking too hard then.  Tell me things, let me simplify them."

Vash glanced up with bloodshot eyes.  "I don't want to."

"Too damn bad."

"Didn't you say you had to go to the bathroom?"

"I lied.  It worked beautifully, didn't it."

He sighed miserably and again hid his eyes with his hands.  "Okay, fine.  Remember how she ate so much, without a clear weight gain?  Well, I think her body was storing energy in a very efficient, compact manner, such that when she went into this hibernation period, she'd have enough to feed the fetus."  After maintaining that scientific tone for long enough, his voice cracked.  "But she…she…"  Again, he began to sob, but couldn't retreat to solitude as he usually did.

Meryl scooted towards him and hugged him slightly.  "Calm down or I'll smack the Hell out of you.  And you know I'll do it, too."  She lifted his chin to face her, and waited until he breathed deeply and became calm.  "So, then.  If that's true, what about it's got you so upset?  Are you lonely, or is it bigger than that?"

"Oh…I'm lonely.  But it's not that.  She, um, she's just not…She doesn't seem quite healthy enough to be unconscious for so long.  She never ate enough to satisfy her hunger, remember?  And she was weak all the time.  She couldn't possibly have hidden away enough nutrition.  Her stomach's grown so incredibly much just in these past few weeks…She should give birth within a month, at this rate!  I'm afraid it'll…"

Not wanting to let him finish that sullen thought, Meryl changed the subject.  "I think her body's working to fix that, though.  I mean, considering that she never, um, you know."

Vash didn't respond.  That, too, was bothering him.  In over three weeks, Vanessa had hardly moved, and even then it was to roll over or breathe.  She hadn't changed otherwise.  Her body was frozen in time, without a need to be bathed, without the creation of waste products at all.  Even her muscle tone was the same, though one would expect weeks of stillness to make her body to weaken.  Not one flake of skin, nor a hair from her head fell.  It was a state between life and death, between sleep and nonexistence.

"Well, anyhow, I think if she needs more food she'll sit up and ask for some.  Don't worry.  We've saved up enough ration trays to feed an army!"  Requiring his attention, Meryl cleared her throat commandingly.  "Vash, she's fine.  We have no real reason to worry."

"Yes, I do," he whispered, wishing he hadn't said it aloud.  But now that he'd let it slip, he explained himself before Meryl yelled at him to do so.  "They call us 'the ones that live outside of time' for a reason, you know.  The plants are usually like she is now; they never really wake up.  She could stay like this forever."

Meryl slapped him, hard.  "You're not going to talk like that.  It's not going to happen, not now.  You just help us prepare for the birth and think about what you want to tell her when she's awake," she insisted softly.

Vash clutched the side of his head, gritting his teeth in pain.  "Ow, my ear!" he whined.  "That really hurt!"

"Of course it does!" she responded, folding her arms triumphantly.  "But you're not as worried or upset now, are you?"

Smirking a little, Vash nodded. 

Standing, Meryl brushed her hands of the aching questions and retrieved Vash's dinner.  "Now pretend you're happy like you did before, and eat a full meal for once.  Then, we can play some nice music.  I always heard that babies can hear music from within the womb, so we'll entertain the little one.  Agreed?"

Vash popped a half bar of granola into his mouth and looked up, nodding.  He turned to glance at Vanessa, as always on her spot on the bed, and returned to the meal.

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