Chapter 16

A Saiyan's Heart

Vegeta pulled up to the front steps of the house and the woman climbed on the covered coach and he began to pull out. The winds whipped at him, cold and furious, as they howled a death song in his presence. He growled lowering his head more to try to see where he was going, ice pelting his face ruthlessly.

Heavy fogs rolled in as he leaned into the pull, fighting the winds and the slippery roads, his feet sure and steady. His eyes were nearly closed with the snow and yet with a strength and guideance gained from years of warrior training, he picked his way quickly yet carefully through the streets. The Free in the City were nestled down and some peered out the window at him shaking their heads as they watched him go by.

His head low, he fought his way through the cold storm and his head tilted slightly down and to the left. He shivered in the subzero temperatures, the snow growing ever deeper, making it harder to pull. Burying his feet in the ground he pushed on, but if one could see his eyes, they would have seen a determination and will that would make even the most seasoned of Jronians cringe with the unsurpassed desire in the raging ebony eyes.

Inside the coach, Meritha watched the frozen world pass by realizing they were the only ones out in the blizzard. She looked up ahead at the Saiyan ahead and prayed he could make it through as she watched him struggle at the bitter storm. She held her child closer and then took a thick woolen cape and then jumped from the coach, wrapping herself tighter in the clothing she had on. She made her way up quickly to the Saiyan and pulled back on the cart shafts to stop him.

Vegeta stopped and his black hair whipped in the wind and as his coal eyes found her, it nearly took her by surprise how vicious he looked with the determination furrowing his brow. Meritha though quietly moved up to him and then harnessed him into the cart and drew the cape around his shoulders. She then looked at him, knowing words were futile in a storm like this, but he could see she was dependant upon him to get them to the doctor.

Feeling that he was harnessed in once more, he shifted lightly, his white gloves iced to the cart shafts. When she got back in the coach, he again tried to pull, but the wheels were snowbound in ice. He moved left and right several times breaking it free then he moved forward against the white fury. His body numbed from the pull, the pain from the accident had ebbed off as well. Finally what seemed like hours, they made it to the hospital.

Meritha quickly got out and taking her son with her, she ran through the doors as Vegeta stood in the freezing storm. He shivered from the cold as he stomped against the blowing ice to try to keep warm, but even the cape upon his shoulders served little to no good for warmth. Finally, Meritha came back out with a leash, clipping it to the steel collar about his throat, she unhitched the trace lines then led him up into the hospital. In the entrance way, he felt the heat roll over him as the Free looked at him disgustedly that he should enter such a place.

Vegeta glanced at them quietly and then finally he moved to a more isolated corner and sat down, too cold and tired to really care what they thought right now. A physician came up and looked at him, taking up the dropped leash and then tugged at it. The Saiyan Prince looked up at him and then stood, his coal eyes moving to the hall through which Meritha disappeared down to see her child.

Other families waited and kept an eye upon him as if he would attack at any moment, when the doctor looked at him. "What breed are you slave?"

Vegeta looked up but didn't move otherwise. "I'm the Prince of Saiyans. Now if you would drop the leash, I wouldn't mind getting a couple hours of sleep if possible. I still have work to do and I need all the energy I can get if I'm to face that storm."

Surprised, the doctor raised a brow at the explanation. The others looked at him though still quietly but the man released the leash then nodded allowing him to go back to the corner. "You frighten any of the families and we'll make sure you're quickly contained by any means necessary."

Giving a light growl he moved to the corner and then once more laid down. "Forget it. It's possible I'm better trained than any of you bastards anyway. I won't be tamed, ever. Just leave me alone and you will be left alone."

With that, no other words were exchanged and he fell to sleep quietly, his tail unwrapping from his waist and soon the pain again settled in even more than what it had been. His eyes drifted closed when a couple kids had wandered over to him and began to play around and on him. He quietly laid there, knowing kids would be kids, but when one hit his ribs, he gave a light growl and jumped back a bit from the pain.

A receptionist looked up in time to see him move away after hearing a growl as he again nestled back down for rest. Two kids both continued to pester him and as one went to poke at him again in the ribs, his tail caught the hand and he looked to the boy. There he gave a deep breath and went up on elbows. "Careful where you poke kid. My ribs are hurt and I'm not feeling good. I don't mind you coming around but just don't grab my tail or touch my sides, clear?"

Slowly the boy nodded his understanding, no fear in his eyes, but just simply wanting to understand and when he did, he gave the acknowledgment. Vegeta quietly nodded back, releasing the boy's hand and then laid his head back down his eyes closing. Soon enough though, they were tugging at his collar and then hitting his hip as if he were a horse. He quietly just laid there and the parents were relieved that nothing had happened to the boys. They laughed, played and soon, left him alone at last when one parent got up and walked over to him.

The man knelt down beside him and then gently ran a hand over the ribs, finding three shattered and two broken. With a loud thud against the wall, the tail flicked against it as one eye opened. A mere touch on his sides shot some pain through his sides. It was hard to breathe and even harder to move as he quietly let the man check his ribs. Silently, Vegeta allowed the person to run a hand over his ribs and then then he felt a hand slip around his collar and give a gentle tug as if testing it out.

A lady then came over and whispered to the other. "What are you doing with that beast. If he's injured, he should be taken to a vet, not a hospital. He is dirty, smelly, and an animal, just a mere slave. The wretched creature shouldn't be in here anyway."

Shaking his head, he looked outside. "How many 'mere slaves' do you know that could have journeyed through such a blizzard and get here safely, and further more, alive? He hasn't asked for care, but he has three shattered ribs on one side and four broken, two on each side. This slave does not complain about his pain though and that is unusual for one that is untamed. Let alone how calm he is around kids, now tell me, does that not warrant some degree of care?"

Disgustedly the woman sneered. "That beast is not fit to be around me or my family. He probably deserved every injury he's received thus far being as wild and vicious as that creature is."

It was clear that Lontok was getting agitated with her unfounded accusations. There was no evidence that Vegeta had really harmed another here and he watched the Saiyan quietly. He moved over to the Dark Prince and then gently laid a hand on his shoulder and remained there silently. "Look, there isn't a thing he's done here that has provoked or proven these declarations you make upon this slave. If you don't like the fact that this is the only warm place that he has so he doesn't freeze to death out there, then move away and don't pay any mind to him."

The lady rolled her eyes and then moved down a hallway toward a room and entered, then Lontok looked down at Vegeta and gently loosened the chest strap of the harness to be a bit more comfortable. His hand lingered more on the still cold shoulder strap and then shook his head. "Its insane enough to pull in this weather, let alone to be accused of things you didn't do. I don't know why, but its easy to talk to a slave, easier than talking to people like that lady. Maybe its because you slaves don't talk nearly as much as most do, like talking to a pet."

Vegeta listened quietly, not making sound as the man talked to him. He could care less right now what was being said to him as long as they just didn't try to make him move. Feeling the hand on the shoulder strap, he half expected to be told to once more stand up and such. He had no way of knowing what was going on in the room where Meritha had entered with her son, nor why they were taking so long. Letting out a long sigh, the Saiyan Prince winced from the sharp jabbing agony that still burned in his sides.