Chapter 18- Where There's a Will
Bulma's heart was thumping in her chest as she anxiously wondered if Vegeta would be okay.
When Yamcha had been driving her back to Capsule Corp., she had continuously urged him to go faster. She still didn't know why she was so upset over Vegeta, since she had only met him a few days ago. But at the moment, it didn't seem to matter.
After what seemed an eternity, they had finally gotten to Capsule Corp. Goku, ChiChi, and a few of the other people who knew where Vegeta was being taken, came too.
By the time they were there, the airbed had already left.
Bulma had jumped out of Yamcha's car before he had even turned it off and had run into Capsule Corp. heading straight to where she knew the med-bay to be. But upon arriving there, she was denied entrance. The doctors had told her that Vegeta was in surgery and that it was too critical for her to be in there. After the surgery was over and Vegeta was in the tank, she would be allowed to see him.
Bulma had asked what the tank was but the doctor had been called away before he could answer.
Now Bulma, Yamcha, Goku, ChiChi, Gee, Chuckie, Mr. Kozaku, and a few other people were sitting silently in the hall outside of the med bay. They had been waiting for three hours for the doctors to finish. The tension in the hall was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
The silence was broken, however, when Dr. Briefs walked into the room. Immediately, everyone shot to their feet.
Mr. Briefs put his hands in front of him as if to ward off the bombard of questions. "Now, Now." He said. "Don't upset yourselves. The boy is stable...for now anyway."
"So he'll live?!" Goku asked.
"Well, the next few hours will tell really. Now if you want to see him follow me."
All of the people that were waiting silently followed Dr. Briefs down the hall and into a room. The room looked like any other hospital room you might see except for a big tank sitting in the middle of it.
Inside the tank, Vegeta was hooked up to some wires, needles and a facemask. The only clothes he was wearing was a pair of plain white boxers. There were bandages on his legs, chest, arms, and head however, to the point that even if he weren't burned, you really wouldn't be able to tell who he was anyway.
Bulma immediately figured that this was the 'tank' the other doctor had told her about.
"What's that?" Goku asked indicating the tank.
"This is called a rejuvenation tank. It is designed to be able to save people from fatal injuries such as this. The liquid you see in the tank is synthetic human DNA. It allows the body inside to draw off the chemicals in order to heal itself faster and more effectively."
"So how long will he be in there?" Goku asked.
"Well, given his injuries, the tank would take him a little over a week to heal completely, but of course that would depend on how fast he heals. But unfortunately, since this is still a prototype, it only has three days worth of power. Therefore, he will be about a third healed before the tank runs out of energy."
"What do you mean dad?!" Bulma said. "Why can't it just run off electricity?"
"Well dear, like I said: it's prototype. I have not yet been able to figure a way to convert electricity directly into the right kind of power needed. The tank runs on a special kind of power and it takes weeks, even months, to convert it."
"So for now, all we can do is wait?" Bulma asked feeling helpless.
"Pretty much." Dr. Briefs said. "But we really should be leaving. We are in the way. Come on downstairs. I'm sure my wife has some tea made."
"That's alright. Mr. Briefs." ChiChi said, somehow still thinking about school. "I still have to finish my current events essay."
"Yes and we have to be getting back too." Chuckie said. "Please call us if you know anything. Do you still have our number Bulma?"
"Yes." Bulma said.
Everyone left except for Bulma, Goku, Mr. Kozaku, and Yamcha. Mr. Briefs led everyone into the Capsule Corp. living room, where as promised, Mrs. Briefs had tea and cakes.
No one talked for a good while until Mr. Kozaku spoke up. "It really is a shame the way one event can ruin a person's life." He said sadly.
"Don't talk like that, Mr. Kozaku." Bulma said defensively although more to convince herself than him. "Vegeta will be fine. You'll see."
"That's not what I was talking about. With him like this, there's no way he can play football." He clarified.
"How can you think about sports at a time like this?!!" Bulma almost yelled.
"He's right." Goku said as though just realizing something. "If he can't play, he'll lose his scholarship."
"Oh." Bulma said. "Are you sure. I mean. Surely, he'll be okay by next year."
"No. You don't get it Bulma. If he doesn't finish the year, they'll cut the offer." Goku said.
"Well, how do you know he won't be better by then?"
"The regular high school football season ends in November. It's September, Bulma. That gives him two months."
"What about the play-offs?" Yamcha finally spoke up. "I mean if you guys make it to the play-offs, do you think he'll be better by then?"
Mr. Kozaku and Goku both looked at each other hopefully. "Maybe so." Mr. Kozaku said and then spotted the clock on the nearby wall. "Well I'd better be going."
"Yeah me too." Goku said.
Mr. Kozaku, Goku, and Yamcha stood up to leave.
"Umm...Bulma?"
"Yes, Goku?"
"How exactly do you get out of here?":
"Come on." Yamcha said. "I'll show you."
When Bulma and her father were all alone in the room, Bulma asked. "Dad. Do you really think Vegeta will be okay?"
"Of course dear." Dr. Briefs said with a smile. "It's like I always say: 'where there's a will there's a way.'"
The only question left now was: was there a will?