Author's Note: This is delayed for a few days, but still…at least I produced another chapter...hehe
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Deceive Me Not
Chapter 13: Downfall
Her scream could be heard up to the hallway of the well-lit hospital, breaking the silence of the night.
"Trunks Vegeta Briefs, you are going to be dead after I get out of here!" she bellowed from the operating room.
Trunks could only grimace when he heard her. Not only did she manage to let the whole world know that he had fathered her child, which was supposed to be a secret, but she also managed to blurt out his whole, full name – which, of course, was supposed to be a bigger secret.
"So much for TV, eh?" he muttered and smiled apologetically at the other people waiting outside the vast operating room. "Please excuse her, she's having a baby."
"I think the whole hospital know that by now," an old lady grumbled, making smiles appear from the rest of the group.
He continued to smile. "Well, she was really kind of loud," he said, wondering why on earth he had to defend Pan's actions. He was Trunks Vegeta Briefs, for crying out loud (something she had bellowed awhile ago) and he can buy the whole building faster than the blink of the eye, so that she can scream all she wanted.
"Obviously," the old lady retorted, "did she scream that loud when you made that baby?" she asked, and this time, earning chuckles and snickers from their instant audience.
And this time, he cannot help the blush from creeping his face. That woman, how could she embarrass him like this? But still, he was compelled to answer. "No, uh, she wasn't that loud," he said slowly, refusing to look at anyone of them.
The woman snorted, signaling the end of conversation, for which, he was glad.
Who would want to embarrass themselves further, anyway? No one, he supposed and sighed deeply.
Another hour passed by. An hour of nothing but silence now that Pan's yells and screams were not filling the hospital anymore. With each passing second, Trunks' company of people, waiting like him, shifted nervously. For every second passing by with no news brought more misery and agony to those people who waited – especially to those with life and death operations.
Trunks was in no different state. With every minute that passed by, his back became stiffer, his mouth dryer, and more sweat broke from his brows. He watched enviously the group of people huddled together talking in hushed voices, and wished that he had someone with him right now, waiting as well for the outcome of Pan's childbirth.
He now understood why he had been willing to be subjected to embarrassment due to her screams. He now understood why, awhile ago, instead of getting irritated at Pan for being so loud, instead of snapping at the old lady to mind her own business, he wholeheartedly accepted the comment, snickers, and meekly allowed himself to be the subjected to embarrassment. Because every scream she made, every curse she yelled at him, even for the whole hospital to hear, were assurances that she was fine – enough to muster energy to scream the hospital down.
Not like this – when she was silent and he didn't even have the faintest idea on what was happening to her.
Why won't she scream?
Is she still okay?
But he refused to think such thoughts. Someone as strong as her would not be easily beaten by something as ridiculous as childbirth. She was strong, of that he was sure.
He would bet his life that the moment she was able to stand up, she would march straight to him if only to tell him that he would never beget his child on her again – if her screams and curses awhile ago was any indication.
He smiled in amusement. His girl was really tough.
Well, until she passed out into his arms that afternoon.
FLASHBACK
She screamed. That was all it took for Trunks to rush out of his room to hers.
It was a good thing he decided to stay home for the day; Pan was not feeling well that morning and even if she made a big issue out of Trunks skipping work because of her, it didn't change Trunks decision to stay.
Due to this, Pan was determined to ignore Trunks, and Trunks, on the other hand, equally determined to have his way and accommodate her mood, they both spend their days in their separate rooms. That is, until Pan broke the silence with her scream that even if Trunks was in the middle of his nap, he bolted into her room in a flash.
"Sweetheart, what happened?" he asked as he grabbed her shoulders, to steady her or his shaking knees, no one knew. She almost gave him a heart attack with that scream.
"Blood," she choked out and looked down.
Trunks followed her gaze and saw blood flowing on her thighs. He swallowed and looked at her, "Is it time?"
She shook her head furiously. "I don't know!" she wailed, "I never had a baby before!"
"Uh, I'll take you to the doctor," he said, his voice slightly shaking. He stepped towards her and grabbed her hand, but she wouldn't budge from her standing position. It seemed that she was too afraid to even move.
And with each passing second, he grew more worried, "Pan, sweetheart, don't panic, alright?" he said, trying to assure her that everything would be alright, but he's one to talk. He told her not to panic, but his hands were shaking badly, his eyes wild, and he looked deathly pale. Don't panic, indeed!
"Trunks," she managed to choke out again.
"What is it, sweetheart?" he asked again, in the most comforting voice he can muster.
"Blood." She said. And with that, she fainted in his arms.
END OF FLASHBACK
He was being shaken badly that he groaned in his sleep. "Just a few more minutes, Pan. I don't really care if I'm late for work," he mumbled. And then, he was suddenly awake.
"What happened?" he directed the question to no one in particular.
"Pan's resting in her private room now," Marron said nonchalantly and sat beside him on the bench. "Gee, how can you sleep here? It's so darn uncomfortable."
He was confused. He can't even remember falling asleep. Maybe it was the stress and fatigue and all those jumbled emotions that triggered it. "Uh, I can't remember falling asleep," he said sheepishly and when she smiled in amusement, "How'd you find us here?"
"Oh that," Marron smiled at him, "Long story."
"How long have you been here?" he asked again, rubbed his eyes and stretched. His back was aching from sleeping on a hard surface.
"A couple of hours."
He was surprised. "Why didn't you wake me up?" he asked, and groaned. He was supposed to wait for Pan. He fell asleep, instead.
"You were sleeping like a baby, it would be cruel to wake you up," she pointed out.
"That's not the point. Where's Pan?"
She sighed exaggeratedly. "I told you already. She was resting in her private room now. By the way, she's looking for you."
He was standing already and ready to leave in an instant. "Is she? What's the room number?"
"214. But Trunks –"
She didn't get to tell him what she was about to say because he'd already run to her room.
Her hands were curled into fists, knuckles white, when he barged into her room without much warning.
"Pan –" he greeted, but stopped because she glared at him darkly.
"What took you so long? You made me wait for fifteen minutes!" she exclaimed, and though she was too weak that she was chained to the hospital bed, she saw Trunk's somewhat intimidated and frightened look.
"I, uh, Marron –"
Her eyebrows shot up. "You were flirting with Marron?"
He shook his head furiously. "Of course not," he said and managed to muster enough courage to approach her, "Are you jealous?"
She smirked at him, "Definitely not," and chuckled when she saw him frown.
"Have you seen your son?" she asked, suddenly changing the topic.
"Not yet. I fell asleep outside."
"Yeah, Marron told me," she said nonchalantly, then, "You should look at him. He looks a lot like you."
That brought a big smile on his face. That big ego, she couldn't help but think and rolled her eyes. "Really now? Well, that was nice."
She threw him a pillow, though a little bit weakly because she was still a little tired from the operation. "Oh, flatten your ego a little bit or it will burst anytime."
He didn't say anything to that, instead, sat beside her on the bed and continued smiling, it was sending butterflies in her stomach.
Truth be told, she had never really expected to be treated the way she was treated during the whole stay she had with Trunks. As if she were so precious to be treasured that much.
Trunks proved to be such a prince charming during the last few months of her pregnancy – even if she was being unreasonably moody.
There were times when she thought he would lose it and she was definitely going to get it, but at the same moment, he would close his eyes, take a deep breath, and eventually calm down.
He was ever so patient that half of her tantrums were to see how much he could be pushed until he lost it. She would never admit that to anyone, though. Yep, not even to her best friend, Marron.
She could still remember the time she had to go to the doctor for a check up.
FLASHBACK
"I look fat," she stated flatly as soon as she opened the door to her room and faced Trunks in the living room.
He smiled at her patiently. "Of course not, sweetheart. You're still sexy."
Her brows knitted. "I don't look sexy. I look fat in this dress. Look at all these – ugh!"
"Alright, if you think you're fat in that outfit, why don't you change into something you think will make you look sexy," he said, using the same calm, comforting voice as if he was talking to a child.
Pan pouted. "I look fat in all my clothes," she said.
This time, Trunks stood up and approached her, "Do you want to buy new clothes, then? We can do that after our visit to the doctor," he said and tilted her chin up.
She jerked away, "I look fat in all those clothes out there," she wailed, her eyes filling with tears.
Of course, that can be understandable. Pan never ever had to diet in all her life, being naturally slim, thus, the additional twenty pounds or so suddenly made her self-conscious of her figure.
She couldn't quite understand the smile on his face then, "Fine, Pan, if you think you're fat in all clothes, I wouldn't mind if you're naked – as long as you don't go out of the house."
She glared at him, "Don't toy with me," she said darkly.
But his smile widened that she swatted him on his arms, "You're incorrigible! I refuse to go to the doctor when I'm looking this fat."
"Sweetheart, you're pregnant," he said patiently as though it explained everything. If ever, it only made her more furious.
"So you're saying that it's alright that I'm fat because I'm pregnant? You're saying that I'm fat?" she asked, effectively trapping him – with no way out.
"I did not say that," he said in a panicky voice and when she didn't say anything, "I still love you, you know."
She glared at him. "I really hate you," she muttered then sighed in annoyance when he chuckled.
"I know that, sweetheart," he said and kissed her on the forehead.
END OF FLASHBACK
"You're smiling," Trunks said and stroked her forehead. "Are you proud to be a mother?"
"Yes," she said, even if she only half-understood what he was telling her. She was still caught up with those happy memories they had together.
"That's nice," he said, "I'm proud of you, too."
She didn't say anything, instead, continued smiling at him.
A few seconds passed by before Trunks decided to break the silence by clearing his throat and, "Pan?"
"Yeah?"
"Here," he said and from his jean pocket, he handed her a familiar ring. "I carry that wherever I go."
"What's this?" she asked breathlessly, and then she shifted her gaze from the ring to Trunks.
He was fidgeting and shifting nervously.
"You're proposing marriage, I suppose?" she asked quietly and when Trunks nodded, she sighed.
"Why?"
He cleared his throat and mustered enough courage to look at her, "I, uh, want to form a family with you, Pan. And I think the few months we had together wasn't so bad. I can live for the rest of my life like that, you know," he said and then, "I love you, Pan, you know that."
Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes, but she quickly looked away to conceal it from him. "I'm so sorry, Trunks. I can't marry you," she said, handing him back the ring, and when he refused to accept it, she decided to tell the biggest lie of her life, "I…" she sighed, "I don't love you."
She never saw the look of defeat and the way his shoulders drooped for she avoided to looking at him completely.
Author's Note: Ooooh… major disappointment! But at least it would mean thereare more chapter to come, right? You should look at the brighter side!
I'll try to update by second week of May!
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