For those of you interested, another chapter has been added to "Of a Friendship" chronicling the friendship of Vegeta and Krillin in this story.
Piccolo slowly sat up, pulling Gohan up with him. He passed the boy a senzu bean before taking one himself. While the edge of exhaustion was taken away, bruises and cuts still adorned their bodies, unable to be healed.
"Is this because he was a creation of a god?" Gohan asked, looking over himself.
"I believe so. It's a miracle in itself that Vegeta is even alive."
"Well barely! I can't even sit up!" Vegeta snarled from where he lay.
"At least you don't have a hole in your stomach anymore, Vegeta," Gohan said.
"Oh, shut up."
"Is there any way we can contact Bulma? I honestly don't think we'll be able to fly home and carry you with us," Piccolo said, struggling to his feet.
"No promises it wasn't destroyed," Vegeta muttered, taking off the glove of his left hand, revealing a thin metal bracelet. He fumbled with it, taking it off and handing it to Piccolo.
"I don't know how to use this."
"Oh my god, just press the button, idiot."
"There's three on this thing."
"Here, hand it here, Mr. Piccolo! I can figure it out," Gohan offered helpfully.
"Have at it," Piccolo said, tossing it to Gohan. The boy tinkered with it for a second, before pressing the middle button.
"Bulma? Bulma, can you hear me?" Gohan asked into the receiver.
"Vegeta? Vegeta, is that you?" Bulma's rushed voice came through the speaker.
"Oh yeah, because I totally sound like a nine year old!" Vegeta scoffed.
"No, it's Gohan," Gohan replied.
"Gohan! Is everyone okay? I swear, we could feel the ground shaking and... is everyone... are they there?"
"We're here. We're okay."
"Oh thank god. Tell Piccolo to thank all the gods and goddesses he can!" Piccolo snorted at that. "I was so worried..."
"Bulma, we're in pretty bad shape. I mean, we're okay, but the senzu beans only partially worked...it's complicated... Anyways, can you come get us? None of us can fly."
"Oh, of course! See the button to the right of the middle one? Press it. Okay, good. You just activated the tracking beacon on it. I'll be there as soon as I can. Is anyone seriously injured? Do we need to go to the hospital?"
Gohan glanced over at Vegeta, who made a slicing motion over his throat, glaring.
"I think we should be okay..." Gohan said uncertainly.
"Well, alright. I'll be right there." Gohan turned off the speaker of the bracelet and handed it back to Piccolo, who gave it to Vegeta.
"You sure you're okay, Vegeta? You're really pale," Gohan asked.
"I had a hole blasted in me, moron. Of course I'm not okay. But I'm not going to a hospital, so you keep your big mouth shut," Vegeta threatened.
"But Vegeta, you might need a blood transfusion or something!"
"I don't know what that is, and I don't want one."
"It's when they give you someone else's blood to replenish what you've lost."
"You mean a human's blood. Absolutely not."
"But Vegeta, you lost so much..."
"I said no. Now drop it."
Gohan said nothing in response. Instead, he focused on trying to get to his feet. Suddenly he felt a large hand on his shoulder, pressing him down. He looked up, a determined look on his young face.
"Stay down, kid. You've spent almost all of your energy. You don't need to waste the rest of it by standing," Piccolo said.
"Whatever you say, Mr. Piccolo."
It took nearly a half hour for Bulma to arrive. By this time, Vegeta had passed out from exhaustion and blood loss. Piccolo heard the hovercraft well before they actually saw it. When she landed it, she quickly stepped out of it, hurrying for them.
"What happened? What's wrong with Vegeta?" Bulma asked, almost hysterically as she rushed over to his prone form.
Piccolo bent down beside the prince and began picking him up, throwing him over his shoulder. "He's fine. He lost a lot of blood and is just exhausted," he said calmly, carrying the Saiyan over to the hovercraft and putting him on one of the medical cots Bulma had set up in the back.
"I think he might need a blood transfusion," Gohan supplied helpfully as Piccolo came to him and picked him up, much more carefully than he had Vegeta.
"He needs to get to a hospital then. So that's where we'll go. That's about an hour away in this thing. Why don't you take a nap, Gohan? You look exhausted," Bulma said, shutting the door to the hovercraft and lifting off. She began pressing buttons on the dashboard and the sound of ringing came through the speakers.
"Hello. One Star Hospital. How can I help you?"
"Hi, I have two patients coming in approximately an hour. One is in need of a blood transfusion, the other needs to just be checked over and given something for exhaustion."
"Names?"
"Gohan Daimao and Vegeta...um... please hold." Bulma muted the speaker. "Guys, what's Vegeta's last name?" Both Piccolo and Gohan shrugged. "He's going to kill me for this but..." She flipped the switch back on. "Sorry about that. The other is Vegeta Briefs."
"Gohan Daimao and Vegeta Briefs. And which patient needs the blood transfusion?"
"Vegeta."
"Do you happen to know his blood type?"
"I don't."
"Alright. We will be waiting for you. Thank you."
"Thanks." Bulma hung up.
"Hey Bulma, how come I have to go to the hospital?" Gohan asked.
"Just to be on the safe side, kiddo. That... and Vegeta might be more inclined to not go crazy if you're there too..."
Bulma landed the hovercraft on the landing pad of the hospital. Two teams of nurses rushed out to meet them with two stretchers. Piccolo stepped out first with Gohan in his arms. The nurses looked at him warily before motioning to the stretcher. Piccolo placed Gohan on it carefully.
"Which patient is this?"
"Gohan Daimao," Piccolo answered.
"And you are?"
"Piccolo Daimao." The nurses looked at him skeptically. "Guardian. No blood relation," Piccolo explained, rolling his eyes.
The other pair of nurses loaded Vegeta onto the other stretcher, and then the two Saiyans began to be rolled away. Piccolo made to follow.
"Oh, no, Mr. Daimao. You'll have to wait in the waiting room with Ms. Briefs while the doctor does the initial tests."
Piccolo began to bare his teeth.
Bulma's hand went to his arm. "That's fine. Come on, Piccolo. Let's go wait. It'll only be a little while," she said reassuringly. Piccolo huffed and followed her. She sat in a chair and he stood beside it, leaning against the wall. "Oh! Oh Piccolo, don't lean on the wall. You're filthy. You just got blood and dirt all over the white paint... Here, follow me. This hospital has a courtesy bathroom for people staying long term with patients. Go take a shower there. By the time you're done, we should hear something on Gohan and Vegeta."
Piccolo rolled his eyes again, stepping into the bathroom. It took him a second to figure out how to lock the door, and a few long moments on how to start the shower and get it to a temperature that was bearable. He quickly washed with the provided soap, turned off the water, flared his ki to dry off, and conjured a new gi, destroying the other on his way out. As he made it back to Bulma, he noticed her biting her thumb worriedly.
"What's happened?" he asked.
"Oh, it's nothing horrible, just a setback. Vegeta's blood type doesn't match with anything. Guess I shouldn't be surprised. He isn't human. Anyways, a transfusion is out of the question. Which means he'll be here for a while while his body remakes and replenishes the blood cells. He is not going to be happy about that."
"And Gohan?"
"Oh, he's perfectly fine. He's up and talking already, little trooper that he is."
"Since Gohan has Saiyan blood in him, couldn't he give Vegeta some of his blood?" Piccolo asked.
"Oh... oh my god, Piccolo, you're a genius! Yes, yes they should be able to do that!" Bulma looked around the waiting room before trying to flag down a doctor. "Doctor! Doctor Hamilton!"
The doctor walked over. "Yes, Ms. Briefs?"
"The boy in with Vegeta Briefs, Gohan Daimao, his blood! Did you check his blood type against Vegeta's? They're uh... family... I guess you could say."
"No, we didn't think to do that. I'll have a nurse get right on that. Thank you." Bulma and Piccolo waited in silence. Finally, the doctor came back out. "Well, you were right! Gohan's blood type was very close to Vegeta's, so we've taken some blood from Gohan and have it transfusing to Vegeta right now. Now, Gohan is very weak since we took the blood, so he'll need to stay overnight. And Vegeta's transfusion won't be complete until tomorrow morning. Then they can go home. So, if you want to go in and see them for a little bit, please feel free. Gohan is awake, Vegeta is still asleep."
"Oh, thank you, Dr. Hamilton!" Bulma said enthusiastically, shaking his hand.
"My pleasure, Ms. Briefs."
Piccolo and Bulma hurried down the hallway to where Vegeta and Gohan were roomed. True to the doctor's word, Gohan was sitting up, leaning against the headboard, watching the television. Vegeta was in the bed beside him, a bag of blood slowly dripping into his arm. Gohan turned his head and smiled broadly.
"Did you hear, Mr. Piccolo? My blood is close enough to Vegeta's that he could have some of mine!" Gohan said happily.
"I did," Piccolo said.
"The doctor said I have to stay overnight."
"I know."
"Is that okay?"
"I don't think we get much of a choice, kid."
"Okay. I'm hungry."
"Of course you are."
"Well dearie, you're in the right place! We have the best hospital food around!" a nurse said, bustling in with fresh bedding. "Would you like a warm blanket, dear?" she offered Gohan.
"Oh, yes please!" Gohan said enthusiastically. She draped it over his small body and he sighed.
"And here is the menu. Just check off what you'd like while I get your friend situated here, and then I'll have the staff get it for you right away."
Gohan went through the list, checking things off here and there while the nurse checked Vegeta's drip line and added a warm blanket to his bedding. She then took the menu from Gohan and glanced over it, her eyebrows shooting up.
"This is a lot of food, sweetheart. You know you can always order more later..."
"Trust me, he'll eat it," Bulma and Piccolo said in unison.
"Well, if you're certain, I'll go put the order in. Give it about fifteen minutes and they'll bring it up," she said, leaving.
"How'd you get so clean, little man?" Bulma asked, inspecting Vegeta as she asked.
"Oh, the nurses cleaned us off before they ran tests and stuff."
"Well, that's good."
The three sat in companionable silence, watching the television together as they waited for Gohan's food to come. It did shortly, the nurse setting the two trays in Gohan's lap. Rice, beef, an apple, lime gelatin, pudding, corn, fish sticks... Piccolo wrinkled his nose.
"I'm sorry to say, visiting hours are over. They'll both be ready to go home tomorrow morning. Discharge is at eight," the nurse said.
"Alright," Bulma said, standing from her chair. She looked over at Piccolo, who was standing stubbornly beside Gohan's bed. "Um... Piccolo, we have to go. You can spend the night at my place if you want and we'll be back first thing in the morning."
Piccolo raised his lip to her. "I don't leave the boy," he said.
"Sir, it's hospital policy. Visiting hours are over. You can come pick him up in the morning," the nurse tried reasoning.
"May I speak to you in the hall, please?" Bulma asked the nurse. The nurse looked at her skeptically before following her out. "I know it's against protocol, but Piccolo and Gohan really can't be separated for any length of time. Piccolo is... protective and Gohan needs his support to stay stable."
"He's mentally unsound? We do have a state of the art ward for that if he'd be more comfortable with him there..."
"No! No, that's not what I mean. Gohan's been through some rough stuff, with his parents dying and all, he gets night terrors. He needs Piccolo there or he won't calm down," Bulma said, starting to lie, knowing Piccolo could hear her.
"Oh! Oh, the poor dear. Well, I suppose we can make an exception. I'll have the janitors bring in another cot."
"Not necessary. Piccolo doesn't sleep anyways," Bulma said flippantly.
"Doesn't sleep? That's hardly healthy. Does he need a sleep aid?"
"Oh, no, I mean his species doesn't sleep."
"Uh-huh... Well, I'll let the doctor know about these developments. Thank you, Ms. Briefs."
"Thank you." Bulma popped her head back in the door. "Alright guys, I'm going home. I'll be back bright and early. Very proud of you today, little man. I knew you could do it." And with that, she left.
Gohan turned the television off and snuggled down into his bed. "So this means you get to stay?" he asked Piccolo, who took up residence at the foot of his bed.
"Yeah. But you might need to scream in the middle of the night to make the story plausible..."