Vegeta wrestled around in bed. He was having a nightmare. An unknown man was hurting Bulma, and he was paralyzed to do anything about it. Literally paralyzed, though, he could not move any part of his body. He was kicking and rolling all over the sheets, and then he kicked a glass off the bedside table. The shatter caused him to awake, and he abruptly sat up, disoriented for a few moments. His perfect vision set in, and he surveyed the room, causing him to realize that Bulma was not there. He peered at the bathroom door, but there was no light on. She could not have gone there. He snatched his phone from his pants' pocket and glared at the screen, hoping she had left him a message regarding her whereabouts. He growled into the darkness when he found that she had not said anything. Was she really that stupid to go snooping around without even telling him where she had gone? Another thing struck him. His nightmare. He sensed Bulma's fear or Bulma's pain, he couldn't differentiate the two. It wasn't possible, obviously. One, what trouble could she possibly get into in such a small town. Two, it was not humanely possible to sense another's emotions or feelings. He lay back down trying to get some shut eye before heading down to the bar and claiming the Dragon Ball to be his, but it was no use. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with Bulma.

He grabbed his jacket from the dresser and headed out the front door of the hotel, looking both left and right for any sign of the woman. There was none. And, then it occurred to him. She had gone back to the bar to steal the Dragon Ball. He raced for the quaint establishment and confirmed his suspicions when he saw that the door was left ajar. He entered and looked around for the woman. He heard some rustling noises come from the back part of the bar but shrugged it off, thinking it might just be cleaners or something. Where could she possibly be? Then, he heard a gun fire and cut off scream come from the back room, and he bolted over there and flung the door open.

The first thing he saw was the manager from earlier standing over a limp, fallen body, holding what seemed like a small gun in one hand pointed at the body. His eyes moved to the fallen body, and he froze when he realized who it was. Bulma lay, seemingly lifelessly, on the floor before him, all because of this man standing there. All because she was trying to help him. A rage that he had never felt before in all his life came over him, and he grabbed the man by his neck, taking him by surprise.

"What is your name?" Vegeta inquired, making sure to spit on the man's face with every syllable. He tightened his grasp on the man's neck, enjoying the way his hand caused his eyes to bulge.

"Doctor...Gero..." he managed to cough out between breaths. Vegeta increased the tightness of his grasp menacingly.

"What did you do to her?"

"I...She...the ball...I..." Vegeta released his hold slightly. "I shot her with a bullet that contained some poison. I don't know if it's lethal."

Vegeta contemplated either screaming at him or taking a calm approach. First, he punched Dr. Gero so hard in the face he went flying into desk. "You don't know...hmmm..." Vegeta grabbed the gun that was now on the floor and without so much as feeling one twinge of sympathy, he shot him, in his chest, in his leg, in his arm, and in his neck. He fell helplessly to the floor, and Vegeta kicked so that he went flying in the air again. Allowing his rage to die down, suddenly, he realized Bulma's medical condition. He scooped her up in one arm and scanned the room for the Dragon Ball. He saw her purse and noticed it had a circular bulge; he reached in and extracted the ball from earlier that evening.

He knew Dr. Gero would probably be given help by the morning, and that he would survive. And, Vegeta could not risk being chased by the police at this point. There would be too many questions to answer. He grabbed a pen and a paper and quickly jotted down a note and stuffed it in the unconscious man's pocket. He prayed to Kami it would make his message clear. He swung Bulma's purse over his shoulder and ran out of the bar, cradling her to his chest.

He raced towards the car that was parked in front of their hotel, he put Bulma in the front seat and her head flopped to lean against the window, and he ran inside the hotel lobby.

"Where's the nearest hospital?" He demanded of the tired looking worker that was manning the front desk at that hour.

"Um...The nearest hospital?"

"Hurry up, you clown. This is serious!"

"Sorry, just get on the highway. Do you know how to do that?"

Vegeta nodded and motioned for him to hurry up. This man was striking his last nerve.

"Okay, then take Exit 13. You won't miss it from there, it'll be the giant white building on the right."

Vegeta did not so much as say thank you. He sprinted back to Bulma and sped all the way to the hospital. They were there within mere minutes.

He sat staring at the blue haired girl, wondering why she had such a strong hold on his heart. She looked so at peace, yet so lifeless. He so wanted her to be yelling at him right now, for something unimportant. He wanted to see her eyes flicker open and stare at him, with rage sparking in her pupils. He just wanted her to be alive. And, that was something the doctors had not promised him.

He couldn't believe what they had just been through. He remembered, just a month ago, when he saw Bulma in the halls, with that idiot boy whose name he could never remember, he would not say anything, he'd growl and turn away. But, he'd never say anything, for they hadn't spoken in years. And, suddenly, here he sat, waiting for her to wake up, ready to do just about anything to ensure her survival.

Figuring now was just about the best time to show some real emotion, he grabbed her small, weak hand and cradled it to his chest. When he placed his lips onto one of her knuckles, a memory popped into his head.

FLASHBACK

"Vegeta, we have to go," Bulma whined, slipping off a long gown and changing into some shorts and a shirt before emerging from her large bathroom. She saw the spiky haired boy she loved so dearly sitting cross legged on her bed with his eyes closed. Probably because he doesn't want me to see him roll his eyes, she thought to herself and chuckled. She sat down next to him and tugged on his earlobe childishly. "I know it's not your style, but it'll be fun! All your friends'll be there!"

"Your friends," he corrected her without opening his eyes.

"Please," she droned on. "I need you to be my date. Or, do you want me to ask someone else?" She snickered mischievously.

Vegeta's eyes fluttered open as they adjusted to the light of her room. "Woman, you are mine." He looked at her simply, waiting for her to react.

"You're right about that," she replied, sighing. She leaned in to kiss him, but he placed his palm on her cheek, gently pushing her away.

"I will do this," he said formally.

"Come with me to the party? Are you for real? Oh my Kami!" Bulma did not contain her passion anymore and kissed her man deeply, wrapping her arms around his neck, thanking him. "I love you, Vegeta."

Vegeta smirked and then stood up. The blue haired girl looked at him with confusion sparkling in her beautiful eyes. He extended his hand, gesturing for her to place her hand in his. She did as told, and he kissed one of her knuckles, his onyx eyes never leaving her cerulean ones. "Dance with me, woman."

A single tear trickled down Vegeta's stone cold face, and he immediately wiped it. Why was she doing this to him? He never cried. Forget crying, he never showed emotion. He shouldn't care whether she lived or died, she was just a convenience to him, an asset that he needed to keep around. He knew he was lying to himself, but he couldn't let himself need her. He couldn't become vulnerable. He had already experienced the pain and heartbreak of needing someone and then their leaving you; it was something he did not care to feel ever again. His mother had promised that she would always be there to fix him when he got hurt, to laugh with him when he was sad, and she left him. And, every day after that, it was as though a huge weight hung on his heart, making it harder and harder for him to go on. He could not let Bulma know the way he felt, he could not even admit to himself the way he felt, because if she left him...He didn't know if he could survive that.

Trying to distract himself, he ran his fingers through his hair and grabbed the closest magazine to him. This wasn't a very effective plan, for Bulma's favorite singer was plastered across the front cover. He threw it on the floor and rose from his chair, pacing around the room. A nurse passing by the door noticed his erratic behavior and knocked on the door softly. He whipped his head in her direction and glared.

"Sorry to be bother you. You look really scared or anxious or something, though. Are you okay?" She asked kindly, taking his silence as an invitation to enter the room. She held a clipboard tightly to her chest, and her eyes were a warm brown color.

"What's it to you, girl? Leave me alone," he snapped, not knowing where exactly his rage was coming from. Usually he wasn't that rude to attractive women, but lately, he didn't even notice their attractiveness. All he saw this girl for was a distraction from his worrying and concern for Bulma, and he wanted her to leave. Immediately. "Why are you still standing there?" He pressed. "Get out!"

The nurse shook her head. She looked over the clipboard that she had been holding, and her eyes widened. "Looks like your girlfriend's state hasn't changed...Sorry about that. I'll come back if the doctors find out anything new or something changes."

Why he didn't bother to correct her, he didn't know, but he relaxed slightly as he saw the girl turn around and leave the room, leaving him alone with the woman again. He sat back down on the chair by her bedside, grabbing her hand again and holding it tightly, wishing with all his might to Kami that she would wake up, that she would be safe once again. He hated himself for putting her in harms way.

Suddenly realizing that he hadn't alerted her family about her situation, he grabbed her phone. When he unlocked it, knowing her passcode was her birthday, the screen opened to her texts with Chi-Chi. He was about to close them at once, not really caring and not wanting to invade her privacy, but one message caught his eye.

BULMA: Chi, what's wrong with me? I'm falling for him again...

Him? He thought to himself. Who was she referring to? The message was sent about a week ago with no reply from Chi-Chi. He suddenly felt himself getting tense. He let the thought wander into his mind. Maybe she was talking about him. But, there was no way of him knowing that, he could never ask, that was for sure. And, she'd never have feelings for him again, after what he did. She told him that, even. She couldn't be talking about him. He swallowed hard on the sadness that was slowly consuming his body and resumed what he was doing, before the message interrupted her train of thought.

He pressed the number labeled as "Home" on her contact list, it rang a few times, but there was no answer. He figured he would call again later. He realized he was getting tired, and he leaned back in the chair, hoping sleep would be the answer to his confusion and depression.

Vegeta opened his eyes slowly when he heard the sound of murmured voices talking in the room. He shut his eyes quickly, hoping that he could catch something about how Bulma was really doing. He knew the doctors would never tell unless they realized what was wrong with was terminal, or something.

"She's in a coma. I really don't know if she's going to make it," he heard a male say.

Then, he heard a female speak. It sounded like the nurse from before. "Kami, are you sure? Is there any antidote we can give her or something?"

"No because we know so little about the poison that infected her body. I don't want to give her something that her body will reject and make it even worse. But, I'd say she's really lingering on the brink of life or death at this point."

Vegeta's eyes snapped open at that remark. He rose immediately and spoke, the doctors looked slightly stunned for a moment. "What's her chance of survival? Give me a percentage. Now."

"Uh..." the male doctor flipped through his notes and statistics quickly. "I'd say...not more than fifteen percent." Vegeta clenched his fists and his side, wanting blow up the entire hospital. He vowed he would find Dr. Gero and slaughter him, if this was the woman's fate. He wouldn't stop until he knew the misery and pain that Vegeta was feeling in that moment. "If she doesn't wake up within the next hour or so...I'd say there's not much else we can do. I'm sorry."

With that, the doctor motioned to the nurse to leave the room, giving Vegeta privacy with Bulma. The spiky haired boy didn't know what to do, what to say. He tried calling the Briefs again, but there was no answer. He paced around the room, shattering a flower vase while he was at it and pulling a fair bit of his hair out. He could not let this happen. He would not let this happen. He banged his fists on the table and suddenly, the tears came pouring out of his eyes. She was the one who had done everything she could to brighten his day when his world had become so dark. She had been there everyday with a smile on her face, ready to take whatever insult he could throw at her. She was with him now, despite everything he had done to hurt her, on a mission that would bring him happiness. She could not leave him. He knew he wouldn't be able to survive that loss, not without someone to take care of him. He would truly have no one, if she left him. He ran to her side but sat gently, taking her hands in his.

"Woman," he said, the tears still running down his cheeks. "Woman, I refuse to let you leave me. You're the only thing left on this earth that I care about. You've saved me so many times, more times than I care to admit, please let me save you, just this once. I don't think I'd even be alive at this point, if it weren't for you. My life was a wreck. You gave it a purpose." He leaned down on his chest, his tears soaking her hospital sheets through. "You can't leave me. I won't let you. I'll do anything. Just wake up, okay? Just open your eyes. They're so beautiful, your eyes. I hope you know that. Wake up. Bulma, I need you. Just open your eyes and tell me I'm a jerk. Kami damn it, woman, I can't live without you..."

Ooofff...Sorry this chapter was a little bit short. Poor Bulma :( I hope she's okay. I don't know if she's going to survive that!

Next chapter: will Bulma wake up? Will Vegeta keep looking for the Dragon Balls...alone? Please keep reading, and please keep reviewing! I really like to know that you guys still wanna hear the story/when you don't like things/if you want to see certain stuff happen. Thank you so much! :)