This chapter has been edited 3/31/15

A/N: Thank you to all of your reviews! Even those that are new to the story, it's so fun to read your thoughts and reactions :)

:*: How is She? :*:

Bra slowly stirred out of her sleep to the sound of a continuous rampage of raindrops striking against her window. There were no more sunny mornings or warm breezes in the cold month of November. She would have to wait another four months to even attempt to wear a tank top and shorts again. She grumbled as she selected her jeans and sweater for the day and laid them out on her bed. After her shower, she dressed herself in the selected white hoodie which read "Satan City Volleyball" in bold maroon letters across the chest along with her jeans and a pair of white Vans shoes. She decided to leave her hair down to cover her ears in the cold air.

Once her daily appearance debate finally ended, she headed downstairs to meet her father whom was sitting on the couch watching the morning news.

"G'morning dad." She plopped herself on the other side of the couch. "Whatcha doin?" The best way to start a conversation was to ask a question you obviously knew the answer to.

"I'm tap dancing on a mule. What does it look like I'm doing?!"

Bra giggled at her father's sarcastic reply. "Daddy, can I borrow some money? I'm taking Pan out to lunch today and I want to buy her something to celebrate her victory last night." Her father's usual response to this was pulling out his credit card and handing it to her, but this time he picked up the television remote and decreased its volume.

The silence quickly filled the room, causing Bra to grow anxious. "Dad? Did you lose your card again?" She teased, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

He fumbled with his fingers for a moment then looked her way. "Pan's not well."

Her smile vanished as the concern began to protrude through her eyes. Her body froze as her breath caught in her throat.

Vegeta instantly noticed the plummet in his daughter's mood. "Why do you worry so much? She's a strong girl, she'll be fine."

"H-How is she not well? What happened to her?" She stared at her dad intently.

"Last night, around one in the morning, your mother got a call from the hospital. I don't know the complete story so you're better off going there yourself."

She wasted no time in following her father's advice. With her keys and phone in hand, she jumped into her car and sped through the rain to the city's best hospital.

At the front desk, she urged for Pan Son's room number and hurried to the elevator. She would have to go up two floors to get to room 37-R. "Pan!" She pushed the door open, only to stare at an empty unmade hospital bed.

"Bra?"

She whirled her head around and was swept with relief when she recognized the familiar voice. "Goten! Where is she? What happened? Is she okay-"

"Calm down, calm down. They took her to have another test done. Seems like that's all they've been doing."

"What happened to her?"

"Last night, she showed up at Trunks' party around one and minutes later he and she were in the front yard arguing. I ran outside to see what the commotion was and all I saw was her say something to him and then she collapsed to the floor." Bra slowly nodded her head and took in everything he said. "Her side was killing her, and your mom and the doctor said something's wrong with her kidney."

Bra's jaw dropped. "Her k-kidney? We have two of those right? She'll be ok with one, won't she?"

Goten smiled at her panicked expression. "Yes, we have two of those. And yeah, she'll be okay…" 'Hopefully...'

She didn't like the uncertainty in his face, but what more could they do but wait..

He led her into their private waiting room which consisted of three white sofas, a television, and a coffee table. Gohan and Videl were seated on one couch and he seated himself on the couch nearest them. Bra followed and sat inches away from him and fidgeted with her fingers to occupy her nerves. Pan was always the one who played rough, took risks, and often got hurt so she was no stranger to the hospital.

"Goten," Videl called, causing Bra to break from her trance. "Why was Pan at this Trey guy's house?"

"Trey is my and Trunks' friend. We were having a birthday party for him and she showed up."

"How long was she there for?"

He thought for a moment. "Maybe ten minutes."

"She wasn't drinking was she?" Her eyes grew wild as she waited for a response. She knew that teens were getting very risky these days and the thought of Pan being one of them would pain her aging heart.

"No, she just stopped by to say happy birthday." Goten knew for a fact that Pan did drink at parties, but he and Trunks would always keep an eye out for her. He watched her expression fill with relief, then concern as a woman in a long white lab coat entered the room.

"Hi there." She said as cheerfully as she could. Noticing the overwhelming tension in the air, she played around with a couple papers on a clipboard she held while reading some doctor lingo.

Her words told nothing to Bra about the status of her friend. Her anxiety finally exploded. "Is she gonna be okay or not?!" The doctor released a small shriek, then continued by setting the clipboard down and placed a transparent film on an x-ray screen. She flipped the on switch and revealed an x-ray of the lower abdomen. With her finger, she pointed to two circular objects.

"These here are Pan's kidneys. And here," She pointed to a blurry area on the top of the right kidney. "is an artery used to supply blood to the kidney. The impact of the kick caused the artery to rupture, causing the top of the kidney here to receive less blood." Videl gasped at the sight and felt her husband tighten his grip on her hand in a comforting manner. "There's no need to panic." She reassured everybody. "It turns out that Pan has a unique kidney which has three arteries leading to it instead of two. I'm going to hold her in for a couple more days to see how her body reacts to this and to keep an eye on her blood pressure and such."

Everybody released a sigh of relief. "So, she's ok?" Goten asked once more.

"Well so far things are looking better than before, but her body's reaction to this can be quite painful on her. So, yes, so far she is okay."

"Can we see her?" Gohan asked.

"Yes, but only two at a time. She's very tired and in a slight amount of pain."

Goten and Bra watched as the doctor led Pan's parents out of the room, leaving the two in silence. Bra seemed to still be in shock over the whole thing and was staring blankly at the carpet.

"You okay there, Bra?" He tapped her shoulder and watched her snap out of it.

"Yeah I'm fine." She smiled. "I'm so glad she's okay. I guess our lunch plans are off." She frowned.

"Lunch plans?"

"After her game I told her I'd take her out to lunch today to celebrate."

Goten nodded. "Well I wouldn't mind grabbing something to eat if you're still hungry."

Bra placed her index finger on her chin and thought for a moment. "Hmmm.. Me? Eat with Goten?" She teased.

He slapped her lightly on the shoulder and stood from the couch. "You're a jerk."

She laughed and stood with him. "Fine. Let's go talk to Pan before she passes out on us."

Once Gohan and Videl left the room, it was Bra and Goten's turn. Goten closed the door behind them and slowly approached Pan's bed.

"Aww, Cockroach," Bra covered her mouth with her left hand and her eyebrows curved in concern. "You look awful." The two girls laughed.

"Bra, I don't think I'll be able to make lunch today." She added with another smile.

"Don't worry about that, I took your place." Goten butted in while tapping a machine on the side of her bed.

"You replaced me with him?!"

Bra shrugged. "Sorry, I can't help but feel sorry when I see a hungry animal. So, how are you feeling?"

"Like crap. I know I'm going to throw up, my head hurts, and my torso's in hell."

Bra kneeled alongside her bed and toyed with the IV cord. "I'll be sure to get your schoolwork for the week."

"Ugh, must you make things worse?" The idea of school in the addition of her current state had just increased her pain ten-fold.

"Hey Pan, what were you and Trunks fighting about last night?" Goten asked, suddenly wishing he hadn't. He could tell Pan grew immediately uncomfortable with the question.

Bra grew curious as well and left the cords alone. Pan purposely avoided their eyes and covered her face with her hands. "Nothing, we were fighting about nothing. I think I'm gonna puke..." Bra jumped to her feet and grabbed the pink basin sitting on a nearby counter. Pan pushed the red button on the side of her bed and seconds later a nurse appeared.

"Sorry kids, but I think your visiting time is over." The nurse prepared some medicine while Bra and Goten stood at the foot of her bed.

"Bye Pan. We love ya." Goten tugged her foot and waved goodbye.

"Bye Pan, I'll come by tomorrow."

"Thanks guys. Oh, Goten?" She motioned him to come over and whispered in his ear, "Don't let Trunks visit me, please." He stared at her confusingly but agreed once he saw the pleading expression in her eyes. He didn't know what had occurred between Trunks and Pan last night, but he made a mental note to find out.

Haruka Cafe

"Here is you pasta putnesca," The waiter laid a plate in front of Bra, then Goten. "And your chicken parmesan sir. Enjoy your meal."

"Thanks." Bra smiled kindly as she began to dive into her meal. "So, what's my brother up to today?"

Goten swallowed before answering. "Probably recovering from a hangover. He drank a lot last night. Even after the ambulance left."

"That's unlike him. He's a man who loves his alcohol but he usually doesn't overdo it. You said he was the last one Pan talked to, right?" Goten nodded. "Maybe he felt guilty and blamed himself for her collapse..."

Goten shrugged. "I'd like to find out what they were arguing about."

"Is he still at Trey's house?"

"No. Marron texted me and said she took him home. I'll see what I can get out of him tonight." The two endulged in their meals before starting up another conversation. "So, what do you have planned for tonight?" He asked casually.

"Going to my... friend's house."

Goten raised an eyebrow. "Why so hesitant? Who is this friend of yours?"

"This friend of mine is none of your business." She sassed back with a smirk as she took a sip of her water.

"I knew it. It's a guy isn't it? And your parents are letting you go to his house alone? Wait, they wouldn't do that, you're going to lie to them aren't you."

She finally put her cup down to stop his accusations. "Something like that. Just don't tell Trunks or anybody. He's just a friend, really."

"Who is he?"

She steered her eyes away from his and sighed. "Roy."

"Roy?" He repeated.

"Yes. Roy Stevens." Bra met Roy a couple months ago at a party near Goten's and her brother's university. She was introduced to Roy that night along with a couple of other things she wasn't so proud of.

"Roy Stevens?" Goten burrowed his eyebrows creating an angered expression. "Bra, you shouldn't be hanging out with him. He's not a good person."

"Goten I wouldn't be hanging out with him if he wasn't. A lot of what you think are just rumors. He's really nice and sensitive and he cares."

"He cares about what? Cocaine, weed, meth, you name it, yeah he cares."

Bra crossed her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes. "Whatever Goten. We've been friends forever, you should know me better than that."

Goten sighed in defeat. "It's not that I don't trust you, I don't trust him. He got thrown out of college for that shit, Bra. At every party we went to he was always on something. And now you're going to his house? That's not-" He peered down at his phone on the table as a rock tune began to play and picked it up to his ear. "Hello?... Hey Val, what's up?... Yeah, sounds great, I'll call you back in an hour, sorry." He ended the call and was about to continue his rant.

"Well, lunch was great." she stated sarcastically as she put the money into the booklet to pay for the meal. She then stood from the table and pulled her keys from her purse.

"Bra, please don't go." He stood with her and grabbed the arm of her sweater so she wouldn't turn away from him.

His dark eyes pressed into hers, pleading that she obey him. Instead she pulled her arm away. "Thanks but no thanks Goten. See you later. Have fun with Valese."

Trunks winced at the sound of the front door slamming shut. He covered his eyes with his arm, trying to rid of his terrible migraine. Once Marron dropped him off earlier in the afternoon, he took a shower, threw up a few times, and remained in his bed the rest of the day. He heard a light knocking on his door and groaned in response.

"Hey alcoholic, how's the hangover?" Goten lightly laughed at the sight of his friend burrowing himself deeper into his pillow.

"It sucks ass." He mumbled in response. "Where have you been?"

Goten carefully sat himself on the bed. "Eating lunch with your sister." He wanted to tell Trunks what his sister was getting herself into, but he wasn't sure what exactly that was. Surely she wouldn't be stupid enough to hang out with the Roy they knew. Maybe he had changed...

"My sister? Why?" Trunks rolled over so he was now facing his friend.

"Well she was supposed to take someone else out but that person is in the hospital."

His eyes suddenly reflected concern. "Did you go see her?"

"Yeah. Her right kidney is kinda messed up but the doctor said she'll be okay."

"Her kidney? From a water polo match?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah I know. Apparently the kick was pretty intentional. It ruptured one of her arteries but she has two other ones connected so she should be okay, something along those lines. She's not feeling well though, she started throwing up so we had to leave."

Trunks rubbed his eyes with his hands. "When are visiting hours over?"

Goten's smile faded. "Actually... she doesn't want to see you..." He watched his reaction, but found it to just be a sigh.

"Yeah, I could understand that."

"Why is it that she doesn't want to see you?" He waited anxiously for an answer and watched his eyes that were staring out the window covered in raindrops.

"I..I don't remember..." He lied.

"Trunks, you have to remember something. The argument in the yard maybe?"

Trunks closed his eyes at the memory. The anguish in her eyes, the tears running down her cheeks, her sobs of pain as she laid in the grass... He slowly sat up and waited for his head to stop spinning, then dragged himself to the edge of the bed so he was now sitting next to Goten.

Goten sat there patiently, waiting for his answer.

"She didn't tell you anything else?"

"Nope." He responded, still awaiting an answer.

Trunks stood to his feet and hobbled to his bathroom. "Like I said, I don't remember."

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