Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Chocolate Ice Cream ❯ Aftermath of the Explosion ( Chapter 8 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

"So what brings you here, Yamcha," Bulma asked her ex-boyfriend pleasantly. They had parted on good terms, but since the break-up was still relatively fresh, they had both been keeping their distance from each other, out of respect.

"Actually, I was kind of hoping that I could use the gravity chamber for a little bit, but it looks like Vegeta's not going to be giving it up anytime soon," Yamcha said, not masking the hint of annoyance in his tone.

Bulma sighed. "He's been in there for four days straight," she responded. "As far as I can tell, he hasn't come out at all. Not for food, not for rest, not even to take a shower," she wrinkled her nose, imagining how awful he must smell. "That crazy bastard is going to kill himself if he's not careful..." Try as she might to sound apathetic, she couldn't keep the distinct note of concern from her voice.

Yamcha blinked. "If I didn't know better, Bulma, I would say you care about what happens to him..."

Bulma rounded on him, fury blazing in her eyes. "Of course I care about him!!! For god's sake, Yamcha, in a little less than two years, those Androids are going to be here. Do you think YOU'LL be able to defeat them on your own," she challenged. Upon recieving no response from the thwarted Yamcha, she continued, "I thought not. You don't understand him, Yamcha. You're always calling him a threat, and a monster. But out of all of you preparing for the battle with those androids, who is the most dedicated? Who is the one who never misses a day of training? Who pushes himself the hardest?" Bulma pointed in the direction of the Gravity Room. "That Saiyan Prince out there, that's who..." She spoke with a mix of pride, finality, sadness... And something else Yamcha couldn't quite put his finger on.

The realization finally dawned on him as he searched her eyes... "My god," he spoke quietly. He was almost too afraid to ask. Almost... Swallowing around the lump in his throat, he asked, "You love him, don't you...?" It was more of an accusation than a question. From the tone of his voice, Bulma could tell he'd already made his decision.

A faint blush rose to Bulma's cheeks as she stood there, eyes downcast. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut short by a deafening blast that rocked Capsule Corps down to its very foundation. Both of them were instantly thrown off their feet, Yamcha landing on his rear on the floor, Bulma landing fortuitously on the couch. In a few long seconds, it was over, and Yamcha was up, ready to fight off whatever menace had just attacked the building. Bulma had an uncanny feeling, however, that it was not an enemy that had caused the explosion, and she ran to the door, fearing the worst.

She quickly threw open the door, immediately gasping in shock at the scene before her. The gravity room had been reduced to rubble, some of it still raining down from the sky. There was a scorched hole in the side of the CC complex next to where the chamber had once stood, but the damage was purely aesthetic. Bulma looked around frantically, trying to spot Vegeta, hoping that maybe he'd made it out... "Vegeta," she called out shakily. "Vegeta, where are you?!" No response. She made her way to the steaming pile of what used to be the gravity room, starting to move aside chunks of debris. "Vegeta!!!" She called out louder, hoping, no, praying for a response. //Kami, please let him be alive,// tears leaked down her face as she kept trying to locate the Saiyan Prince among the remnants of his training facility. "VEG-"

She cut off with a scream as a gloved hand shot out of the rubble next to her. Bulma stumbled backwards as Vegeta pulled himself free of some of the metal and circuitry. One arm was marred and bloody, hanging limply at his side. His face was an absolute mess of gashes and burns, as well as his back and chest, and it looked as if one of his legs was broken at the knee. She moved forward slowly, attempting to help him move some of the debris off of him. "Get away from me," he shouted weakly. "I have... suffered worse injuries than this before," his voice was strained as he attempted to push his pain away. Shaking almost convulsively, he pulled himself to his feet, Bulma watching in horrified awe. "I do not... require... your h-" he groaned, a wave of pain and nausea flowing through him from the simple act of attempting to stand on his own two feet.

He fell forward, Bulma catching him awkwardly in her arms and lowering him to lay on his back, as she was unable to support his full weight. She quickly brushed away her tears for him before he could see them. "Hey," she said softly, "we all know how tough you are, but right now you need help... Just, let me help you, okay, Vegeta? We'll get you back up and ready to beat up Goku in no time," she said, hoping humor would help her cause.

Vegeta chuckled weakly. "V-very... well..." He passed out.

Yamcha had watched the events with a detached form of shock. He had no idea what to do... Everything inside him screamed that Vegeta was a monster, and that they would be doing the Earthn a favor if they would just let him die here. //He was responsible for your death, Yamcha!!! Don't forget that!// He could never forget... But... The way Bulma was acting toward him. She saw what he didn't want to see. Yamcha had to admit that she was right. Vegeta was invaluable when it came down to beating the androids. And Bulma cared for him. Yamcha knew that even if he didn't like Vegeta, he would respect the fact that Bulma did, and for Bulma, for a FRIEND, Yamcha would do anything.

Upon Vegeta passing out, Bulma's eyes widened. //Shit! I've got to get him medical treatment, and FAST!// She turned to see Yamcha just standing there with a blank expression on his face. "Yamcha! Don't just stand there, fucking help me move him inside," she almost snarled at him. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed CC's on-staff medical personell.

//Well, she didn't have to get all huffy on me, but... Who are you kidding, Yamcha, you'd probably ki-blast yourself right now if she told you to...// Yamcha complied quickly, picking up Vegeta's limp form gently, shaking his head and almost chuckling at the irony of the situation. Following Bulma's orders, he took Vegeta to a specially designed medical room in the residential wing of CC. Bulma spoke swiftly and urgently to the doctor, hanging up almost exactly when Yamcha placed Vegeta in an examining bed.

Bulma bit her nails and paced nervously. //That doctor had better fucking hurry up...// She looked down at Vegeta, his face contorted with pain even now that he had passed out. Placing a hand on his forehead, she smoothed his furrowed brows. //Don't die on me, Vegeta... I don't know what I'd do without you...// Her eyes shot open at the thought. Did she really love him THAT much???

The doctor burst into the room accompanied by 2 assistants. "Please, everyone out of the room while I attend the patient," he said in a very urgent tone.

"But-" Bulma was about to protest, but Yamcha placed a firm hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him.

"There's nothing we can do for him if we stay in here," he said softly. "Let the doctor work." Bulma sighed, resigning herself to the fact that Yamcha was right. She took one last glance at Vegeta, then allowed herself to be steered out of the room by Yamcha's arm around her shoulders. Once outside, she slumped against the wall, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from her back pocket. Yamcha's eyebrows rose in shock. "You smoke?!"

Bulma pulled out a cigarette, holding it to her lips and producing a lighter, igniting the end of the carcinogenous stick. She took a deep drag, letting her eyes fall closed as she exhaled, feeling a light wave of calm pass over her body. She finally shrugged in answer to Yamcha's question. "Only when I'm really stressed... And as you can see, now is definitely one of those times."

Yamcha shook his head. "There's so much I don't know about you..." They shared a sad smile, knowing now, for sure, that their parting of ways had been for the best. For about 2 hours, they sat in relative silence outside the door where Vegeta was recieving treatment. At long last, the doctor emerged, pulling off bloodied rubber gloves and wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his sleeve.

Bulma shot up from her resting place on the floor. "How is he? Is he going to be okay," she asked anxiously.

The doctor shook his head in a gesture of disbelief. "I don't know how the hell someone could survive something like that, but believe me, that's what he's going to do. He's pretty beaten up, but it looks like a good deal of it occured before the explosion. He's also in a considerable amount of pain. But I expect him to make a full recovery, the lucky bastard." Bulma breathed a sigh of releif. "Having never dealt, medicinally, with a... with someone like him, I had to do some calculations to figure out how to keep him sedate and relatively pain-free. Your friend needs roughly the same amount of anasthetic as a large horse," he chuckled. "But what I've left for you should be enough to keep him from moving about too much until he's healed enough to undertake his daily routine again. I've also left you instructions as to when to medicate and how much, and a list of possible side effects. If you end up needing more, you know the number," the doctor stated genially.

Bulma nodded, listening attentively to everything the doctor said. "Of couse, Doctor, thank you."

He chuckled again. "Anytime, Miss Breifs."

As the doctor and his assistants gathered their things and cleaned the room up, Bulma turned to Yamcha. "Yamcha, Thank you... I know helping Vegeta had to be hard for you, especially after finding out... you know... But, anyways, I just wanted to thank you. I'm very proud of you." Bulma smiled softly.

Yamcha smiled back, nodding. "You're welcome... I... I think I'm gonna head home now, Pu'ar must be wondering where I am by now. If you want... I could come and check on you sometime tomorrow," he said hopefully.

Bulma nodded. "Yeah, I think that might be a good idea... Thanks again, Yamcha, for everything."

He grinned, mimicking the doctor's words, "Anytime, Miss Breifs." They shared a short laugh, and Yamcha departed.

After the doctor and his assistants were finished, Bulma walked softly into the room, pulling up a chair beside Vegeta's bed and quickly reading over her care instructions. Vegeta stirred, sweat beading on his forehead as his breath quickened slightly. His eyes were moving rapidly beneath his eyelids, his head tossing nervously from side to side as he mumbled incoherantly. //He must be having a nightmare...// Bulma reached out to him, running her fingers through his hair gently. After a few moments he began to calm, his breathing becoming deep and rhythmic as he turned his head in his sleep, giving Bulma better access to his hair. The look on his face now was almost serene, making Bulma wish she could do this always. But she knew he would never allow something like this normally, so she decided to treasure it, locking the moment away in her mind to look back on forever with fondness...


A/N: Aww, *sniffle* how sweet... Next chappie we get more comedy! YAY!!! AKA, "Fun With Sedatives!" And... maybe... some lemony goodness.... maaaaybe... It'll either be out sometime this weekend, or at the beginning of next weekend. I'm shooting for this weekend, because I'm in a really write-ey mood for some reason. But don't hold me to that. I still have to update my other fic, "Some Life..." and maybe even go skiing with my dad ^_^_V Now, on to reader response! YAY!


kamehameha_roshi: *puts hand behind head in the manner of Son Goku* Aww, shuks... Thanks ^_^; And don't worry, this story is anywhere but near done...

vampkestrel: heh, don't worry, more is on the way... you're a greedy one, aren't you ~_^ Oh, and thanks for the repeated reviews, ^_^ makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside...

DBZ Lover: Yeah, I'm evil about ending chappies like that... But it keeps people reading, right ^_^; Anyways, glad you like it, thanks for reading and rating!

mischief maker: *sips on lemonade*... mmm... ^_^; Want some?

Mushi_azn: O_O; *holds up hands* sorry for "blue-balling" you, but I kinda liked ending the chappie ther ^_^;;;

Piper: ^_^; I'm starting to feel like a drug dealer, everyone asking for more... Don't worry, little junkies, you'll get your fix... ^_^_V BTW, thanks for the ratings, I feel so loved ^_^

Faye89: ~_^ I've got some interesting things planned for the "Saiyan Mating Ritual" per se.. But you'll just have to keep checking to find out what they are. Sorry, I don't give out hints... But thanks for the ratings!!!

Black Dragon: *spins whip between fingers* Me? Torture people on purpose?..... *wicked hentai grin* Sounds like fun... Anyways, thanks for the rating, hope you keep checking the story...

Saiya: lol, thanks for the review, although it was concise. I'm interested in your ratings, having someone rate me less than a 10 is refreshing, because it means I can still improve ^_^ so tell me some things you think I can work on, and I'll definitely listen! ^_^ peace!

ArchDuke: I'd be willing to go into an argument with you on how alike Bulma and Vegeta really are, but we can do that whenever, considering I talk to you every night... (Everybody go "AWWW" cause SaiyanTrombone has a nice considerate boyfriend who reads her fics and even reviews them ^_^ *huggles ArchDuke plushie*)

lillithan: Thanks a lot! I think you'll enjoy what I have planned...

nsbvegeta: lol, that chapter with Veggie in the shower was probably the toughest thing i've forced myself to write yet... i'm glad it turned out so well, though. Thanks for the ratings!

Goku_trombone: *chuckles* thanks a lot! but >_O; quoting Piccolo in a Vegeta/Bulma review? I mean, come on!!! ~_^ (y'know i'm just joshin ya, man...)

Thank you everybody for reviewing! Keep 'em coming, it really encourages me ~_^