Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Controlling Lies, Painful Truths ❯ Pain ( Chapter 2 )

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Chapter 2: Pain

Bulma was in the middle of a pleasant dream about Yamcha when she was rudely awakened by Krillin shaking her awake. "What?!" she screamed in a voice that would have blown his hair back, if he'd had any. "What is it now? First you run off and leave me here all alone with Kami knows how many evil aliens flying around, and now you come back and don't even have the decency to let me finish my dream, the only nice thing that's happened to me since we got here. I ought to..." her rant was cut off abruptly as she spied Vegeta sitting next to one of the cliff walls. "He's still with you? Why? What the hell's going on around here?"

"Calm down, Bulma," Krillin said, holding his palms out in front of him as if to ward her off. He quickly relayed the situation, finishing with, "... so we need him to stay here with you while we go get the password."

Bulma stamped her foot. "No way! I'm not staying here with that monster!" Her eyes suddenly welled up with tears. "He'll probably kill me, or worse..." She grabbed Gohan, who was unlucky enough to be standing closest to her. "I won't do it!" she cried, shaking him. "You hear me? I won't!"

Gohan gently pulled away and jumped back out of her reach. "He's sick, Bulma. He's not going to hurt you. And besides, he promised not to harm any of us if we helped him."

"Hmph. And you believed him?"

"Please, Bulma," Krillin pleaded. "We really need your help on this. He may be our best ally against Frieza until Goku arrives."

Bulma looked over at Vegeta, who had been sitting very still and quiet through the whole exchange, with his head resting on his knees. She crossed her arms and sighed. "Fine. What do you want me to do?"

Krillin smiled. "Thanks, Bulma. Just keep him comfortable until we get back. We shouldn't be too long. Come on, Gohan!" With that, the two Z fighters took off into the air, leaving Bulma alone with the ill Saiyan prince.

For a long while, Bulma simply stood on the opposite side of the camp, watching Vegeta warily. When he made no move to attack, she cautiously moved toward him. As she got closer, she saw that his whole body was shivering. She stopped a few feet away. What should I do? she thought in dismay. Krillin said to make him comfortable... "Hey, do you need anything?" she asked, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice. "Some water, a blanket..." her voice trailed off as Vegeta finally raised his head and glared at her.

"Nothing," he growled. "Just leave me alone."

That's gratitude for you, Bulma thought as the Saiyan buried his face in his arms again. Well, if he doesn't want my help, I certainly won't force it on him! She stomped back to her folding chair and sat down, picking up her magazine from the ground. But she soon found herself reading the same paragraph over and over again without comprehending it, so she set it down and started pacing back and forth through the camp. Finally, she sighed and began digging through the supplies that she had uncapsulated earlier.

After pulling out a flashlight, makeup kit, industrial strength hair dryer, and mittens, she finally found what she was looking for--a small air mattress, blanket, and pillow. She tossed the flattened mattress on the ground and pushed the button to inflate it. Vegeta looked up at the sound, but made no other movement. Bulma ignored him, spreading out the blanket and putting the pillow in place. When she was done, she looked over at the prince. "There, you can lie down if you want to, or not, you can sit there on the hard ground for all I care. Do whatever you want." She went back to her chair and pretended to read, but watched the Saiyan out of the corner of her eye.

A few minutes later, she was happy to see Vegeta finally stand up. But, instead of going for the bed, he turned and stumbled out of the ravine, heading toward the edge of the island. "Hey!" Bulma yelled, jumping up and chasing after him. "Krillin said you should stay here!" She stopped short as Vegeta fell to his hands and knees by the water's edge. "Are... are you okay?" she asked, moving up next to him.

"No..." he managed to choke out before retching violently over the side of the small ledge.

Bulma gasped and knelt beside him. Cautiously, she reached out and put her hand on his back, not knowing what else to do. "It's okay, it's going to be all right," she murmured. That had always been what her mother had said to her when Bulma was ill... not that it seemed to do any good. After awhile, Bulma started to get really worried. She knew that Saiyans--at least Goku and Gohan--ate a lot, but she'd never seen either of them get sick. Vegeta had been throwing up more than she had ever seen anyone do before, and he showed no sign of slowing down or stopping any time soon. After patting him once more on the shoulder, she got up and ran back to the camp. She grabbed a canteen of water and raced back.

By the time she got there, Vegeta's vomiting had progressed to dry heaves. She rubbed his back until his convulsing finally stopped, than handed him the water bottle. He rinsed his mouth out and spat, then swiped the back of his hand across his mouth. He sat back cross-legged on the ground.

"Feel better now?" Bulma asked.

"Not really." Vegeta took a gulp of water, then immediately started coughing.

"Better drink that slowly," she cautioned. "I really don't want you to be sick again."

"Hmph. You think I do?" Vegeta retorted, but took her advice and sipped only a small amount of the cool liquid the next time. After a few swallows, he tossed the canteen back to her and sat with his arms wrapped around his stomach.

Bulma waited a few minutes to make sure that the water would stay down, then stood up. "Come on, we'd better get back out of the open," she said, holding out her hand to help him up. Vegeta ignored it, struggling to his feet under his own power. He made it a few steps toward the camp, then swayed and would have fallen if Bulma hadn't come up beside him and wrapped her arm around his waist to support him. Men... they're all the same, the blue-haired girl thought with exasperation. Too damn stubborn for their own good.

The Saiyan didn't protest as she led him to the makeshift bed on the ground. Bulma set him down on the edge, then proceeded to take off his gloves, boots, and broken armor. Vegeta appeared to be unaware of what she was doing. His eyes were open, but had a glazed-over look, and seemed to be staring at a point far off in the distance. By the time Bulma got him lying down under the covers, he was shaking uncontrollably, and beads of sweat had collected on his forehead. Bulma got up and rummaged through her things, finally coming back with a small towel. She wet it with water from the canteen, then sat beside the bed and began dabbing at the prince's face and neck. Hurry back, Krillin and Gohan, she thought. I don't know what else to do here.

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Vegeta had never felt so horrible. He was hot, but couldn't seem to stop shivering. He felt dizzy and nauseous, but he firmly told himself that he was not going to throw up again. He got a small sense of victory as his body seemed to agree with his mind on that point. But the receding queasiness was soon replaced by an almost unbearable agony. He wished that he could sleep... he hadn't slept in days... but the pain prevented it. It was just enough to keep him on the edge of consciousness. He cursed his high tolerance, wishing that he could simply pass out and not feel anything anymore.

It hurt so much... the torture started in his head and abdomen, then radiated throughout his entire body. Every nerve in his body felt like it was on fire, and the waves of agony were becoming steadily worse. He curled into a ball and clenched his teeth, trying not to cry out. Eventually, though, it became too much to bear, and small, involuntary groans began to escape. Stop it! he ordered himself repeatedly. You don't want to appear weak. All those thoughts were shortly driven out of his mind by the unrelenting pain, and he soon was past caring anymore.

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Miles away, Krillin suddenly stopped in midair. "Gohan, wait up!" He called. Gohan turned and flew back to his friend.

"What is it, Krillin?"

"I'm having second thoughts about getting the password for Vegeta's wish."

"What?"

"I think there's another way. Why don't we go to Frieza's ship and see if we can find the medicine?"

Gohan looked shocked. "Krillin, that's insane!"

"Is it any more insane than giving a killer like Vegeta eternal life? How do we know he won't just end up worse than Frieza? Sure, he promised he wouldn't hurt anyone on earth, but who knows how may other planets and people he could destroy?"

Gohan nodded. "I think you're right. But shouldn't we go get the password anyway? We'll need it to get our friends back."

"Yes, but we can do that after we get the antidote for Vegeta. We need him well as soon as possible."

"Right." Gohan looked around. "I think the ship is that way," he said, pointing off to his left.

"I agree... I feel a dark power over there. Be extra careful!"

"Let's go!"

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Bulma was at her wits' end. Vegeta had been thrashing about on the bed and moaning for nearly an hour, and she didn't know how to help him. Everything she'd done seemed to be of no use... her only real accomplishment had been to get him to keep some more water down. But she could tell that he was getting worse: his moans had lately been evolving into loud cries of pain. She looked up at the sky. Oh, Goku, Krillin, Gohan, anybody, come back! I could really use some help here. The clouds held her attention. They looked so similar to the ones on earth... for a moment, she could almost pretend she was back there, away from this planet and an adventure that had gone horribly wrong. Why is this happening to me? I should be home, in my nice comfortable house, watching my favorite soaps... it's not fair!

She was startled out of her revere when Vegeta arched his back and screamed in agony. The Saiyan's eyes were wide open and his fingers clawed at the blanket as the wail went on and on, seeming to barely stop for breath. Bulma clapped her hands over her ears, trying to muffle the horrible sound. She was sure he was dying, right then and there.

Desperate to do something, anything, to help, she crawled onto the mattress beside him and wrapped her arms around his writhing body. She shut her eyes and held on tight, knowing that she was taking her own life into her hands just by being this close to the sick alien. Surprisingly, though, her proximity seemed to help, and within a few minutes (though it felt more like hours to Bulma) Vegeta's screams had quieted to moans, and his convulsions had calmed to small shudders.

Eventually, Bulma let go and rolled off the bed to sit beside it on the ground. I can't believe I did that! Well, at least it helped, I guess, she thought, unconsciously reaching over to take the Saiyan's hand. His fingers involuntarily tightened around her own, and she saw him visibly relax for a few moments before his eyes opened again. He jerked his hand back from her, then rolled away with a groan. Bulma sighed, then went in search of the discarded damp cloth. Finding it, she re-wet it with cool water and placed it on his forehead, then sat back to do the hardest job of all... waiting.

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To Be Continued...

Next time: "Visions" Vegeta begins to hallucinate, seeing people from his past and future. Meanwhile, Krillin and Gohan make an unsettling discovery at Frieza's ship.

A/N: Thanks for all the nice reviews! Keep 'em coming! My review monster has an appetite like Buu's. :) Oh, and I'm still not happy with the title of this story... let me know if you have any ideas!