Dangerous Bond

Chapter 38 : Playing Hero

It was three o'clock in the morning, the lights of the lab still buzzing continuously. Bulma was slumped over the head of Vegeta's chair, doing her best not to fall asleep completely. Yamcha had gone home already on Bulma's order after he had nearly fainted. The effort he had put into recovering from the machine was taking its toll and Bulma had seen that he would have been nothing more than a nuisense who got in the way. Dr. Briefs had come in not long after that and had stayed with his daughter. For one of the smartest men on the planet it had taken him an awful long time to see Bulma's relationship with the Saiya-jin prince, but now that he knew he was determined to help her through this.

The doctor came over to Bulma and placed a hand on her shoulder. "He'll be fine, Bulma. We all know Vegeta's strong."

The Saiya-jin no Ouji looked up at him, a weak smirk on his face. "Good to hear someone knows that."

Bulma jumped half way to the moon at the sound of his voice. He hadn't done anything but moan and occasionally cry out for the last hour and his voice was like a light through the dark. She looked down at him from the top of the seat and nearly cried when she saw her prince staring back at her. He flicked his tail up and wrapped it around her wrist.

"There's nothing to worry about, onna." He glanced over at Kyashi, 'Not for me at least...'

"I'VE GOT IT!!" One of the biologists suddenly screamed, his research weary colleges falling out of their seats at the sound of his voice. He continued on in a fevered tone as Dr. Breifs went over to see. "There's this chemical I was researching earlier and I found that it reacts with the poison nuclei to create the antidote. All we have to do it react enough of the poison cells with this, inject it into the victim and they should be fine!"

Bulma literally jumped for joy. "Oh kami, hear that Vegeta? You and Kiyashi are gonna be fine!"

The Saiya-jin no Ouji, always the pessimist, wasn't quite so sure. "How much of the poison do you have to convert?" He wanted to know, "And how much poison is in our bodies to fight?" There was silence through the laboratory as they all thought on this.

"Oh." The first scientist said after a second. "Yeah."

One of the doctors ran some results through her computer. "There are approximately 99 billion poison microbes {can you tell I don't know what I'm on about?} in both of you combined," She told Vegeta, "And one-third of them are in you. We have..." Her eyes scanned the screen, "...35 billion to convert. Enough to save you or stabilize the other one in unconciousness for about two weeks."

Bulma's shoulders sagged in defeat. She knew that Vegeta would never take the antidote if it would mean the death of his only sibling. But if he didn't they'd both die...

Vegeta's expression never faltered. "How long do I have?" He asked.

"With your antibody count and fitness... Seven days at max." Another biologist informed him.

"Give it to Kiyashi." He ordered, "Give it to my sister."

"No!" Bulma's voice echoed around the room. "She'll die anyway! Even if they give it to her she'll only last two weeks. You could live, Vegeta-san! Don't throw it away, please..."

The Saiya-jin no Ouji caught her in his gaze. "In a week they might have found an alternate cure." He said quietly, fooling no-one. "Both Kiyashi AND I could survive."

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead on the back of his white glove, feeling better and better as morning came closer. He knew now that the symptoms got worse during the night before disapearing to almost nothing during the day. He could survive six or seven nights of torture... Couldn't he?

"It's not worth the risk Vegeta..." Bulma protested, hot tears running down her face, "We could lose you both..."

One of the scientists stood up. "We'll get all the best doctors and biologists onto it, Miss Bulma." He promised, "We might just be able to come up with something in time."

The others nodded and her father patted her on the back. "All the best in the entire world." He promised her.

She gasped, her head shaking slowly from side to side. They were siding with Vegeta. And she realised then that the elite's decision had gained the respect of all the others in the room... Apart from her.

'Perhaps I'm being selfish...' She wondered, 'Shouldn't he have the choice since it's his life?'

'~There's nothing wrong with reacting the way you are.~' His deep voice assured her in her head, '~I expected nothing else. But I'm still going to do this. If only for the chance to save the sister I lost for so long. And I promise you, I shall never leave your side...~'

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