Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Saiyan For All Seasons ❯ Hallucinations ( Chapter 18 )

A Saiyan For All Seasons

 

Chapter Seventeen

 

Hallucinations

 

Disclaimer: DBZ belongs to Akira Toriyama.

 

AN - Almost two years between updates! *Hides*

 

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Bulma was uncomfortable. IT stood for Instant Teleportation. Instant! They should be back by now. She could account for ten minutes of re-acquaintance, and for the explanations that needed to be given. There would be a few more minutes of supplication, possibly even entreaty - not that she thought Yamcha would need much persuading. He loved a party and would never need to be asked twice, even during his most intense training sessions. Goku, however, had been gone for over an hour, and even though Bulma hadn't initially entertained a doubt of Yamcha accepting the invitation, the minutes continued to tick by. All the doubts and the fears about Yamcha and the validity of their current friendship resurfaced, warning her that maybe she had been too confident in the importance he placed on her in his new life with Kiko.

 

“Jeez! I wish I knew why they are taking so long,” she sighed, unable to keep her unease hidden.

 

“Oh come now, Bulma,” Chi Chi replied with a smile. “When has Goku ever been good with time? He always keeps us waiting. I'll be surprised if we see them back here at all tonight! You know what men are like when they get together. Time has no meaning to them.”

 

This buoyed Bulma a little. “You think?”

 

“Oh yeah,” Krillin agreed, “Don't forget that Yamcha has been out there training. I bet he's come up with a really cool technique and he's showing it to Goku even as we speak.” He laughed. “They're probably going hell for leather right now. Aw man! Forget the beach party. I want to see them fight. Not that I think any amount of training will help Yamcha. If I were him I'd just give in.” He sighed. “Saiyans are indestructible.”

 

“You're just a big coward,” Puar snapped. “Yamcha's a fearless warrior. Out-powered or not he would never accept defeat!”

 

“Of course! They're fighting,” agreed Bulma, very relieved to have her anxiety so conveniently explained away. “I don't know why I was so worried. It's not like they can't look after themselves. It's just another sad case of good sense overrun by testosterone! Sometimes being a woman is a blessing.”

 

“They're not sparring.” Everyone turned to look at Gohan. He was sitting on the sand, half way through building a sandcastle. His play, however, was forgotten as he stared out to sea in a way that clearly showed his concern. “I can feel Dad's life energy. If he were fighting I'd feel it. You would too Krillin. His ki spiked a little a minute ago, but other than that I haven't felt it change at all.”

 

Something unnatural reawakened in Bulma's tummy. Fear was the predominant feeling - fear of not seeing him, and fear of what would happen if she did.

 

“The kids got a point.” Krillin agreed. “But if they're not fighting then they're probably talking about it. Either way, I'm sure they'll get here eventually.”

 

Bulma sighed and laid back down on her recliner. “You're right,” she agreed. “I'm probably worrying over nothing. If they really are talking about sparring, or training, or something equally macho and dull it is better for us all if they get it out of their system now. I for one would rather not be bored to death by it when they get back. I guess we can't do anything other than wait.”

 

Bulma carried her anxiety well, but it required a great deal of effort to feign indifference when her heart was racing.

 

She was only dimly aware, therefore, a few minutes later that the conversation - which had been roused to more mundane topics since the previous discussion - had fallen silent. She heard someone whisper Yamcha's name and there was a cold gust of wind that rushed over her. All of her forced composure evaporated in that one moment, fleeting, as though the remnants of a dream. She didn't dare to look around. What would he say to her? How would she greet him? The last time she'd felt this nervous was the night after Trunks was born. The night she'd told Vegeta that they had to remove his son's tail. Would she be as relieved as she was that night, or would all her worst fears be confirmed? Oh! How she wished she had stayed at Capsule Corporation that morning!

 

“What's wrong with him, Daddy?”

 

Somehow, through all the commotion Bulma was suffering through, that one sentence managed to find it's way in. Gohan had spoken it with so much alarm in his voice that the anxiety, which had originally forced her limbs into inactivity, now acted as a stimulant. In an instant she stood up from the recliner and turned to face the spot that everyone else was transfixed by. What she saw made her chest feel so heavy she though she might pass out. Goku was back. His eyes were pinched in the middle - the way he always looked when something was deeply troubling him. Yamcha… Yamcha was draped over his shoulder like a trophy kill, unconscious, and with a trickle of blood running through his hairline.

 

“Oh dear god!”

 

Suddenly there was nothing debilitating her movement. On the contrary, it spurred her on, and from that moment Bulma, the person, ceased to feel. In her place was the professional Bulma, clear headed and rational as her medical training took over. Yamcha was her patient. She had to come up with a diagnosis. In an instant she was by his side, her fingers on his neck, her cheek placed above his lips.

 

“Was he unconscious when you found him?” she asked.

 

“No… he was awake.”

 

“And his face - was it flushed like this?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“When did he lose consciousness?”

 

“About five minutes ago.”

 

“Ok, he hasn't been unconscious for long. That's a good thing, but we really need to get him out of the sun and into a bed. Take him indoors. It's too hot out here.”

 

“There's a bed made in the spare room. You can take him up there,” urged Master Roshi.

 

Bulma followed Goku as he carried Yamcha into the house. The bedroom was basic to say the least, one square room with a tiny dorma-window cut into the roof, but it had a bed, and the lack of light was exactly calculated to help rather than hinder the care of her patient. It was reasonably clean as well, which was a minor miracle in Kamesenin's house. They laid him on the bed and Bulma sat on the covers next to him. His pulse was racing but his breathing was okay. It gave her a little hope that her friend wasn't as ill as she had first feared he might be. Still… she wouldn't be comfortable until she had sought a second opinion. The whole situation just wasn't right. Yamcha knew the desert like the back of his hand. What had him be so careless as to be in this condition now?

 

“He's lost a lot of weight since I saw him last and his pulse is still a little too fast for my liking,” she commented to Goku as he shut the door behind them.

 

“I told the others to wait downstairs while you take a look at him.”

 

“Thank you. Come over here.” She gestured to the opposite side of the bed. “Look at him, Goku. I must say that I am shocked he let himself get so bad. The desert is his home. He knows better.”

 

“That's very true,” Goku agreed. “But there's something you need to know, Bulma. Something I didn't want to mention in front of the others. He was hallucinating when I found him.”

 

“Hallucinating?”

 

“Yes. I told you the truth when I said he lost consciousness about five minutes ago, but I didn't tell you why.” Goku took a deep breath. “It was because of me. I knocked him out.”

 

“Why on earth…!”

 

“You have to believe me when I say that had there been any other way to get him here then I would have taken it, but I was frightened he was going to hurt himself. He didn't know where he was, who I was, or anything beyond his hallucinations for that matter. I thought getting him here was the best thing to do. You know I'm not good with this stuff, Bulma. But you're so smart! You always know what to do.”

 

She reached out a hand. He took it and she squeezed it affectionately, “You did the right thing.”

 

Bulma looked down at Yamcha. “You idiot!” she chided. A tear escaped to run down her cheek. “You see what you do to yourself when I'm not around to look after you.”

 

“What do you thinks wrong with him?”

 

“You see this?” She pointed to Yamcha's chest. It was glowing a bright scarlet even in the dim light of the bedroom. “His skin is red, but he isn't sweating. Not being able to sweat properly is a sign that the body can't cool itself down. That means he's dehydrated.”

 

“So it's dehydration. That's all?”

 

“Yes and no,” she replied. “We don't know how long he has been like this. It's unlikely, if he were delirious, that he would recognise the signs. Even less likely that he would look after himself and know how to treat the symptoms. I'm pretty certain that he has been this way for a while. His body has gone into a state of shock… slowly shutting itself down. I think he's suffering from heat stoke.”

 

“Heat stroke,” Goku scratched his head. “Well that doesn't sound so bad, not for a guy as strong as Yamcha anyway. Thank goodness! You know I was really worried it was something serious.”

 

“Well, untreated heat stroke has been known to be fatal, but Yamcha's hardly a normal person. If he were he might well have been dead when you found rather than hallucinating. We need to get him to a proper medical facility, preferably Capsule Corp. I need to run more tests. We have a fully staffed medical wing and James is the best doctor in West City. We'll need to get his temperature down a little before we move him though. Will you be able to teleport us all back to my place?”

 

“Of course I will. I'm happy to help in whatever way I can.”

 

“Thank you. We better make a start right now. If you can take his clothes off down to his boxer shorts for me, then I can quickly pop downstairs and speak with Master Roshi.”

 

“Okay.”

 

It was a wrench to leave the room, but it couldn't be helped. The stairs were narrow and steep and in normal circumstances would have taken quite a while to navigate, but Bulma ran down them two at a time. “Master Roshi!”

 

“Right here, Bulma,” he shouted from the kitchen.

 

“Do you have any ice packs in the house, frozen peas, anything like that?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Good, bring them right away. We need to get Yamcha's temperature down. Who else is here?”

 

“I am, Bulma,” answered Puar, her worry evident.

 

“He's had a rough time in the desert, but we think he'll be fine.” Bulma reassured her friend. “Can you get a sheet from the airing cupboard, soak it in cold water and then bring it upstairs for me? I have to go back up, but once we get him comfortable Goku and I are going to take him to Capsule Corp. Do you want to come with us?”

 

“Yes, please!” Puar agreed, close to tears, “I want to be with him. I want to help,” and with this said she flew off to the laundry room at full speed.

 

While they were gone, Bulma took the opportunity to call her father and make arrangements at Capsule Corp. for Yamcha's imminent arrival. Her father was naturally very worried, but that he was proud of her for acting so quickly and calmly was not left unmentioned. He was also aware enough of his daughter's emotions to let her know that Trunks was fine, and that the infant had given neither he, nor her mother a moments concern in her absence. This was news more than welcome to Bulma. That was part of the reason she wanted Yamcha taken back to her home rather than staying at Kame Island. There was no way she would be able to nurse him if he stayed with his old master. It was quickly settled that Goku would teleport her, Puar and Yamcha back to West City as soon as they were ready. She put the phone down and went upstairs to find that Puar and Master Roshi had already gathered there. The ice packs were placed at vital points on Yamcha's body - the armpits and between his legs. The wet blanket was wrapped tightly around him like swaddling, and it was in this state three hours later that Goku teleported Yamcha, Puar and Bulma back to Capsule Corporation.

 

Bulma had never travelled by IT before, and quite frankly, she would be happy if it never happened again. Goku had explained that it felt like going on the world's biggest roller coaster ride, and he hadn't been kidding. She gripped his arm so tightly she left a mark on his skin and had this not happened and her eyes been firmly shut then Bulma fully believed she would have been sick. The urge was definitely a tangible one, but she survived the journey unscathed, even though she only dared to open her eyes again when the feeling had passed and she felt rain pelting down onto her exposed skin. The sun had already set at Capsule Corp and the wind wailed through the buildings, driving the rain so hard it felt like hail against her skin. She shivered in her bikini. She'd forgotten what a grotty day she'd left behind that morning, and from the feel of it, the weather had only deteriorated during her time away.

 

Goku, as with most things, seemed entirely unperturbed by the contrasting environments, and he was half way across the lawn to the med wing before she was properly aware of him having moved at all. Puar, obviously exhausted by the day's activities, was in a state somewhere between grief and sleep. Bulma had to run after Goku and only caught up when he was about to go inside. She met her father at the door. He had a hover-gurney already waiting for them. Yamcha was swiftly laid down on it and swept away before she even got the chance to say goodbye. Bulma made a move to go after him, but her father stopped her before she had taken many steps.

 

“Better leave James to it,” he said, putting an arm around her shoulder. “He's the best there is, and you and your friends look exhausted.”

 

“I need to be doing something.”

 

“Then take Puar and young Goku here back to the house to get something to eat. There is plenty of food and I'm sure you're all hungry after your ordeal.”

 

Bulma looked at her father incredulously. “Are you sure that's a good idea.”

 

“Now, now, Bulma. There's no need to worry.” He smiled. It was a smile full of knowledge and understanding. “We couldn't be sure if there was an infection in Yamcha's condition, or anything else that may upset those who might be vulnerable. I thought it was better if your mother and…” He coughed, “our guest stayed at the Hilton for this one night. I hope you understand.”

 

“Oh yes,” she agreed. She was very sorry to miss her son, but likewise glad of her father's foresight.

 

“Ok, then off with you. I promised James I would oversee, just make sure you and Goku leave me something to eat.”

 

“Well I can vouch for myself. Son-Kun on the other hand… I'll do my best.”

 

“You're right, Mr Brief,” Goku chimed. “I'm starving!”

 

They walked back across the grounds. Puar was sound asleep in Bulma's arms by the time she showed Goku into the kitchen. He was ordered not to touch anything until she had changed out of her wet bikini, and put Puar to bed in the guest suite. It was a promise he was happy to make, but less likely to keep.

 

True to form he had already found a plate of chicken legs in the fridge and was starting to munch his way through them when Bulma re-entered the room ten minutes later. “I knew you wouldn't wait,” she teased, as she moved passed the table to make herself a cup of hot chocolate.

 

“I had my fingers crossed when you made me promise.”

 

It was supposed to be a happy comment. Goku always resorted to being goofy when he knew people were worried or tense. This time, however, there was too much of his own anxiety in the words to help lighten the mood. Having put the kettle on to boil, Bulma decided it was about time to talk openly to Goku while they had the opportunity of being alone.

 

“I want you to tell me everything I haven't yet already heard about what happened to Yamcha,” she began, leaning casually back on the counter top. “You said he wasn't making any sense when you found him? What did he say to you? Did you know straight away that something was wrong?”

 

“No. He looked a little wild, but hey! We were in the desert! It didn't seem out of place. I said `hi' to him and we started to talk. He was talking about when we were young, telling me the story of how we met in the desert, all those years ago. He remembered it so well and I was thinking of joining in, adding bits that I remembered but which he left out. It wasn't long, however, before I realized that he wasn't telling me to remind me but as he would tell it to a complete stranger, like I was never actually involved in the adventure at all. He talked about me several times. But it was always in a way that suggested I didn't know who Goku was. At first it was just unsettling. I thought maybe he wanted to be left alone and so was talking nonsense just to get rid of me. Of course I didn't want to go without him, especially when you guys were all counting on me to bring him back. So even though the way he looked at me made me feel nervous I didn't give up. Then I had an idea. I thought fair enough. I don't know what I've done to offend him, but surely he wouldn't be mad with you Bulma, close as you two still are. I thought if I told him you were on Kame Island then it might make him stop messing around and come with me.”

 

Goku took a long thoughtful bite on his chicken. It was disconcerting seeing him pick at his food. It was clear he was more upset than he was letting on.

 

“I think I might have made him worse, because then all he did was keep shaking his head and calling your name. I tried to make myself heard, but he wouldn't listen to me. I said over and over again that you were at Kame house. In the end he lost patience with me. He called me a liar. He said he knew where you were. That he had seen you. That you were with Vegeta, but Vegeta wouldn't let you go to him.”

 

“Vegeta?”

 

“Yeah, I thought it was an odd reference too,” he agreed, but he didn't look puzzled. To be truthful his expression looked more as though he had a superior knowledge of the situation. It made Bulma uncomfortable. What if, in his hallucinations, Yamcha had accidentally let something of the matter slip? She shook her head. It was best not to think on that and let Goku finish his story.

 

“I tried to calm him down. I reassured him that you really were very well, and that he didn't need to worry because Vegeta wasn't on Earth any more. It was useless. He didn't believe me. The more I talked about you the more abusive he got. He called me names… names I wouldn't wish to repeat to anyone, but all the time I don't think it was really me he was seeing. The longer I stood there the more and more hate and anger I saw on his face. Then it happened. He called me Kiko! He said that he knew I was trying to trick him into going home.” Goku repeated Kiko's name as though he were trying to figure out the significance of it all. “I don't want to think badly of anyone, and it would be wrong of me to judge someone I know so little about, but you're close to Yamcha, Bulma. Do you have any reason to think his relationship with Kiko is bad for him in any way?”

 

“Well…” she said, turning around to finish making her drink. “I know they haven't had it easy. Kiko's a busy single mum, and she's never been secure with Yamcha's friendship with me. I don't necessarily think that it is to her detriment though. I'd probably feel the same way if I were in her place, and more than likely I would be a lot less accepting about it. I can't say I've taken pains to get to know her, but whenever we have met she has always been very pleasant to me, and I think all in all she is a nice person. According to Yamcha she can fly off the handle every now and then, but living with him would do that to anyone.”

 

“Well then… if you're not worried about her, then it would be silly for me to be.”

 

“So what happened next?”

 

“I'm sorry to say things got even worse. He became even more confused and went back to asking where you were. I told him again that I would take him to you, but it only succeeded in making him angrier than ever. He came at me as though to strike me. I didn't have a choice. I had to stop him.”

 

“I know you did, Goku. Don't beat yourself up over it okay.”

 

“I know, but I don't like hitting my friends. Sometimes I don't know my own strength. I might have done more harm than good.”

 

“Don't think that way. Would you like a drink?”

 

“What… uh no. No, thank you.”

 

She stirred the chocolate powder until it was completely dissolved and blew the top cool. All the time she kept her eyes firmly on her friend. There was something in his posture that didn't sit well with her. She had seen it from the first moment he had returned. Was it unease, uncertainty of some kind? It hunched his shoulders and played on his entire countenance as he continued to nibble his food rather than wolf it down in his usual sickening way.

 

“So… is that all?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“You knocked him out and teleported straight back to Kame Island?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Bulma raised an eyebrow and pulled out a chair to sit down with him at the table.

 

“There's more isn't there? I know when you're worried about something. We're friends aren't we?”

 

“Of course we are, but…”

 

“And as your friend it is my duty to listen to anything you might have to say. No, not just a duty but a necessity, especially when I can see that you're really worried.”

 

“I don't know that…”

 

“Son Kun, please! Don't shut me out.”

 

He sighed and looked her dead in the eye as though trying to read the situation. “You're right,” he said at last. “I shouldn't shut you out. I didn't tell you everything just now, but it's… I'm not sure if it is right to tell you or not. I think I should, but I don't want you to get mad at me, and I think you might. Promise to remember that I'm only the messenger.”

 

“Son-Kun. You can tell me anything. I promise I won't get mad.”

 

“Are you sure? I don't really like you when you get mad, you know.”

 

“Then you better tell me quickly,” she warned, her patience wearing thin. “Or you certainly won't like me.”

 

“Well here it is. Yamcha shouted something before I knocked him out… but after what you both… how you once felt about each other… and then there was so much emotion when he said it…” Goku paused, as though it were unwise to continue, but Bulma instantly gave him a look that made up his mind for him. He ran a hand through his unruly hair. “He came charging at me and said, “I love Bulma more than anyone. I won't give her up. You can't stop me from loving her!””

 

“Loving me?”

 

“He was delusional, Bulma, and I'm sure it probably didn't mean anything, but I wouldn't have said anything if I didn't think it was important that you know about it and talk to him about it when he is well again.” He looked concerned. “Was I right to tell you?”

 

“Yes… yes it was the right thing to do,” she agreed, but her mind… her mind was in absolute turmoil! It flew back in time to the kiss! The one on the bench outside the nightclub the night Bulma found out she was pregnant with Trunks! She remembered the look in his eyes as he told her that he wasn't sure if anything had changed. That maybe he still loved her too much to try and work things out with Kiko. Bulma shook her head. They had both agreed that it wasn't right to continue. She distinctly remembered Yamcha saying it wasn't right, and there was truth in his eyes - truth that couldn't be faked! He had smiled at Bulma so warmly that evening as he realised that Kiko was the right woman for him. If she closed her eyes Bulma could feel the power behind that feeling. Surely it wasn't possible to misinterpret that look? If ever there was true calm acceptance in a look, Bulma was sure that was it. His passion in the desert probably represented nothing more serious than muddled memories, but still… there was a tiny little morsel of doubt that whispered, “What if I have been wrong. What if he has been lying to both Kiko and I all this time?”

 

Suddenly Bulma couldn't breathe. Her heart raced as she felt the shock, which hadn't affected her before, suddenly grab her body in waves of paralysing strokes.

 

“Bulma?”

 

She stood up and took a few shaky steps to the sink. She braced her hands either side trying to control the emotion flooding through her.

 

“Bulma,” Goku soothed. “I know this isn't what you want to hear right now. I know you don't love him that way anymore, and I know why, but he wasn't himself. I've spoken to him a lot these last couple of years. He knows it's over between you two. He knows you love someone else.”

 

Bulma's eyes flashed up to meet him.

 

“But that doesn't matter right now,” Goku coaxed. “We've both had a tough few hours. We need to get our heads round that first.”

 

“I'm not sure I can,” she admitted. “I'm so worried about him.”

 

The tears, the ones she had wanted to shed since Yamcha had appeared on Kame Island, the ones that had been swallowed by professionalism and schooled into exertion, were now no longer held back. She was dimly aware of an arm around her waist, leading her silently, but insistently back to her chair at the table, but beyond that, for half an hour or more she was lost to anything else.

 

Goku eventually roused her. The tears were cried dry and she rubbed her eyes furiously to focus on him. “I'd better go,” he said. “Chi Chi and Gohan will be waiting for me, and they'll all want to know Yamcha got here safely.”

 

“Yes, of course,” she agreed, and then added. “Tell Master Roshi thank you for inviting me, and that I'm sorry the party was cut short. Maybe we can do it again, when Yamcha is better.”

 

“That's a great idea, Bulma! And next time you'll all have to come to my place.”

 

“Consider me there.” She smiled. It was a strain. “I'll call you tomorrow and let you know how Yamcha's doing.”

 

Goku was on the verge of teleporting when the door opened and Mr Briefs came in. He told them that Yamcha was comfortable and doing very well. He had regained consciousness, but James had decided that for the time being, while he was recovering, it was better to keep him sedated. The IV was replenishing the fluids he had lost, and they were confident that a good nights sleep would be enough to clear him of the worst of the danger.

 

“We'll see about waking him again at lunchtime tomorrow,” he continued. “That will also give the chance for a message to be sent to that young lady-friend of his. I don't think she needs telling tonight. She still thinks he's in the desert. Better for her to get a good nights sleep, so we can tell her in the morning, when she is fresh, awake and able to take the news properly.”

 

“Mr Briefs?”

 

“Yes, Goku?”

 

“If you don't mind. That is… I don't want to step on your toes, but I think I should be the one to tell her.”

 

Mr Briefs looked puzzled and Bulma felt scarcely less so. “Are you sure? Do you know her well?”

 

“Hardly at all, but I think it's something I need to do.”

 

“Well I was thinking Bulma might be the one, but if you're absolutely set on…”

 

“I am.” His expression brooked no opposition.

 

“Very well then.”

 

“Well… if that's all settled, I'm off!” chirped Goku. He put two fingers to his forehead and disappeared leaving the words, “See ya!” floating after him.