I'm almost definitely going to finish this in a couple more chapters (the last will be an epilogue type thing). I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it! I'll keep this note short and sweet. Here we go again… (By the way – more replies to reviews at the bottom)
11. Surgery
The following six weeks flashed past and Hiro, despite his frailty, had grown a fair amount in size and weight, and was deemed healthy enough for surgery. His parents grew more worried and panicky by the day, whereas he lay in his cot, perfectly oblivious. He had put on 3 pounds in the past six weeks, bringing him from his birth weight of 6lbs to 9lbs.
Bra and Goten had been overjoyed at every display of strength Hiro gave and every piece of positive news they received, but as the days brought them closer and closer to the surgery date their joy had turned to fear – they had him now, but would they have him later? Very soon, it was the day before Hiro's surgery date.
Goten and Bra were visiting him for the last time before his surgery now. The doctors had left them alone with him for the first time, which would have been nice had the circumstances been different. They had been talked through the procedures countless times (Goten swore he could perform the surgery himself which earned him a wallop over the head with his mum's frying pan – he'd been unfortunate enough to say this when his parents had visited) and were fully aware of everything that could go wrong and everything they would have to do after surgery to keep Hiro healthy. Bra was fussing over Hiro, wrapping his blanket tightly around him, and then loosening it, worried he'd suffocate. Goten just watched her understanding her need to mother Hiro to the best of her ability.
She lifted him out of his plastic crib and jiggled him about, cooing. She'd lost her pregnancy weight now and was back to her thin self and tight fitting clothes. She didn't look much like a mother, but anybody could see how good she was at her new job. Before now, she'd been completely useless with children, hopeless at entertaining and very antisocial around them when they were the centre of attention (it had always been Goten's suspicion that she saw children as competition attention-wise), but now she played with Hiro like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Do you think we'll be able to see him after…afterwards?" She asked, her focus staying on Hiro.
"I don't know," Goten replied. He had asked, but he couldn't remember what the answer had been; so many things had been asked and answered, he couldn't remember what information went with what question.
"They'd better. Mummy wouldn't like it if she couldn't see her baby boy." She cooed at Hiro again. "If Hiro's poorly then he'll have to have his mum look after him." Goten smiled faintly. Bra was so… cute (he decided) when she was with Hiro. He'd never seen her fawn over somebody as much as she did with her son. His mind flicked back to the kiss they'd shared just before her collapse and he felt guilty – his son was going to have serious heart surgery and he was thinking of his relationship.
"Goten?" Bra said softly. He looked up and saw her smiling reassuringly at him. "It's going to be okay. I can feel it." She put her hand on her heart with difficulty and then made her way over to him, moving her arms again so that Hiro could lie more comfortably (Goten could see that he was falling asleep) and sat beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder. "When this is all over-"
"We'll look back on it and laugh?" Goten joked, feebly.
Bra nudged him with her foot and smiled ruefully, rolling her eyes. "Not quite, doofus. But think about it, after everything that's happened don't you think that…we'll be able to forget about everything that's happened before? We could go back to normal." Her cheeks were slightly pink when she finished but she turned her head to kiss Goten's shoulder lightly.
"And here I was, thinking that I would die an old maid!" Goten said, deadpan. He put one arm around her and hugged her and Hiro to him and he saw her smile as she moved her head to his chest and sigh contentedly. He knew that things were far from fixed, but this was a start. Hiro stirred and frowned up at him. "Oh great," he said, grimacing, "Hiro doesn't want to share his mummy with another man." Bra laughed at him and tutted at Hiro.
A cough. "Mr. Son, Miss Briefs? I'm afraid you'll have to leave now, we have to begin the procedures for the surgery tomorrow morning." Goten withdrew his arm and Bra swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat the second she heard the cough. Hiro whimpered as if he knew what was happening. Bra hugged him more tightly and Goten thought for a second that she wasn't going to leave him with the doctors, but she gave him a last kiss and held him up so Goten could do the same, and then she laid him down in the plastic crib. Her eyes had filled with tears that wouldn't clear no matter how many times she blinked and her mouth kept turning down at the corners.
"Bye bye honey," she said stiffly, trying her hardest to keep her voice steady.
"Bye Hiro, we'll come see you soon," Goten said, for Bra's sake more than Hiro's. Hiro couldn't even understand what was happening.
Once they were out of the room Bra let the tears she'd been holding in go and she clung to Goten. Her goodbye had felt so final. How could such an awful thing happen to such a tiny infant? She bunched up the material of Goten's t-shirt in her fists as she sobbed in rage at the injustice. It took all of his power not to cry too and stay strong for Bra. He tried not to listen to her but the cries echoed through the empty waiting room and were magnified tenfold.
"Hiroshi's surgery is tomorrow morning," Pan said to Trunks. She had been at Capsule Corp. all day with her grandfather and had just found Trunks. He'd just come out of the shower and his lavender hair was dripping water in an incredibly sexy way. Pan couldn't resist starting up a conversation with him, even if she had to use her sick cousin to do it casually.
"I know. Goten called up to remind us. They were going to see him for the last time before his surgery." He sighed, imagining how awful his baby sister must feel. And Goten. He stretched his arms out in front of him. "Still, I'm not too worried. My mum's been researching and the success rates are very high."
"Yeah, but, what if it does go wrong?" Pan asked, finishing sounding almost ashamed to state what could happen. She looked up at him, willing him to say the right thing.
"It won't." He replied firmly. "Come on Pan, it's not like you to think of the worst." She gave him a tight smile back, to which he sighed again and put his arms around her, trying to ignore the rush from his stomach and how now his heart was beating somewhere in his throat rather than where it should be. Pan hugged him back, relishing the moment. After a few seconds they still hadn't released each other, and both realized this at around the same time. They stepped away from each other hastily, laughing awkwardly.
"Yeah…" Pan said, exhaling shakily and trying to fight back the stupid smile that was battling for a place on her face. "I'm just so scared for Bra and Goten. They've both had such a hard time over the past few months, and now that they're friends again, everything's going wrong. I don't even like to imagine what this would do to Bra." She bit her lip worriedly.
Bra was chewing on a hangnail worriedly. He hadn't even started his surgery! Why did they have to prolong her suffering – what harm could it possibly do to see him early in the morning? She tossed and turned in her bed, watching the clock as she had done all those months ago. How long had it been now, since that day? Too long – she felt like she had aged half a century. Tears sprung to her eyes unbidden, falling steadily and silently. It wasn't fair. She latched onto that phrase, whispering it over and over like a mantra.
A photo that her mother had taken a few weeks ago in the hospital had found its way onto her bedside table, despite her refusing to have a picture of poorly Hiro in her room. She'd wait until he got better, she had told Goten, when he'd presented the framed picture to her. What if he didn't ever get better? What if he died? It hurt so much that Bra had to curl up so her knees were right under her chin and all she wanted was to die and end the hurt. She'd had enough. A sob escaped her lips and she buried her head in her pillow to muffle the noise. She didn't want to disturb Goten; he hadn't slept for a long time.
She reached out shakily to lift the frame to her and look at the photo. Her eyes roamed the picture, taking in every detail of Hiro as if trying to draw him out of the picture and into her arms. His blue hair had grown so much since he had been born, surprising the doctors, but she hadn't been surprised. Goten had to get his own hair cut frequently. She didn't know whether he had been grizzling at the time, but he was glaring just like her father…
She was forced to put the photo away as a fresh wave of tears escaped her. Her eyes were raw from crying, her nose sore from blowing it and she looked a state but for once, she didn't care at all. She would have been happy with stretch marks, cellulite and all other post pregnancy nightmares if she could just have her son home safe with her. "It's not fair," she half-whimpered, half-moaned. There came a hesitant knock at her door.
"Bra?" Came Goten's voice quietly. "Can I come in?" Bra nodded without realizing he couldn't see her until he asked again.
"Yeah," she choked out, trying to push back the tears. The bedroom door opened and Goten walked in and sat on the bed as he had done a thousand and one times before. Bra felt a pang as she remembered how peachy life had been. She'd had everything and yet she had still wanted more. Now all she wanted was one thing. She wondered miserably whether he wished he had just stayed with Paris.
Goten put his arm around her and pulled him towards him, letting her snuffle into his chest. She moved her hand almost hesitantly to rest on his chest and drew comfort from the feeling that was so familiar last year. How could she have been so stupid and spoilt? She started to cry again. Why couldn't she have just listened to him? Maybe this wouldn't have happened if she hadn't been so wrapped up in herself and her perfect little life to see that accidents can and will happen. "Hey, hey," Goten mumbled comfortingly, hugging her more tightly. "You said it was going to be okay. Come on, show some conviction."
"Why is this happening?" She wept, her body shivering so that Goten felt her bones through her skin. She hadn't been eating much recently and it was taking its toll on her body. Goten stroked her hair, wishing there was more he could do for her. "Goten, stay here tonight with me. I don't want to be alone." Goten kissed the top of her head.
"Sure thing Bra," he replied, finding that being with her was comforting him, distracting him from his own feelings. Bra's cries quietened immediately, her whole body relaxed. She sniffed and closed her eyes, leaning into him feeling exhausted. The night didn't seem quite so scary with Goten with her. She looked up at him through wet spiky eyelashes and saw that he was looking at the photo that she had only minutes ago been holding.
"I wish he was home with us," she told him, her voice hoarse from crying. "When he gets out of the hospital we'll fix up this place and he'll have the nicest bedroom. He can have this one as it's the biggest. We'll buy him loads of presents, but we won't let him get spoilt, will we? And we'll invite Belle over to play with him, won't we? He'll have the best life ever." Her voice cracked and she swallowed, unable to continue.
"Yeah," Goten whispered, nuzzling her hair. "And we'll take him to the park. I'll teach him to fly."
"And daddy and Goku will teach him to fight, right?" Bra joked feebly, feeling some of the weight lift.
They continued like this for sometime until Bra drifted off, still in Goten's arms.
Neither of them stirred until long past noon. They lay together on Bra's bed, a tangle of arms and legs, sleeping like children do with their mouths open and sprawled out. They'd both planned to be at the hospital all day, but they'd slept right through the alarm. Now, Bra stirred, and awoke – confused for a second about why somebody was in her bed. And then she remembered and moved closer to him as she was reminded of Hiro.
His surgery had been set to start at eleven. It had been over an hour already – her poor son was under the knife right now, and she was lying in bed as if everything was okay. What kind of a mother was she? She shook Goten roughly, urgently. His eyes opened straight away and he blinked in confusion for a second. He, too, forgot for just a second that he was a father now. Bra felt minimally reassured that she was not alone.
"Goten, we've got to go to the hospital," Bra said urgently, her face twisting with concern and more damn tears. She untangled herself and went to her wardrobe to pull out some clothes. She began stripping out of her comfortable home-clothes without a care as to Goten's presence. He didn't think anything of it either. All either of them could think of was their son.
Goten left to get dressed himself and they met at the front door minutes later.
"Are you ready, love?" Goten asked her softly. Her lip wobbled at the term of endearment and she found his hand, clinging onto it for reassurance. She blinked rapidly – no more tears – and smiled tightly.
"Of course I am. Hiro's a fighter. I have absolutely nothing to worry about."
Okay, so I haven't updated for absolutely ages and I lied on my profile. This is better than nothing, right?
Tomboy 601: Everybody wanted Hiro to be a girl! Maybe he should have had a sex change along with his heart surgery. Erm…the change from Mrs. Son to Miss Briefs was so fast because I guess she put them right. It wasn't a major part of the story, so I decided not to write about her correcting them – it's just cute to get her and Goten confused.
KxH: Thanks for your 'good luck' – I did okay! Here's your update (Sorry I took so long – again!)
NiceNipps: Now, if I had Dende heal Hiro, where would my story be? It's a good idea though; I didn't even think about it… Erm…my explanation will be that since Goku couldn't get healed when he had a heart problem, neither can Hiro. The ending's coming soon too!
Thanks to: LunaBela, goodlife93, Female-Fighter, alexis, VIVI, Shippostail and everyone who has reviewed throughout this fic – reviews mean the world to me, so please continue reviewing! Please?