Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z and related characters are property of Akira Toriyama.

All Goku could see around him were the flames of a fire that surrounded him. Soon he was standing in the center of a blazing inferno. His muscles trembled as he found there was no escape. There was no escape and the flames were closing in on him. They licked at his body, eager to devour him in their fiery jaws. Goku cried out in pain as he sat up in bed and groped at his chest. His left breast hurt as if he had been stabbed many times n the same place. His tangled black hair and face were bathed in a thick curtain of perspiration as he burned with fever. Tears streamed from his blurry eyes as hr bellowed out in agony, “CHICHI!” Goku was afraid and alone in his delirious world of pain and shadows.

“Daddy, it’s allright,” Gohan soothed as he entered the dark room of the Kame House where his father rested. He crept over to the bedside and reached out to his ill sire. But to Gohan’s surprise, his father turned towards him and gave him a look of deep fear and enmity, as if he was not even there.

Goku did not see his ten year-old son, but someone he had known well from his past. He saw an enemy who had taught him what true evil was. He could see those squinty eyes and the smirk that only belonged to one person- Freeza. Goku gave a cry and pinned is enemy down on the bed. “I WON’T LET YOU HURT MY FRIENDS, FREEZA!” he screamed as his hands clamped down like vice grips.

“Dad, please don’t hurt me!” Gohan pleaded, for he could not move and feared his father would unknowingly kill him. “Daddy...”

It was Yamucha who head Goku’s screaming. He ran into the room and struggled to pry the delirious saiya-jin away from Gohan. “Son, wake up!” he grunted, “You’re hurting your son!” Yamucha was quite startled by the strength of his friend, despite his illness.

“Gohan...” whispered Goku, as his head began to clear. He could no longer see any sign of Freeza, but now he could see his little boy, scared and trembling in his firm grip. “Oh Gohan,” Goku wept, “I’m so sorry...I’m so sorry...” His eyes shut tightly and he curled himself into a ball.

Gohan fell the floor coughing. He recovered and pulled a heavy quilt over his shivering father. “It’s allright, Dad,” he soothed as he embraced him,“Just you rest.”

Goku was given a dose of his medication and soon fell back into a deep sleep. Occassionally, he would fidget and whimper like a small child as he battled against the virus that attacked his heart with no mercy.

An hour had passed before Chichi heard any word about the incident. She had been resting after spending many hours by her husband’s side. She sighed sadly as she filled a bowl with water and ice cubes and gathered several cloths of white linen. She also took a small bottle of peppermint oil (this can be used to reduce fever and pain). “Oh my poor Goku-Sa,” she murmured, “I must go see him.”

“But Mother,” Gohan began to protest, fearing that his father might hurt her if he should have another fit of pain.

Chichi placed a hand on her son’s shoulder and answered to him, “I know what you’re thinking, honey, but I have a feeling that your dad needs me right now. Please trust my intuition as your mother.”

Gohan slowly nodded. “I understand,” he said, “Just please be careful, Mom.” He went outside where Muten Roshi was sitting on the beach under the starry sky. He sat down beside the old hermit and sighed. “Poor Daddy,” he murmured, “I’m so worried because his fever’s are getting worse. And why isn’t the medicine working?”

Looking up at the stars, Roshi replied, “Gohan, your father’s illness is like a tropical storm. The eye is most dangerous part of the storm, but once it passes the storm begins to lessen and pass on. I think that once Goku’s past this stage of his illness, he will begin to recover.”

“I hope so,” Gohan sighed, “Please let it be true that you’ll allright, Dad, and I promise that I’ll protect you until you’re able to fight by my side again.”

Meanwhile, Chichi entered into Goku’s room. He was silhouetted by shadows as he lay in darkness. Chichi knelt down beside her husband’s futon and dipped one of her linens into the basin she had brought. She then bathed his face from his brow clear down to his neck. A few tears escaped from her ebony eyes as she listened to Goki wince and moan. It almost broke her heart to see him in so much pain. He was like a small child who was trapped inside a bad dream.

Goku suddenly clutched at his wife’s hands. “Freeza...,” he whispered, “...Freeza...”

“No sweetheart,” soothed Chichi, while she worked to break the fever, “It’s Chichi. Freeza’s not here. It’s just me, Goku-Chan.”

Tears trickled down the ill saiya-jin’s face. He clutched onto his wife’s arm and whispered, “Chichi...it hurts...so bad...the pain...Sorry I tried to kill Gohan...the pain...it...hurts...so bad...”

“Ssshhh,” Chichi hushed, “Don’t cry, my sweet warrior. Everything is going to be allright. You just close your eyes.” She kissed his soft black hair and gingerly orobed and kneaded the peppermint oil around the area of her precious saiya-jin’s inflamed heart.

After she had finished, Goku weakly reached up and pulled her down to himself and embraces her. “Thank you...Chichi,” he said in a whisper, “Will...you...please...”

“Please what, love?” Chichi asked.

“Please stay...with...me...tonight,” her husband replied, “Please...hold...me...Chichi...”

Chichi lay down beside Goku and held him in the manner of a protective mother. “Of course I’ll stay with you, Goku-Chan,” she told him, “I won’t let anything happen to you as long as I’m here.”

Goku smiled feintly as he nestled against his wife’s soft frame. “Thank you,” he whispered, “I love...you...so much, Chichi. Aishiteru...” His fever passed and he fell into another dream, however, this dream was one of gentle peace. Many years later he would think back to that night his wife had saved his life in a way the medicine of Trunks could not.

The End