| Two weeks had gone by. Lara was at work like most usual days, and Cell and Seru had a sparring match in the desert. Seru’s fighting skills improved each time. He was determined to get up to his father’s level of strength. At first Cell would go easy on him, for he was only a small boy. However, by the end of each session, he would increase his power and eventually knock Seru to the ground. It was a very hot summer day. Cell was on the defensive side as Seru and him fought. They had been out there since Lara left for work at eight. It was now noon. Finally, Cell got tired of defending himself and swung his fist at Seru sending him flying to the ground. Cell landed on the dirt ground and waited for his son to get up. Seru stood up slowly wiping the dirt from his face. “You’re doing better; however, you have to remember that because your punching your opponent doesn’t mean they can’t fight back.” “I know. I’m sorry.” “Don’t be sorry, correct your error.” Seru jumped into the air and flew right towards Cell’s head. He tried to swing his fist, but Cell caught it before it came to close to contact. Then Cell went on the offensive. Seru was barely dodging all of Cell’s punches. After another hour of fighting, Cell started feeling very tired. He landed on the ground and noticed that he was trying to catch his breath. A very slight pain went through his chest, but it disappeared as fast as it came. Seru landed in front of him. “What’s wrong, Daddy?” Cell, still out of breath, said, “I don’t know. For some reason I feel tired.” Seru had never heard the word ‘tired’ come out of his father’s mouth. “Are you okay?” Cell took a deep breath. “I’ll be fine. I think that’s enough training for today.” “Okay,” Seru said. The two flew back to the house and waited for Lara to return from work. Lara returned home around three thirty. She entered the kitchen to find Seru drawing at the table. She set her things down and looked over her son’s shoulders to see what he was drawing. “It’s good,” she said. “Thanks,” Seru said not looking up. Lara walked to her bedroom and changed. When she returned to the kitchen she looked out the window. “Where’s your father, Seru?” “He’s out back. We were training, but he said he felt tired so we came back.” Lara raised an eyebrow. “He felt tired?” “That’s what he said. I don’t know if he was just saying that or what.” Cell…tired? That’s the first time I heard that. Lara went to the back of the house. She saw Cell leaning against the tree with his eyes closed and arms crossed. He opened his eyes when he heard her clear her throat. “So you’re finally back.” “You make it sound like I went on vacation for a month. What’s up?” “Nothing,” Cell replied. “Oh,” Lara said. “Seru said you were tired.” “Tired?” Cell laughed. “I didn’t want to fight anymore. I just wanted to come back here.” Lara nodded. “I bet. You not fighting is like a snake with legs. Why are you tired? Didn’t you sleep last night?” “Yes I slept,” Cell almost snapped. “Look, I’m fine. I feel absolutely one hundred percent fine.” “You don’t have to snap at me, I was just worried. You’ve never been tired before.” Lara walked in front of him. She put her hands on his arms and smiled. “Can’t I be worried about you?” “No,” Cell said. He put his hands on her waist. “It was no big deal.” “If you say so,” she said. They kissed for a moment then went inside. During dinner, Lara and Seru ate quietly. Cell didn’t feel like eating. He sat at the table with them when that pain in his chest came back. Only this time it didn’t go away at first. He stood up and turned around. Lara and Seru looked up in wonder. “Cell, are you okay?” Lara got up but didn’t move away from the table. The pain went away and Cell turned back to them. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He sat back down. Lara sat down again, too, and looked at him with a worried look on her face. They finished dinner, and Lara picked up. Seru went to his room to play and Cell still sat at the table. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. During the night, Cell woke up with the same chest pain. He sat up and held his hand against his chest. Lara, awakened by Cell, sat up next to him. “Cell, what’s wrong with you?” He didn’t say anything. He sat there out of breath again holding his chest. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. Lara put a hand on his shoulder and tried to figure out what could possibly be wrong. She got up and went to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. She returned with aspirin and a glass of water. “Take this,” she said. Cell put the pills in his mouth and washed it down with the water. Lara sat next to him and waited to see if the aspirin would work. After half an hour passed, the pain started to leave once again. Cell calmed down and took deep breaths. Lara looked at him. “Are you okay now?” Cell nodded and laid back down. Lara lay down next to him, still worried. The aspirin had helped Cell fall back to sleep, but Lara still lay awake. |