Title: A Father's Mistake
Finally it was quiet in the lair, laying down on his bed, Splinter allowed himself to relax. The day had been warm...but now it was actually nice...somewhat cool in the lair.
Today had been excitable for his young sons and they were hyper all day.
Today, they had recieved their coloured bandanas, a celebration to show his sons, they were finally ready to start learning the art of Ninjutsu.
Blue for Leonardo, Red for Raphael, Purple for Donatello and Orange for Michelangelo.
Four sons, four sons he was proud of and loved dearly.
He had sent them to bed, wearing their bandanas. They did not want to take it off and Splinter did not think it would be a big deal. They were simple clothes wrapped around their eyes...and it made them happy. He smiled as he recalled kissing them goodnight, closing his eyes as he relaxed.
How wrong he was.
How very wrong...
He woke up to a soft sniffle, a small cough from the other room and thought about checking on his sons. He lay there, warm in his own bed, before the concern enveloped him.
Something inside him was screaming, 'CHECK ON THEM, CHECK ON THEM NOW'
Getting up, pulling on his tattered housecoat, he headed towards his sons room. He had to check on them, he wouldn't be able to sleep unless he did.
First, Leonardo was sleeping well. His bandanna had rubbed off and fell to the floor. Splinter smiled at his face, so peaceful. Leonardo was still a child but showed his protectiveness well, a good sign he would be a leader one day.
Then he looked underneath, checking on Donatello in the bottom bunk. He too was sleeping soundly, his bandanna off to the side, carefully folded up. Donatello took such care for things that were important to him. He had a brilliant mind, a genius in his right, and dearly loved his brothers.
Walking over to the top bunk, he saw the covers had been kicked off his wild son. Raphael's bandanna had been tired to the metal ladder, like a flag almost. He smiled, knowing it was Raphael's work. His claim on his bed. He covered him back up and tucked him back in.
He glanced underneath, seeing his youngest son sleeping….but he reached over, a sense of something wrong. He was not moving. He was still. Michelangelo moved a lot while he slept, he was never this still.
And his breathing...it was a soft sigh every time he exhaled. It sounded so cute...but there was no sound...no sound...no sound of breathing and his heart suddenly raced.
Kneeling down, panicked, he pulled the blanket down and his eyes widened as he took in the sight of his son.
Splinter saw the bandanna had fallen around his son's throat, his childs face was a light pale green and his mouth was open slightly. His eyes seem to almost be sunken in when his eyes went to his son's chest, placing a hand on the plastron.
None came...no breathe...and his plaston didn't rise! His eyes went to the bandana, checking how tight it was and was shocked as it was really right, starting to frantically untie it, his son could not breathe and he cried out, "MICHELANGELO!" he said frantically.
Michelangelo was choking, unable to breathe and his sharp nails quickly ripped through the fabric, for the moment, uncaring that he had accidently scratched his son in his haste. Throwing the bandana away from his son, he put his hand to his son's plastron, his other to his neck checking for a pulse or for him to breathe in...
Nothing happened.
"My SON," he yelled, his heart beating frantically in fear. He started to move fast, remembering what the book said about CPR. He pushed down hard on his son's plastron, frantic, trying to get his son's heart beating again. He pushed again, and could hear his other sons waking up.
All he could think about was his youngest son wasn't breathing.
Push, Push, Push, Push, Push... pressing on his sons chest.
Breathe...Breathe... breathing into the very small mouth below him, tears blurring his vision as the panic rose.
Still nothing... no pulse...no breathe in...
He pushed again, harder, "Michelangelo, my son, breathe!" he begged, panicking again when he felt a rib snap inside.
Splinter was panicked. 'He had broken a rib! Check your strength, you do not have to push so hard' he scolded himself as he tried to calm himself down enough to help his youngest to breathe.
Splinter started pushing again, 5 times, and then breathed into Mikey's mouth….trying to get his youngest to breathe!
"My son, breathe, breathe!" he gasped as he pressed down once again. 3 more times, then as he pressed down the 4th time, he jumped, startled as Mikey shuddered, a loud gasp coming from his mouth.
Splinter's heart calmed and he murmured, "My son, shhh, it will be alright."
Michelangelo's throat was bruised, his smaller body coughing and gasping for air as if it was starved for it. I will never allow this again….
The orange cloth he had bestowed on his son, had ended up almost taking his son's life.
He did not know a cloth or anything like that, could do such damage. He shuddered to think what would have happened if he had ignored that gut warning to check his sons, thankful he had.
"Daddy?" Mikey whispered, his throat sore, burning. His lungs hurt too, like it was bruised. And when he tried to sit up, he gasped in pain. He was confused. His blue eyes were red and watery from what had happened.
"My son, it is alright now. You….your….your bandana ended up choking you tonight. I am sorry my son. I did not know that would happen…" Splinter said, feeling the guilt build up. Tears built in his eyes. He didn't remember reading in any of the books he found, that something like this would happen. And he had never had children….he didn't know!
He felt the tears build up, sensing his others sons nearby, "My sons," he said brokenly. Splintter picked up Mikey, who was quiet and injured, seeing he was confused. He held him close, "Come….you may sleep in my room," he whispered, carrying Mikey with him.
Mikey whimpered, his ribs hurt. He didn't know why, he whispered, "Pan..a" he said roughly. His throat was sore and it hurt. Throbbed. He didn't understand why daddy looked so scared, or so sad or why it hurt to breathe in and out.
He looked confused so Mikey tried again, "Ma p… panda," pointing towards his bed. Beside where he slept, was his stuffed panda that Raph had given him, and he wanted it. He slept with it every night.
Raph quickly grabbed it for him, handing it over, concern on his face, "Ya 'kay Mikey?" he asked concerned. He had woken up to see Splinter pushing Mikey's chest. Breathing in his mouth. Saw the fear in his eyes. He didn't understand why but all he knew was Mikey had been hurt, and he was okay now.
"Ty-red" Mikey whispered, feeling exhausted more so then usual. He felt himself lowered onto his daddies bed and his eyes closed, falling asleep.
Splinter sat there, watching him, carefully. He had dodged a bullet tonight. His youngest could have easily suffocated because of that bandana. He shuddered, tears falling down his furry face as he thought of waking up to find his youngest son body the next morning if he hadn't on checked on him.
"Daddy…." he vaguely heard through his pain, he quickly checked on Mikey again, and sighed. Then realized one of his sons called him, glancing at them, he said, "Yes my sons?"
"What happen daddy? Why is Mikey sick?" Raph asked, concern in his golden brown eyes.
"Michelangelo….his bandana…" he took a deep breathe, "I did not know that his bandanna could hurt him. It wrapped around his throat and he could not breathe. I had to help him breathe again," trying to explain it as simply as possible.
"He okay now though?" Donatello asked as well, his deep brown eyes gazing at his only little brother.
"He will be fine now. He is still sore. He will be fine," Splinter said quietly, glancing at his sleeping son.
He covered up his other sons, and stayed up that night, making sure Michelangelo slept well.
Never again would he allow his sons to wear their bandana to bed again.
He would learn from this mistake, and hope it's the last mistake he made as a parent.
A/N: Never allow a child to sleep with anything that's remotely close to a rope, scarf, bandana, or anything. Even toys with string attached are dangerous.
I watched a movie or a TV show once and saw a little boy go to bed with a toy with a string, somehow in the middle of the night, it wrapped around his throat. I was young then and it had been my first view of the dangers of ropes and kids.
It had scared me so much I remembered it for years. That child didn't make it in the movie…or TV show but the danger was real. After that, I started to notice just how many toys have rope attached to it and I make sure nothing like that ever happens again. When I first posted this story, people have told me this has happened to them in their lives, it is a scary thought. That voice that tells on you to check on your child is real, I have heard it once before in the case of my own baby, who if I hadn't checked on, could have died.