Summary: 3-year-old Josephine is sick, and she's not having a swell time. But it's her brothers to the rescue as they do all that they can to help make her feel better.
I don't, and NEVER will, own anything TMNT related!
Master Splinter and his five children were in the dojo training, as they did every morning, unless Splinter called a day off. Leo was practicing his kata as Yoshi observed him, Raph was jabbing his sais into their new practice dummy, Donnie and Mikey were sparring, and Josephine was asked to meditate.
She seemed to have a bit of trouble concentrating, though.
"Excellent form, Leonardo," Splinter gave a nod. "Donatello, you are next!" Leo now became Mikey's sparring partner as Donnie ran to his father and performed his kata. Raph still jabbed the dummy. Joey still meditated, but began moaning.
When Donnie finished his kata, he bowed in respect to his father. "Very good, Donatello. Josephine, you are next!" Josephine slowly got up and wobbled on her legs. Donnie sensed something uneasy about her as they walked past one another.
Joey shuddered and moaned as she stood on the mat to perform her kata. But before she could eve move, she suddenly felt tight pressure on her head, and she let out a groan.
"Is everything alright, my child?" Yoshi asked.
Joey began hyperventilating and stared up at her father with wide, wet eyes. "Daddy...I no feel good." Splinter let out a 'hmm' and laid a hand on his daughter's forehead.
"Sensei, is Joey okay?" Leo asked, seeing a look of concern on his face.
Joey shivered. "*gasp*'Cshoo!"
Without looking up, the rodent replied, "Apparently, Josephine has a fever and is not well."
"Aww, man, that's gotta suck," said Raphael.
"Of course it does," Leo sighed.
"How did she become sick anyway?" asked Mikey.
"I think I know," said Donnie.
Two days ago, a huge storm blew through New York, and cold rain water flooded the sewers. Splinter took his children out on a walk when a flash flood raged through the tunnel they were in. "Stay close, my children," he instructed. "Do not get close to the rapids; I do not want any of you to fall in." Each one obeyed and stayed close to the wall. Jo watched the water crash through the tunnel, and she whimpered in Leonardo's plastron. He picked her up and hugged her. Once she got too heavy, he placed her back down on her feet and just held her hand. Raph, Leo, Joey and Donnie were in the back while Mikey was on Splinter's shoulders (a bit old for an 8-year-old). Raph was bored on the walk and watched the water zoom by them. Then he had an idea. "Hey Donnie," he said, "is it possible for a turtle to swim in that water?" "No way, Raph," Donnie replied. "That water has to be moving at over 30 miles an hour, much too fast for any one of us to swim in. We'll likely drown." "Well, we'll just have to find out and SEE!" He shoved Donnie with his shoulder, Donnie knocked into Leo who knocked into Joey. The boys glared as Raph laughed uproariously. "That wasn't funny Raphael!" Leo said angrily. "One of us could've fallen into that water and drowned! Splinter said we have to keep away from the water, especially-wait." He suddenly sensed Josephine was no longer standing next to him or holding his hand. He frantically looked around him. Jo was not there. Then he looked down at the rushing water. "JOEY!" he wailed. Splinter turned around to see Leo looking down at the water. He sat Mikey down and ran over to his spot, and he saw his daughter clinging to a rusty ladder step with the water crashing on top and over her. "Josephine!" he cried. "Daddy!" she howled fearfully. She was at least seven feet below them, and that rusty ladder step wasn't going to hold for much longer. He turned to his sons and glared. "What happened?" he asked angrily. Raph stammered, "I-I...I just only...I didn't mean ta...It was an accident...I didn't mean to push her in!" "Yeah, you meant to push me in, and Joey paid the price," Donnie snarled. "It was a joke!" Raph retorted. "Well it wasn't funny!" Leo shouted. "Joey, hang on!" Mikey cried. Joey screamed as the ladder step loosened a bit more. "DADDY!" she wailed. Splinter panicked; he was not ready to lose his child. Not again. "My sons, stop this bickering at once and listen to me! We must pull Josephine out of that water. I need one of you to stand here with me, and you will all make a chain by holding onto one another's ankles. Understood?!" "Hai, Sensei!" they all said and assembled their positions. Raph being the strongest stayed up with Splinter as his father held a grip on him. Raphael held onto Leo's ankles, Leo held onto Mikey's, and Mikey held onto Donnie's, who was reaching out as far as he could to grab his sister's hand. "Just a bit further!" Donnie cried over the water, and he was lowered further. "Jo-Jo, take my hand!" he held out his hands. Joey tried to reach out, but her grip loosened on the step and she shrieked, pulling her hand back. "D-DONNIE!" Don hated hearing such fear in her voice. He stretched out as far as he could, only inches from Joey. The ladder unhinged from the wall. Joey screamed as she jumped forward and grabbed Donnie's hands. "PULL. US. UP!" Don cried out to his father. Yoshi and Raph pulled as hard as they could until everyone was up on solid ground. Once they hit the side walk, Donnie crawled to the wall with Josephine sobbing in his arms. She was coughing up water and shivering; Donnie chedked her hands to make sure she didn't have any cuts and that any rust got into her blood stream. Once he declared her clean, he hugged her close, letting her sob in his neck. Splinter took Joey in his arms and wrapped her in his kimono. His rat skin tickled her soaked body, and she shifted into a less irritable position. He gave a silent glare at Raphael, who just hung his head in guilt. The walk home was silent.
"Yeah, that might be the cause of it," Leo said.
"It is," Don said with a sigh.
"*gasp*'Cshoo!" Joey fell in her father's arms and moaned.
He carried her in his arms and felt her body shaking. "I am going to put your sister to bed, then I am heading to the surface to find Josephine some medicine. No one is to disturb her while she rests. Understood?"
"Hai, Sensei," the mutant boys said in unison and watched their father leave the dojo.
"I hope she'll be okay," said Mikey.
"Yeah. Being so sick so young is never a good combination," Donnie said pitifully.
"It's my fault she's sick," Raph grumbled. "If I hadn't pushed y'all, Joey wouldn't have been knocked over into the water and nearly drown."
Leo smiled sadly and approached his hot-headed brother, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Of course it's your fault."
Raph frowned. "I was expecting a bit more of a 'don't blame yourself, accidents happen'."
"Too bad," Leo said. After a quick moment's silence, he added, "We need to help Jo feel better."
"How? Splinter said we couldn't disturb her," said Donnie.
Leo smirked. "I know. But I can't stand seeing Jo this way."
"I never thought I'd see the day," said Raph. "Leo's disobeying! The world is now completely different!"
Joey managed to get about an hour of rest, but her headache kept her up. She tossed and turned on her spot on the floor, smothered in blankets with a wet rag on her head. Despite the blankets, she still shivered from the fever. "*gasp*'Cshoo!" She restlessly and agitatedly moaned with a sniffle, and she sat up and cried.
Leo poked his head into the room she and Yoshi shared and saw his sister crying. It was very rare that Joey cried; not as rare as Raphael, though, but still. He quietly entered the room and knelt down in front of his sister. "Hey, Jo-Jo. You still feeling bad?"
Joey let out a moan as she wiped her itchy red eyes and sniffled. "*gasp*'Cshooo!" The sneeze made her head ache, causing her to start crying again.
"Joey, you gotta stop crying. It's only gonna make you head hurt more," Leo said gently. He was right. The more Josephine cried, the more her head ached, and that just made her cried more, and so on and so on. Leo sadly watched his baby sister shiver and cry. Luckily, he didn't come without a plan. "I guess I'll to find a way to make you stop crying." He gently sat her hand to her sides and lifted her chin up so they made eye contact. "Oh, Mikey!"
Mikey came into the room and sat beside Leo. He smiled sweetly at his sister and patted her feverish head. Then, he hooked the corners of his mouth with his fingers and pulled, then stuck out and wiggled his tongue, making a funny *leh-leh-leh* sound.
Joey managed to stop crying and let out a light giggle. Then, Mikey got up to his feet and started horribly dancing, pretending to trip and fall over. Jo began giggling a bit harder and harder at Mikey's bizarre dance. He tripped one final time, pulling out a magical pie, and fell face-first into it. Joey laughed and fell over holding her sides. Mikey got up and bowed with the pie container stuck to his face.
"*gasp*'Cshoo!" Josephine sneezed, and her headache returned. She moaned and adjusted the rag on her head.
Donnie was next to approach Jo. He held a tray with a bowl of warm soup and a glass of orange juice. "Hello, Josephine. I brought you some soup and some juice in case you get hungry. It's a bit hot, so I'd let it cool for a while." He knelt down in front of her and rested a hand on her forehead. "You still feel warm."
"*gasp*'Cshoo!" Jo sneezed and shivered. Don helped her drape a blanket over her shoulders.
"But don't worry. I've got my own way on how to make you smile," He explained, "but first, I need to check your hands and feet."
Joey sniffled and coughed. "W-Why?"
"Because, some sicknesses can cause fingers and toes to fall off," Donnie said, making Jo hoarsely gasp. "So I just need to check if any have come loose." He quickly checked her fingers. "Okay, so far your fingers look good." Then he grabbed her foot and played with her toes.
Joey gasped and squealed. She tried pulling her foot away, but Donnie held onto it. She couldn't hold back her laughter any longer, and she let it out.
"What's so funny?" Donnie slyly asked as she laughed. "I have to check to see if your toes are gonna fall off. What, does it tickle, or something?" Joey giggled madly as she tried to pull free. Donnie did release her foot, but he got on top of her and brushed his fingers over her tummy, sides, and under arms. She squirmed uncontrollably and squawked laughter. "Man, I had no idea you were so ticklish, Joey. Cootchie cootchie coo!"
Joey fell over giggling insanely with Donnie on top of her. He eventually stopped and helped her sit up.
"I-I hungry," Josephine croaked.
Donnie dipped the spoon into the soup and held it close to his sister's mouth. Joey felt the familiar tickle in her nose; "*gasp*-" she pinched her nose shut and puffed out her cheeks, waiting for the feeling to die down. When it did, she opened her mouth and felt the warm soup drain down her dry throat.
By the time she finished her soup and juice, Joey was exhausted. She certainly felt a little bit better than earlier that day.
"That's because people say laughter is the best medicine," Donnie pointed out.
Mikey helped Jo lay down while Leo fluffed her pillow and Raph tucked her in. She grabbed his hand. "N-No leave," she whispered.
Raph looked up to Leo; he smiled and nodded. "We won't leave if you don't want us to, Jo-Jo." Joey was already asleep. Her brothers huddled around her, eventually falling asleep, too.
Hamato Yoshi had returned to the lair with Josephine's medicine, only to find the lair empty. Confused, he went to his room and found his sons sleeping around their sister, who was also fast asleep. Even though his sons disobeyed, he smiled and let it slide. Splinter decided to give Josephine her medicine when she woke up.
*up next-'TMNT+Jo: Bad Dream/ The Promise'*