A/N: This is based in the TMNT 2012 verse, in which it seems Donatello and Raphael's relationship is the most tenuous among the brothers, which I haven't observed in other incarnations. To me, this makes for interesting storytelling, given their polar-opposite personalities, hence this little fic. Plus, I always wondered what the boys would do if one of them was so critically injured that they couldn't possibly perform the life-sustaining treatment needed in their humble little home. Being a veterinarian myself, this idea came naturally to me.


Prologue

"Leonardo, snap out of it, bro. We're running out of time." Raphael's urgent bark roused the oldest of the brothers from his paralysis of indecision. Shivering despite the balmy night air, he emerged from his thoughts with a look of sheer torment, focusing on the ragged, wet breathing emanating from the bundle at his red-masked brother's feet.

Leonardo swiped a hand over his face with intense distress. "Guys, I need to feel that I'm choosing what Donnie would say was the right thing to do. I mean, would he not want me to protect the secret of our existence above all else? That's what's at stake here, you know, and the burden of this decision can't be taken lightly!"

"There is no decision, Leo. Donnie's the only one with any medical knowledge at all. 'Sides, even if we had read every book fifteen times, we still don't have any equipment or any medications! Bro, if we don't do this, Donatello is going to die." Raph stared urgently at his leader, then added as an afterthought, in case his point hadn't been made, "What would Donnie do? You always like to ask me that. I'll tell you what he'd do – he'd take this chance, without hesitation."

The youngest of the brothers, his wide blue eyes shining, nodded solemnly. "Yeah, dude – this is like so far beyond anything we could ever handle. I mean, definitely not me. Not you either, not even Donnie."

Leonardo gathered his faculties into a grim resolve, nodding towards the Best Friends Animal Emergency Clinic across the street from the rooftop on which the brothers were perched. "Alright, then. Here goes nothing."

Raphael gathered the pitiful bundle that was his eerily silent, tallest brother. With no trace of his typical confident demeanor, he followed his other siblings into the shadows.

Wind chimes on the back porch of the veterinary hospital tinkled softly in the breeze, as if announcing their presence with an unsettling cheery tune. The turtles eased their fallen brother onto the wooden planks with the silence of ninja masters.

Raphael and Michelangelo held their breaths as Leonardo reached for the doorbell with the tip of his katana, pressing it three times in rapid succession. By the time the echo of the last bell's ring died, they had vanished, hearts heavy, leaving their stricken brother to his last and most uncertain hope.


PS - for those of you following my first (and sadly unfinished) story "Evolution", thanks so much for your interest and I am so sorry to have left things on a ledge for so long. I would like to get back to the story some day, but I worked myself into such a complicated plot, it's going to take quite a bit of untangling before I can proceed.