Only a couple of minutes later, Mikey returned with master Splinter. Leo came right behind them.
'My son' he asked 'what happened?' Don didn't say anything for a while, he was just looking at his brothers. In his thoughts, Raph was begging him not to say anything about what he said earlier that night.
Finally, Donnie spoke 'I miscalculated my jump and missed the edge of the roof. It was nothing but a stupid accident' Master Splinter looked at him with a thoughtfull look, but decided to believe him. After all, why would his smartest son lie to him?

Raph looked at him with wide eyes. It would have been so easy for Donnie to tell the truth and blame Raph for, unwillingly of course, pushing him too far. But he didn't say a thing, he just said it was an accident. Raph just couldn't belive that, even after he got hurt because of him, Donnie still protected him.

'Leo, go get some ice please'
'Of course, sensei' Leo answered and he ran into the kitchen.
'Does it hurt a lot, Donnie?' Mikey asked. When Don looked at his face, he could see the worry the younger turtle felt for his brother. He couldn't tell him how much it actually hurt, he just couldn't bring himself to it. 'I'll be fine, Mikey' he answered with a smile on his face. Mikey relaxed a bit after that, but still had that worried look on his face.

Leo returned with the ice and gave it to master Splinter, who was examining Don's knee.
'you have been very lucky, Donatello' he said after a while 'you could have broken your knee. It's just a little tear as far as I can see. But you still will have to rest for a couple of weeks. So no going out or training' 'Yes, sensei' Don answered. He didn't like the idea of seeing nothing but the lair. But is also was a good oppurtunity to have some peace and quiet without his noisy brothers around. And he also had some projects he would love to finish.

'Leonardo, help Donatello to my room. There I can bandage his knee' Master Splinter said. Leo did as was said. Don took the help gratefuly, but was suprised when Mikey appeared on his other side. 'You might be annoying sometimes' Mikey said teasingly 'but you're still my brother. So I'll help you as long as you can't walk properly' That comment made Don smile. For a moment, he didn't even feel the pain in his knee. With the help of his two brothers, he was brought to Master Splinters room.

No one had noticed that Raph hadn't said a word the entire time. All this time, Raph was sitting on the floor looking at nothing in particular, lost in thoughts. It's my fault he's injured now. I shouldn't have teased him about his condition. What if he never completely recovers? I wouldn't forgive myself…
He didn't notice he had been crying a little untill he felt a tear falling onto his hand. He jumped up and started pacing around the living room. He was so angry with himself. If would have anybody else who had hurt his younger brother, he would have beaten them to pulp. But you can't beat yourself up, can you? 'I'm a monster' he said slowly 'I was bullying him and now he's hurt. What if I do it again?' He was filled with doubt.

Raph heard some sounds in him father's room. They probably were almost ready. He couldn't face his family. He thought about the reactions of his brothers.
What would Donnie say? Probably something like: It was an accident, I just missed the edge. It had nothing to do with you (complete lie of course)
And Mikey? Well, he had always been unpredictable. It would probably be something about brotherhood and friendship combined with some sarcastic remarks about Raph's temper. And all of this filled up with some self invented words.
And how about Leo? He didn't want to think about him. He would be furious. He knew that Leo knew that he was, indirect, guilty to Don's injury. He would give him an entire lecture of a couple of hours about compassion and respect and bla bla bla…

When he heard them returning to the living room, he panicked. Before he could think about anything else, he ran out of the lair as fast as he could. It wouldn't help him a lot, but at least he would get some extra time to think about everything.

When the rest of the family returned, they were suprised to find out that Raph wasn't there. Mikey went searching in the bedrooms while Leo checked the rest of their home. But Raph was nowhere to be found.

'He's probably off running a little more' Leo suggested 'It's been quite a shocking night' 'You can say that again!' Mikey said 'Don, could you do me a favor?' 'What is it, Mikey?' Don asked while he sat himself down on the couch. Master Splinter had given him crutches that he always had in storage. With 4 teenage boys, you might need them.
Mikey walked over to the couch and sat next to Don 'Don't you ever dare to scare me like that again!' He yelled while hugging him tight. Don was suprised, but recoverd and hugged Mikey back 'I'll try, Mikey' He said with a small smile 'Who would have to fix your videogames otherwise?' he added. Mikey pulled back abrubtly and also Leo looked at Don with big eyes. 'Don…' Mikey said quietly 'Are you serious?' Don looked at both his brothers with a confused look.
'Do you really think that we only want you around because you are a genius and you can fix everything?' Leo asked. 'I…' Don started, but he didn't finish his sentence. To his brothers, that was all the answer they needed.

'We need to go and find Raph' Mikey said suddenly after a moment of quietness. 'Good idea' Leo said 'I think we need to have a family meeting about this. And for that, we need the entire family to be around.' 'I'll come too' Don said. Leo stopped him 'Less than an hour ago, you almost fell from a roof. I'm not letting you go run through the sewers now' 'I know the sewers better than the two of you combined. No offense' Don added quickly 'We know Raph, if he is panicking than he will run and then he won't be able to find his way back' Leo considered this and finally gave in. 'Fine then, but we won't let you go off on your own. I will stay with you the entire time, you will use those crutches and if you need a break, you say so. Understood?' Don smiled and agreed.
Five minutes later, they took off.

'I just hope that Raph hasn't got himwelf worked into trouble…' Donnie said.