Chapter 3

Don was on duty in the morning when Leo woke up again, and he was particularly pleased when Leo requested just water instead of juice. Leo didn't have much of a sweet tooth (except when it came to ice cream), and they had been giving him mostly sports drinks. Everyone else was asleep at the moment, and the two kept the silence for a while—Leo drinking water, and Don simply enjoying the quiet. Then Leo spoke.

"Okay, Donny, time to level with me. How bad am I?"

Donatello had known this talk was coming. "Well, you don't exactly smell like roses, and the whole vomiting thing was a little uncalled for," he said with a straight face.

Leo laughed out loud at this completely unexpected response, even though it hurt his head to do so. He also relaxed, knowing that Donatello would have been incapable of joking about his condition if he was too seriously injured.

Donatello chuckled a little then, too. Then he said seriously, "Actually, I need a bit more information from you if you're up to it," he said.

"Okay," said Leonardo, whose voice sounded much stronger today.

"For one thing, what hurts?"

Leo thought for a moment, assessing how he felt. "It might be quicker for you to ask what doesn't," he concluded.

"Fair enough, I'll try to narrow it down. What's worst?"

After another moment's thought, Leo said, "My head. It hurts in general, but it also pulses through my entire body when I move too much. Makes me dizzy."

Don nodded, mentally checking that off. "Okay, what's next worst?"

"My shoulder, I think."

"Right or left?" asked Donny.

"The left," he answered simply.

The one without the slashes, Don noted.

Then he had Leo squeeze him with each hand in turn, wiggle his toes, and take some deep breaths. Finally Don sat back.

"Okay," he began as if giving an official report, "You have a concussion, which was probably made worse by being knocked about after you sustained the injury. The dizziness should pass soon, but you could continue to have a headache for days to weeks. Your right shoulder was slashed down into the muscle in two parallel cuts that stop on your upper forearm, so you now have more stitches than a baseball glove. It'll be a while before we know if you'll regain the full range of motion that you had before, but at least you'll have some use of it.

"Your left shoulder is a bit tougher. It's not broken, and it's not dislocated. It could have been dislocated, but if it was it was put back again later. Or it could be that any of the muscles, tendons, or ligaments there were strained or even torn. Diagnosis of any of those things would require an MRI, so all we can do is restrict movement of that arm and play it by ear. Your grip with that hand isn't too bad, though, so just try not to worry about it right now. And that's about it," Don said, wrapping it up. "The rest is the usual assortment of bruises and superficial wounds."

Leo took in all of the information, and concluded he was probably lucky it wasn't worse.

"No one else was very badly hurt?" he asked.

"Well, I guess quite a few ended up dead once we quit holding back, if that's badly hurt enough for you," said Don, still playing it straight. He was rewarded with another laugh from his brother. God, it was good to hear that laugh.

"I meant our team, smart guy."

"Oh, right. We're okay, nothing too serious. Raph had his hand torn up pretty bad, but it'll be fine. And you got more stitches than he did, so he can't even complain about it," Don said easily.

By this time others were beginning to stir. Mikey and Casey had taken watches during the night, so they were still sleeping, but April, Raph, and Master Splinter were soon up and about. They chatted amicably as they ate breakfast, and then divided up the tasks for the morning. Leo declined any food for the moment, but insisted that he was fine being left alone while they worked since he was going to sleep anyway. Don was obviously not comfortable with that, but Splinter volunteered to stay close by while he did some chores, so Donatello relented.

Leo slept through until noon, when the whole family gathered together in the family room for lunch. He awoke in a significant amount of pain, but to his surprise slightly hungry. He managed to push himself up a little on his own, but Master Splinter spotted it and helped prop him up a bit.

"Care to try and tackle some food again?" Donatello queried.

"I am a little hungry," Leo replied. "I'll try not to get sick this time," he added.

"It's okay, I think the soup was just too much for you, so today we're going to try something a bit simpler," and from behind his back he pulled out green Jello. Leo was not thrilled, but it was a bit easier to manage, and he was even able to feed himself this time.

While they ate, the rest of the group talked over the plans for the house. Raphael wanted to install some sort of security system so they wouldn't have keep watch every night, and they also decided to clear out the three upstairs bedrooms. Michelangelo seemed very passive and withdrawn, but if anyone wondered why they just figured he was still waking up after standing guard half the night.

Leonardo listened, but after a while it was apparent that he was fighting hard to stay awake. He didn't feel sick, just full and sore and very tired. Yet he didn't really want to sleep—he had been doing so much of it recently.

"Leo, it's okay," said April. "You need sleep to heal." But she could tell he was reluctant to do so. "Tell you what, I'll tuck you in," she said.

So she went up to Leonardo and pulled the blankets up carefully around him, straightening out the wrinkles. Then she pulled the shades down slightly to dim the light, and came back beside the couch. Very tenderly, she placed a hand alongside his cheek, and kissed his forehead.

"Sweet dreams, now get some rest," she said. His eyes were already closed. She stood up, and collected some dirty dishes to bring into the kitchen.

As she was leaving, Casey sputtered, "What, he feeds himself and manages not to puke, and he gets a kiss for it??! I do that every day, so what do I get?!"

As she entered the kitchen, April called back over her shoulder, "It's not the actions, it's what they cost you."

Mike, Don, Raph, and Casey all gaped at her, and then as one turned to look at Splinter.

"I do not claim to have the monopoly on wisdom," Splinter said simply, and took a sip of his tea.

The afternoon was a busy one, but a lot of progress was made cleaning up the second floor. The list of supplies was growing, and a trip into town would soon be necessary. They were running low on food, too, so dinner was rather anticlimactic after the appetites they had all worked up.

Leonardo ate more jello, and when that seemed to agree with him he took another stab at the soup. Everyone was quite pleased about it, though they made sure to keep clear of the side of the couch in case there was an encore of the previous night's performance. Fortunately, everything stayed down where it belonged this time. Leo felt less dizzy now, but his head still throbbed and the pain from his injuries was increasing as his muscles stiffened up from inactivity. Almost as if he was reading Leo's thoughts, Don said,

"Leo, now that you're eating okay, I'd like you to start taking some pills—an antibiotic as well as a mild painkiller. It's best if you take them when you have something in your stomach."

"Sure, Doc," Leo replied agreeably.

The rest of the evening passed pleasantly enough, but Mikey's continued detachment was even more noticeable. Raph tried a couple of times to get a rise out of him with some well aimed jibes, but Mikey just wasn't there with his usual quick retort.

"Mikey, you feeling okay?" Donatello asked, thinking the last thing he needed was another sick turtle.

"I'm fine. I think I'll just turn in early. Someone can wake me for second watch," he said, and he grabbed a blanket and headed for one of the upstairs bedrooms.

"Great, just great. Now there's only Casey to make fun of, and he's much slower on the uptake," complained Raph.

"Hey! I'm right here!" Casey objected. "And why am I the only other one for you to make fun of anyway?"

"Well, Leo might puke on me, Donny's still feeding me pills so I'm not even gonna go there, Master Splinter would have me practicing meditation for a week, and I'm still holdin' out for a kiss from April. So that leaves you," he answered with a wicked smile.

"We'll see about that," said Casey, and the two continued arguing.

Before long, though, everyone was ready to sleep. April volunteered to take a turn at watch, and Casey quickly offered to keep her company. April crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow.

"Is it because you're hoping for a kiss, or because I'm a woman in need of protection?" she asked. Then she let Casey stutter on for a while about how that wasn't what he meant before putting him out of his misery and accepting his offer. Her face was stern, but her eyes were dancing.

"I can stay up with Leo if you want," said Raph said to Don and Splinter.

"Really, I'm okay. You don't need to do that," protested Leo.

To everyone's surprise, Don agreed with Leo. He put some water next to the couch, and instructed Leonardo to wake someone if he needed anything else.

"And don't be all heroic and suffer in silence because you don't want to wake anyone up. If I catch you doing that, I won't give you anything but jello for a whole day," Donatello threatened.

"Don? There is one thing I could use," said Leo.

"What is it?" asked Don attentively.

"A shower," said Leo.

"You can say that again, Bro," said Raph, slightly under his breath.

"Don't let my condition fool you, Raphael," said Leonardo warningly. "If I move enough, I'm sure I could make myself dizzy and puke on you."

Raph laughed off the threat, but he chose a sleeping spot at the other end of the room.

"I don't know, Leo," responded Don when Raphael had moved away. "I'm just not sure you should be attempting the stairs just yet. Why don't you wait until you're head's stopped hurting so much." This last was not phrased as a question.

"C'mon, Don, I feel like Pigpen from Charlie Brown. I'll rest much better if I'm clean," argued Leo.

"You used that one already, but nice try," retorted Donatello. Then his expression softened somewhat.

"Tell you what—if you keep down breakfast and lunch tomorrow, and you're not too tired after that, then we'll see, okay? But you have to promise me right now you'll be honest with me about whether you really feel up to it, or the deal's off."

One look at Don's face told Leo it was the best offer he was going to get, so he quickly agreed. After everyone had settled in for the night, stillness settled over the house and blended with the forest around it.

The fourth day of their stay at the farmhouse proceeded much the same as the previous, with cleaning and maintenance continuing. Now that Leo could be left alone, Donatello was finding himself busier than ever as the default Mr. Fix It. It seemed like every little thing that came up required his opinion. Still, he did not forget his word to Leonardo, and he observed his brother carefully over lunch. Leo seemed in good spirits, and his appetite was certainly improved. But Don could tell by the tension in his jaw that he was frequently gritting his teeth, and he saw in the carefully controlled movements of his head that there was pain there as well.

"How're you feelin', Bro?" asked Don after the meal.

"Not bad," Leonardo replied casually. A little too casually.

"Really?" asked Don. "Good enough to try sitting up?"

Leo's response was to push himself up a little, and slowly swing his legs over the edge of the couch. Then, gritting his teeth, he shifted his upper body until his shell was more or less upright against the back of the couch. He let his head fall back against the cushion, and tried not to let it show how much the effort had cost him. But Donatello noticed the beads of sweat standing out on his brow, and was not remotely fooled.

"Piece of cake, huh?" said Donatello as he approached the couch.

"Sarcasm never did suite you, Donny," answered Leo with his eyes closed. He opened them when he felt Don sit down next to him on the couch. Leo could tell Don was studying him, but he didn't turn to face his brother—mostly because it would hurt his head. Then he heard Donny sigh.

"All right. We'll help get you cleaned up. Take a couple of pain killers now and rest a bit, and I'll come back in an hour to help you up the stairs." Don handed Leo the pills and some water, and then he left to continue the task he had begun before lunch.

An hour later the medicine had done its work, and Leonardo was less achy and stiff.

"All right, Master Splinter's filling up the bath. Are you ready?" Donatello asked as he entered the room.

"Let's do it," said Leo.

Don went around to his brother's right side, and tried to get Leo's arm over his shoulder without hurting him too much. Leo had to stop himself from crying out—the pain was worse than he had anticipated. Don realized immediately that it was going to be a two-turtle job to get Leo up the stairs.

"Mikey, can you give us a hand here?" he called out when he saw Michelangelo come in the front door. "We need to get Leo up the stairs."

"Tell me what you want me to do," said Mike, and Don instructed him to go to the left side and try to grab Leo around the shell enough to support him. He didn't dare attempt to move Leo's left arm because he didn't know the extent of the damage there. Slowly they rose up from the couch to a standing position, and Leonardo was unprepared again when his legs didn't seem to be able to support him. His brothers held him there for several moments while he tried to get them to obey, and finally he could feel some strength returning to them. Leo had already broken out in a sweat again.

"Listen, maybe we should just do this tomorrow," Don suggested.

"No," said Leo, teeth clenched, "let's just get it over with." Don saw the stubborn set of Leonardo's face, and he nodded to himself resignedly.

Step at a time they made their way towards the foot of the stairs—fortunately it was only a short distance. They stopped to let Leo rest once they got there, but by that time the pain in Leo's head was pounding through his whole body like someone had put an internal subwoofer on full volume. The room began careening around him, and darkness crept around the edges of his vision. Suddenly he was falling . . .

Mike and Don weren't even aware of their brother's internal battle until they felt him going limp, and they had to struggle to keep him upright.

"Shell," cursed Donny under his breath. "He's out, hold him up," he grunted to Mikey.

"Should we bring him back to the couch?" asked Mike.

"No, I was half expecting this. We'll just bring him upstairs before he recovers. I think the best way is to—,"

"—Don, I'm sorry but I can't do this!" Mikey said, a look of near-panic on his face. "Raph!" he called in relief as the brother in red walked in. "Here, Raph, take over."

Raphael obeyed in some confusion, and took hold of Leo's shell. Before they could ask, Mikey was out the front door. Don and Raph exchanged bewildered looks, but with a limp Leonardo between them they had to focus on the task at hand.

"Okay," said Donatello, "we have to get him upstairs, and I think the best way is just to link arms under his legs and behind his shell and make sort of a chair."

"Got it," grunted Raph.

They proceeded up the stairs slowly, but it wasn't as bad as Don thought it would be. "In retrospect, we should've done it this way from the beginning," he said out loud to himself.

They carried him into the bathroom where Splinter was waiting. The old rat raised his eyebrows as his gaze fell upon the unconscious turtle, but he did not comment.

"Sorry Master Splinter," said Raph, "but Leo decided to take a little nap on the way up."

"That means this will be a two-creature job," said Don as they attempted to lower Leonardo gently into the bath. They made sure to keep his right arm hooked over the edge of the tub to keep his stitches from getting wet, and the placed a towel behind his head so it rested gently on the rim.

"I can stay, Donny," said Raphael. "I was just comin' in to ask what else you wanted me to do, and I know you were in the middle of somethin'."

"Thanks," said Don gratefully. "I'll get the bedding changed on the couch first, and don't get your stitches wet either."

Raphael put a plastic bag over his right hand to protect it, and he and Splinter began to wash Leonardo. Several minutes later, as Splinter was tackling his son's shell with a scrub brush, Leo began to come to.

"Guess you're a platinum member, cuz you got the full service flight," said Raph.

"If I pay more can I have someone else bathe me next time?" retorted Leo tiredly.

"What, you were hopin' for April?? I guess your fainting ploy failed," Raph said. "You might wanna try something a bit more extravagant next time."

Leo smiled weakly his brother's banter. It made him uncomfortable to be so helpless, but it did feel good just soaking in the hot water. When he was clean, they let the water drain and Master Splinter went to fetch somebody to help carry Leo back downstairs. Meanwhile Raph got Leo dried off as much as he could. Splinter returned with Donny, and in short order they had Leo back down on the couch. The trip made Leonardo slightly light-headed, but he did not faint again, and the feeling soon passed.

"There, that should hold you for a while," said Don.

"Yeah," said Raph, "and tomorrow if you should feel the sudden need get your nails done or something, too bad—the spa is closed."