After Luke and Marcus worked together to get Donatello to the Master bedroom to get some sleep, they returned to the back one, where Raphael still hadn't moved one iota.
"He's your ACL case, huh?" Marcus asked pointedly.
Luke nodded. "Yeah. It hasn't been pleasant for him. These guys are so active that something like this is cruel and unusual punishment."
"Was he hurt in a fight, like Raphael?"
Luke hesitated, not saying anything for a few seconds. "Not exactly. It was a lot more personal than that...and that much harder to deal with."
"I don't suppose you'd let me see his scans."
"You have no idea how many times I've wanted to show them to you."
"It is my field. How about it?"
Luke typed something rapidly into his scanner, and sat down by his desk computer. "I have copies of the original scans I took when it first happened, as well as follow-up through the months, and then a couple that I took today. C'mere, sit down."
Marcus wheeled up close to the screen, and studied the original for what seemed like an eternity.
"What are you thinking?" Luke finally asked.
"Luke this is...it's one of the worst tears I've ever seen. The damage to his anterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligament are very easy to see, he had a complete separation of both from the bone." He paused to zoom in another portion, and went on. "He also sustained significant damage to his lateral meniscus - I'm seeing what looks like actual fragments. Sometimes these kinds of tears can heal themselves, but what I'm seeing here...it would be hard to imagine. There could more damage in the nerves, that isn't even visible to us on this scan. Have you just been trying to handle it with physical therapy?"
"It's the only option we've had. I can't exactly wheel him into a hospital, and reconstructive surgery of this magnitude is far beyond me. We were hoping and praying that therapy and rest would be enough."
Marcus had moved on to follow-up scans, going through them a little faster now, shaking his head. He stopped in his tracks when he reached the last, and looked over his shoulder at Luke, still standing nearby nervously. He turned around to face him, and pointed at the trunk to his left. "Can you sit down?"
Luke obeyed without a word, sitting on the very edge.
"Therapy alone isn't enough, not if he wants to maintain an active lifesyle of any kind. You said they practice a type of ninjitsu?"
"Yes." He answered tightly.
"He's vulnerable Luke, and he always will be if it's left as is. It's not a question of 'if' he could lose major function, but 'when'. The damage to his meniscus has become progressively worse over the months, and ligaments are still extraordinarily fragile. It really wouldn't take very much at all to knock him down completely. If he were one my patients, he wouldn't even be using that wrap - I'd still have him in an immobolizer. I'm sorry to be so frank, but I figure you want the truth, right?"
Luke released a very shaky sigh. "I don't know what to do. I feel like I've reached the end of myself and what I can possibly accomplish for him."
"Luke, I didn't ask to see his stuff out of curiousity. If you're willing to let me, I want to help. I'm willing to put forth every ounce of orthopedic expertise that I'm still working on paying off."
"Marc, I do trust you, but the situation is far more complicated than you know. They're built similarly to humans in some respects, and very different in other ways. They don't even tolerate Donnie's drugs pefectly. The thought of anesthetizing one of them for surgery, it scares the heck out of me."
"So teach me about them. I'm serious Luke."
"I don't have the power to even say yes or no to you Marc. It isn't my decision how far you get to come in."
"How did you get wrapped up in all this?"
"It was through a mutual friend, about three years ago. Over the years their Sensei and Donatello have been their only source of medical attention, and something came up with Donnie that was completely over their heads. I was brought onboard out of sheer desperation, and because he was basically dying, I agreed to try. Because of some precautions and preparations Donatello made through the years, I had enough information immediately at my fingertips to make a difference, and he lived." As Luke finished the statement, his phone buzzed and he glanced down immediately.
Jenna. Boy, was that ironic.
He replaced the phone on his belt and let it ring. He would have bad news to share with her soon enough.