Chapter 4-A Damaged and Broken Heart

Leo and Raph gently placed a now pale Mikey onto one of the infirmary beds, sat him up slightly and covered him with the white blanket as well as another but thicker blanket after they noticed Mikey had started to shiver as soon as they entered the room. Raph then went to fetch an oxygen tank from the corner of the room and Leo attached an oxygen mask to it before he placed it over Mikey's nose and mouth and turned it on.

After doing this, Leo brought over an EKG and vital signs machine and he began to stick the patches onto Mikey's chest before he turned on the machine, which started to beep in accordance to Mikey heartbeat. It was then that the two older brothers noticed something was wrong as soon as they heard and looked at Mikey's heart rhythm.

"Is it me or does Mikey's heart look and sound a lot slower than usual?" Leo questioned as he looked at Raph with a concerned look on his face.

"Yeah, I already noticed…ya don't have ta tell me twice, bro…" Raph answered quietly as well as in concern before he walked over to Mikey and held his hand gently in his own as he sat on the chair next to the bed, with Leo doing the same on the other side.

"Mikey…I-I…" Raph spoke after a moment of silence with only the sounds of the machines in the air, but he swallowed thickly as he couldn't think of what to say next since he was too shaken up from what he had witnessed earlier, and his eyes were slowly filling up with tears of guilt and regret.

"It's ok, Raph…take your time…" Leo said with encouragement in his words whilst he gently squeezed Mikey's hand, before he heard Raph speak again.

"I-I…I'm so sorry, little bro…None of us, not even me, wanted dis ta happen ta ya…yeah, you're a pain in our shells sometimes, but…We still love ya, bud…"

"That's right…and I-I'm sorry too, Mikey…I should've spoken with you earlier, but…instead, I just left you all alone…with only the negative words implanted in your head…Forgive me, bro…" Leo said before tears fell from his closed eyes.

Suddenly, both Leo and Raph felt their hands being squeezed weakly and they looked up to see Mikey's eyes starting to twitch and then slowly open until they were halfway up, but wide enough for him to see his brothers' sad but relieved faces, causing him to develop a small smile on his face.

"Mikey!" Leo and Raph said softly since they didn't want to make Mikey's condition worse by being too loud.

"H-He-y…d-dudes…" Mikey responded weakly as he took a breath each time he said one or two words.

"Hey, little brother…I'm glad you're awake again, you had us really worried back there…" Leo said as he stroked Mikey's head soothingly before he watched his little brother look down and frown slightly.

"Hey now, …it's ok, Mike…" Raph said as he gave Mikey's hand another gentle squeeze to comfort him, but Mikey just shook his head slowly with now tear-filled eyes.

"N-No…I-It's not…I-I just…c-caused more…p-problems…for y-you all…I-I'm so…s-sorry…I-It's all…my f-fault…" Mikey said breathlessly as his tears fell down his cheeks before he felt someone give him a gentle hug.

"Shh, shh shhh…That's not true, Mikey…we encouraged your actions because we only focused on the negative side to your actions and, as a result, made us forget about how amazing and important you really are to us all…" It was Leo, who then released his baby brother and gave him a warm smile as he wiped the tears from Mikey's eyes.

"Yeah, bro…and it's our fault fa what happened ta ya back there, not yours…" Raph said in agreement after he quickly wiped away his own tears.

"I, too, agree with that statement…"

The three turtles turned their heads towards the infirmary entrance to see Donnie walking towards them with a sad smile on his face. He then slowly sat on the edge of Mikey's bed on Raph's side, where Raph moved aside to give him some space, and placed a comforting hand on Mikey's cheek.

"D-Don…I-I'm…" Mikey nervously started to speak with wide and tear-filled eyes.

"Shhh…there's no need to apologise or say anything else, Mikey…You're badly hurt because of us, so we should be the ones apologising to you. I'll admit that even though what you did was dangerous and a bit reckless, I know that you were only trying to show us how vital you really are to us all since we made you feel like you're not…Also, I want to thank you…for finding a huge amount of father's data bits for us, because now we're one step closer to bringing him back home to us!" Donnie said before he gave him a gentle hug, which Mikey returned by nuzzling his neck after saying, "T-Thanks, Don…". Leo and Raph just stayed silent as they watched on with warm smiles and tears in their eyes.

After a moment, Donnie released Mikey from the hug and Leo spoke next but in a slightly more serious tone.

"Mikey, do you remember what happened back in Cyberspace, when the Cyber Shredder attacked you?"

Mikey looked at him with wide eyes; he remembered everything from the discussion about him to Cyber Shredder stabbing him in the heart, causing him to struggle even more with his breathing.

"Hey, hey…easy, Mikey…deep breaths, you're safe at the lair with us…" Donnie soothed Mikey as he rubbed his arm for comfort. After a minute, Mikey calmed down and began to talk.

"I-I remember everything…t-the discussion…g-getting a cluster…of father's d-data bits… S-Shredder…appearing out of n-nowhere…and s-stabbing my heart…" By the time he finished talking, Mikey was gasping so Donnie increased his oxygen slightly to give him a helping hand in catching his breath.

"Alright, Mikey…That's all we needed to know, so just rest and take it easy now, ok?" Leo said as he placed a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Before you go to sleep though, bro, I need to do an ultrasound scan of your heart to see what exactly is wrong with it after the Shredder took half of it in a digital form…" Donnie announced before he got up from Mikey's bed and went to retrieve the ultrasound scanner.

Once Mikey was laid flat on his bed, Donnie prepared the machine and placed the scanning rod on top of Mikey's chest after putting some cool gel on it, and then started to move it around to search for any abnormalities. After a moment, Donnie noticed something abnormal on the right side of Mikey's heart.

"Oh, no…" Donnie whispered, but Leo heard it.

"Don, what is it?" He asked worryingly.

"The muscle walls on the right side of his heart have stiffened and become inflamed, hence why his heart rate has slowed down severely and his breathing is irregular…" Donnie answered in his 'Doctor Don' tone.

"Dat Shredder…he's gonna pay fa dis!" Raph growled as he clenched a fist in front of his face.

"Calm down, Raph, we'll get Mikey's other half of his heart back from the Shredder as soon as we come up with a plan…" Leo said as he placed a calming hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Which we need to think about putting into action now because if we leave Mikey's heart like this for too long, it will cease to beat and cause Mikey to go into cardiac arrest!" Donnie said firmly but calmly.

The other turtles, including Mikey, gasped and looked at each other before Leo asked Donnie to have a word with him in the computer room, whilst Raph stayed behind to look after Mikey, who had fallen asleep shortly after Leo and Donnie left the room.

Meanwhile in Cyberspace…

The Cyber Shredder was standing in his domain and was looking at Mikey's heart fragment in awe and curiosity before he decided to try something.

"Now then, let's see how fragile your heart really is, Michelangelo…Ha ha ha ha...!" He said before he slowly began to squeeze the heart fragment in his hand.

The heart fragment soon started to beat more slowly and small digital pieces began to break off of it due to the strain of being squeezed really hard.

Back in the lair…

"Don, do you have an estimate on how much time we have before his condition worsens?" Leo asked in a serious but concerned tone.

"Well, judging by the amount of inflammation and stiffness in his heart's walls, I think he has around 7 hours before his heart stops beating completely," Donnie answered despite feeling a bit unsure about his prognosis.

"Can he be revived right after that happens?" Leo then asked before he watched Donnie shake his head slowly with a sad look on his face as he spoke.

"No, Mikey's heart will no longer be strong enough to keep beating after the point where his time has run out…"

"Ok, then let's-"

"MIKEY!"

Leo was cut off by Raph's terrified scream and he and Donnie wasted no time and ran back into the infirmary to see Raph performing CPR on Mikey, who was now limp and not breathing.

"What happened!?" Leo asked in a panicked state.

"Ngh…I don't know…he was fine a second ago…and then he looked like he was in pain…and then he just…crashed…!" Raph answered whilst pumping his baby brother's heart before he breathed into his mouth and then repeated the process.

"Leo, get the defibrillator! It's on my desk over there!" Donnie shouted and pointed at his desk in the corner of the room as he ran towards Mikey's bed to assist Raph.

Leo immediately went over and grabbed the defibrillator from the desk, ran over to the bed and passed it to Donnie who turned it on and allowed it to charge for a few seconds before he grabbed the device and placed them on Mikey's chest.

"Stand back, guys!" Donnie shouted to warn his brothers to step away from the bed.

"Clear!" He then shouted before Mikey's body was jolted by the electrical current from the defibrillator, but he remained still and unresponsive.

"Charging…and clear!" Donnie tried again, only to get the same result.

"Come on, Mikey…please, not now…" Donnie whispered with tears in his eyes before he used the defibrillator again, whilst Leo and Raph stood by and watched the process with horrified faces.

In Cyberspace…

The Cyber Shredder was still squeezing Mikey's heart fragment very tightly before he slowly released it, which allowed it to restore its natural shape and the broken bits to reattach themselves to it.

"I see…so his heart is not as weak as I thought, but he still cannot survive without his other half in the real world. All I need to do now…is wait for the turtles to come and face me…so that I can put an end to their miserable lives..." The Cyber Shredder said as he continued to look at Mikey's heart fragment in his hand with evil red eyes.

In the lair…

Donnie was about to use the defibrillator for a fifth time before he heard it; the sounds of a sharp gasp and then coughing came from Mikey's mouth as his eyes opened widely whilst he tried desperately to catch his breath.

"Mikey…" Donnie said in relief before he put down the defibrillator and went over to put the oxygen mask back onto Mikey's face. "Deep breaths, Mikey…easy…that's it…just relax…" He then said softly to help Mikey with his breathing.

Leo and Raph, on the other hand, just stood there in shock and surprise for another minute before they snapped out of it and walked over to Mikey's bed despite feeling a little shaky still.

"Mikey…thank goodness…" Leo whispered as he gave Mikey a gentle hug.

"Oh, bro…don't scare us like dat!" Raph said softly before he gently held his baby brother's hand again in his own.

Mikey looked at his brother with tired eyes before they began to fill with tears as he spoke weakly.

"S-Sorry…I-I'm s-scared…b-bros…"

"Don't worry, Mikey; we're here for you..." Leo reassured his sick baby brother as he stroked his hand with his thumb.

"Dat's right, and we'll teach dat oversized tin can a serious lesson!" Raph said before he punched his fist in his hand with a smirk.

"Yes, and I promise you that we will make you well again by getting your heart fragment back!" Donnie said in agreement with a determined look on his face.

After hearing his brothers' words of resolve, Mikey developed a small smile on his face and nodded to say that he believed in them before he yawned and began to feel sleepy but he struggled to not fall asleep due to his fear of not waking up again.

"It's alright, Mikey, we'll make sure that you'll wake up again. Rest now…" Leo said softly before he stroked his baby brother's head soothingly to lull him to sleep.

"M'kay…L-Love y-you, bros…" Mikey managed to say before he went to sleep whilst still wearing his small smile.

"Love you too, bro…" His older brothers said together whilst they smiled warmly at their baby brother's words before Donnie covered him back up with the blankets and tucked him in. After a moment of silence, Leo spoke up.

"Alright, guys…let's get started on making a plan to save Mikey!"

"Right!" Raph and Donnie replied with determination before they left the infirmary to discuss how their plan should be carried out.