I don't own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Though I wish I owned Raph...). Cassie & Alex are mine, however, so no touchy.
Chapter 7 : The Healing Path
The familiar sensation of a warm body curled around her back greeted Alex's consciousness almost four hours after she had suffered her nearly fatal panic attack, and she took a moment to revel in the safe feeling of having her sister holding her before she slowly opened her eyes and blinked at the turtle that was sitting in a nearby chair, his attention completely immersed in a comic book. "Mikey?"
The soft whisper startled him, and he instinctively started reaching for his nunchuckus before he realised what had woken him. Embarrassed at his reaction, he forced a smile and met the sleepy hazel gaze that belonged to the young teenager. "Hey, there. How're you feelin'?"
"A little better," Alex murmured, hearing Cassie mumble something in her sleep as her big sister pulled her closer until her head was firmly tucked under her chin.
Mikey grinned at the scene, remembering how he'd woken Cassie when he'd first come in to take watch - a precaution that Donnie suggested they take, in case Alex's breathing deteriorated again. What had surprised him what that even with his ninja stealth, Cassie had still woken up the moment he'd entered the room, though once she had recognised him, she had gone back to sleep afterwards.
"What's with the IV?" Alex frowned, raising her right hand to look at the needle that was embedded in the back of her hand.
"Oh, that's just for some meds that Donnie's giving you. You've got bronchitis, and that stuffs gonna nip it in the bud." Trying to lighten the mood and really wanting to get that solemn look out of her eyes, he smiled at her warmly and leaned forward a bit. "Are ya hungry? I can whip something up for you lickety-split if you want."
"Sure. I kinda need to use the washroom anyway." She paused and carefully started to pull away from Cassie, smiling when her sister grumbled in annoyance and cracked an eye open to look at her. "S'okay, I just wanna get up."
"Y'sick," Cassie mumbled. "Shoul'dn be movin' r'und."
"Hey, I'll take good care of her," Mikey promised as he rose to his feet and rose a hand to gesture over his plastron. "Cross my heart. I'll even carry her around so she doesn't have to walk."
Alex met the sleepy light blue gaze of her sister and pouted. "Please, Cassie?"
"Yeah, please Cassie?"
A chuckle actually left her at Mikey's pleading tone, and Cassie nodded as she uncurled her arm from around Alex's waist, letting the turtle carefully scoop the small form into his arms, and she smirked a little as she watched him manage to cradle Alex while simultaneously keeping a hand closed on the wheeled IV pole that held her sister's medicine. "Geddout and lemme sleep."
"Yes sir... er I mean ma'am!" Snickering at the grimace that she gave him at that little slip of the tongue, he somehow succeeded in juggling Alex and the IV pole while managing to open the door and walk out into the wide open space of the main section of the lair. "Hey, guys! Look who's awake!"
Donnie poked his head out of the lab at the call and blinked before letting a grin spread over his lips. "Alex! Hey, how are you feeling?"
"A bit better," she shrugged as he walked over to them. "Kinda tired though."
"That's probably the antibiotics. One more day, and I'll take that IV line out and put you on pills, like Cassie," Don told her as he took the IV pole from Mikey before his brother accidentally dropped her. "You up for some food? It'd do you good."
"Uh-uh, pit stop first bro," Mikey said as he headed for the hallway, trusting Donnie to follow with the IV. "You... ah... don't need help....right?"
Alex rolled her eyes. "I'm sick, not an invalid."
He chuckled and gently set her on her feet in front of the bathroom door. "Right. Forget I asked."
"Oh damn," Donnie muttered suddenly, drawing his brother's gaze as Alex took hold of the IV pole and wheeled it into the bathroom, kicking the door closed behind her. "Is Cassie up too?"
"Naw, she went back to sleep. Why?"
"Gotta make sure she takes her meds," he called back as he turned and headed back to Leo's room, where the oldest of the two girls was supposedly still sleeping. Taking care not to startle her in case she threw something at his head, Donnie quietly slid the door open and peeked in at the form that was sprawled out on her stomach on the bed. "Cassie? Hey, Cassie?"
She jerked at the call and rose her head of the pillow, looking around for a moment before settling her gaze on Donnie. "Wha?"
"Take your pill."
"Nugh."
He stifled a chuckle at the annoyed grumble and watched as she gingerly sat up and raked her fingers through her tousled hair. "You don't have to get up."
"Mrn... wanna shower," she mumbled, her words even more garbled with the yawn she let out as she blindly reached for the pill bottle on the night table, closing her fingers around it as she got to her feet and staggered towards the door. "Where's 'Lex?"
"Bathroom. Mikey's gonna make her some lunch afterwards." He stepped out of the way as she shuffled past him and followed her as she headed for the bathroom. "You want anything?"
Cassie yawned again and rose her free hand to rub at her eyes, trying to force the tiredness from herself as she walked. "Not yet.... but thanks."
"Hey, Cassie." Mikey smiled when he saw her and caught the slight smile she sent in return when she saw her sister cradled in his arms. "Bathroom's free now."
"Do tell." Smirking, Cassie, quirked an eyebrow at her sister. "Comfortable?"
Alex blushed. "Shaddup."
"Gee, this sounds familiar," Donnie chuckled as he and Mikey exchanged amused glances.
"I know." Still smiling, Mikey turned his attention to the one who was playfully ruffling Alex's hair. "Hey, Cassie, if you're takin' a shower, I'll put new bandages on when you're done. Okay?"
"Yeah, okay. So long as you feed my sister. She's a stick."
"Hey! I resent that!" Alex protested, grumbling when Cassie stepped out of her reach, keeping her from smacking her older sister and then glaring at the two turtles when they chuckled.
"Sorry, sweetie, but it's true," she said in parting as she stepped around a snickering Mikey and ducked into the bathroom, closing the door before her sister could retaliate. Once she was sure that the door was locked, Cassie set the pill bottle on the edge of the sick and stripped out of her shirt, frowning at the bruises, scrapes and scars that adorned her torso.
Deciding that she didn't want to dwell on this longer than she had to, she reached out to turn on the shower and, while waiting for it to achieve something other than 'arctic', gingerly peeled the large bandage off her back, biting her lip as she did so. Owowow!! Since screaming was not an option - as it would just panic all the guys and her sister - she settled for swearing continuously under her breath as she shoved the filthy bandage into the garbage can under the sink and turned to inspect the shower again, relieved to discover that the water was nice and warm.
Her urge to feel clean overriding the knowledge that it would probably hurt like hell to have water stream down her back, she hopped out of the rest of her clothes and stepped under the steady stream, clenching her eyes shut at the pain that followed. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea....
Luckily for her, she had taken many years in perfecting her stubbornness and her ability to not only adapt to pain, but to ignore it as well. Thus, she grabbed the bar of soap that was sitting on the edge of the tub and proceeded to scrub herself clean, even going as far as to use said bar to wash her hair since she didn't see any available shampoo. Duh, they don't have hair. Why the hell would they have shampoo?
It was almost half an hour later when she deemed herself clean, and spurred on by the sudden lack of hot water, she quickly turned off the taps and stepped out of the tub, snatching a nearby towel as she did so. Drying herself off without aggravating the wounds on her back was an adventure into itself, so much so that in the end she didn't even bother trying to dry off her back, centring her attention instead on drying the rest of herself off before wringing the water from her hair.
Just as she was about to pull her underwear and shorts back on, the door quivered under the force of a powerful knock, and she blinked as she looked over at it. "What?"
"You still alive in there?"
She rolled her eyes and wriggled into her t-shirt. "Yes, Leo. Just give me a second." She raked her fingers through her still considerably wet hair a final time before grabbing her pill bottle and opening the door, meeting the turtle's worried gaze. "I think I used all the hot water."
He glanced past her into the steam filled room and arched an eyeridge. "That's okay. You needed it. C'mon, the others are wondering if you've drowned yourself."
"How exactly can someone drown while taking a shower?"
Chuckling at her tone, he shook his head and glanced at her. "Dunno. Maybe they think you're a klutz."
"Wisecracking...." She let her comment trail off as she followed Leo into the kitchen, blinking when she was immediately set upon by Mikey, who ushered her over to the kitchen table and plunked her down onto a chair next to Alex, setting a glass of water in front of her afterwards.
"Take your pill," Donnie told her as Mikey went to rummage through the fridge, smirking when she shot him a look of annoyance.
"Have they been like this the entire time I was in there?" Cassie asked Alex as she obligingly popped one of the antibiotics into her mouth and swallowed it along with a long drink of water.
"Pretty much," her sister nodded.
"Okay, girls, whaddya want to eat?" Mikey asked as he gave up his search of the fridge and turned his attention to the cupboards. "Ooo! Pancake mix! You want pancakes?"
Cassie exchanged glances with Alex and shrugged. "Um.... sure?"
Suspicious at her answer, Leo moved to sit across from them and frowned. "You don't sound too sure."
"It's just that.... we never kinda had pancakes before," Alex explained sheepishly. "I didn't know what apple pie tasted like until we got to New York and went to that diner."
Don and Mikey glanced at each other before turning their full attentions to the newest conversation, curiousity and dread mixing together.
"Didn't he... feed you?" Donnie asked softly, almost afraid of the answer.
"Well, yeah. But...."
"He had us on a strict food regimen," Alex finished for Cassie, who looked seriously unsure about all of this. "He didn't want us to get fat."
Leo's gaze darkened. "How strict a....food regimen?"
Shrugging as if she didn't know why this was such a big deal, Alex recounted the meal plan that she and her sister had been following for years, completely ignoring Cassie's attempts to get her to shut up. "Well, for breakfast we got six ounces of skim milk and either half a small white grapefruit or two pieces of multi-grain toast with a teaspoon of non-dairy, non-fat spread. Lunch was half a cup of cold pasta, three crackers, a pear and six ounces of water, though sometimes we'd get a treat and we could have four strawberries instead of the pear. And then for supper it's one-third cup of mixed vegetables with three ounces of meat with either a small potato or a third cup of rice or pasta along with six ounces of water."
Cassie winced and avoided the turtles gazes, tensing as the guys horrified silence seemed to stretch out for hours. It wasn't until a low growl erupted from behind her that she realised that Raphael had walked into the kitchen during Alex's little explanation, and she shivered a little when she felt his gaze on her.
"Leo, I'm gonna--"
"Not now, Raph," Leo said, cutting his brother off as he gave an almost unperceivable nod in Cassie's direction.
"No wonder you two are sick. You're so malnourished it's a miracle you're still alive." Donnie's voice was soft with horror as he looked at them, the pieces of the puzzle slowly falling into place. The same realisations seemed to be taking place with his brothers as well, and he wondered if his face held the same mixed looks of concern and anger.
Shaking his head, Mikey turned to the cupboards again. "All this means is that we have to put some meat on their bones," he said as he gathered snacks into his arms. "Ack! Raph!! Did you eat all the Doritos again?"
Almost immediately, the scientific part of Donnie's brain kicked into overdrive. "Mikey, no! They need to gain healthy weight, not fat."
"Uh... what's the diff?"
Alex blinked and looked over at Cassie, who had her chin propped up on a fist as she watched the two turtles start discussing the merits and downsides of junk food when gaining weight. "I shouldn't have told them that, should I?"
"Nothing much to do about it now, sweetie," Cassie murmured as she turned to look at her. "It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong."
"Hey, wait a minute." Curiousity dulling the edge of his anger, Raph stepped around Cassie's chair so he could see her face and frowned. "If that was all ya were supposed ta have, then how the hell didja know about the beer being Lite?"
She grinned. "I excelled at sneaking out of our room and stealing food. Nothing grand though, crackers, bread, a few cans of tuna, and I gave most of it to her," she jerked a thumb at Alex. "Used to grab a few bottles of suds when I could. Never got drunk, mind you, but after a bad session with dear ol' dad, the booze took the edge off of the pain."
Leo, while not approving of stealing or alcohol, nodded in understanding, knowing that in a situation like that, drastic measures had to be taken. He imagined that without Cassie's pilfering, the two would probably be even more malnourished than they already were. The conversation going on behind him took on an exasperated tone then, and he blinked as he glanced back at Donnie and Mikey, feeling a small bit of amusement wash through him as he tuned into what they were saying.
"Mikey, I'm telling you, popcorn is not going to do them any good."
"But it's made from corn, right? So doesn't that make it a vegetable?"
Donnie rolled his eyes. "Only in your world, Mikey. They need healthy food. Like actual vegetables and meat and dairy."
"But... um, Donnie? Our money's low as it is, we can't afford all that," Leo reminded him morosely.
Cassie's eyes widened as her memory jumpstarted itself. "Oh! Alex, where's your backpack?"
"Still in Leo's room--" Alex trailed off as Cassie leapt from her chair and bolted out of the room, nearly running over Raph in the process. Shrugging at the looks of 'what's going on' that the guys were giving her, she glanced in the direction her sister had vanished in and blinked quizzically when Cassie raced back to them, not even the slightest out of breath. Show off.
"I almost forgot we had this," Cassie grinned as she spun her chair around and straddled it, digging into the depths of her sister's backpack as she did so. Aware of the confused gazes of the turtles, she gave them a brief run down of what this was all about. "See, before we hitchhiked to New York, we stopped at a bank, where I proceeded to steal seven thousand dollars off of my father's credit card. Jammed the card in the ATM when I was finished."
"Whoa, wait. Wait," Raph met her gaze when she glanced up at him and stared at her in disbelief. "Seven thousand dollars?!"
"S'what I said." Smiling, she closed her fingers around three carefully bundled wads of money and reached out to slap them onto the table. "There's three."
Mikey gaped. "Bro's have you got the sudden urge to throw the money on the floor and roll in it?"
"W-we can't take this," Leo managed to stutter, eyes wide in shock.
"Why not?" Tilting her head to the side, Alex frowned at the 'leader' of the turtles. "You're helping us, letting us stay here. Think of it as a.... a thank you. Besides, I know my sister, there's no way you're going to be able to change her mind about this. This is as close to trusting you that she can manage."
After shooting her sister a nasty glare, Cassie closed the backpack and dropped it into the floor by her feet, folding her arms on the chair afterwards as she fixed the turtles with a steady look. "Look.... I've never had to be thankful to anyone before, and no ones ever helped us as much as you have. All I know is that y'all are takin' care of us just because you're.... 'cause it's who you are. Y'all are the complete opposite of the kind of people Alex and I have been around all our lives, and quite frankly I have no clue how to act around you. And until all this nightmare is over with, I know you're gonna do your damnest to help us, even if it puts you in danger. So just take the damned money, consider it a thank you in advance for putting up with us and never make me admit this much again, okay?"
Surprised at the realisation that she had just lowered her guard enough for him to see that she was just as lost as Alex, Leo mustered up a smile and nodded, blinking in surprise when Mikey snatched up one of the bundles and breathed in it's scent.
"I've always wanted to know what a grand smelled like," the turtle in orange beamed, eliciting a giggle from Alex and a groan of exasperation from Raph. "What? Ooo! Hey, does this mean we can risk a trip to the store tonight, Leo?"
"Yeah, looks like it," came the reply, followed by a roll of the eyes when Donnie, Mikey and Raph gave each other high-threes. "Mikey, before you start the list - which I know will be disgustingly long - patch Cassie up, will you?"
Mikey paused seconds before he was about to throw a fistful of bills into the air and blinked. "Oh! Oh, damn, I nearly forgot!"
"Gimme that." Using his brother's distraction to his advantage, Raph snatched the wad of money out of his hand and idly flipped through the bills, nodding in approval when he saw that it was all twenties. Small bills. Smart girl. When you don't want to be found, always use cash. His attention was drawn back to her as she somehow shucked out of her shirt while not revealing anything but her back, and his gaze darkened when he saw the marks there, new and old wounds crisscrossing in every which way.
"Oh, by the way, don't try to stitch her up," Alex told Mikey as he shifted through the first aid kit that Donnie had just set onto the table for some antibiotic cream. "She always rips the stitches."
"Thank you, Nurse Alex," Cassie grumbled as she clutched her shirt to her chest and scowled at her sister. "Must you tell everyone all of my stupid stunts?"
"Why not? It's entertaining."
"Why you little...."
Donnie rolled his eyes at their banter and walked over to nudge Mikey in the side. "You fix something for lunch. I can do this," he told him, catching the grateful smile his bro shot him as the orange banded turtle went back to his previous mission of making pancakes. Easily locating the cream that had eluded Mike, he took a moment to go to the sink to wash his hands, glancing back at the girls as he did so. "If you don't mind me asking, who's the one who stitched you up? Couldn't have gone to a hospital, they'd have had to report it."
Cassie shrugged a little and lay one arm along the back of the chair, resting her chin on her wrist. "Not all of Murdock's people approved of what he was doing. One of his housecleaners risked her job and possibly her life to give us medical supplies. Nothing grand, but it was enough. Alex here, is the one who used to patch me up."
"Really?" When Alex nodded, Leo smiled a little, admiring her bravery. It couldn't have been easy to watch what her sister had been going through.
"Okay, this might sting a little, but.... ah... not as much as yesterday," Donnie said, waiting until he saw Cassie nod in understanding before he proceeded to spread the cream over her wounds, feeling the muscles of her back tense under his fingers as he worked. The shower had done her some good, it seemed. It had irrigated the wounds and washed off any infection that had been forced out by Splinters herbal remedy, and while the marks still looked horrible, he was certain that they would heal without any major complications.
Wanting a distraction from the sensation of Donnie laying gauze over her tender wounds, Cassie turned her gaze on Leo and smirked. "So," she drawled, knowing that Alex recognised her playful mood. "How's your hand?"
Raph snickered at the look on Leo's face as his brother flexed his hand a little. "Wuss."
"Oh, shut up, Raph."
"Yeah, shut up, Raph," Cassie chipped in, grinning at him to make sure he knew she wasn't serious. "Don't pick on him when he's recovering."
Leo shook his head a little and looked at her, smiling slightly. "Don't encourage him."
"As if he needs encouragement," Donnie smirked, avoiding the glare that Raph sent him as he taped the large bandage in place and gave Cassie a gentle pat on the shoulder. "All done."
"Thanks." Moving gingerly, she used one hand to hold the front of her shirt in place and somehow managed to wriggle back into the rest of it, wincing a little as she did so. "Man, I will be so glad when this heals enough so that it's within my level of 'ignorable' pain."
"Once the infection dies down you should be okay," Mikey told her as Don pushed him out of the way so he could get to the sink. "You'll have to take it easy though."
"Fat chance," Alex snorted. "'Take it easy' isn't in her vocabulary."
Deciding to show a grand amount of immaturity, Cassie stuck her tongue out at her sister, who returned the gesture. She was relieved to see the long missed cheerfulness in her little sister, so much so that she briefly let herself forget their nightmarish ordeals as she reached over and gently tickled her, chuckling when Alex loosed a shriek of laughter and tried to push her away.
Rolling his eyes at the sight, Raph met Mikey's gaze and smirked. "Kids."
