-Redemption-
Summary: Takes place during the 2007 CGI movie. Leo finds out who the Night Watcher is in a completely different way...
Disclaimer: I do not own the turtles. *Imagines what it would be like if I did and grins evilly*
A/n: Okay guys, this chapter is a little dark. And because I'm such a bad, twisted person and find it easy to put my favourite character, (Raphael), in a lot of pain, that's just what I've done. If you're a little queasy about some things I suggest you just skim read parts of this chapter. Also maybe read this with a tissue, just in case ;)
Also this chapter is quite long, longer than my other ones, just as a treat for you guys!
Warnings for swearing and blood and a hurt Raphie :(
April snapped her phone shut and quickly slid it back into her jeans pocket. "We have to get him back to the car," she told Casey. "The others are going to meet us up there."
Casey nodded and, without saying a word, slid his arms under Raph's prone form as gently as he could. Bracing himself, Casey grunted and lifted Raphael into his arms, holding him bridal-style against his chest.
Raphael groaned as he was moved and jostled but didn't wake up entirely, keeping his eyes tightly closed. His breathing was becoming laboured and Casey could feel the coldness of his reptilian skin against his own.
"He's cold," he told April, tightening his grip ever so slightly around his friend.
"We have to hurry," April said, frowning with worry. "Can you carry him Casey?"
"Yes," Casey said firmly. His friend may be heavy, and awkward to carry due to his shell, but there was no way Casey was going to let go now, not after he had just found him again.
"Good, then let's get moving," April said as she got to her feet.
Casey nodded and followed quickly after April at a steady jog. He cringed with every step he took, knowing that the movement jostled Raph around ever more, which caused the unconscious turtle to groan and shift in his arms in pain.
April glanced over her shoulder at the two, her green eyes shining with worry. She cut through the forest, trying desperately to remember the way in which they had come. It would do none of them any good if they got lost. Raphael needed his brothers, needed Don's trained eye, and he needed it now.
Casey's arms began to feel like led, his muscles protesting and actually starting to shake under the strain of his friend's weight. Casey groaned and shifted his arms, hoisting Raphael higher and bringing him tighter to his body. He would not stop. He would not drop his friend. Raphael had always been there for him when he needed him and never let Casey down. Casey wasn't going to let Raphael down now, not when he needed him the most.
April didn't know how long they had been running for. It could have been for an hour, or a couple of minutes. One minute they were running through the forest, deftly jumping over uprooted roots and manoeuvring through the thick foliage that surrounded them on all four sides. And the next, April noticed that the foliage was starting to thin out. She could see small gaps through the trees and felt the ground grow steeper with every step. Then they were out of the forest completely, standing at the bottom of the hill that led up to the highway.
April cast a quick glance over her shoulder. Casey was visibly shaking with the effort of holding on to Raphael. Sweat coated his body and drenched the back of his shirt as his chest fought for air. Raphael wasn't doing any better. He had grown a lot more pale since they had first found him. But what worried April more was the fact that Raphael wasn't making a sound. Even when Casey accidentally jostled him, he didn't make a protest, didn't groan or moan in pain.
"Come on," April said, turning around to face the highway again. "We have to hurry."
It was slower going up the hill. Though the hill wasn't necessarily big, it was pretty steep. Casey was having a harder time getting up the somewhat slippery hill than April was. Seeing this, April turned around and walked back down to where Casey was, shifting Raphael so she was holding some of his weight.
Casey shot her a thankful and relieved look, and together they started slowly back up the hill. Finally, after a lot of slipping and stumbling and grumbling, they managed to get to the top of the hill. Stepping over the guard rail, April ran ahead of Casey to where they had hidden the car earlier. Quickly opening the back door, April pushed the front two seats forward to give them more room in the back. Finding the blanket and first aid kit April always kept in the car, she quickly turned the overhead light on. The light was weak but it would do.
April turned around when she heard Casey behind her. Stepping out of the car, she quickly made room for him. "Lay him down in the back," she instructed.
Casey did as he was told, carefully laying Raphael across the back seat of the car. Raphael groaned and shifted. It looked like he was beginning to wake up.
"Quick Casey, the flashlight," April ordered, squeezing past her boyfriend and crouching in the back of the car next to Raphael.
Casey quickly rummaged through his bag and pulled out the heavy flashlight, turning it on and training it on Raphael and April.
"Donnie's going to call any minute now," April said, opening the first aid kit awkwardly on her lap. "Help me get this suit off so we can fully check him for injuries."
Nodding, Casey grabbed his pocket knife from his jeans pocket and leaned forward, half in and half out of the car. Unclasping the front of the suit, April quickly pulled the zipper down as far as it would go. The further she pulled down the zipper, the paler April became. With each new inch of flesh exposed, the more Raphael's injuries became apparent.
Cutting slits up the side of the suit, Casey quickly helped April pull the whole thing off. Well, whatever was left of it anyway.
"Shit," Casey breathed, eyes trained on Raphael. Now that the suit was no longer covering his body, the extent of his injuries glared at Casey and April.
Covering him with the blanket, April went back to rummaging through the first aid kit whilst Casey kept the torch steady.
There was a sudden buzzing noise which had them both jumping. Realizing it was her phone; April dug it quickly out of her pocket and held it to her ear. "Donnie, where are you?"
"We're nearly at the Battle-Shell April," Don said from his end of the line. "We are you? How's Raph?"
"We're back at the car," April said. "As for Raph…Donnie I really need your help on this. This is way out of my league."
"We'll be there soon April," Don assured her. "Get Casey to drive. It'll be quicker if you meet us halfway."
"Okay," April said before lowering the phone and turning to Casey. "Don said to meet them halfway."
Nodding in understanding, Casey quickly closed the back seat door and ran around to the other side of the car, jumping into the driver's seat. Fishing around for the keys, Casey fumbled with them before being able to get them into the ignition, his hands shaking.
"All right, hold on," he told April, ignoring his seat belt and turning the keys in the ignition.
The engine started chocking, a deep rumbling noise, before it went silent. Frowning, Casey turned the keys again. The same chocking noise as before greeted them before the engine went silent again.
"Why isn't it starting?" April demanded.
"Shit!" Casey cursed. "There's no fuel left!"
"What?" April asked in disbelief before cursing under her breath. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
"April? April what's happening?" Don's voice asked from the forgotten phone which was still clasped in April's hand.
"The damn car's out of fuel!" April growled, fighting the urge to curl into a helpless ball and cry like a frightened and lost child.
"Shit," Donnie swore. "Okay listen to me April. I want you to stay nice and calm for me. We'll all meet you there okay? But until we do I need you to look Raph over for me. Tell me every injury you can see. Can you do that for me April?"
"Yes," April whispered, closing her eyes briefly and taking a deep breath before turning to Casey. "Casey I need you to keep that torch on him."
"Got it," Casey said.
"Okay April, you're going to tell me everything you see," Don said, trying to keep his voice calm. "And I'm going to talk you through it."
"Okay," April said. Using her shoulder to keep the phone pressed to her ear, April moved forward and began to inspect the still unconscious Raphael.
"He's got a cut on the side of his head," April said, gently running her hands over the wound. "He wasn't wearing a helmet when we found him, so I assume that it came off during the crash."
"What else?"
The cut's deep but it's stopped bleeding. There's a bit of swelling to his head and bruising to his face and right eye. And his lip is split."
"Good April," Don said. "Now do you have any water with you?"
"Yes," April said, rummaging through her backpack and pulling out her water bottle.
"Good. Now I want you to wet a towel or cloth or something and try to clean that wound. Do you have a first aid kit?"
"Yes."
"Is there any iodine in it? Anything that can be used as a disinfectant?"
"Yes," April said, pulling out the small bottle of iodine.
"Good. Clean the wound as best you can."
April did as instructed. Casey quickly tore off his outer shirt and handed it to April. Nodding in thanks, April wet the cloth and gently began to clean all the dried blood away from Raph's head wound. When she had finished, April then dipped the edge of the shirt into the iodine bottle and began to disinfect the wound.
Raphael groaned slightly at the sting of the iodine, shifting uncomfortably.
"Raph? Raph can you hear me?" April asked, leaning closer to the prone turtle. "Raphael wake up."
Raphael groaned again but kept his eyes tightly shut.
"April? What's happening?"
"Sorry Don," April apologized. "Raph just groaned. I was trying to rouse him but he won't wake up."
"He probably has a severe concussion," Don said. "Have you cleaned his head wound?"
"Yes," April said before examining Raphael again. Her eyes landed on his right shoulder and she winced. "His shoulder is dislocated. Bad. I don't think I can pop it back in Don, not without doing more harm than good."
"Leave it," Don said. "I'll put it back in when we get there."
April nodded and continued on with the examination, moving the blanket down inch by inch.
"His right arm is broken, to what extent I don't know," April said. "I think his wrist is broken. And it's hard to tell with his plastron, but there's a lot of bruising there. I think some of his ribs are broken."
"Alright April, what else?"
April gently ran her fingers down Raph's sensitive sides, between his plastron and shell. The unnatural bumps that she could feel were definitely indicators that his ribs were broken. Pulling the blanket the rest of the way down to examine his legs, April let out a strangled cry upon seeing his right leg.
"April? April what's wrong!" Don asked franticly from the phone.
"His…his leg…it's…it's…" April didn't know how to continue. Casey and April's eyes were both trained on his leg, well; you could still call it that. It was twisted at an unnatural angle and you couldn't tell where his thigh started and where his calf ended. April couldn't even distinguish where his knee was, let alone his ankle.
A wave of nausea hit her and she felt like she was going to faint. "Oh God Donnie," she whimpered. "It's bad, really bad."
"April, I need you to calm down and listen to me," Donnie fought to keep his voice calm and in control. "I need you to tell me what you see."
April swallowed the vile that had risen in her throat and took a deep breath. "His leg is twisted at an unnatural angle. And…Donnie I can't tell where his thigh starts and his calf ends. It's all just…mush."
"April, I need you to fix it as best as you can," Donnie said after a long pause. "I need you to put his leg back in place."
"No," April said, shaking her head. "I…I can't do that Donnie."
"Yes you can," Don tried to sooth her. "April, Raph needs you know. You have to get his leg straight. Get Casey to find two sticks, or something to use as splints."
Casey tore his horrified gaze away from the grotesque twist of Raphael's leg and hopped out of the car, stumbling around to find two sturdy branches.
"Donnie," April said once Casey was gone. "I…I can't do it. I…"
"April," Don cut in. "You have to. Just listen to my voice and follow my instructions. Now, what direction is his leg in?"
"It's jutting to the left," April swallowed.
Casey returned with the flashlight and two branches. Hopping into the back with April, he swallowed and settled down next to his friend.
"Okay," Donnie said, taking a deep breath. "April tell Casey to keep Raph still. I need you to put pressure on his thigh and pull his leg to the right until you hear a pop."
"Okay," April said in a quivering voice. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she moved down towards Raph's leg.
Casey gently placed his hands on Raph's plastron to hold him down. Once April was settled, she met Casey's eyes and placed one of her hands on Raph's thigh, and the other one on his calf, or, where she assumed his calf was anyway.
"Okay April, on my count of three," Don said. "One."
April took a deep breath.
"Two."
Casey swallowed the hard lump in his throat and held Raphael down.
"Three!"
Biting her lip, April squeezed her eyes shut and quickly pulled Raphael's leg. Several things happened at once. There was a sickening popping sound as Raphael's leg was snapped back into place.
It was like a switch had been turned on inside of Raph. He arched his back off the backseat, fighting against Casey who was desperately trying to hold him down. An agony filled scream was torn from Raphael's throat as he threw his head back, his eyes screwed shut in pain. His hands were clenched into tight fists and dug into the material of the seat, his knuckles white from his death-grip.
April managed to stumble out of the car before she emptied the bile that was in her stomach onto the road. In the car, Raphael kept screaming.
April had dropped her phone when she had scrambled out of the car. It now sat on the floor, discarded and forgotten. But it was still on, and from the other end of the line, Donnie paled and let the contents of his own stomach out as the sound of his brother's pained screams filled his ears.
A/n: Sorry for leaving you all off like this but I felt this was a good place as any to leave off. Also if you see anything wrong in the way of medical stuff, I'm sorry for that. I'm not a doctor; I'm just going off a whim here folks. Stay tuned for next chapter and don't forget to leave a review ^^
