Still working on this, still uploading! :D Writing time may slow down towards the end of the month, but my finals schedule worked out that I have the entire month of May off (plus the last few days of April)! So I'll be able to write lots more then! Plus, I'm back to my draft one chapter ahead plan, so 10 is ready for editing! For now, here's a quick one. Hope ya like it! :)
The room felt different when Leo become aware again. There were more bodies and he heard a mumbling voice
He could tell he was healing because it was easier to keep himself semi-conscious, and he could do it for longer periods of time. He could make out words if people were talking. He was also able to sense who else was in the room, down to who they were if he knew them well. It was a technique he'd picked up in ninja training and was vital to missions when visibility was low.
And considering he still couldn't fully wake up, it was coming in handy.
He could only focus on one thing at a time, however, so he decided to figure out just how crowded the room was. Normally, there was just one person, who was almost always Raph. He was still there and still in his normal spot, so he continued to sense out.
Donnie was there, leaning on the bathtub Leo was almost certain he was in. A bit further out into the room (Leo had never realized how small it was), he could sense Mikey, then April, and finally Casey.
Leo felt relieved with the knowledge that his brothers and friends were all still okay. They had made it through the invasion alive and where well enough to be up and moving. He wished he could say the same for himself, but at least they only had to deal with one injured member.
Wait… Something was missing...
Master Splinter!
If Leo could, his eyes would've snapped open. He started feeling out again, figuring he must've missed his Sensei in his injured state. He even tried to feel outside the room, as the door was open, but he felt himself start to fade, so he pulled back. He didn't want to fall back into the darkness yet. But where was Splinter?
The more he thought on it, the more he realized he'd had yet to sense him. Considering how injured he was, Splinter should constantly be at his side. He would've barely left him alone. Any time any of them had gotten sick or injured over the years, Splinter always stayed with them until they were better. And considering it sounded like some sort of group meeting was going on, Splinter should've been in this room.
So why wasn't he?
Leo remembered that they'd split up - it's how he'd gotten this injured in the first place - but he'd assumed that everyone, including Splinter, had reunited before going to where ever they were now. Maybe Splinter had also gotten hurt? If he was healing in another room, Leo wouldn't have sensed him.
What if they hadn't found him, and left without him?
There's no way the others would do that. Maybe they were still in New York, only somewhere that wasn't the lair, and they were still searching for Splinter. But, Leo had the feeling they'd left the city.
Maybe they'd been forced to leave Splinter behind. Perhaps they wanted to find him before they left, but they got overwhelmed and had to leave so they would live. Leo didn't want to think that had happened, but none of the other options looked good either. As much as he wanted Splinter to be in the same place he was, he didn't want Splinter to be injured either.
So, they most likely weren't in New York and had been forced to leave Splinter. And he was lying comatose in a bathtub. Not exactly their most triumphant moment.
But, he'd get better and wake up and lead his team to take back their city. And Master Splinter was resourceful. He'd find a way to stay alive, avoid the Kraang, even fight back. He might even be on his way to finding them right now.
Feeling better, Leo turned his attention to whomever was speaking, which sounded like it was Donnie. He wanted to know what they were talking about.
And his blood ran cold again once he heard the words.
CPR? Donnie was teaching the others CPR? Was he really that injured that they feared he'd stop breathing?
Had he already stopped breathing before?
He and Donnie had always talked about teaching the team CPR before. Leo knew some of the basics, at least enough to keep someone stabilized, but both of them wanted Raph and Mikey to have the same knowledge. But, at the same time, it was never very high on their to-do list, what with the almost constant threat from both the Kraang and the Foot. And Splinter also knew it as well, so they figured they'd had a good safety net.
But with himself having almost died, and Splinter who-knows-where, it was no wonder Donnie had gone ahead and taught them. They hadn't realized just how patchy their safety net really was.
He found himself hyper-aware of his own breathing, consciously making sure his chest was rising and falling. His breaths weren't very deep, but they were even, and he didn't feel deprived of oxygen. He felt himself relax. There wasn't anything to worry about.
The was a sudden amount of movement, and Leo could sense people leaving the room. The meeting must've been over. When the movement decreased, only two others were left: Raph and Donnie.
A conversation sprung up between the two of them, and Leo struggled to keep up. He was getting tired after all the energy he'd spent earlier and it was hard to switch back and forth between multiple people. Their voices weren't loud, which also didn't help Leo, but they were tense.
Were they arguing? Leo wouldn't have been surprised. The four of them had argued a bit at home, most often with Raph, and that's when tensions had been low. Considering the present circumstances, it was probably easier to get on each others nerves.
He then recalled that Raph had almost always been the one in the room watching him the past few times he'd gotten to semi-consciousness. Assuming that they were rotating through the position of "watch Leo", he shouldn't have been getting Raph as often has he had been. He should've been sensing the other's as well.
Had Raph been in there 24/7 for however long Leo had been out?
While he was mildly touched at how concerned Raph was, Leo was upset that his brother was running himself ragged for his sake. And he was relieved when he felt Raph leave, knowing Donnie had managed to get him to rest. Raph had always been passionate and if he had a goal, he'd stop at nothing to accomplish it. While that was a fine trait, it could overtake him if he didn't keep track of it. Leo was grateful Donnie had recognized it.
He felt Donnie sit down in the spot Raph had been. He could feel his brown eyes bore into him, his plea for Leo to wake up.
And Leo wanted to. He wanted to open his eyes and talk to Donnie, thank him for helping Raph, for teaching the others something that they may need, for working on keeping things together.
And he wanted to apologize for arguing with him when the invasion first started. For not taking the chance to try and listen to his ideas, and to get to explain his own rationally. He hated that their last conversation had been fighting words and anger.
And he wasn't going to be able to do that stuck in this limbo. Leo had to keep working on getting better as quickly as he could.
