Stranger Whistles

by TJ Hector


-A/N:

For all those who reviewed, Athese, crystalbladedragon, InsaneDutchGirl, ducky mikey, LovelyLittleStrawberry, MissCookiiie, Avatar Aang, Raigon, cup-mikey-gertha, tmntlover2013, annastiara, I give you all my big thanks and...I don't know what else I can give you besides a new chapter LOL.

To cup-mikey-gertha: I was hoping somebody would notice that poster lol. You're right about the not-remembering-the mother-at-all thing. It will be more interesting if they have some memories. (BTW, I wrote "over ten years", not exactly ten years. But I'm considering rewrite that sentence anyway.) And the restaurant...Raph and Leo's fight was way too over! Loud laughter and conversations are allowed. And Leo's novel choice. Kudos on you noticing that bit too! It's actually just some of my personal favorites (except Tolstoy) but of course I thought Leo would enjoy them. You think Leo's in character in my story? I was afraid I made him a bad guy (or, a jerk) in my story (I always give him a hard time in my fics lol). Of course it's Raph's fault, they'll know.

-In this chapter you'll know why this story is named Stranger Whistles. Sorry about the big cliffhanger, I was too evil. Aber kein Angst meine Freundinnen!

-Disclaimer:

I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in this case, humans!).


Chapter Nine: So The Stranger Whistles

[Michelangelo]

He was shot.

And I sat there, frozen, shaking.

"…'ikey." Raph blinked in effort, "I…"

He looked shocked, scared even. Raph was never scared, even if he was, he never show it. Never. He hated to be scared.

But he was scared, and wasn't trying to hide it now. And that scared me, too.

I was trembling so hard, couldn't even press my hands on his wound. I didn't even know where it was. His chest? His stomach? Or his—

Raph was trying to finish the sentence that was already starting to slur.

"…'s wrong," he simply said. "Don' w'nna die."

"Stop talkin' Raph." I croaked.

"'M s'rry, 'ikey. Tell 'eo…'oo."

His eyelids were drooping dangerously. A single tear rolled down from his eyes.

"HELP!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "HELP!"

I didn't have a phone with me. Raph didn't have one either. I couldn't even call a goddamn ambulance.

"HELP!" I kept screaming. "HELP! PLEASE! HELP!" I screamed over and over again and it seemed like the whole world was deaf or dead because nobody listened to me.

"Raph. Please. Open your eyes." His eyelids quivered, but he didn't open them. His face had gone white. I'll have to run to the streets and borrow a phone or I'll have to…

"SOMEONE HELP!" I yelled again. "My—"

A hand patted me on my shoulder. I turned my head and saw a man.

"Hey there kid. What happened?" He asked. It was a passerby who had heard my call, a young man with a cap and a red scarf around his neck.

I was confused for a second. And then I realized what was the man doing—he was offering help. And when I grasped the meaning of that, I felt that I was going to collapse due to relief.

"My brother…he was shot." My voice quavered.

He knelt down beside Raph, still looking calm and all. "Alright. I need you to listen to me, okay?" He quickly glanced at me while his fingers moved hastily to unbutton Raph's shirt. I nodded.

I held back the urge to cover my eyes as the bullet hole was revealed. Red everywhere. Raph's usually bronze skin now looked so pallid, and his muscular body frail under the faint light of the pale street lamp.

The man inspected the wound briefly and pulled his scarf off his neck; his scarf was very thick and extra long—it would make a good bandage. "The bullet didn't penetrate his body. It's better for now. I need you to lift him up a bit so I can wrap up the wound. Be very careful."

I set to work.

"Now," he wrapped his scarf as tight as he could around Raph's waist while he said, "My phone is in my coat pocket. Call the ambulance." I reached into his pocket and found his phone soon enough. While I was dialing the number, he checked Raph's pulse and dilation—the way he did it was like he had done it a thousand times before. When I hung up the phone, he turned to ask me, "What's your brother's name?"

"Raphael," I answered.

He leaned closer to Raph's face. Raph was barely breathing, his lids closed.

"Raphael," the man called his name, gently but firmly. "Stay with us. Don't fall asleep just yet. Need you to stay awake. You hear me, kid?"

He called Raph's name again and again until Raph's lips parted slightly like he had heard the man and started coughing. The man gently turned Raph's head to a side and pressed a handkerchief on his mouth. "You make sure he doesn't gag on his own blood," the man said to me.

Raph stopped coughing; he looked like he wanted to say something.

"Easy." The man told Raph. "Don't talk. Just hang in there. We'll get you to a hospital."

"M…ikey."

"Don't say anything, Raph." I grabbed his hand.

Raph opened his eyes. His eyes weren't as piercing as usual; it looked inanimate and gray. "Th'ks," he said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I cried, "Just stop talking! You can tell us everything when you get better. Ya don't have to say it like you're gonna die!"

Tears trailed along his cheeks and his lips started to tremble.

I wiped away the tears with my shirtsleeves. "You're gonna be alright, Raph." I said softly, though I wasn't sure. I held his hand tight in my own. His hand was cold.

"Keep talkin' to him," the man said, taking off his coat. "Have to keep him warm," he muttered and covered Raph with the coat from his chin down.

Raph's eyelids were falling again. I watched the man as he laid a palm on Raph's cheek and said, "Stay awake, Raphael, the ambulance will be here in no time. Keep your eyes open."

Then he turned to me, "Be tough, your brother need you right now. Don't let him see you like this." I nodded, but it was hard. Raph is dying; it is obvious—

The man shook his head as if he could read my thoughts.

"He'll be alright," he said softly and calmly.

How d'you know?

"I just do," he said in a languid but resolute voice.

His eyes locked mine. Somehow I believed him.

"He'll pull through," the man in cap said. "Everything's gonna be okay."

-O-

The ambulance had arrived.

When they were carrying Raph to the ambulance, I turned around to thank the man who had helped.

"You don't have to." He raised a hand. "I'm just a stranger who happened to be around." That's not true. I know it.

"Thank you, sir. Really." I said it anyway. "And my name is Michelangelo Hamato. Are you a doctor?"

He shook his head. "I'm just an ordinary guy. The name's Kevin," he said, showing a slight smile and then turned to walk away.

I'm sure I heard faint sounds of whistle. He was just whistling even though he just witnessed such a horrible scene. Weird. But for some reason the song sounded sad.

Or was the whistle only my imagination?


[Leonardo & Donatello]

The Hamato residence was a bleak wreck without the youngest son.

Donatello sat in front of his desk, absentmindedly fiddling with his notebook pages. He wasn't reading anything in particular, just glancing through the pages. Now and then he would look around the living room and found it empty, and then he would sigh, sinking back deep into his thoughts again.

Michelangelo was always home. Even if he went out with his friends, he would never come home later then 9 p.m., except when he and Raph went out together. He was usually the first one to be home, sitting on the couch watching TV or reading comic books, waiting for his elder brothers to return. And when his brothers came back, Mikey always greeted them with his distinctive hearty beam—his brothers had taken that for granted for so long a time that they had forgotten how special it is. Sure, Mikey had a very lighthearted and buoyant nature, but it didn't mean that he could put up with so many negative arguments and problems without being affected. He had his limits, too.

But it was too late for them to realize that.

Donnie had always been the closest to Mikey. Mikey liked to stick around him, maybe because Leo was too serious and taciturn and Raph teased and smacked him too much—the two eldest were somewhat hard on their baby brother. Donnie, on the other hand, rarely criticized or spoke harshly to anybody, and was rather gentle by nature. Maybe it's the reason why Mikey liked to spend times with him. However, Donnie often felt annoyed by him, because Mikey always disturbed his work and research, and talking nonsense like endless. He would not tell Mikey to get lost, but sometimes he really had to endure Mikey's company.

Now he missed it.

-O-

Leonardo was on his bed, half leaning on his pillows. He had been having this room to himself for days now. It had been quiet and free. He had always wanted to have his own room for he was a person who enjoyed solitude and needed privacy. When Raph was around, he had to put up with Raph's headphone blasting loud noise all the time (he could still hear it even with Raph listening through the headphone; he often told Raph he would be deaf before he's sixty)—and not to mention Raph's occasional sarcastic remark to him and everything he did. And the way Raph lying lazily on his bed with his stuff scattered around the bed, dirty clothes, magazines and litter—the scene was so messy that Leo would get so irritated and not able to focus on the things he was doing. His world was very well ordered, while Raph lived in constant anarchy.

For some reason he felt that he didn't know Raphael anymore. They were inseparable when they were younger—Raph sure liked to compete with him in almost everything, such as grades, martial arts training, and games, and they sometimes argued, but back then they always forgot the quarrels and soon made peace with each other. And despite his foul temper, Raph used to be a good kid; he used to like to spend time with the family as much as his other brothers and obey Master Yoshi's most orders.

But after they entered adolescence things changed—Leonardo didn't think he himself changed much, though. But Raph was like a different person; his temper became uncontrollable and when it reached boiling point he would just storm off and would not come home the whole night. Their father had tried to forbid this kind of behavior, but Raph was wild and almost insane when he had his fits.

Leo breathed deeply. He had to calm down. It was not helpful that he stayed restless and worried. Maybe half an hour of meditation would restore his peace of mind.

O-O-O

It was hours later, the phone rang, and the mostly empty apartment was resonant with the sharp and alarming sounds.

Donnie straightened himself on his chair—he had dozed off a bit—and looked toward the direction of the phone—it was next to the couch—and saw Leo was already there, picking it up without a moment of delay.

"Hello, this is Leonardo Hamato speaking," Leo said, still looking cool, "…Um, yes? ...Yeah." Suddenly his face turned pale. "…Yeah, I think…it is him… We'll be there. Thanks for your information."

"Did someone see him?" Donnie asked quickly.

Leo was already reaching for his jacket. "Grab the keys Donnie. We have to go to the hospital. Someone called 9-1-1 an hour ago. And it seems like the person is Mikey."

"Mikey called an ambulance doesn't mean he'd be in the hospital. And people dialed 9-1-1 all the time. Why told us something happened an hour ago?" Donnie frowned. "He just called—"

"Thanks for your deduction Donnie. But he might be there, and we have to find out," Leo said and ran to the door hurriedly.

"I don't get it." Donnie put on his sweater and followed his brother to the door. "How did they know it was Mikey? And why would they know who called? There must be an investigation…but why? Did something happen? There's a case…of what? ..."

"Stop asking Donnie. Hurry."


[Michelangelo]

I waited there, and it felt like forever.

I stood in the middle of that hallway in the hospital, just stood there. I didn't even pace or anything. I just stood there pinned to the ground. I didn't cry at all.

You have to be more wary of things happening around you, because sometimes you lose track of the succession of things and…things fall apart...I remembered Leo said to me.

Things fall apart. Just like now. And I could've avoided them. If I haven't run behind Raph, or haven't dropped off in that stupid alley, Raph would still be okay by now. If I haven't call for help, or if I haven't kicked the boy who had the gun…

If Raph wasn't Raph. If Raph hasn't tried to be a vigilante.

-O-

When someone touched my shoulder after what felt like a million years, I flinched and almost screamed in alert. But when I turned around and the person who had touched me pulled me into a choking tight embrace, my tears started to stream down and everything crumbled.

"Mikey," Leo only uttered.

I looked up and met his dark pupils. When he saw the look on my face his eyes darkened instantly.

"What happened Mikey?" another voice asked. I looked behind and saw Donnie, who looked frightened, too.

"It's Raph, isn't it." Leo's lips were trembling; his hands were shaking. I clung to his arms and plunged myself into them. I caught a glimpse of his expression and it shocked me. I had never seen Leo like this. He looked like he took a bullet, too, at that very moment—his eyes were wide and the invisible threads that were always carefully fastened to keep his face calm and stern…they just snapped and all the emotions he had been suppressing his whole life until this moment emerged and flooded out like an unstoppable force.

I buried my face in his chest, clenching my fists on his sleeves.

Donnie stepped forward and put a hand on my back. "What happened, Mikey?" he asked again, this time he sounded lost and confused.

I could feel Leo's breaths were quicker and shallower than usual; I didn't want to pull away just yet—I needed him and he needed me more.

"T-tell us, Mikey." Leo's voice came out in a rasp.

"Donnie." I finally loosened the grip on Leo and turned my face to my third brother. "R-raph, he was…"

Donnie's clear eyes narrowed and his brows furrowed. I finally managed to finish the sentence. "…Was shot."

His eyes widened. "Is he—"

"He's still alive." I quickly said. "They had to get the bullet out and fix him. I don't know how long will the operation last."

Donnie nodded, and wrapping his arms around Leo and me.

For a long while we just stood there that way.

—End of chapter nine.