A/N: Thanks to Amonraphoenix and Darkunderworld for beta-ing for me. Alas, I am sad to say that this story is winding down. One more chapter to go.

Disclaimer: see chapter one

Donatello stared disbelievingly at the mirror. This couldn't be happening; his brothers couldn't be dead. He turned around to look at Leonardo who had moved off to the side. Leonardo had his back turned to his brother; his head dipped low as grief and loss overwhelmed the young leader. Donatello looked from Leonardo's stricken form to the mirror, then back to his brother. He was at a loss for words. What could he possibly say now? "I'm sorry" wasn't going to cut it, not by a long shot. Raphael and Michelangelo had died because of him; because he couldn't get past his grief and self-pity over Leonardo's tragic and sudden death.

"Still think Raph and Mike were better off without you?" Leonardo asked wretchedly with thick bitterness lacing the words.

Donatello didn't answer; how could he? He had indirectly killed their brothers. Donatello closed his eyes in shame as tears began to burn their way down his cheeks. Leonardo turned around to look at his brother, his eyes soft and sad. Taking pity on his younger brother, Leonardo walked over and embraced Donatello in a loving hug that was quickly returned. Donatello then buried his face into Leonardo's shoulder and wept.

"There's still time," Leonardo said softly into Donatello's ear. "You can still make things right."

"How?" Donatello choked out, his voice cracking with emotion. "How can anything right come out of this? This happened because I let you die. Why did you have to die?"

"Donny…" Leonardo began.

Donatello shook his head. "I could have saved you," he whispered miserably.

Leonardo pulled away from his brother a bit and looked down at him, a smile crossing his face. "Then save me," he whispered.

Donatello frowned in confusion as his brother began to fade. "Save you?"

"Save me," Leonardo repeated.

"Donny," Michelangelo's ghostly voice echoed through the astral realm. "Donny."

Donatello looked around for the source of his brother's voice. "Mikey?" He turned to see Leonardo walking away from him. "Leo, wait. Where are you going!"

"Save me, Donny," Leonardo called over his shoulder. "Save me...and by doing so you save yourself and our family."

"Save you? Save you how?" Donatello asked confused at what Leonardo was talking about.

Leonardo looked over his shoulder and smiled. "It's not too late, you still have time."

"Donny!" Michelangelo yelled frantically.

Donatello's eyes flew open and he gasped for air. He panted for breath as he looked around to find himself in the infirmary instead of the astral realm. Dazed and confused, Donatello managed to catch his breath and moaned in pain. He looked up to see Michelangelo staring down at him, a worried look shining in his blue eyes.

"Is he up, yet?" Raphael's voice sounded from behind a curtain to Donatello's left.

"He just woke up," Michelangelo answered.

It was then that Donatello noticed that Michelangelo was wearing one of the surgeon's outfits that he had salvaged.

"What's going on?" Donatello asked groggily.

"You've been out cold for twenty minutes, at least," Michelangelo hastily explained.

"I need help over here!" Raphael yelled anxiously.

Donatello pushed himself up and off the cot. He felt as if he had just awoken from some horrible nightmare that still danced, fluttered and teased him at the very edges of his consciousness. Shaking the feeling and the dream off he quickly began getting into his scrubs and washing his hands, preparing for surgery. When he was dressed and cleaned, Donatello went over to the other side of the curtain to find Raphael trying to stop the blood that was pouring out of Leonardo's side. Donatello quickly took Raphael's place and pulled away the white gauze that had been soaked through with bright crimson. Taking more gauze he deftly wiped away at the blood, trying to figure out the best approach to close the horrific wounds that had been inflicted upon Leonardo by the explosion. Quickly and efficiently he began to repair the damage, closing the laceration and applying more gauze to stop the now slower trickle of blood that was still escaping Leonardo's body.

Finally finishing with the internal damage, Donatello was about to stitch Leonardo's side up when something in the back of his mind stayed his hand and screamed at him to examine all of his sutures as well as a laceration that had come perilously close to severing a major vein near his liver. Donatello followed his inner warning and sure enough, there was a tiny tear on the underside of the right hepatic artery that led to the liver. He felt his heart speed up and adrenalin run thickly across his skin at the thought of almost closing Leonardo up, the tear slowly spilling blood into his brother's abdomen where he would have silently bled to death. He carefully repaired the tear and stitched up his brother's side.

"It's done," Donatello breathed out in tired relief.

Michelangelo poked his head around the curtain. "So, Leo's going to make it right?" he asked timidly.

Donatello nodded in confirmation. "Yes, Mikey," he answered. "Leo's going to make it."

Michelangelo whooped and did a little dance around the infirmary, making Raphael and Donatello smile. However, Donatello's smile faded as he looked down at Leonardo's still, sleeping face.

Had all of that just been a nightmare? A figment of his imagination? It had felt so real. But here he was with all of his brothers alive and well. Twenty minutes, Michelangelo had said. He had been unconscious for just twenty minutes, but it had been at least a month in his nightmare.

"Yo, Donny, you still with us?" Raphael asked.

Donatello looked up at his red masked brother. How could he possibly begin to tell his brothers what he had experienced? Nothing could ever come close to the pain he had felt over letting his siblings die. But, none of them were dead; and that was the way it was going to be, as long as Donatello had breath in his body. He wasn't going to be the cause of his brothers' demise. As long as there was breath in his body, Donatello would fight to keep each and every one of his brothers alive.

"Earth to, Donny?" Michelangelo asked waving a hand in front of his face.

Donatello blinked and was slammed back into reality, but was unable to meet his inquiring brother's eyes. Without saying a word to either Michelangelo or Raphael, Donatello walked away, pulling off the bloody surgery clothes as he went, throwing them into the hamper on his way out of the infirmary. Raphael and Michelangelo looked at each other and gave each other a shrug. Raphael wrapped up Leonardo's side and with Michelangelo's help, moved Leonardo to a clean bed.

"What do you think is wrong with Donny?" Michelangelo asked as Raphael pulled a thick blanket over Leonardo's unconscious form.

Raphael shrugged. "He could still be a bit shaken from the explosion," he suggested.

"I don't know," Michelangelo said. "He seemed surprised to see us for some reason."

Raphael began removing his blood soaked clothing. "I'm sure he's fine, Mike," he reassured his brother. "Donny's just shaken from the explosion. We'd be shaken, too, if we had a building dropped on our heads; not to mention perform lifesaving surgery on your big brother, just after you woke up."

Michelangelo thought about his brother's words and nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. "I guess you're right."

Donatello sat in a chair and watched over Leonardo's sleeping form. He still couldn't believe that he had been unconscious for a mere twenty minutes. How could he have experienced all of that pain, misery and anguish in such a short amount of time? Donatello looked down at his wrists. The skin was smooth and unblemished. He had never taken a knife to his wrists, had never tried to drown himself on alcohol, and had never overdosed on antidepressants; it had all been one giant, horrific nightmare.

"How could it have been nothing more than a nightmare?" Donatello asked softly. "It was all too real. I can still taste the alcohol on my tongue, the sharpness of the knife on my skin, the heart shattering pain of losing each of my brothers. It was too real not to be real." Tears began to burn his eyes as he continued to watch Leonardo sleep. "Yet here you are, very much alive. And Raph and Mikey, too. We're all here, together and whole." Donatello blinked and tears ran down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry," he whispered miserably.

"For what?" came a soft inquiring voice.

Donatello looked up to see Raphael standing in the doorway of the infirmary. The purple masked brother looked away as Raphael sat down on the cot on the other side of Leonardo's bed.

"What are you sorry for?" Raphael asked gently.

"It's nothing," Donatello replied quietly.

"Donny," Raphael began stubbornly.

Donatello closed his eyes and fresh tears ran down his face. "It was just a dream, no, a horrible nightmare," he whispered.

Before Raphael could say anything, Donatello got up and left the infirmary. Raphael sighed as he watched his brother leave. He turned to look at Leonardo.

"I've got an uneasy feeling about Donny, Leo," the red masked turtle said to his unconscious brother. "He hasn't been himself since he woke up. I feel like he's slippin' into a dark part of his mind and I can't pull him out." He sighed and shifted on his feet. "You need to wake up soon, Leo. Donny needs you more than he needs me and Mike."

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