Present Day
Jenna had landed in New York - more than a little jetlagged, and anxious to connect with somebody. She tried Donatello first, but he still wasn't answering. Ditto for the other turtles, April, and Luke. Was she the only person alive who still answered the phone? Frustration was turning into anxiety, and she decided quickly she would just have to go after them. She was waiting in a line to rent a motorcycle out of the airport so that it would be easier to get through traffic, and she could take it underground if she needed to.
Her first thought was to simply head down, but it occured to her that it would make more sense to try the location software Donatello had built into her cell-phone. She had nothing better to do while she waited in line, so she typed Donatello's code into her search function, tapping her foot nervously as she waited for the coordinates of the GPS to come back. It was set up to recognize addresses to make finding locations easier - and when it had a result, she knew automatically that he was at Luke's. So why wasn't he answering his phone?
She impatiently typed in Luke's code, and came up with the same result. One by one she checked on the others, surprised when everyone else but Raph was located nowhere near New York City. That was weird. No matter. If they wouldn't answer her, she was going to just drop in on them. As soon as she could get up to the counter that is.
After taking some time to look after Raphael, Luke had gone in to check on Donatello. He found him staring at the ceiling, looking somewhat forlorn.
"Hey. Good morning." Luke said tentatively.
"I guess." He said unhappily, glancing down at the immobilizer that Doc had put back on while he was drugged the night before.
"I'm sorry Donnie, it had to be done."
"Aw Doc, I'm not blaming you. I just can't pretend everything's okay this morning, I don't have the energy."
"I don't want you to pretend. I'd rather you just be honest than try to tell me it's okay when it's not."
Donatello seemed to be mulling something over for a moment, and then looked straight at Luke. "It's worse than you thought, isn't it?"
Luke ran a hand through his touseled blonde hair, something he literally only did when he was nervous.
"I knew it." Donnie said softly. "Oh brother...Doc, what am I gonna do?"
"First, you're not going to panic."
"You've gotta tell me what you know Luke - I'm not going to remotely relax until you do."
After a beat of serious hesitation, he gave Donatello a condensed version of his history with Marcus, and what his doctor friend had shared with him about his knee.
Donnie didn't say anything, didn't seem to react in any way at all. He seemed to pass right over it as he suddenly sat up straighter. "How's Raph doing?"
"He's alright, he woke up this morning. Everything seems stable, he's just in pain, doesn't remember a whole lot of last night. Listen you should probably eat something. I want to get some food in you, and we can talk some more if you want."
"Hang on, can you help me? I don't know where my phone went. It was over here on the table, I talked to Mike around 5am...I told him everything by the way. Now I don't see it."
Luke got down on the floor to search by the nightstand, and then felt around under the bed. "Uh...here we go. You've got a missed call."
"Shoot! I hope that wasn't one of the guys!" Donatello exclaimed, flipping it back open. "Oh. Jenna. Dang it, she tried calling me last night too."
"You gonna call her back?" Luke asked somewhat guiltily, refraining from telling him he had ignored a phone call from her on purpose.
"Yeah, just...not right this second."
Donnie ate enough to appease Luke, but didn't seem interested in talking about anything more right then, so Luke let him be. He made sure Marcus was awake, and then retreated back to his chair in the spare room. Raphael was asleep again, and he decided to get a few winks now while he could too. He had asked Marcus to keep a little bit of an eye on Donnie in case he needed anything. That had been about an hour before, and he decided it was a good time to check in.
Donatello wished he could go back to sleep just for a small escape, but he had no such luck. He raised his head questioningly when he heard someone come in, and focused on the stranger from last night.
"Hey. How are you doing?" Marcus asked him, and Donatello shrugged.
"I've been better, that's for sure."
"Can I get you anything?"
"I'm kinda thirsty - just water would be good."
Marcus trotted to the kitchen to retrieve a bottled water and brought it back to him. As he shifted to sit up further, a sharp shooting pain through his right knee made him grab the mattress for support.
"You okay?" Marcus asked urgently.
"Dang it." He said painfully, slowly releasing his grip on the bed - but then frustration took over and he pounded down both hands as hard as he could. "Dang it!"
Marcus took a nervous breath, sitting down beside him. "Easy, come on. I got your water."
"I don't want it." He murmured. "I want my life back!"
Marc paused to think, grasping for the right words. "I'm sorry. I know Luke told you about what we discussed. I also know you've been in serious pain for months. As frustrating as it is, staying off of it is the best thing for you right now."
"I'm so tired of resting." He said, sounding weary even as he said it. "I'm so tired of being everyone else's problem! Do you have any idea what that feels like?"
"In a way, I kind of do. I've struggled with chronic asthma my whole life. No matter what I tried, I always ended up feeling like a burden on someone else when I was growing up."
"I'm sorry for unloading on you. I just can't say this stuff to the others."
"It's okay," Marcus assured him. "Y'know, being a doctor has given me a chance to see both sides of the equation, and given me a little understanding into myself at the same time."
"Such as?"
"When somebody loves you, they just do. Physical injuries, chronic illness can't change that. Not everyone has the same attitude, but from a care-givers perspective...they basically just want to do everything in their power to help. Most of 'em would trade places with the patient if they had the choice."
"I know my brothers, my friends would do anything for me. But between feeling so helpless in myself, and the sheer awkwardness of things...I'm feeling lower than I ever have, and that was before I found out it was worse."
When Jenna was outside Luke's apartment, she tried calling him once more to no avail. When he didn't answer she simply slapped her phone shut, and didn't try anyone else. She was done with this game. She walked through the foyer, ignored the desk clerk, and hopped directly on the elevator for the top floor. As she walked down the hall, she fished through her pocket for keys, slowly fingering through a couple before finding the right one.
She knocked firmly at his door, and waited a good five minutes for a response. When nothing happened, she let herself in, and shut the door behind her. "Luke?" She called out questioningly. "Luke, where are you? Guys? Hello?"
She heard someone coming down the hall and expected it to be her friend - instead she was startled to see a complete stranger coming towards her. Alarmed, she struck the man with surprising force, knocking him completely off balance. He went down on the coffee table with a terrific bang, and Jenna pinned him down neatly with the use of a trained pressure point the guys had taught her. When he struggled she only pressed harder, leveling incredible force against the back of his neck. He was trying to form words, but wasn't able to manage more than a strangled gasp.
Jenna's adrenaline was pumping so hard she could literally hear her heart beating. Over that sound she heard someone else running down the hall, but didn't loosen her death grip.
Luke had been awakened with a start by the sound of the struggle, and instantly came running to the living room. When he saw the scene before his eyes, his mouth opened but no sound immediately came out. Then he snapped out of it quickly. "Jenna? How did you...where...what?!" Was his first confused exclamation, and then, "Don't hurt him Jen! Let him go, he's a friend!"
"Since when?" She seethed angriliy.
"Since last night. I'm sorry, everything happened really fast! Please let him go!"
She released Marcus then, and the man instantly hit the floor on his knees, unsuccessfully trying to catch his breath. When his hand darted to his pocket Jenna almost jumped him again, until she saw he was only going for an inhaler. As the man struggled to get his airway back, he couldn't help staring at the girl, no, woman standing over him.
She had long jet black hair that was tightly pulled back to reveal a graceful neck and beautiful face. Light blue eyes had been narrowed with anger, and were only now starting to soften as she could see how much trouble he was having. She turned away from him to focus an accusing stare on Luke.
"Why the heck didn't you answer your phone? Do you know how worried I've been?"
When she spoke now, Marcus immediately picked up on the lilting australian accent. He had finally managed to pull himself back together, and slowly rose to sit on the couch.
"Jenna, I'm really sorry." Luke said, quietly trying to calm her down. "It's been a rough few hours - and I had no idea you were in New York."
"Nobody did, because nobody answered the phone! I called when I landed in California, and tried it all over again when I got in here." She replied, casting a glance over at Marcus. "Are you alright? I'm sorry I went off like that - I wasn't expecting to see a stranger here with the guys and everything."
"I'm okay." He answered evenly. "After what I did last night, I probably deserved it anyway."
"Jenna, this is Marcus Sloan. He and I went to med school together - now he's an MD over at St. Josephs'. He sort of accidently became involved last night, and has been helping me with some things since."
"Is that why you didn't answer your phone, are the guys hurt?" She asked instantly.
"I was avoiding you. I figured you'd give me the third degree about Donnie, and I just wasn't up to it yet. I'm really sorry. Raph got into it with some group last night, I have no idea what actually happened. He called me at the hospital, he'd managed to make it back to the apartment, so I just rushed home. He was hurt pretty bad, not really in any condition to go anywhere. Donnie brought up some supplies, and he's still here too."
"What's wrong with him then, is it just more of the same?"
"His knee hasn't been getting better." Luke said honestly. "Marcus is an orthopedic surgeon, and I had him look at his scans last night. The damage has actually been getting progressively worse, I think Donnie just learned to cope with a lot of the pain, figured he would have to live with it."
"How can it be worse?" Jenna cried. "He's been doing everything he could!"
"Unfortunately, it hasn't been enough."
"Can I see him?"
"Of course you can. He's back in my bedroom - I'd be surprised if he hadn't already heard something."
Jenna pushed the door open slowly, glancing inside to see Donatello fiddling with the screen on his music player. He didn't seem to hear her or look up right away, so she walked inside. When he did glance up, he was so shocked that he nearly jumped, and yanked off his headphones.
"Jenna? What...How are you here?"
"I got on a couple of planes." She said matter-a-factly, and sat down next to him. "I felt like I needed to see you face to face."
He reached for her and she immediately crawled up further on the left side of the bed beside him.
"I can't believe you're here. I've missed you." He said, and she kissed him deeply, resting a hand under his chin.
"I missed you too."
"You've got great timing you know. I'm sorry I missed your calls - I was a little out of it last night, and then my phone disappeared. I was going to call you back..."
"Donnie, you haven't been yourself lately. I didn't know if it was something here at home, or if it was me...or...I don't know. You've just never been this distant, and it worried me. And the last time we talked you just sounded flat out depressed."
"Are you telling me you took two planes, and flew over twenty hours, just because you felt like I was depressed?"
"Is that crazy?"
"Probably, but it makes it impossible for me not to say it anymore. I love you Jenna, I always have."
Her blue eyes widened with surprise and then joy, as she swiftly moved to kiss him again.
In that one moment, Donatello felt closer to her than he ever had before, as if some invisible wall had just come crashing down.
"Do you know how long I've wanted to hear that?" Jenna asked softly.
"I'm so sorry Jen - you've no idea how hard it was not to say it. I've wanted to so many times..."
"But you also wanted me to find somebody else." She finished for him. "I've got news for you. I'm not going anywhere."