TRIGGER WARNING: Mentions of suicide/self harm and cussing.
Mikey grabbed the rope and put it over his head where it fell already fairly snug around his neck. then walked up nearby steps that had been built into the wall for sewage workers to get across the drop off long ago. He looked over the water then stepped out.
"Goodbye."
All that was heard after the sob of a farewell was a crack as he fell.
Meanwhile ten minutes earlier...
Raph grumbled as he kicked a garbage can against the dirty street alley wall and submerged into the nearest sewer tunnel. Why can't I just go on a run without constantly thinking about that little twit...even when he is not around he pisses me off.
He looked around realizing he was at a part of the sewers he was very unfamiliar with, as he was about to retreat back topside to find a better known part of town he heard a sob and stopped short quickly falling into the shadows.
He overheard an all to familiar voice speaking as he ease dropped, " I can't say I don't deserve this...I had it coming. They never deserved such a failure like me, when I'm gone-"
Raph struggled to hear the rest as traffic rushed above him, he neared the closest sewer wall he could get to and scooted towards the source of the sound. All he heard as he got more and more near the next tunnel entrance was little pings of what sounded like rocks hitting water,sadly these 'rocks' turned out to be blades being thrown into the depths below.
Once Raph got to the very corner and was about to look around the corner he noticed the slight pings stopped leaving him in tense silence. As he gathered the guts to jump from around the other side of the sewer wall he gasped as he took in the scene, Mikey had a rope around his neck and one foot off a set of stairs that led to the other side of the massive drop off. The rope connected to pipes just above his head with enough slack to instantly snap his neck if he jumped. As Raph realized the situation he acted on pure instinct.
He drew his sais and with as much concentration ad he could muster he threw them full speed towards the rope as Mikey stepped completely off the concrete staircase. Raph ran closer as soon as he let the sais go. All he heard was a crack as they cut into the rope freeing Mikey only moments before it would have tugged and broke his neck.
He dived into the murky water that the sewage had long ago corrupted and caught Mikey by his bloody and cut up wrist, right after he swam desperately to the ledge and climbed back up with Mikey in tow. Raph collapsed in a heap right beside Mikey as soon as he managed to get the two of them back to where he had started.
Raph quickly snapped out of his exhaustion and quickly turned Mikey onto his shell to see the damage, he put a hand quickly to Mikeys slightly bleeding neck and sighed as he felt a pulse. He tensed as he felt how light and unsteady it was though, "shit!"
He quickly pressed the emergency button alert on his shell cell and continued to try to stabilize Mikey the best he could. The more minutes that had passed the more desperation spilled into Raphs very being as he held the last piece of cloth that wasn't stained with Mikeys blood to his wrists. To the side sat now crimson soaked belts and bandanas. All Raph had left now was the dirty duffel bag that he had thought Don threw out years ago.
He pressed it harshly to Mikeys skin and hoped to God it helped at least stopped the blood a little. He knew it wasn't going to stop though, he was no doctor but Raph knew the cuts were plenty enough deep to cut the veins in Mikeys wrist. Not to mention his neck had major rope burn and was even bleeding a bit making Raph doubt that he had come in time to save him.
"Shit, come on Mikey! Gah...where the shell are the others?! Somebody please HELP ME DAMNIT!"
Meanwhile...
Beeep...Beeep...Beeep...Beee- CLICK.
"The shell is going on...distress signal? Raph...grrr...that's just great another brother getting into trouble."
Don quickly dialed Raphs number, "Raph what the sh-"
"Don. Tunnel- in sewer-blood every where- HURRY."
"Wait Raph you're breaking up I can't understand what you're saying! Raph! Raph? Damnit!"
Quickly rushing to Leo's bedroom Don barged into the cold room to find himself face with his leader. "Raphs in trouble."
Leo nodded and the two rushed to find LH at the entrance of the lab, "my friends it seems Raph is in trouble shall I come too?"
Leo shook his head, "it's fine you just watch over Mikey and we will keep you updated on Raph we can't leave Mikey here alone."
LH nodded and with that Don and Leo took off, not too long after they started off towards where Don was tracking Raphs phone to LH stopped them with a yell. "My friends!"
The two stopped dead in thier tracks, "what is it LH? Is Mikey alright?"
"That's the problem Donatello...he was not in the lab I'm afraid he is planning to do something terrible I brought your first aid kit just in case."
Leo and Don blanked for a moment at this, "Shell lets find Raph!"
Soon enough the three rushed into the massive tunnel way only to spot a panting Raph holding a dirty duffel right on Mikeys arms and wrists best he could.
Leo pulled a hyperventilating Raphael away from the limp and disturbingly pale body of Michelangelo and held him steady as he sat him up against the nearest wall. "Raph! Dear God...what happened?!"
Upon only getting gasps in reply Leo swallowed his own fear and spoke as calmly as possible, "Raphael. Calm down Mikey is going to be just fine, LH and Don are taking care of him now. I need you to tell me what happened so we can help him...please Raph."
After a few minutes Raph finally calmed enough to form a sentence and sighed, "Leo, I was right there when he was about to jump off that fucking ledge! He h-had a rope around him and he was- but I threw my sais and somehow they cut the rope and-and the rope didn't tug! He's still alive! He's still breathin but I know he's gatta be dead now...he's...he's been bleeding too much and I-I couldn't stop it! Icouldn'tstopit...Ijustcouldn't."
Leo slapped Raph lightly as his eyes fluttered shut leaving Leo with a pit in his stomach. "Don- is he...is he alright?"
When Leo only got a sob in return the amount of dread he felt only doubled.
"My friend, Michelangelo has managed to do some damage to his throat but only enough to make his breathing uncomfortable- not completely cut it off. The main objective now is to stop the bleeding."
Leo's eyes widened at that, "What do you mean? Did he cut up his throat that bad?" As Leo neared the limp form of Mikey he soon understood why there was so much blood, the jagged deep cuts mocked the material being layed on them as they quickly bleed through the massive amounts of gauze LH was wrapping around them.
"Shell...you two get him to the lab and I will get Raph there soon then report to Master Splinter about...all that has happened."
Not soon after Leo said this were the actions completed leaving him scratching his neck nervously in front of his father's dojo. "Master Splinter. May I come in?"
Upon not hearing a welcome Leo hesitantly entered hoping he would not get scolded for such a rude gesture, as he entered he saw his master laying lifelessly on his bed. "Master Splinter? Master are you-" Leo paled three times more when he did not see the rise and fall of his father's chest. "Master Splinter?! Father! DON!"
Don appeared seemingly out if nowhere as he checked Master Splinters pulse and started performing chest compressions but to no avail it was too late. Leo held Don close as he sobbed into his shoulder, "he had a heart attack Leo...it was only a matter of time! He was in too weak of a condition. H-he didn't have a chance even if we caught it on time."
Leo let a sob wrack his body as he let the weight of all the dreads of reality fall right onto his shoulders. He found himself being hugged by another pair of arms as Don was now holding him and letting him cry. "L-Leo we gatta tell LH and Raph, he just now woke up from his fainting episode an-"
"What da hell is goin' on?! Why is Master Splinter covered up like that?"
Don and Leo slowly rose in front of their fathers body and collected Raph in a hug as Don sobbed out an explantion.
"You gatta be kiddin' me! W-we ...I just saved Mikey from dying and now...our own father is d-dead?! This can't be real! Fuck. This isn't real...this isn't-"
"What are we going to tell Mikey?"
This question alone made the three of them sob even more, "we can't do this without father, he was just about to talk with Mikey and he was the only one that could really comfort him."
"Psh what are ya talkin about Don, he was the only one that could really comfort any of us! And now he's...he's gone."
The three let themselves fall into another sobbing fit as LH entered the room and quickly assessed the situation. He wrapped his arms around the three turtles and brought them in close then guided them out of the room and to the entrance of the lab. "My friends...I am deeply sorry about your loss and can't imagine what you are going through I think you need to get away from this lair for a while. Is there anywhere far off you can go?"
Don shook his head, "April and Casey are off on some excursion with their new business and they are staying in the farm house we usually go to."
Leatherhead nodded, "I have a place of which I used to forage and hide out at before I came to New York it is quite a drive but it is out in the country side in Vermont and I believe it would be an ideal place to grieve properly and would give you each an opportunity to heal together."
The three turtles looked at each other and nodded slowly in agreement to the offer. "Thank you Leatherhead, we really appreciate this."
"Of course, I will help in whatever way I possibly can to help things get back to at least stable condition. Especially for Michelangelo." As this was said the four looked over uneasily at the sleeping Mikey that was currently hooked to a still unsteady heart monitor.
"We do need to wait a couple hours for Mikey to return to stable condition in order to insure a safe car drive there. As for the proper burial I do have a secluded area that I think would fit your Master Splinters style."
Leo rubbed at his face and tried to smile, "thank you so much LH...thank you. We can not thank you enough."
"Anytime. I will try to help as much as I possibly can. As for Michelangelo...He should be waking very soon if you would like to stay here and deliver the news-that is if you choose now to do so. I understand your reasoning if you choose not to for now, I will return I must go retrieve a few medical things from my lab."
Don sighed as soon as LH exited, "shell...what now?" His eyes watered even more with each word spoken.
Leo sat beside Mikey and looked at the massive amounts of gauze that had to be used to stem all the blood.
Don caught Leo looking at the wounds on Mikey and decided to try and explain even in his shaky state, "he somehow didn't cut into his main veins but did manage to do excessive amounts of damage to the point where he bleed just as much. If Raph hadn't had caught him when he did...he surely would not be here."
Leo invited Don into a hug as he fell into another sob, this left Raph on the other side of the bed where he slowly traced the gauze over Mikeys severed wrist and neck. His eyes were glazed over now as he choked on another sob.
"I barely got there on time...he could have died. If I had gotten there sooner I could have saved him from doing any of it...if I had stayed here I could have woke someone up...went after him and someone could have watched over Splinta' but...that was my fault too."
Leo and Don both shook their heads as Raph covered his face with shaking hands. "Don't you dare blame yourself for all this Raph. This was not your fault at all, you saved him! At least give yourself that credit!"
"My friends..."
The three jumped as LH entered the conversation, "Michelangelo appears to have stabilized if you would like to pack and leave now."
The three nodded and quickly left to go get their things , as they walked to their rooms Don realized that LH hadn't gone to his lab. He peered into the dojo to find Splinter gone, LH had already loaded the van carefully and all they had to do was pack a few things.
What would we have done without Leatherhead? Don thought as he remembered the lab only to find Mikey and all of the medical equipment already gone.
"Don! You ready?"
Don nodded and followed Raph as he lead him out to the van where LH was sitting in the driver's seat and Leo was in the passengers leaving Raph and Don to sit in the back with a still sleeping Mikey and an ominous body bag cleverly hidden as well as possible.
The small beeps pierced into the skulls of the tense passengers as the van rolled on towards their destination. Three hours onto the ride LH checked and saw Don, Raph and Leo still wide awake.
"My friends I also packed these so that each of us could read them in our own time. Perhaps it will explain Michelangelos actions."
Each turtle hesitantly took their own letters and found that there was a blank folded sheet of drawing paper taped to each. Soon the van grew more quiet as each anxiously read their own letter in hungry hopes that Mikey admitted and explained everything needed to understand his state even just a little better.
It wasn't long after that LH found himself cringing at the sobs coming from each turtle as they read the heart breaking letters.