XxBlackDawnxX: Ok ladies n gents, here it is! chap 12 of the heart pounding series of For the Love of a Ninja! ***God I sound like some overly exaggerated TV spokesperson...*** Anywhooo, hope u all likes it!

Chapter 12

Adriane's POV (again)

My eyesight came back to me slowly, giving me the ability to see only blurs of the objects around me.

"Adriane...Adriane...Adriane are you awake?" came a familiar voice.

Don, I thought.

I let out a moan.

Raph sat on the edge on my bed, and touched my arm. I could tell it was him by the blurry red stripe of his bandana on his face.

"Come on back, kid." he said softly. I could see him pull a gentle smile.

"Raph...?" I whispered, squinting.

My eyesight cleared just as I said his name.

"Hey kiddo, how ya feelin'?" Raph asked helping me sit up.

"Ok," I muttered putting my hand onto my forehead.

"How's your back?" Don asked stepping forward.

"It...it doesn't hurt anymore."

"That's good. I gave you some morphine for any lingering pain after you passed out, so you should be good for the next few hours." Don explained.

"Thanks Donnie, I owe you one."

"No, you don't." Leo butted in firmly. "You don't owe us anything, Adriane. You're our guest, and taking care of you is our priority."

"But if you REALLY feel that grateful, a few pepperoni pizzas wouldn't hurt." Mike chimed in with a goofy grin.

I smiled.

"Alright then. As soon as I'm cleaned up and dressed, I'll call and order some pizzas for you guys."

Leo opened his mouth to protest but quickly shut it after receiving a gentle elbow in the gut from Don.

"Well then, we'll just leave you to get changed." Don said awkwardly with a smile and shepherded his brothers out of my room, shutting the door behind him. I barely had time to stand up when the door swung open the tiniest bit and Mike peered in.

"Remember, you HAVE to make sure that there are no anchovies on our pizza or-WAH!" Mikey could hardly finish his sentence before a muscular arm reached in and grabbed him by the tails of his bandana, yanking his head out of my room and closing the door completely.

I smiled and let out a sigh.

"Lord, thank you for this Leo you've gifted us with."

I got to my feet and stood before the mirror, peeling off my shirt and turning around slightly so I could see my back.

It was spotted with dirt in some places from the battle yesterday, and even scratched and red a little, but that's not what caught my attention.

A long cut sat in the middle of my back, sewn together with thin black wire. The skin bulged out in some places, no doubt due to the pressure the stitches put on each random piece of the scar tissue that was now forming. I couldn't bear to look at it for too long, so-fearing that I would faint again-I quickly turned completely away from the mirror and reached for my duffle bag.

From it I removed a yellow tube top and a pair of black skinny jeans, along with a clean set of undergarments and socks. I combed out my long dark hair until it was straight and then slipped into my clean bra and underwear. Then, after grabbing the wet washcloth that had been used to clean off the area of the cut on my back; I wiped away as much dirt and dried blood off my body as I could. After applying some lotion and deodorant, I put on my clean pants, socks, and top and headed downstairs.

The four of them were in the kitchen having breakfast when I entered the room. Leo stood at the stove making eggs and bacon, and the others sat at the table. Donny was reading the newspaper, Raph was munching on a bowl of Coco Puffs while reading the back of the box at the same time, and Mikey was-unusually-sitting quietly, twiddling his thumbs.

For the longest time I stood in the doorway, simply watching the happy family, before I cleared my throat nervously and walked to the table.

The four of their reptilian jaws dropped when they saw me.

"Er...um...Adriane!" Don stuttered, his face turning red. "Ready so soon?"

"Yeah...uh...I thought it took girls hours to...um...*gulp*...get-dressed." Mikey gawked.

"Do ya...erm...wanna sit down?" Raph muttered quickly standing up and offering me his chair.

I blushed. "You're such a gentleman, Raph." I teased.

His face went bright red. "Uh, yeah...thanks, Adriane-"

Leo shot over to me and set down a plate piled high with eggs and bacon. "-Here, A', you must be starving! When was the last time you ate, anyway?"

"Thanks, Leo. Let me think...erm...three, maybe four days ago?" I replied before picking up a fork and began shoveling food into my mouth like a savage.

The four of them just watched, mouths open in awe.

I slowly stopped. "What? I'm hungry."

Don seemed to snap back into action. "Nothing! It's just that...erm..."

"You're actually eating Leo's cooking!" Mikey exclaimed.

I looked down at the plate in front of me. "Yeah...? What's' wrong with it?"

"Nothing's wrong with it." Leo said firmly shooting Mikey a look.

I leaned down and sniffed.

"GAH!" I covered my nose with both of my hands. "Leo, what did you put in this stuff? It smells like...like...rotten eggs." I made a face.

"Leonardo, these eggs aren't fresh from the carton, are they?"

Leo gulped. "Well, uh, no. They were left overs from last week that I warmed up in the microwave just now."

I gagged and ran over to the garbage can, sticking my head down into it and throwing up.

"Jesus, Leo! Don't you have enough work as it is saving me every time I almost die? Did you get bored and decided to TRY to kill me this time?" I cried between spitting out mouthfuls of puke.

The three turtles sitting at the table burst out laughing; each of them almost falling out of their seats.

Leo grabbed my plate from the table and quickly scraped everything off of it into the trash can.

"Adriane I'm so sorry. Usually we just order pizza, so I'm really not used to cooking. How was I supposed to know you can't keep leftover eggs for over a week?" He helped me to my feet once I had finished emptying the contents of my stomach into the garbage.

"That's ok, Leo, but from now on, I'M cooking for you guys." I said elbowing him in the chest playfully.

He let out a sheepish laugh and smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ha ha, yeah, that might be good idea."

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