Me? Forget about a story? Never. Enjoy!

Chapter 12

"Ugghhh, I'm so sore, I think I'll drop dead if I walk another 5 feet," Mike complained as he flopped down onto the couch. Raph fell into the big red chair next to him and reclined back.

"Suck it up Mikey, we all hurt," said Raph, covering his face with his hands.

Don came in and fell down next to Mikey, nearly squashing his head, but Mikey moved out of the way just in time.

"I would sleep forever if I could," said Don. He was just settling in when Master Splinter walked in.

"Donatello, could you go check on your brother? I am going to take a nice long shower."

"Yes Sensei," Don replied. As soon as Splinter was out of ear shot he groaned and had use all his strength to push himself up from the couch. He used the railing to pull himself all the way up the stairs.

When he got to the top he had to walk all the way down to the end of the hall to where Leo's room was. Upon reaching the door he knocked.

No answer. Slowly, he opened the door and gasped in horror at the sight.

There were pools of vomit all over the floor. The catch? It was all deep crimson. His older brother lay at the foot of his bed. His uninjured arm was by his face, the injured one lay crushed underneath him. Most importantly, he wasn't moving.

"RAPH!" He yelled in an unnaturally high pitched, cracked voice.

Within seconds, despite his fatigue, Raph was by his side. He nearly slipped and fell as he ran into the room, and Don had to hold him back from plowing through the bloody vomit.

"Holy...Jeez!" said Raph. Both of them were too dumbstruck to move. After about 30 seconds of blank staring they snapped to their senses. "Oh my God what happened?" he asked, side stepping the throw-up.

"I have no idea!" replied Don. They reached Leo, and Don desperately searched for a pulse. He found one after just a few seconds.

"Yo Leo, wake up. Leo." said Raph, trying to shake him from his unconsciousness by patting his face slightly.

"It looks like he's past out cold," said Don.

"No shit sherlock-"

"Oh my God what happened? HOLY CRAP is that that blood?" Mikey shrieked as he appeared in the doorway.

"Mikey, leave, please," Don half growled in as calm of a voice as possible. He knew the site of vomit made Mikey sick, and he had enough problems to worry about.

"No, I-... I'll be right back," he said, running from the room with his hand over his mouth.

Raph turned his younger brother. "Don, we need to know whats going on. You need to figure that chemical in his blood out!"

"Its so easy for all of you to say that, you try. Do you think I've just been kicking back doing nothing? No! I've been trying to figure this out ever since we found him!"

"I know, I know!" Raph sighed. "Look, I know you're trying. I'm just really stressed and worried. I know your doing all you can do, it just doesn't seem to be enough. Look, I'm sorry I've been on your case a lot lately. I just cant shake the notion that all this is my fault. I don't know how to handle this."

Don side glanced up at him briefly. His brother seemed to be honest. "Its OK. I've been stressed too, obviously. If there really is something going on here that I cant fix, I don't know what I'll do." he stood up and started examining his oldest brother. Leo's face was quite pale. "C'mon, we need to get him into bed- wow!" Don pulled his hand back from Leo's arm like something had bit him.

"What? What is it?"

"His arm, its all slimy! Look!" He pulled the unbroken arm up so Raph could see.

"Wow, that looks like some really bad sweating!" he replied.

"But its not sweat, its something else his skin is secreting; something green and more mucus-like."

"It sure doesn't smell the greatest," said Raph.

"I'm going to take a sample to examine. Can you run down to my lab and grab one of the small viles on my shelf, second one on the left-hand side of the room?"

"Of course your highness," said Raph, jumping the red vomit again.

"Not the time for sarcasm, Raph." Don growled.

"I know, I know."

Once he was gone, Don continued his examining. He flipped his brother over and gently freed his broken arm from his heavy body. "Ooooh, that's going to hurt later." he mumbled to himself. He checked every part of his skin. The legs were covered more heavily with mucus than the arms, like a thick gooey coat. He had to wipe his palms on the floor to get it off.

Raph re-appeared moments later, vile in hand. "OK, got that thingy you wanted. Now what?"

"Bring it over here." Raph obeyed and ninja'd his way through the room once more.

Don took the vile from him and ran it up the side of his brothers shins, where the coat was thickest. It wasn't hard to get a good sample amount's worth even with one swipe.

"OK, I'm going to bring this back down to the lab and grab some cleaning supplied and a towel. Can you get him off the floor?" Don asked.

"On it," replied Raph. He was already lifting the sticky brother up into his bed. "Eww this stuff smells nasty. I'm going to need a shower after this."

"Yeah, and we haven't even began cleaning up this mess yet. Alright, be back," said Don as he ran out the door.

"Hey Mikey, how ya feelin'?" asked Raph as he walked into the kitchen, pulling a soda out of the fridge. He'd just left Don and Master Splinter upstairs to finish de-gooping their brother. All the vomit was finally cleaned up and he was exhausted.

"Fine," replied Mikey, his chin resting on his folded arms at the table.

Raph sat down at the table next to him, opening the soda can with a click. He took a sip. "You know, Leo woke up for a few seconds earlier. He seemed OK, just tired and out of it."

"That's good," said Mikey, avoiding his gaze.

"Look, I know you've been a little overwhelmed and confused by all of this lately, we all have. You should go sit with him. Maybe he'll wake up soon."

"Aww Raphie, so sentimental," said Mikey with a slight smirk.

"More like 'Aww Mikey, so gloomy and depressed.' Go on and sit with him. I bet he's a good listener when he's unconscious. Plus he doesn't smell that bad anymore, I promise."

"Alright fine, as long as all the pukes cleaned up," said Mikey, pushing in his chair and leaving Raph alone with his soda. It was weird listening to him talk so sincerely and not chewing his head off for once.

He got to the top of the stairs and glanced in his brothers room.

"Hey, Mikey, how are you doing?" asked Don as he wrung out a wet towel into a bucket. Leo lay still on the bed, probably still unconscious.

"Good. Just came to see how things were going."

"Your brother seems to be sleeping well. He awoke at one point, but quickly fell back asleep. It has been a rough day," said Splinter. He too was at work, with his hands on Leo's forehead, trying to reach his son through what appeared to be meditation.

"Well, I think he should be all set. I'm going to go downstairs and take a look at those samples. If anything changes, just let me know," said Don. He put is hand on his younger brothers shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile before leaving.

"I think I will go too my son. This has been a very eventful day. I must meditate." With that said Splinter also left, leaving an unconscious Leo and a very uncomfortable Mikey alone.

Mikey walked over and sat on the floor next to the foot of the bed and leaned up against it, facing away from his brother.

"Its just you and me, buddy," whispered Mikey. He glanced down at his hands and sighed.

"Yup"

Mikey nearly jumped out of his shell. He whipped around. "Leo?"

Leo rolled his head to the side to glance at him, a slight smile tracing his face.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Not sure. I think since you came in and sat down."

"Well why didn't you say something?" said Mikey, quite flustered.

"I wanted to hear what you had to say. Whats on your mind?"

Mike sighed. He settled himself back down and went back to staring at his clasped hands. "I don't know. This whole situation is maddening. Don and Raph are at each others throats, Master Splinter is hardly present, and we have no idea whats going on with you! This family if falling apart."

"Ah Michelangelo, no offense to you, but your being a little over dramatic." Leo rolled onto his side. "Believe me, this family is not falling a part. I mean sure, things are a little strange right now, but they will get better. Just give it time. Everything falls into place at some point or another. Now help me up."

"Are you kidding me? Don would kill me if he thought I helped you move an inch!"

"Well then, its better if we just pretend that I just got up by myself, don't you think?" he slowly pulled the blankets off and swung his legs around to the front of the bed.

"You cant be serious? How are you feeling well enough to walk?"

"M not, but oh well." He pushed himself up slowly into a crouched position and very slowly stood up.

"Oh my God, Don's going to kill me. Wait, did you shrink?"

R&R really, really helps things move along quicker, so please comment!