The day passed very slowly for the purple banded turtle. He was still lying beside Leo, who was in a deep sleep. Don felt the anger consuming him; he wanted revenge, his brother needed to be avenged. But then he remembered Leo's words and repeated them mentally. Don was not a vengeful ninja, he was pacifist. He needed to stay calm for Leo and himself. He was also feeling scared; though Leo hadn't told him, Don already knew he was next. He had to pass the same test that Leonardo did: a dissection without anesthesia. This was gonna be tough, really tough. A soft moan made Don come back to reality, Leo was waking up.
"Leo?"
"Nn…hn… Donnie?" Leo said groggily.
"Hey bro, feeling any better?" Don asked softly and smiling a little.
"Kinda, thanks for asking. Is it night already?" Leo asked, trying to sit up with Don's help.
"No, you just slept a few hours. I think it is afternoon."
"Hmm… I wish this day would never end. It's nice having you here." Leo sighed.
"I guess it's me who has be the one to say that, bro." Don said smirking. Suddenly, Leo felt another sharp pain in his stomach and clutched it tightly.
"Leo, what is it? Your stomach again?"
"Y-yeah… but… it's nothing too serious, just the same pains I had when I didn't eat a week ago."
"Hmm… maybe if I talk with Kojiro he could get you some pain killers or something. He's coming tonight."
"Ok. Donnie. Do you think about the others when you're alone?"
"Yeah, I always think about them."
"I've tried to make a connection with Sensei but… I'm so weak."
"You know, I made connection with Master Splinter once. Remember when those triceratons kidnapped me?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, they put a memory scanner on my head and started to pressure me to reveal the Fugitoid's location. I refused it and they started to increase the power; I could feel my brain frying and then I… I actually cried out to Master Splinter for help and just for a moment… I could feel him helping me to block the pain and my memories. Their machine broke and they couldn't find the Fugitoid." Don explained.
"Interesting, maybe you can do that again." Leo said.
"Now?"
"Not now, but on your test day… so you can numb the pain a little more."
"And you think that would work?" Don asked hesitantly.
"It has to work Donnie. And it will work; you just need to keep your faith." Leo said, rubbing his brother's shell.
"Why didn't you do the same?" Don asked again.
"Master Splinter has enough energy for one connection, I saved it for you."
"You're always sacrificing yourself, Leo." Don said half guilty, half proud and half happy.
"It's not a big deal. Besides, I'm the big brother here."
"You know what Leo? Maybe this place is like hell but… you being here with me… makes it less… scary and painful."
"It's ok Donnie. It's ok to feel scared sometimes, just don't let the enemy to see it."
"I know." Don said, smirking a little. Leo yawned and felt his eyes closing again.
"You better go to sleep again Leo. You need to recover your strength." Don suggested.
"But I don't want to sleep Donnie." Leo complained like a little child. He wanted to enjoy every minute until the end of this unique day talking with his genius brother, though he was so tired to even breathe.
"You must, please Leo." Don insisted.
"We only have this day and I don't wanna waste it sleeping."
"Well, I don't think we have so much to talk about either." Don chuckled.
"Heh, I thought you wanted to talk about some crazy new invention of yours." Leo said, smirking and yawning again.
"Not in the mood Leo. But seriously, you need to sleep; as you said, your company is enough for me." Don said as he helped Leo lay down again without touching his bandages.
"Ok, wake me if you wanna talk or something." Leo said and closed his eyes immediately.
Don did want to talk to him so badly but Leo could barely breathe and he thought it was better to let Leo rest for a while; after all, his stomach had been showing signs of pain which Don thought were from the surgery. The purple banded turtle saw the steady rise and fall breathing moves from Leo's chest, a clear sign his brother was ok, or at least breathing properly. His right hand shook a little when he touched his brother's bandages again. Then, the genius turtle felt something weird and unusual: his brother's plastron didn't feel so hard in the middle, it felt like…
"…it's still opened!" Don gasped to himself, horrified at his sudden discovery. He hugged his arms around his legs and started to breath rapidly in fear.
"And I'm the next one!" Don thought. His body was shaking; he could almost imagine the sensation of the cold buzz saw digging into his plastron, his eyes wide open during the whole procedure and nothing to dull the pain. He laid beside Leo and curled up into a ball. Leo felt the trembling body beside him and woke up.
"Donnie, you're shivering! What's wrong?"
"Eh? N-nothing, nothing… I'm ok, I was just… thinking." Don stuttered.
"Thinking about ice maybe? Because you were all shaking like a leaf." Leo chuckled. Don avoided his gaze.
"Donnie, what were you thinking?" Leo asked in concern. Don didn't answer.
"Don?" Leo insisted, but Don remained in silence.
"Donatello?" Leo said in his leader voice, making Don shiver a little more but this time it was not for the fear. He was sobbing quietly.
"I'm sorry Donnie, I didn't mean to," Leo apologized, feeling a little worried for his brother's unexpected change of mood.
"Please, Donnie. Talk to me, what's wrong?"
"They… they didn't close you, Leo." Don sobbed.
"What?" Leo was now confused, but when he felt Don's hand on his stomach, he knew what his brother was talking about.
"How could they do this to you?" Don sobbed softly.
"It doesn't feel so bad, Donnie. The bandages help… a little." Leo said, trying to soothe his brother.
"I know they're gonna do the same to me, Leo." Don said, almost whispering.
"And that scares you, right?" Don nodded, letting a few tears roll down his face.
"This may… sound selfish but… I wish you were there with me when… I mean, I don't want you seeing me suffer but… if you were with me in that moment… you know… " Don was speechless, he was so frightened that he couldn't find the right words in that moment and now he could just stutter.
"
I understand and I wish I could be there with you too, but you know The Shredder's rules in this twisted game of his invention." Leo said sadly. Don was sobbing loudly this time.
Leo felt his heart broken into pieces; he felt so powerless, he couldn't do anything to comfort his genius brother now. He managed to sit up by himself, feeling the pain in his stomach again; then he helped Don to sit up and pulled him into a comforting hug even though his plastron protested at the touch, making him wince in pain again.
"I'll be with you, Don… but it's gonna be different this time. You'll feel me with you in that moment."
"How?" Don asked, a little confused but still sobbing.
"You'll know it soon but remember… if you can't feel me try to reach Splinter like you did before, ok?" Don nodded in agreement but he wasn't sure of what Leo meant with that speech. How was he gonna be with him, how was Don gonna feel him and why Leo mentioned Splinter? He lifted his head and when he was about to ask another question, Don noticed Leo had fallen asleep again.
"I trust you, Leo… I know you won't break your promise." Don said and closed his eyes, relaxing in his brother's comforting embrace.