Leo had used his shell cell so Ms. Grey came out to help O'Rourke into the house. O'Rourke was now set up with T'mana and Mrs. Callahan. Mikey was hovering and Ms. Grey was speaking with Don over O'Rourke's knee. He was explaining a procedure to her in great detail.
"You can let me know if there's any change in Lyde's condition." Don said, exhausted. O'Rourke's eyes snapped open at Lyde's name. She started to move her hands agitatedly and tried to sit up. Mikey was behind her and gently pulled her shoulders toward him and down.
"Easy…" He said.
"No…pockets." She breathed laboriously as she managed to pull out something with her wounded arm. She couldn't hold it, so it dropped to the floor. Don immediately recognized it. He bent and snatched it up.
"Is this what I think it is?"
"Stockman's." She said. Don looked at her. "More…" She indicated herself.
"I got this." T'mana said and she began to inspect O'Rourke's pockets and deposited her findings in Don's hands. T'mana was still weak, but she could sit up on her own and her ever present need to be useful drove her actions. Leo was behind her, his hand on her back for both physical and moral support. Mrs. Callahan stood next to her and just looked saddened by the events. Don now held seven flash drives in his hand.
"Ms. Grey…" He was helpless. "I…I have to go through these." Her eyes widened. "What Lyde needs may be in here." He defended. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her aside. "You can do this."
"I work with animals!" she whisper shouted. "In case you haven't noticed, that is a human female over there!" Don shrugged.
"You worked on me…now just step up to full human. You know how to do the procedure. Just imagine she's a chimpanzee."
"Are you fucking mocking me?" Ms. Grey's voice shot up an octave.
"Me? Mock the great and powerful Ms. Grey? I wouldn't dare." Don said with laughter in his eyes. "I know what I'm looking for. You said yourself you're not a virologist. I'm not either, but I think I have more background and you have lots of experience with surgery in general." He paused. "I'll be right upstairs if things get dicey." She swallowed.
"I have a laptop." She blurted. Don smiled and squeezed her shoulder.
"Then I'll be right here if things get dicey. Raph and Leo can watch Lyde for changes while I search these." The way his hand was positioned on her shoulder, he could feel her heart beat rapidly through her breastbone on his palm. He looked her in the eye. "I'm a fan for a reason, Ms. Grey. You never disappoint. And you won't now." He moved his hand from her shoulder to her cheek to give a reassuring caress and then stepped away, remembering his place with her. "Where's that laptop?"
"Um…I'll just go get it." She was jerked back into reality with the question and realized that she had an audience. Everyone politely had their eyes averted, but in such a way that Ms. Grey knew everyone had seen the tender moment. She fluttered out and the door closed swiftly behind her.
"You work fast, Romeo!" Mikey teased. Don blushed.
"I just wanted to encourage her."
"Is that what you kids are calling it today?"
"Mikey!" Don admonished. "Get your head out of the gutter. Focus!"
"Whatever, she's totally into you." The lecture died on Don's lips at these words.
"Yeah?" Everyone smiled and Mikey crowed in victory. "Mikey, you're a jerk." Don went to wait by the door.
"She's actually listening to Don." T'mana said with wonder, so only Leo could hear her. He looked at her.
"She listens to you, why shouldn't she listen to Don?" Leo asked.
"I'm a woman." T'mana shrugged.
"Is she a man hater or something?"
"Do you see any men around other than you and your brothers?" T'mana sighed. "She never gives men positions of power in her company. She doesn't trust them with anything important. Since she's a private operation, she doesn't get hassled with affirmative action lawsuits, but everyone pretty much knows." To her surprise, Leo smiled.
"I guess being a turtle actually helped his cause." She smiled too, getting the joke.
"It would appear so."
Ms. Grey returned and was startled to see Don waiting for her so closely by the door. Mikey laughed again and Don shot him a murderous look as he delicately took the laptop from her hands. "I'll be right over there." He nodded with his head towards a table and chair.
O'Rourke was already on a long table and the surgical instruments had been wheeled in. Ms. Grey, like Don, had a fully equipped lab. She often had to perform surgeries on the animals she rescued, but she had never performed a surgery on a human before. She hated to admit it, but the reason she had been so calm with Don was because she told herself he was more animal than human. It had calmed her down and given her the courage to help. But there was no avoiding that O'Rourke was all human.
Ms. Grey went to the sink in the kitchen area and began to wash. She lifted her eyes enough so she could see Don. His attention was already focused on the data he was scrolling through on the laptop. He was unlike anyone she had ever met, turtleness aside. He had no problem standing up to her, but he always did it in a polite or honorable way. She recalled the phone call yesterday when she had just laid into him. The only thing he had shouted at her was to give him her name. A fair point. He had given his. Then, when she actually met him, again, turtleness aside, he remained polite and fair, but also impressed her with his intelligence and knowledge of her field. And today, he further impressed her by showing he had other pursuits he was equally entrenched in like technology and viruses. He knew a lot about a lot. But he wasn't arrogant about it and he kept referring to her work in a useful way instead of pandering to her. He seemed to genuinely respect her and it was this reason, this reason only, that she was now considering listening to him when he said that she was capable of doing this surgery.
Twice he had shown her affection beyond what a general acquaintance would show: the kiss on the forehead and the touch on her cheek. But she saw Mikey now holding O'Rourke's hand, though she had been knocked out by anesthesia, Leo was again touching T'mana's back as they spoke, a tender smile on his lips and she knew Raph, the angry one, held Lyde and talked to her even as vomit dribbled onto his shell. What kind of creatures were these? They had been so resistant, but when danger came up, they were protective and loyal and so quickly.
She finished washing her hands and moved to the table and picked up her first instrument. She supposed it was what they were that made them so …open. Now that the ladies had proven they weren't enemies to them, the hurdle had been jumped and they were welcomed with open arms. Was that all it was? Loneliness and willingness to have anyone in their lives? It was certainly understandable, but also somewhat disappointing. And yet…he had known her before he had actually spoken and met with her. Didn't that stand for something deeper than the simple convenience of having met? She looked up and saw Don watching her. His face slowly lifted in a kind, encouraging smile that went all the way to his eyes. Then he nodded. No one else saw this exchange and so she believed it.
She looked down at O'Rourke's leg and began. Once she was in, it became automatic to her. She didn't notice that Don continued to watch her until he felt she was comfortable with the operation. She was too busy trying to sort out the mess that had been O'Rourke's knee. The bullet was a hollow point that had flattened on impact which made the bone just below her kneecap shatter. There was no fixing that right now, but it was a blessing. Now, after cutting away the muscle that was beyond repair, she cleaned it and saw the actual joint itself was still intact and she thanked whatever power there was for that. However, the kneecap was fractured in several places. Not shattered, per se. Not beyond repair, but it was dicey.
She had been working for an hour and a half when she heard Don speak to her and noticed that he was standing right next to her.
"Don't move." She wasn't sure why he said that, but she stopped her hands, making sure they were outside of O'Rourke so she didn't accidentally nick anything, and remained frozen. She felt a cloth touch her forehead to remove the perspiration that had been building. She hadn't realized it, but it was streaming down her one cheek. She straightened. She didn't want to sweat onto the wound! He dabbed her forehead a bit more forcefully and then put another cloth to her face that was dampened with cool water. "Better?" She nodded. He lifted a glass to her lips and she took a large swallow. She looked at him and saw that he was looking down at her handy work. "A fine job, Ms. Grey." He complimented. "If you need another refresh, just call out." She nodded again and he left and went back to the laptop. She bent down and went back to the procedure.
Mikey was still holding O'Rourke's hand. He had been practically bathed in antiseptic and was staring into the leg. He remained quiet, but was deeply disturbed to see the inside of a person like that, especially one he knew and spoke to. The flesh of the leg had been cut, split and opened so the bone was revealed like in a butcher shop. It was hard to believe that the leg could be closed up and go back to looking like a normal leg. And O'Rourke, Mikey had noticed, had very nice legs.
While they had been prepping her leg, Mikey had cleaned the bridge of her nose and had used butterfly bandages to seal it. He looked down at her face now. She was pale, but not alarmingly so. Her red hair haloed out around her head since her ponytail holder had been ripped out by Stockman's grab. The skin immediately around the wound on her nose was red and then turned purplish with bruising. Mikey had wiped the blood away so her face looked peaceful in the drug-induced sleep. He knew she was a tough woman, a warrior, so he wondered how she would cope with the condition of her leg after this. Mikey was no doctor, but he knew that a battered knee cap meant she wouldn't have the same dexterity and reflexes that she had before. It would take a lot of work to get her back to walking, let alone fighting the good fight.
Without making a conscious thought about it, he knew that he wanted to be the one to help her find herself again. He had done it before with Leo after the Shredder almost killed him. Mikey never let him give up on himself and helped him celebrate small victories to show his progress. He didn't know what it was about O'Rourke, but he wanted to crack that army exterior. He had seen the woman back in the car for a moment. The soldier had vanished and he had seen her true self. Also, he reasoned devilishly, it didn't hurt that she was a total babe. The whole femme fatale thing totally worked for her and it got his blood pumping. Who knew? He liked that she was dark and dangerous, but he also saw something else in her, too. And he didn't know what it was, but he wanted to dig deeper for it.
Of all his brothers, Mikey knew that he was the most optimistic and the most at peace with their way of life. He genuinely enjoyed almost every minute of every day. There were things that did suck, like the Shredder and the Foot, and now, of course, Stockman. He knew Stockman was a bad dude. Had seen some of his nasty handiwork, but it hadn't really permeated that thick layer of protection he coated himself with in his sunny disposition. But now, seeing O'Rourke pale and fragile with her leg split open all because of this man…he definitely understood Leo better now. The fear of being helpless.
Mikey hadn't been there when the Foot attacked his family and killed his father. He regretted that every day, but he also knew that if he hadn't patrolled, that might have caused other problems, too. His brothers had comforted him and he did find his peace and was able to be himself again. But Leo never did. The death of Splinter killed the innocence and joy in his brother. Mikey knew it was a loss, Splinter was their father. But he never could understand Leo losing himself like that. Becoming dark, laughless and suspicious. Then T'mana had kind of weaseled her way in and Stockman, royal douche, almost took her, too. He saw Leo falling away again further as T'mana didn't wake up. And now, Mikey was waiting to see if O'Rourke came out of this okay. And it was a new feeling for him.
He felt angry, disappointed, ashamed, afraid…all things that he tried to avoid. But he wished he had been there to stop Stockman. He wished he had gotten there sooner so O'Rourke wouldn't now be looking so broken. So hurt. And he couldn't fix her knee. Ms. Grey was doing what she could, but Mikey couldn't help with that. Or even with rehab. So he knew he would just have to rely on his charms and hope that O'Rourke wouldn't fall away the same way Leo had. O'Rourke seemed pretty close to the edge already, shooting herself without hesitation as if her life meant nothing. He hadn't known her very long, but she meant something to Mikey. And he wanted to mean something to her. He didn't know what that would be, but he was willing to stick it out. If he could handle Raph after being pwned by Mikey in WOW, then he could handle O'Rourke. Mikey leaned back in his chair and imagined all the possible ways he could handle her, a small leering grin ghosting his face.
After several hours, Ms. Grey finished and closed up the leg. She went to the sink to wash very quickly and saw Don out of the corner of her eye approach her. She turned and before he could speak, she did.
"I'm going to check on Lyde. You should keep looking since we seem to be running out of time." The coldness in her voice gave him pause and he nodded slowly then stepped aside, allowing her to rush out of the room and go up two flights of stairs. She burst into the room with accidental drama as she tried to escape the crowd downstairs. Raph's head snapped to her and she saw Leo there as well. She hadn't seen Leo leave, so she was surprised to find him there also.
"Any change?" She asked, as casually as she could. Raph shook his head.
"No. She just lies there, but her eyes are still leakin'." Raph answered.
"How is O'Rourke?" Leo asked.
"She's alive. I didn't kill her." Ms. Grey replied brusquely.
"I didn't think you wou-"
"Well, I'll go back down then if there's no change here." She did an about face and left. She found the empty room on the far end of the hallway, her private quarters. She stopped in the middle of the room and clutched her torso. She couldn't stop it, but she felt the tears come in a violent torrent. She covered her mouth and held in her scream of frustration. What the hell had happened to her life in just a few days? She did not like not being in control. She did not like that she had endangered the lives of three of her dearest employees. She considered them friends, but she wasn't sure it was mutual. Lyde could die. Lyde was dying. Part of her believed she could go into that room, shake Lyde and scare the life back into her. But the truth was, she was utterly helpless and had no way to save her friend. She went into the bathroom and ran cold water to splash on her face. She looked at herself in the mirror and was disgusted.
"Weak." She muttered at herself. "You are Sandra fucking Grey and you do not let fear fuck with you. You are a brilliant biologist and your huge bank roll proves that. You always win. No matter how fucking hard they come at you, you always fucking win." She took a deep breath. "Sandra fucking Grey never loses." She recalled all the people in her life who tried to ruin her or take advantage. She had conquered them all. This would be no different. She splashed her face calmly and patted it dry. She fixed her make-up and stood tall as she checked her reflection again. Her eyes were red, but that was the only tell tale sign. She put drops in her eyes and it would be gone in minutes. Every now and again, her heart got soft. But it always hardened again. She sighed with finality. The bitch was back.
Don kept glossing over the data. There was so much of it his eyes were starting to get grainy. Leo had called twice to let him know that Lyde was the same. He took that to be good news since any change most likely would mean her death. To give his eyes a break, he would look around the room and blink. For the past several times, he hadn't seen Ms. Grey. And Leo mentioned that she had stopped in and left. So where was she? He shifted in his chair and went back to the data.
There was something in the way she had left the room, like she couldn't wait to leave. He wasn't sure if it was because of the surgery or because of him. He knew he had crossed the line with her not once but twice. She clearly had no idea the effect she had on him. He had been following her work ever since she was first published. He watched her grow scientifically and become more prominent in the world. He enjoyed her success because he was pleased that someone with her knowledge and gifts was respected and honored for it. These were things he would never receive himself so he reveled in her success even though it was not his own. He felt she deserved it. And now to meet her, to see her, to smell her scent and feel the softness of her skin, made her more than just his figurative hero. She was now flesh and blood. His feelings for her previously had been friendly and good natured or a simple 'crush', but now they were plunged into raw depth simply because of her proximity. It was nothing in comparison to his simple appreciation of T'mana's company when they had first met. This was far more urgent and overwhelming. She was now real. And she had flaws. She was surly and arrogant and commanding. But there was something else, too. The something that drove her to help him with his bullet wound despite the terrible oddness and stress of the situation. The something that pushed her to speak with him about her projects and the reasons behind them at the pizza dinner yesterday.
She was hard and distant. But when she was truly needed, she was there and would not back down. She hunted for T'mana and found her. She backed up both Lyde and O'Rourke today and would continue until it was over. Don knew there was no use denying it. His hero image of her had not been shattered, but supremely strengthened. Whether she returned it or not, Don knew that his crush had bloomed overnight into something far stronger. It terrified him, but it was also beyond his control at this point. Clearly, since he couldn't seem to keep his hands off her. She was stressed so she politely ignored his impromptu advances. But when things settled down, she would be disgusted and repulsed. She would realize that a giant mutant turtle had kissed her. That would be worst case scenario. Best case would be that she would disregard it and chalk it up to the stress of the situation. Either way, Don knew this wasn't going anywhere. He understood Leo much better now.
The door opened and Don couldn't help but allow himself to be distracted to see if it was her. It was. Her face was determined and firm, but even at the distance from the desk to the door, he could tell her eyes were red. She had been crying. But everything else seemed perfectly in place so she clearly did not want to draw attention to it. She had changed clothes. She was now wearing jeans and a floral print shirt that made her look stunning in Don's eyes.
"How's Lyde?" T'mana asked. Sandra turned to look at her.
"No change." With that, she walked up to Don, who stood abruptly giving the impression he wanted to stand out of courtesy as a gentleman. "Which drives still need to be looked at?" Her voice wasn't cruel, but blunt. She was all business. He picked up three of them. He had gone through two already. But he knew where she was going with this. So he kept two for himself.
"These." He said. She held out her hand. Don stared for a moment.
"I know I'm not a virologist, but I'm not an idiot either. If I see something that could relate, I'll bring it to your attention. I think we need another set of eyes. You can double check, but it might speed things along." She kept her hand out. Wordlessly, Don placed them in her hand. "My desktop is upstairs." He nodded that he understood. She hesitated a moment, thought better of it, then left the room without another sound.
"Dude…she okay? She's all-"
"Shut up, Mike." Don said firmly. He sat down and went back to his data.
Sandra set up shop in the lab upstairs so she was alone. She had stopped in to check on Lyde, saw her heartbeat was regular again and made a decision. She injected a little more adrenaline. Not the full dose they had previously given, but one third. Both turtles thanked her. Thanked her. They thanked her for helping her friend. She didn't say anything, just nodded. She didn't trust herself to speak. The quake in her voice would be a dead giveaway that she was losing her shit.
But now she had a new purpose…or distraction as the case may be. The lab was quiet and she could hear each keystroke she made. This Stockman had some pretty interesting plans. Nothing incriminating per se, but things that might rock the foundation of the science world because of the moral implications. She kept scanning and dismissed most of what she saw. These things would have to be investigated later when there was time to comprehend the consequences. But that time was not now. She finished the first flash drive and moved on to the next.
After another hour, her eyes started to glaze. She blinked and put drops in them every half hour or so. But now, her mind was starting to fuzz up. She hoped she hadn't missed something because she had faded out into la la land. As she thought this, something caught her eye and her body reacted physically as if someone had suddenly shouted boo! Her heart jumped and her pulse escalated. She re-read the data several times, then wrote down where it was located in the drive. She whipped the drive out, ran down three flights of stairs and opened the door again. Once again, she felt all heads snap over to her. As calmly as she could she walked up to Don. He stood and she knew he read her face like an open book.
"What did you find?" He asked desperately. She held out the drive and the piece of paper with the location on it. He dropped down and immediately switched it out and began the search. She could tell the moment he found what she had. His eyes went wide and he began to write notes on a pad that he had set on the table. He scrolled and then wrote some more. Again he scrolled, but this time he froze as if horrified by what he read. He grabbed the scrap of paper and ran full speed out the door. By the time Sandra got to the door, Don was too far ahead to be seen. She knew where he was going so she climbed quickly up to Lyde's room. A little hesitant at what she would find. She squeaked the door open a crack to find all three turtles circled around Lyde. Don was at the center checking her pupils and her throat.
"Why is her heart rate still so high?" He mumbled nervously.
"I gave her more adrenaline." She answered. He turned, surprised to see her there.
"Oh, good. I thought…" He turned back to Lyde.
"What did you see?" Ms. Grey challenged him. Don stood from his bent position and did not turn to her. He seemed to ignore her question. But Raph wanted an answer as well.
"Don, what? You bolted in here like a bat outta hell. Why? What did you expect to see?"
"The data…it said there were four stages. The first is the incubation period where the virus gets strong. The second is the vomiting blood. The third…" He hesitated. "Attacks the nerves, causing paralyses. It also causes the nerves to misfire giving the sensation of pain. The fourth..." He dove into the next, not wanting to hear the horror over the third stage that the poor girl had been enduring. "Goes to the brain and effectively shuts down all involuntary actions. Stockman hypothesized it would first shut down breathing causing death by asphyxiation or death by stopping the heart." He took a breath. "She appears to still be in the third stage. I think the adrenaline arrested the process enough to keep it from entering the fourth stage. We still have a chance." Don removed himself from the circle of his brothers.
"She might still be okay?" Raph asked.
"She might." Don allowed. "I have to get back to it." He turned to face them again. "Any change…I don't care how slight, you tell me immediately." Both brothers nodded.
"Hell yeah. No problem." Raph confirmed. Don walked past Ms. Grey and she fell in step with him.
"Did you find what you need to create a vaccine?"
"I'm not sure." Don rubbed his head and started to jog down the stairs. She kept up.
"Do you know how long it will take to make it?"
"I don't know!" Don shouted as he yanked open the door to the room with the laptop. He sighed without stopping his stride and he put his hands to his temples in remorse. "I don't know." He said softer and with an edge of panic. "She's suffering and I don't know…" He plopped down into the chair and grabbed the pen, ready to take notes.
"Well…" She knew he was panicking and so she tried grounding him back with logic. "What types of things are normally in a vaccine? Like ingredients to a recipe. What are the basics? I can start getting that ready. Just tell me what you need." He stared at her for a moment and then tore a new page out of the notebook. He shook his head with a faint smile.
"Ingredients to a recipe." He repeated, amused despite his despair. He began to write. "I'll need these things at the very least. I'll probably need more unique things once I start really digging in, but I also listed equipment that would be ideal…" He handed her the list and watched her peruse it.
"These are not a problem. I'll get it set up." He let out a breath in relief and turned back to the laptop. She knew she was dismissed and turned without a thought.
"Hey!" Mikey said. "Can I help?"
"Uh…thanks, but I'll be fine. I work better alone. No offense." She didn't stop and went directly to the lab to set up the equipment and materials. While she wasn't a microbiologist, she had to be very aware of how to treat illness with her animals since they were endangered. She kept a stock of biological items like proteins, beta blockers, cellular solutions and the like to make sure her animals were healthy. She almost always had animals on the premises. This estate was outside of the city limits and had a large keep that was several miles. The animals were tagged for safety reasons to make sure they remained healthy. But she could only use this home for animals native to North America and the climate in New York. She had various hubs for when she jumped around the globe. Right now, she was housing prairie dogs on her property and they were doing very well.
It didn't take her long to have all the equipment out, so then she focused on the 'ingredients' and preparing them for use. After that was done, she went to get the final ingredient on her list. She opened the door and Lyde's turtle sentinels turned to face Sandra.
"I need to take some blood." She said with authority. Leo moved backward to allow her access. She swabbed Lyde's arm and took the blood.
"Any headway, doc?" Raph asked.
"Maybe. There was some information on one of the drives. Don is working on it now. I'm getting the lab set up for vaccine production. And this…" She indicated the syringe filling with blood. "Is a necessary piece." She finished and put a band-aid with a cotton ball on Lyde's puncture. She noticed that Raph had a bandage on his arm.
"How are you?" She asked. Raph didn't seem to know she was talking to him. His eyes were back on Lyde. "Red…how are you?" he looked up.
"Me? Why?" She smiled weakly and pointed to his bandage. "Oh, that's nothin'. I ain't complainin'."
"No." She agreed. "You aren't. So it's okay, then? No burning, itching, irritation or strong throbbing?"
"No, nothin' like that. Like I said, it's nothin'." She nodded and let her eyes wander back to Lyde. She put a hand on Lyde's forehead and brushed her bangs out of the way. She noted, with a little shock, that Raph, discretely, was holding Lyde's hand. From her previous position it had seemed that his hand was resting there. But now she could tell he was holding it. "What?" Raph snapped, since he saw her staring at him.
"You're holding her hand." She blurted.
"That a problem…doc?" He said 'doc' derisively.
"No. You just don't seem the hand holding type, ass." She returned. He grinned.
"You're right. Hand holding is normally for wimps and lovey dovey crap." She raised an eyebrow at his retort. "But she ain't a wimp and neither am I. And this ain't lovey dovey. I just think she would want to know she ain't alone. I don't know if she can hear, but Don said she can definitely feel, so…" he shrugged. "Screw you."
"Understood." She started to leave.
"Dr. Grey?" She turned to Leo.
"The 'doctor' isn't necessary."
"You are one, aren't you?" Raph asked, suddenly concerned.
"Yes. I have a doctorate in veterinary medicine."
"So then, Doctor Grey is correct." Leo said. She sighed.
"Yes, but not necessary. I'm perfectly happy with Ms. Grey. I've been called worse." Raph chuckled, but Leo was remembering what T'mana had said earlier.
"Okay…how are you doing?" Leo asked. She was startled by the question. That much was obvious.
"Fine. Thank you." Her response was stiff and automatic. Leo raised and eye ridge.
"Okay, now that we got the autopilot out of the way, I'll ask again. How are you doing?" She stared at him as if she didn't know how to respond. "It must be a lot to deal with." Leo offered. "T'mana missing, giant mutant turtles, surprise shattered kneecap surgery, psychotic experimenting doctors, illogical viruses. I'm sure it takes its toll."
"Well, when you put it that way…"
"It sounds pretty fucked up." Raph jumped in.
"Yes." She agreed. "I'll deal with everything…later. I suppose."
"Yeah, 'cause that's healthy." Raph grated.
"Oh, because you're such a shining example of coping, aren't you?" She turned on Raph. "You are pissed at the world and you let everyone you come across know it. Lyde was terrified of you. She's normally a bubbly, cheerful, laughing girl. A little bit like Mikey, I suppose. But you didn't see any of that because you were too busy scaring the piss out of her with your goddamn attitude. And don't think for one second that I don't know you feel guilty for that, because your fucking hand holding hers speaks volumes more than your cussing ever could."
"Doctor Grey," Leo intervened, but she wheeled on him.
"Don't fucking call me that!" Leo stepped back at the ferocity of her reply. "Well, there's your fucking answer, Leo." She fell quiet. "God damn it." She whispered. "This fucking nightmare just needs to end."
"That's better." Raph said. "That's more what I expected from you."
"You don't know me enough to expect anything." She bristled again.
"Ms. Grey," Leo tried again.
"And I don't want a lecture from you, either." Her voice was calmer, but still housed a great deal of anger. "We all suck at dealing with shit. Or you'd be downstairs with T'mana who woke up yesterday from being stabbed. And you can tell yourself that you want to be here for your brother, but I think we all know that's not the only reason." She huffed. "Well, I think I need to leave so I can stop being such a bitch. Or I'll really get out of hand." She turned and walked out the door leaving Leo and Raph contemplating her words.