A/N: I wanted this to be posted last night, but I was having technical difficulties. So anyway, here it is...
Thanks to all that have read and reviewed, you rock! And thanks to Leo112 for her help.
I don't own them.
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Chapter 20: Bent But Not Broken
Wake up...
Michelangelo's voice carried through the room like a hollow echo.
Raph took the steps to Leo's bedside on the same numb legs that barely carried him to the lab. The floor seemed to sway under his feet. Back and forth, like being on a ship in the middle of a hurricane. He stumbled a bit and grabbed at the bedside, his fingers gripping the edge. He accidently pulled the blanket and caused Leo's arm to fall off the side of the bed. It swung back and forth along with the room. Slow and jerky, like something out of a horror show. Raph swallowed thickly, hot bile burned his throat, tears burned his eyes.
Wake up...
His brother was gone....gone and he never got a chance to explain.
To say goodbye.
Wake up...
He should be grieving right now...he should be. But the only thing that he could feel was anger and a thirst for revenge. Not only had Shredder taken his brother away, he made him believe that his family, the ones who loved him...the ones he loved with ever fiber of his being, had betrayed him.
Wake up...
He wanted to scream at his baby brother to shut up. Leo couldn't hear him. He wasn't going to wake up. But his tongue was as numb as his legs. It was useless in his mouth.
Wake up...
His breathing accelerated and his blood ran hot through his veins. He could hear his heart thrumming in his ears.
"SHUT UP MIKEY! HE'S GONE! HE WON'T WAKE UP!" Raph forced the words out.
"Raph! It's important! Wake up!"
Raph snapped his eyes open.
His room.
"Who's gone?" Mikey was hovering over him, blue eyes clouded by worry and stress.
Raph struggled to control his breathing. The room was still spinning.
"Mikey? Where?"
Mikey raised and eye ridge. "Dude, are you alright? It took forever to wake you."
"Huh? I was already awake." Raph looked around his room in confusion.
"Uh, if you say so. Donny told me to come get you, Leo's..."
"What! What's wrong?" Raph jumped up.
Mikey smiled a bit. "Nothing is wrong, dude. His fever is gone," Mikey told Raph's retreating shell.
"Wait up, dude!" Mikey scrambled to catch up with him.
Raph quickly padded to the lab, with Mikey on his heels. Donny was standing by Leo's bed when he walked in.
"Hey, Raph," Don greeted him with a smile. "Are you OK? You look pale."
"M'fine," Raph replied, pushing the dream to the back of his mind. "It was a dream. Just a dream."Leo was going to be fine, he was going to wake up and Raph could explain everything. He wasn't too late.
"Mikey said his fever was gone."
"Yes," Don said. "It broke about twenty minutes ago and has been steadily going down. It's about normal now."
Raph stared down at Leo. He still looked terrible. The bruises, old and new, stood out against his pale skin. Bandages and butterfly stitches covered the rest of his body. But his breaths were deeper now, less labored. And he didn't seem to twitch as much.
"He's just sleeping now." Don noticed the worried expression on Raph's face.
"When will he wake up?" Raph finally met Don's eyes.
Donny shrugged. "I'm not sure. But don't expect much. He probably won't be able to stay awake for very long at first."
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Raph was in the dojo pounding on the punching bag. Every ounce of frustration behind each blow. It didn't go unnoticed by him that every time it was his shift with Leo, Don or Splinter would find something else for him to do. Security checks, gathering supplies from April...anything but be in the room alone with his brother.
He knew why. Now that Leo was going to wake up, Don was sure Raph should be the last person Leo needed to see right away. He understood. But it didn't take the sting out of it.
He tried to not let the others know that it bother him...he understood.
So he stayed busy with what ever chores were given to him and spent time in the dojo.
He understood.
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Don was only an hour into his shift at Leo's side. He sat his book to the side when he heard a faint moan. He strained his ears for another sound and watched the breathing pattern of his brother change, he knew Leo was waking up.
He didn't bother to alert anyone. He knew that Leo would probably not stay awake long enough for everyone to gather in the lab. Instead he rushed to the bedside, determined to not let Leo be alone.
Leo used most of his strength to crack his eyes open. Shadows swirled around. He felt arms tugging him up a bit, gently. Something plastic press against his lips. Cool, sweet liquid trickled slowly into his mouth and soothed a trail down his throat.
Donny pulled the sports drink away after giving Leo a small sip. He seen that his brother was able to swallow, so he offered more.
"Here ya go, Leo," Donny soothed. "Just drink a little more."
Leo barely registered the voice beside him. His heart jumped to his throat and he felt like he had been thrown into a frozen pool.
Dark hands grabbed him and forced the liquid down his throat. Stinging, painful...No!
"Nnnn..."Leo knocked the bottle from Donatello's grip. His arm, which was usually strapped down or shackled behind him, shot up to fight off the attack. He was not use to the range of motion.
The stitches pulled and a strangled scream tore through his injured throat.
Don had stepped back when his brother knocked the drink from his hand, but he quickly grabbed Leo's shoulders to hold him down. He didn't want Leo's thrashing to cause any further injury.
"It's OK, Leo." Don tried to get his attention. "Settle down."
His heart thundered in his ears and shadows teased his vision.
"Dn't touch me," he barely was able to rasp out.
His eyes rolled back and within the next few seconds he was out again.
Shadows were gone, dark hands couldn't find him in the darkness.
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Raph had abandoned the punching bag and had started a few simple kata. His movements fluid and smooth. It helped to calm his mind.
He almost stumbled over his own feet when he heard an agonizing scream tear through the silence. His sai dully clanked as they hit the mat, and within three strides, he was out the door.
In the main area of the lair, Mikey was jumping over the back of the couch. He looked as though the cry jerked him out of a deep sleep. His steps were heavy and his eyes were glazed as he followed Raph to the lab.
When they came to the door of the lab Donatello was standing over Leo, adjusting bandages and checking stitches.
"Donny, Wha' happened?" Raph breathed out. His workout and the fact that he nearly had a heart attack when he heard his brother's scream caused his breathing to come out in painful gasps.
"He woke up," Don answered.
"Tha' don't tell me why he screamed like a banshee!" Raph retorted.
"He moved around too much and pulled the stitches." Don didn't get into the horrible details. That could be saved for later.
"Is he OK, Donny?" Mikey was rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
Donatello shrugged. "I-I'm not sure what happened. Exhaustion, pain, a side affect of the drugs..." He pulled Leo's blanket back up over his torso.
"He should wake up again soon, maybe next time it will be better." Don sighed.
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I couldn't kill any of them, especially Leo...