Leonardo
That yell came from the left and we only went a few feet in that direction before Don suddenly came running back at us! He comes running from the trees at full speed and a few feet from us he suddenly skids to a halt. We can see his face now, his eyes are open and they look so strange! They're white, his pupils aren't even visible and the look on his face is disquieting, he looks terrified. His face is wet from tears and from the rain, dirty and scratched, he looks down at his hands, and then around him, like he's not seeing what's really there but something inside of his own head.
"Please, not again, not again..it's too much..I can't, I can't.." his voice is barely above a whisper and if the wind hadn't let up we wouldn't have heard him talk at all.
Slowly I take step towards him holding out my hands and saying that everything is going to be all right. Then his legs give out from underneath him and he falls to his knees.
"There was nothing I could do, nothing I could do.." Don's voice sounds so sad, so broken what's happening to him? Has he really lost his mind?
I manage to get within arms reach of him and I kneel down beside of him. His skin is ice cold when I touch him and when Mike hands me a blanket I wrap it around his shoulders. It's not going to be enough though, he's going to need to get warmed up and fast and one blanket isn't going to do it. But first we have to get him back to the farmhouse.
"It's okay Don..we're here, it's going to be okay." I try to sound strong, although inside I'm anything but, I wrap another blanket around him and I watch the tears streaming down his cheeks and the look of desolation on his face.
"Donnie." I try to get through to him, to tell him that Mike and I are here for him but he simply keels over and falls forward into me. I grab a hold of him to keep him from hitting the ground. I've never seen him like this; he's always so calm and collected. He's the intelligent one, he's the voice of reason..and now he's about as far from reasonable and calm as he can get. It's distressing, and it frightens me.
"God..Donnie.. stay with me..please stay with me.." I'm so afraid that he'll just give up, that he'll just let the cold and the despair take him down..and then we'll be burying him out there right next to Splinter. I can't loose someone else I care about..I can't loose my family. "Please Donnie.." I put my arms around him and I pull him into a hug.
He has to know we're still here, that we still care about him..that he can't give up. To my surprise he responds to my hug, hugging me back and he whispers in his voice so hoarse it sounds painful.. "I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too Donnie.."
"I'm sorry."
Mike wraps a blanket around me, another around Don; he puts one around his own shoulders before kneeling down in the mud beside us. He smiles at me and puts a hand on my shoulder, then a hand on Don's and he squeezes my shoulder tightly, giving me reassurance. We both look at Don and his eyes are suddenly clear and he's looking directly at us..and at someone else at the same time. His eyes focusing and un-focusing, then he smiles, "Sensei." and he passes out completely.