I blinked. I looked around in panic. I was at home, on the old couch…but how? My whole body throbbed. I took my shaking arms and tried to push myself up, but instead I lost strength and fell back, my chest heaving.

"Raph?" It was Donnie.

"What happened?" I croaked, squinting up at him. The light hurt.

"Casey told us you ran off, we found you unconscious," Don frowned.

My stomach lurched. Did Casey spill? I couldn't help but wonder helplessly.

"Dude!" Mikey's holler made my head swell with pain causing me to groan. "Is Raphy okay?"

"Stop yelling!" Donnie scolded, "You're making him worse!"

"Oh, sorry, man," Mikey apologized.

"S'okay," I muttered, it hurt to talk.

"You look horrible! You feel like livin?"

I just rolled over, and grunted. What happened to me? Sure, I lost consciousness, but this was horrid. I considered Mikey's comment about living, being dead sounded ideal at the moment.

"Dude," I heard Mikey hiss to Don, "He looks really weak…that normal?" It didn't sound like a taunt, but any mention of weakness and I'm up.

"I'm going to hurt you, that ought to prove I'm not weak!" I grumbled, forcing myself into a sitting position.

"Raph! Lay!" Don pushed me back down. "Mikey! Leave!"

I heard Mikey sniff, probably pouting.

"What's wrong with me?" I asked, breathing heavily. I felt I was going to die.

"You strained yourself," Don explained, "Mentally or physically, I don't know. But you do." I had my eyes closed, but on his last sentence I heard suspicion. I knew he was thinking about that night we talked after they found the crime scene of Cally's parent's murder.

I just grunted, so he went on. "Your body simply needs to refresh. Some rest, which you've had lost of; food; and water and you'll be fine," Donnie sounded rather delighted with his diagnostic. "But until you feel absolutely fine, do not get up from the couch."

"Fine, what ever you say, Dr. Donatello," I muttered, rubbing my aching head.

"Good, now, can you sit up on your own? You can't eat like that," Don shook his head. "You might choke."

"I'm fine. Don't take the doctor thing too far," I muttered. I pushed myself up, and stiffly turned before collapsing against the back of the couch.

"Here," I looked over to see Leo holding out a bowl of cereal.

I took it. "Thanks," I grumbled, taking a bite.

Leo stayed by. When Don walked off to his desk, pleased with himself, Leo sat down beside me. I gave him a hard sideways stare.

"Raphael, what is going on?" He hissed. "Casey wouldn't tell me a thing. But something's going on with you."

I pricked an eyebrow ridge, pretending to not care. "What makes you say that?"

Leo frowned, "Think about it, Raph. You haven't been acting like yourself at all since I sent us off on single patrol. You're on edge, you daydream most of the time, and you 'go out for air' a lot more often."

I flinched. How could I counter that?

Leo's eyebrow ridges lifted and half his mouth went up, as if he were half on half about something.

"What?" I glared at him, taking a firm bite of cereal.

"Is it a girl?" The subject most obviously humored him, "Are you dating?"

"No!" I snapped, "What the shell, Leo! How stupid can you be?!" I was actually relieved he added the last question. Because, was it a girl? Yes. Were we dating? No. I wasn't even crushing on her. But I was worried. When Shredder wants something, it isn't for an exactly 'wonderful' cause.

Leo shrugged, "Just a thought, but something is going on, Raphael, and I will find out."

I popped another bite of cereal in my mouth and returned a searching, firm stare. Then he stalked off, apparently agitated.

I reached for the TV remote, but I was interrupted by the most annoying sound. Mikey's voice.

"Raph, you okay now? Wanna play a video game?"

"What? Don don't wanta play with ya?"

Mikey's face turned crestfallen. "No…" He muttered, "He said he was busy…" He stuck his bottom lip out and stared at me.

Mikey's gone into what Don calls, 'a phase,' of using a puppy dog face to get what he wants. I just think he's being himself, annoying.

"Mikey, that don't work on me," I snatched the remote and pointed it at him, "It's called wrestling."

Mikey sighed and trudged off, probably to play with his cat, Clunk, or read his comic books.

I ignored him, and turned on the TV. I went through quite a few channels till I was able to find a good match.

I usually loved watching people pound each other, but today I found myself wandering elsewhere. Would Cally be okay, or even…alive? Would Casey tell my brothers about Cally?

I glanced over at Donnie, who was bent over, working intensely at something. As I watched him, he started rubbing the back of his head. Don always does that when he feels he's being watched. So I turned back to the TV.

I felt someone staring at me, but I already knew who it was so I made no effort to turn around. I had a feeling Leo was going to be watching over me for a long time. Or till I told on myself, which wasn't going to happen.

I started messing with my feet. My back still hurt, but it was bearable. A sharp pain abruptly shot my foot. I lifted it up to where I could see it. A small cut, probably from that rusty old spring that Donnie had been meaning to fix for the past three months.

The roll of bandage was right in front of me on the coffee table. No reason to put disinfectant on it, it wasn't that bad. I stiffly leaned forward and grabbed it, before falling back against the couch. Okay, it still hurt to do that.

I wrapped some around my foot, over the cut, only enough to keep it from staining the couch. The blood covered the first two layers, so I put on two more. It didn't show.

I tossed the roll back onto the table and turned my attention to the wrestling match. I was careful not to touch the cut to anything. It stung, bad. But I was sure it would stop soon.

The real worry was Cally, even though she probably hated me. What could Shredder want with her? Make her tell exactly where we lived? He was probably frustrated that he couldn't find our home the last time he searched the sewers. But…she didn't know where we lived. He would torture her for not telling if that's what he wanted. I shuddered.

Then something hit me that I should have realized last night. It didn't matter whether Cally wanted me to save her or not, she needed to be. I just needed to figure out how…