With Splinter resting and his brothers all preoccupied, I was finally able to pull Raphael off to the side so I could take a better look at his injuries. He argued (of course) that he was fine and didn't need the attention, but when I pulled back his bandage and realized that he'd somehow managed to pop over half his stitches loose, I literally grabbed him by the tails of his bandana and drug him to one of the couches near Donatello's makeshift library so I could properly patch him up.

"Come on, Tess…is all this really necessary?"

Raphael's amber eyes locked onto mine, a mixture of annoyance and boredom shimmering across their surface as he reclined on the couch, absentmindedly toying with the toothpick in the corner of his mouth.

I glared at him, taking a moment to stretch my back from my spot on the floor where I was kneeling beside him so I could easily re-stitch his wounds.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it is. And the sooner you hold still, the sooner I can be done. So please…quit playing with that thing and let me work."

Raphael glared at me, exhaling his irritation. I gave him a minute to fidget before I continued with my stitching, being careful to keep things as neat and tight as possible.

"Now you know…even though this is a more heavy duty thread, you're still going to have to take it easy for at least a week. No jumping around…no fighting….and no water slides – you have to keep the sutures dry." I glanced at Raphael, who was rolling his amber eyes in annoyance. In response I scowled…and poked him just a tad less carefully on my next pass with the stitching needle.

"Ow! Dammit Tess, I thought you said you knew what you were doing!?"

I smiled slyly, gently pulling the suture tight as I started my finishing knot. "Oh trust me sweetie…I do." I glanced toward him, my eyes finding his as my smile widened. "I just wanted to make sure I had your full attention."

Raphael raised an amused eyebrow, his amber eyes narrowing attractively as a smirk played at the corner of his mouth.

"You've got it, Tess…." His voice lowered slightly as his eyes wandered contently over my still smiling face. "…probably more than you realize…."

I suddenly felt my cheeks flush and I bashfully dropped my eyes from his to focus on my work. I felt the butterflies beginning to flutter once again, whirling up in my stomach and causing my heart to beat faster than it should. I tried to concentrate, tried to force the giddiness I was beginning to feel back where it had come from as my hands carefully cut the extra suture from the first wound and shakily reached for the dressings for the second. But the tension unfortunately got the best of me as I nervously dropped both the suture kit and the scissors clumsily into the clean towel across my lap.

"Dammit…." I muttered to myself, thankful that I hadn't yet opened and contaminated the last sterile suture I had left. I scooped them both up, then quickly grabbed the bottle of alcohol from the floor beside me and proceeded to re-clean the scissors.

As I finished, I felt a hand descend gently on my shoulder, and I flinched slightly as Raphael's low, gruff voice pulled my eyes nervously back to his.

"Tess…you ok?"

I nodded, smiling self-consciously as my timid gaze met his. "I think I'm just getting tired…may need to rest for a bit after I finish this up."

Raphael regarded me for a moment, his amber eyes narrowing slightly as if he were contemplating something. Then he glanced around, uncertainty in his gaze as he shrugged his shoulders in an unassuming gesture.

"You can take a nap in my room, if you want." He pointedly avoided eye contact with me, and cleared his throat a little louder than normal. "My bed's more comfortable than the couches…and Mikey won't bother you if you're in my room."

I smiled nervously, feeling blood rush back to my cheeks as I slipped on a new pair of latex gloves and began to carefully wipe around his second wound with an alcohol swab. "That's sweet of you…but you need your rest more than I do. Besides…I'm pretty resilient." I paused, smiling confidently as I tossed the used swab into the small trash pile beside my leg. "I can take an hour nap leaned up against the wall and be good to go for at least a class or two."

Raphael returned my smile, but his eyes glinted with something akin to concern. Then he slightly shook his head and closed his eyes as he proceeded to lazily roll his toothpick from one corner of his mouth to the other.

As I watched him my smile slowly faded, and I cleared my throat softly as I continued with my work. Once I had the second wound sutured and bandaged, I gathered my supplies and the trash I needed to dispose of, then placed a hand gently on Raphael's chest as I finally stood up and stretched my tingling legs.

"Ok…as long as you're careful, those stitches should hold." I paused, waiting for some sort of response from him. When he offered none, I rested my hand firmly on his chest and leaned over him, bringing my face a bit closer to his.

"Raphael?"

His eyes remained closed, while his chest moved up and down in a slow, rhythmic fashion. I smiled, shaking my head slightly as my eyes wandered over Raphael's sleeping form. It was nice to see him so relaxed and finally resting on his own, considering all we'd recently been through.

I glanced over my shoulder, suddenly remembering that I'd seen an old, slightly disheveled blanket thrown over the back of the beat up recliner sitting cattycorner to the couch were Raphael was laying. Seeing it was still there, I quietly slipped over, grabbed it, and gently covered as much of the sleeping turtle as I could. I smiled, as it was a little too small for his large frame…but, hey…it's the thought that counts, right?

Before stepping away, I carefully leaned over him once again, dipping my head down next to his as I rested my hand gently on his chest. "About time you listened to me…" I whispered, smiling softly at his relaxed face. "…now please…no more being stubborn. I don't want to spend all our time together constantly patching your reckless ass up."

I paused, reaching over with my free hand to straighten the crooked pillow behind his head. I then let my hand drift to the tails of his bandana, which I carefully pulled out from under his neck and draped gently over his broad shoulder. His skin was so soft and warm…I couldn't help letting my fingertips gently caress his trapezius muscles as I admired his features in such as state of solemn repose.

I sighed, the butterflies in my stomach beginning to flutter slightly as I started to lift myself away from him…when I felt a hand delicately slide up along my left side and wrap itself around to my back. I gasped softly, the pressure of the touch being just strong enough to stop me from standing up straight. Because of this, it forced me to remain leaning forward, so I rested both of my palms against Raphael's chest to keep myself from falling over on top of him.

Raphael's slumbering facade finally shifted; a small smile began tugging at the corner of his mouth, while his amber eyes slid half open to regard me with an arresting gaze. He said nothing, yet his touch and expression seemed to speak volumes – a tentative but growing mutual affection…a desire for an emotional connection, despite a hint of trepidation…a longing to finally risk sharing a part of yourself with someone else. It was daunting…yet sincere and honest…and something that I genuinely wanted to explore with him more than I ever had with anyone else.

I smiled bashfully, my eyes searching his as he glanced down at the blanket covering his chest. Then he lifted his head and his amber eyes again found mine, as he quietly and somewhat apprehensively cleared his throat.

"So…I uh, never really said thank you for what you did…."

I laughed softly, my blonde hair slipping down over my shoulders as I shook my head. "You don't need to thank me…."

Raphael tilted his head slightly, raising an amused eyebrow. "Yeah…I do." He paused, his smile widening slyly. "It's nice having someone around who can patch my reckless ass up…."

At this my eyes widened, and I couldn't hold back the laugh that escaped my lips. "You know…you're lucky I put up with your reckless ass!" I snapped teasingly as I lifted my right hand off his chest and proceeded to poke him with an accusatory finger.

Raphael shared my laugh as he playfully grabbed my hand with his own. "Hey…hey…easy Tess! I'm trying to rest and follow doctors' orders and you're getting all feisty with me…."

I tried scowling, but it came off more like a twisted smirk.

"You just wait…I'll show you feisty…."

Raphael's only response was a smile…and a look in those amber eyes that made me blush and drop my gaze to our still interlaced hands.

Shaking my hand playfully, I took a step toward him as I straightened my aching back. Then I started to lift my arms to stretch lazily, but Raphael kept a firm but gentle grip on the hand he still held. I smiled and shook my head, but didn't try to pull my hand away. Instead I simply lifted my one free hand over my head as I grumbled and stretched my tired body.

Glancing back down to his still grinning face, I tilted my head to the side as I lightheartedly wiggled the arm that he refused to let go.

"Uh, Raph…I kinda need this back." I paused, the butterflies in my stomach whirling themselves into a tornado. "I need to rest…I can barely keep my eyes open."

Raphael nodded, a wistful reluctance overtaking his amber eyes as he squeezed my hand ever so gently before letting go. He reminded me of a puppy that had just lost its playmate…and I instantly wished I didn't feel so utterly exhausted.

Using that same hand that had just been holding tight to mine, he pointed toward a room that was slightly above us and to the right. "That one there…with the red symbol painted above the entry way…that's my room." His eyes became suddenly somber as his usual stony façade crept back across his features. "You can sleep there…that way no one bothers you."

I smiled, but shook my head hesitantly. "I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll just curl up on – "

Raphael interrupted me with a scowl as he slid a hand behind his head. "Tess…look…just go and rest upstairs, ok? I'm telling you…you won't get any sleep down here…especially once Mikey gets back."

I smirked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. "Oh please…Mikey isn't that loud…is he?"

Raphael growled, closing his eyes with an expression of mild disgust.

"Trust me…you have no idea how annoying my bothers can be."