I do not own the TMNT
... wow, an update.
Chapter twenty-five; Single Black Female
"But!...I…!?" Kit couldn't object very well as she found herself being shepherded through the bathroom and into the shower.
"Just take your clothes off and toss them over to me." Donatello ordered before pulling the shower curtain shut.
"But-" Kit tried to argue again, only to be interrupted.
"No buts, you need to get out of those wet clothes and warmed up before you catch cold, or worse, have a relapse. The last thing you need is to get sick again and-" The shower curtain suddenly opened and Kit threw her sopping wet t-shirt at Donnie, nailing him right in the face before closing the curtain again. "But you already knew that… right?" He was answered by a pair of pants flying over the curtain rod and nearly hitting him with the same accuracy that the shirt had. Donnie reached through the curtain and turned the water on.
"GAH!" Kit exclaimed when the cold water hit. A moment later the water heated up and she changed her shouting to the tune of, "JEEEYEEY!"
Smug, Donnie peeled the shirt off his face and picked the pants up off the floor. "I'll put your clothes somewhere to dry." He called before leaving. As he closed the door behind him Donnie was sure he heard some muttered curses.
In the main room of the lair he looked the shirt over. Sure enough there was a small cut in the shoulder and a pinkish discoloration that surrounded the hole and ran clear down to the waist. The pants held a slight darkening at the waist but below that the rain had washed the denim clean of all traces of blood. The size of the mark seemed to have been caused more by the water than by actual blood content so Donnie was gambling on getting her warm and relatively dry before he tried to talk her into holding still so he could bandage the cut.
In the kitchen Mikey had jerry-rigged a wire across the kitchen and had already hung Kit's jacket so that the heat from the oven could dry it faster. "Dude, there has got to be a better way." Mikey noted as he took the clothes Donnie handed over and hung them beside the jacket.
"I'll look into it." Donnie assured him. They'd never had a dryer before; maybe it would be worth repairing one from the junk yard? Or maybe he should put something else together…
"… so you're saying she purposefully jumped from the top of a tree?" Leo asked, sounding half convinced already as he and Raph entered the kitchen.
Raph shrugged. "Looked like it." He grunted.
"How did you talk her into coming back?" Leo headed for the stove and picked up the kettle to fill with water.
"Eh…" the hotheaded one hesitated, "Not'in' much. Just told her the facts… and I might a' mentioned somethin' about the city gassin' for rats."
Leo, Don, and Mikey looked up from what they were doing. "Gassing for rats?" Donnie asked. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly but he casually brushed his hand across his beak to resist the urge to grin.
A small light of amusement danced in Leo's eyes at the news as well. "You told her about that?"
"Whatever." Raph replied diplomatically, pulling his newly dried mask from the line and tying it into place as he left the kitchen.
Donnie allowed a slight smile when he was sure his brother was out of sight. "Who would of believed Raph would tell her that?" He chuckled. Leo nodded as he prepared some cups for tea, fully agreeing.
Mikey looked confused. "But… I thought the city didn't-"
"How's dinner coming along, Mikey?" Leo interrupted.
"Fine." Mikey quickly assured him, just in case Leo offered to help. Donnie snickered as he too left the kitchen.
Heading for the corner with his lab took Donnie back in front of the bathroom door. He heard the water still running and was about to pass the door when a loud thump and an equally loud curse caught his attention. Donnie paused, listening, and a few seconds later he heard another curse, albeit more quietly. Carefully Donnie knocked on the door. "Hey, Kit? You alright in there?"
"Fine." Came the strained response. "I'm fine." A loud squeak and another thump argued against her case.
"I'm coming in." Donnie announced, opening the door slowly. As he did so the spray of water from the shower stopped. He couldn't see anything at first because the curtain was still drawn and the only sound was the showerhead dripping and a little water still draining. "Kit?" He asked softly.
A few moments of silence before he heard Kit's voice, too quiet to make out. "Um… what?"
"I'm stuck." Kit said just a little louder. "I slipped and fell… and I can't get up."
Immediately Donnie felt both sheepish and concerned. His brothers had commented that the tub was too slick in the bottom, but since nobody had fallen he'd put it a little lower on the list than it probably deserved. What he couldn't understand was why she couldn't get up again. "Okay, hang on a sec." Donnie grabbed a towel and pulled the curtain back.
Kit sat in the bottom of the tub glaring at the space in front of her with the same icy hostility she'd had when they first met her. Beneath her water and soapsuds trickled past on their way to the drain. On either side there were faded pink smears on the walls of the tub. Frowning, Donnie reached down and picked up one hand to examine the palm, Kit permitted this but did not look at him.
Each of Kit's three fingers, as well as the thumb, exhibited areas of slightly thickened skin where humans typically had fingerprints. Her palm had similar pad that wrinkled similar to a normal hand. Everywhere there wasn't this padding there was short, thick, black fur. Everywhere these padded areas were was hatched with small scratches and cuts and smeared with just enough blood and water to make griping the sides of a slick tub impossible.
"You didn't tell me about this." Donnie accused lightly.
Kit pulled her hand back and continued staring forward. For a moment Donnie could almost see Leo, a couple years younger and smaller, glaring at the wall of their old home and pretending not to care that Mikey had just waxed his shell in training.
"Do you want help out of there, or are you going to wait until the bottom dries?" Donnie asked, only half joking.
A faint growl but Kit managed to add the word, "Please." Her ears pinned and her expression held the faintest hint out a snarl, just enough to reveal her sharp teeth. It was as though that one word acknowledging that she needed help was literally killing her.
Donnie dropped the towel he'd grabbed next to the tub. He then reached into the tub and hooked a hand under each of Kit's arms. With him bracing her, Kit was able to stand up and step out of the tub and onto the towel. Once her feet were reasonably dried she was able to pick the towel up and start briskly rubbing the excess water out of her fur. "Thanks." She managed to say without sounding too bitter.
"Believe it or not, you really are welcome." Donnie told her. "We're all more than happy to help out… even Raph."
The brisk rubbing of the towel slowed, and not because she was nearly done with that arm. "I know." Kit said quietly, and then added more sincerely, "And thanks."
Donnie smiled slightly; glad to see her doing something other than glaring. He reached for another towel. "Here, you need to dry off quickly so let me help." Don offered.
Kit looked ready to refuse him. A moment passed where she seemed on the edge of telling him to shove that towel someplace very painful, but instead she dropped her gaze to the floor. "Thanks… just watch the shoulder on the right, it's a little sore."
"No problem." Donnie assured her as he stepped behind her and carefully started drying her back while Kit worked on her arms and head.
Mikey hummed a little tune as he shuffled through Kit's bag. He'd already removed a really old book with faded lettering on the cover he couldn't read, some first aid stuff, a pair of scissors, a comb, and a few pairs of pants, but he was having trouble finding a shirt.
"Come here shirt… here shirty-shirty-shirty." He coaxed.
"What about one of these?" Leo asked, lifting a plain grey t-shirt from the small pile Mikey had collected.
"No good, check it out."
Leo did so and held the shirt up by its 'shoulders'. The back looked okay, but when he turned it around to look at the front Leo nearly dropped the shirt. A long cut went from the chest to the bottom of the shirt, splitting the front almost completely. The material was free of any hints of blood, so hopefully it had just been a close call. Inspection of the second shirt in the pile revealed the collar had been torn completely off, nearly taking one of the sleeves with it. The last shirt in the pile had stiffened into a wrinkled ball and stank slightly of pond scum.
"These pajamas look okay." Mikey announced, pulling a white outfit from the bottom of the bag.