Donatello was slightly trembling as he prepared the mask for the anesthetic. He had to take a few moments to collect himself by the computers, he couldn't let Mike see how nervous he really was.

It'll be okay. It will. Just stay focused, and help Marc get through this. Man I wish Doc was here.

But it wasn't possible to think about Luke with risking emotional breakdown either.

Please God let Doc be okay. There's no telling how seriously injured he really was, I didn't have enough time with him. If he was bleeding internally it might have...STOP IT, he commanded himself vehemently. Stop it right now. He's in competant medical hands - and April's with him. At least he's not alone, even if he doesn't know any better. Okay...I can't put this off any longer.

He stopped fidgeting with the mask and brought it over to where Marcus was waiting.

"Ready?" Marc asked him.

"It is." Donatello answered more strongly than he felt, and took a moment to kneel at his brother's side.

"Do a good job." Mike said mock sternly, reaching to punch him in the shoulder.

"We will Mike. Everything's gonna be alright.

"Course it is. I'll see you on the other side."

Donatello nodded and adjusted the mask for him, turning the knob to let anesthetic start to flow.

"Count backwards from 100 bro...and I'll be here when you wake up."

"I'll hunt you down if you're not."

"Hush and start counting."

Marcus got started a couple of minutes later, with Donatello in a support position at his side. Under a magnified light he had to make a wider incision first, so he would have room to actually insert a probe to go after the bullet. Victoria stayed close by, but out of the way.

Marc had to take his time so that he wouldn't cause additional damage with his instruments. It was a delicate process to feel his way through, and he wasn't as confident about it as he wished he could be. This wasn't his specialty - he was used to reconstructing things. A procedure like this one was much more up Luke's alley.

Focus man, focus! Don't forget what you're doing here!

With renewed concentration he continued his search, weaving his way carefully though the wound track. Forty minutes were gone before he knew it. and they were being forced to replace blood at a faster rate now. Donatello had been eyeing the monitors a little more carefully over the last ten minutes, and finally spoke up.

"Marc, I think we ought get some noraphim in him, he's developing some tachycardia."

"Make the call Donnie."

Donatello glanced up to see Victoria was already close at hand doing something.

"Yeah, that's good, go ahead and switch that bag out for another one, then grab me that fresh needle and the taller bottle near the end, right, the noraphim."

She finished her exchange, and then brought him what he'd asked for.

"How heavy are you goin' Donnie?" Marcus asked him.

"I think five units would do it. How's it coming in there?"

"I'm getting closer, but this is where I have to be the most careful. I'm not gonna talk for the next few minutes unless I have to, alright?"

"Gotcha Marc, just focus. I'll watch his signs."

It took awhile longer to safely reach the missile, and then properly extract it. It was one of the most nerve wracking procedures Marcus had ever been through, and he wasn't sorry when it was almost over. Donnie had been watching his vitals and not saying anything, so hopefully that was a good sign.

"Donnie, how are things looking neurologically?"

"He's a little decreased - but it's not indicative of anything traumatic, definitely not what happened with me last time. He seems to be holding pretty steady Marc. What about you?"

"Almost there."

Nearly an hour and forty-five minutes since they had started, the bullet was finally out. Donatello kept himself busy with post-operative checks, and was relieved by how well things had been holding up.

"His blood pressure is still kinda low, but considering what he's been through, I'm almost happy about where it is. Everything else is in pretty good shape. His brain activity levels are perfectly comparable to how we react under normal sedation...all in all, I'd call that a success." He told Marcus.

"Let's still keep him hooked up for another transfusion, watch the blood pressure, and make sure it doesn't do anything drastic. Hey, are we getting better at this, or is that just me?" Marc said with a smile, actually breaking the tense atmosphere.

"You did well Marc. I know this wasn't exactly your comfort zone, so that speaks even more for you. It was a good call avoiding the serotin too, I think that was the right choice."

"Everything worked out, fortunately. You and Luke reconfigured the anesthetic perfectly it seems. I'm glad you let us use it."

"Me too."

A few minutes later they were still unwinding from the surgery. Marcus had gone to talk to the others just to let them know where things were standing, and Donatello stayed behind with Mike to keep an eye on things there.

Donnie had noticed a familiar tightness in his right knee, it had been there for about a week, but tonight it was a bit more pronounced. He stretched it out to its' fullest extent, letting out a slow painful breath with it. When he heard someone coming he quickly put it down, and made for the desk chair by Mike. He wasn't fast enough.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Were the first words out of Marcus' mouth.

"Nothing, I'm fine, just stretching."

"Uh huh. Donnie, I'm an orthopedic specialist, I think I know a limp when I see one. Hold still for a minute."

Marcus felt around his knee for a few moments just by touch, before taking a digital scan of it as well.

"The ligaments are feeling pretty rigid Donnie. Have you been experiencing any unusual pain?"

"It's been a little sore over the last week, tonight's the worst that it's been."

"You didn't get hurt in the fight?"

"Heck no Marc, those guys barely touched us. It was already feelin' tight."

Marcus got up to examine the scan he'd taken, and came back a couple of minutes later.

"You're displaying several stress points on your reconstructed ligaments. I'm betting that carrying your damsel in distress up and down those stairs might have something to do with this."

"Somebody has to." Donatello said wryly.

"Well you need to lay off of it for a couple of days, so I can make sure that's all this is. The rest of your normal activity should be fine, but if it starts to hurt worse you've got to tell me no matter what, we clear?"

"You're the Doc." He answered meekly. "Does it need to be braced?"

"I'd feel more comfortable if you did - I also want you to try to stay off of it a little bit."

"I'm not doing any sleeping, at least not for awhile, but I'll try to keep off it in here. I want to watch things for the next few hours, might be okay to let one of the guys stay with him after that. There's no telling when he'll come around. What about Luke? Did you get to call April back?"

"The doctors are being vague with her, dragging their feet."

"Marc, do you need to get up there?"

"I don't want to go yet Donnie, I mean, I do want to go, I just don't wanna leave him..."

"Marc, I'm not going anywhere. You go, make sure they're taking the right care of Luke. I know you wanna be there, I would too, but it's not exactly like I can waltz right in. Mike's signs are mostly stable, all you'll be doing here is waiting."

About an hour later (around 4 in the morning by now) Marcus had made his way to the surface and reached St. Joseph's with Raphael's help. April had taken his own car to get to the hospital, and Luke's Volvo was part of the crime scene. He would have taken a cab, but Raph had calmly informed him that wasn't happening this time of night.

Marcus immediately went to the ICU area where April was waiting for him.

"You made it." She said with some surprise. "You didn't have to come like this Marc."

"Mike is pretty much stable, and I wanted to come. How are you doing?"

She shrugged helplessly. "These people won't talk to me, my head is pounding, and I'm about to go out of my freaking mind. But enough about me - you look exhausted."

"I'm alright. Sit back down over there, and I'll go have a word with his doctor. You said it was Pollinsky?"

"That's sure what it sounded like."

"Okay. Wait here."

Marcus went over to the nurse's station, and got a surprised look from the first woman he saw him.

"Dr. Sloan! You're not on call, are you?"

"I'm sure not dressed for it. No, I'm here because of Dr. Barrows. Will you please page Dr. Pollinsky to come up here? We need to have a chat."

The doctor arrived in minutes, stopping short in his stride when he laid eyes on Marcus.

"Dr. Sloan, you're here."

"Yes, I'm here." He said with serious irritation. "Do you know who else is here? An extremely worried friend who's about to go out of her mind, that you've been ignoring for three hours!"

"Please understand, we've only been looking out for Dr. Barrow's best interest--"

"By withholding information from one of his primary contacts? Why in the heck do we have the lists if you're not going to use them?" Marcus was near an exploding point, and had to stop for a deep breath. "I'm sorry - I've just been through a lot tonight, and I literally got here as soon as I could. Will you please tell me what in the world is going on with Luke?"

"I am truly sorry, we were honestly waiting to hear from you as the first contact point, hoping that--"

"Stop explaining, and tell me how he is."

"Shaky at best. He had internal bleeding from some ruptured blood vessels in one of his kidneys, we had to move on surgery for that sooner than we really wanted to. There was a rupture of the serous membrane covering his lungs, it required putting him on a respirator to help his breathing. Besides that he has a fractured clavicle, a separated shoulder (which will require surgery of its' own), and other various contusions.

Dr. Sloan, he is also suffering from a traumatic head injury, which didn't fully display until the last couple of hours. We had to put him under a drug induced coma, in an attempt to negotiate with the intracranial pressure build up. He's not in good shape right now. All we can do for this moment is support his systems, and wait for the pressure to come down."

.