Raphael was very quiet for awhile, at least until Karina ventured inside of the Lab.
"Oh look, it's Miss Slap Happy." He grumbled.
"I need to work Raphael - are the two of us going to have an issue here?"
He shrugged, as if completely unconcerned with her.
"What happened to your brother?" Karina asked him. "Did you finally drive him off?"
"I didn't do anything." The turtle muttered. "He's just ticked at me."
"Well I sure don't blame him Raphael." The woman scowled at him. "You've been a real jerk to him."
"But I wasn't trying to be now! I just asked him about his knee - I wanted to know how it happened to begin with."
Luke glanced in the door before Karina could say anything else.
"Kari, would you hate me if I left for a little while? Kat's been bugging me to try to get to the surface, get a few things done up there. Marc is upstairs if you'd need him."
"I'm fine, as long as you leave me a sedative." She said pointedly.
"His hydralin supply should hold for another two hours, and I'll be back before that would even need to be changed. You'll behave for her, won't you Raph?"
The turtle's glance met his innocently. "Can't you give a sick guy a break over here?"
"I don't think it's at all serious Raph, you and your brothers are known to have these kinds of temperature fluctuations after suffering shock. The drug you're on will get it under control. Are you comfortable in the meantime?"
"Just kinda dizzy." He replied honestly, and Luke glanced back at Karina.
"I don't have to go." He told her.
"That's nonsense Luke - get going. We'll be just fine." She assured him.
Karina was researching available apartments in the city, sifting through dozens of different online listings. Every so often, she found herself glancing over her shoulder at Raphael, struck by the curious look in his eyes. She had come to expect to see the sullen resentment, but there was something different behind that amber gaze now.
"What's up with you?" She finally asked him outright. "Are you feeling worse? I can get Marcus in here."
He shook his head slowly. "It ain't that. I don't need any of them messin' more with me."
"They're helping you Raphael."
"I know that, but that isn't...I don't care right now."
"Is something else bothering you then?"
"Donatello." He answered simply. "Do you know how bad he's hurt?"
"I heard the Docs say that he needs surgery, but they don't know how complicated the injury could be yet." Karina told him, a little surprised by the concern in his voice.
"He didn't get mad 'til I asked him about it. Do you know how it happened?"
Karina wheeled her chair around completely to face him, and sat back a little bit. "They said Stolle did something that made it vulnerable again...but no, I don't know how it happened initially."
Raphael forced his way up further on the mattress with a grunt. "I need to talk to him."
"Why?" Karina asked a little guardedly.
"I don't know," He admitted. "I just feel..."
"Guilty?" She supplied.
"It's my fault, ain't it? I'm the one who dragged him outta here."
"But you never wanted to hurt him badly." Karina suggested.
"No..." He trailed off for a moment, looking at the floor. "I need to get up."
"Now hold on Raph--"
"I have to go talk to him."
"I'm glad you suddenly care so much, but you're not supposed to be out of bed. Doc said so."
"He's not here."
She crossed her arms firmly, eyes narrowing. "You're not going anywhere."
He rolled onto his side, and actually gave her a rather pleading look. "For whatever reason, I'm not gonna be able to relax until I do. I don't know what's going on with me."
"That's what guilt does when you care about someone."
"I don't even know him!"
"But you know you're supposed to care." She replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"I don't think I could get any more confused." He said in frustration, and then glanced at her again. "Will you back off, just long enough for me to talk to him?"
"I'm not letting you out of my sight, so if you're going, then I am too."
"I don't need a baby-sitter." He seethed a little.
"Too bad - 'cause it's the only way you're getting out of here."
He gave her a bit of a dark glance. "Fine. Together. But you'd better not interfere again."
"If Donnie doesn't want to talk to you, I won't let you force yourself on him. Wait a second, don't rip your IV out you idiot! Luke would never trust me again. The unit is on wheels, so it can come with us."
"This is ridiculous."
"How badly do you wanna talk to him Raph? Because you know he can't just up and come here."
He muttered something indiscernible, and then stared at her outstretched hand for a moment.
"It isn't a snake Raphael, you don't need to be scared of it." The woman challenged him.
He glared at her a second longer, before allowing her to help him up. The chill that raced down her spine the instant he touched her was so shocking that she almost let go of him. Raphael was only surprised by the fact that he actually needed her help.
"Okay?" She asked after a beat, when she'd found her voice again.
The room still wasn't quite steady.
"Not yet." He murmured.
"This is a bad idea."
"Can't you just give me a minute?"
Karina frowned at him, and stayed in close proximity in case of an issue. After a few more seconds had passed, he let out a slow breath.
"Okay. I'm good."
He held onto the portable IV unit with one hand, while Karina walked carefully on his other side, her fingers barely grasping a hold of his left arm. The fact that she was fingering an epi-pen in her free hand didn't escape him.
"You don't trust me." He said bluntly.
"Give me a reason to Raphael." She replied sharply.
She's so irritating. Why does she have to be in my business at all? This has got nothing to do with her.
Half-way down the hall, he had to pull up short for a second, suddenly feeling more light-headed.
"I said this was a bad idea." The woman spoke up.
"Would you can it already? I'm not interested in your opinion!"
"Would you rather I just left you right here?" She threatened.
"You do what you want sweetheart, I don't need you to hold my hand."
She took a step backward from him with another scowl. "If that's the way it is, I'll just call Marc down here, and he can get you back to the Lab."
"No, don't do that." Raphael said grumpily. "I just needed a couple more seconds."
"You said you didn't need me."
"You are bein' a royal pain in the shell, do you know that?"
"Takes one to know one."
He sighed in exasperation. "Alright, I'm cool. Would you get back over here?"
She merely raised her eyebrows at him, without saying another word.
"Would you come over, please?"
"I knew you could ask nicely." She quipped, and returned to his arm to support him.
Donatello had quite calmly requested to be left alone a couple of hours previously, telling both his brothers and Jenna that he was tired. He didn't really feel like seeing anyone right now. He'd been lying in the same single position for some time, ignoring the book that was sitting beside him on the mattress. When there was a knock at the door, he groaned inwardly.
"Who is it?"
"It's uh...it's Karina Donnie. Can I open the door for a minute?"
Geesh, what's a guy have to do to get left alone around here?
"Yeah, c'mon." He answered, somewhat less than enthusiastically.
The woman ducked her head inside a second later. "I'm sorry to bother you...but there's someone out here who really wants to talk to you."
"What's this about?"
"If you don't want to though, I can get him out here."
"Who is it Karina?"
"Raph wants to see you."
"Raph? Is he behind that door Kari?"
"Um...what if he was?"
"Karina that drug he's on can make him really dizzy! Is he out there, or isn't he?"
"I'm here Donatello, and I ain't leaving until you talk to me." He heard Raphael say a little gruffly.
Donatello sat up as far as he could against the headboard. "Get him in here Karina."
He shook his head at his older brother, while Karina was grabbing a chair for him.
"For the love of Pete Raph, what were you thinking? Was this really necessary?"
"For some reason, I 'spose it was." Raphael replied, noticing that Donatello was having a very hard time repressing a smile. "What's funny about it?"
"You've just done something like this before, that's all."
"You're confusing the shell out of me Donnie. I thought you were really mad at me, with good reason I guess. It's my fault you're in this mess."
"Raph...I'm not mad at you."
"You coulda fooled me."
"I'm not." He emphasized. "I'm frustrated that I'm in this situation again, I'm afraid of what Marc is going to find...And I don't know how to act with you right now. I'm not sure if I should be telling you a bunch of things to try and help you remember, or if it's better to leave you alone, and let nature take its' course. I'm not angry with you in any case. I'm just overwhelmed, and I took it out on you. I'm sorry."
"If anyone ought apologize, it's me. Not just for stealin' your shell, but for giving you a rough time since. Is this...is it pretty serious?"
"It could be Raph, but let's get something straight here. Stolle's the one at fault here - he put me in this position. So I don't want to hear any guilty talk on your part, capice?"
"Is that the truth?"
"This wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for him." Donatello said firmly.
Karina had been sitting by quietly up until this point. "This is an old injury Raphael."
"Is there a particular reason that you didn't wanna talk about it, or was I just gettin' on your nerves?" Raphael asked him.
"Oh, you've been on my nerves alright...But the truth is, it's just not a nice story."
"I don't see how any story that ends in a torn ligament could be a good one." Karina remarked.
"You have no idea." Donatello said dryly, then turning back to Raphael's piercing gaze. "But I suppose, if you really care that much, I can tell you. It hasn't come up with the others Karina?"
She shook her head, slightly bewildered. "But if it bothers you, you don't have to talk about it."
"It's better that I just get it out of the way, but please don't breathe a word of it in front of Leonardo unless he brings it up. I wager he could end up in a battle with himself again before this is over."