All of them remained motionless in the midst of absolute silence in front of the huge, heavy door after hearing the sound that heralded yet another sorrow for the heart of any mutant or human who was there, until a couple of words wrapped in a gentle sob brought everyone out of the deep lethargy they were in.
"Oh, Donnie..." were the words that had sprung from April's mouth, diaphanous, barely audible, but with enough force to give those who could act the courage to cling to a slim hope of being able to do something, whatever it took to get the success life had denied them with Mikey.
Being who he was, Slash embedded his huge claws into the metal door using the weight of his huge body at the same time as Leatherhead did. Gradually and with Rockwell's help who had raised the power of his amplifier helmet to the maximum, the entrance to the shelter within a few minutes began to clear of the huge obstacle.
As soon as there was enough space, only Master Splinter went in followed by Rockwell, the others waited outside. Once again the group had to endure an expectation full of anguish.
A YEAR EARLIER
The united family of five mutants seemed to had been cursed with a spell of bad luck. First, Master Splinter suffered a very serious infection that put his life in danger, but thanks to the prompt intervention of Donatello, helped by an excellent antibiotic, their sensei healed. His children had gotten the medicine after making lots of sacrifices.
"Would you like me to bring you more tea, father?" Leonardo suggested, always being very diligent in all that concerned maintaining the order and simple pleasures of his father during his convalescence.
"Please, my son, make some Oolong tea," His elder son's bowing made the old ninja smile. Leonardo went straight into the kitchen.
"May I come in, father?" As soon as Leo left the sensei's room, Donatello asked permission to enter. It was granted to him on the spot.
"It's time for your injection." The smartest one approached the wise rat with respect and uncovered one of Splinter's arms to apply the injection that did so much good to his body, Donnie was in charge of administering the antibiotic and monitoring all his father's reactions.
"I´m done, it was just a loose wire, master". Raphael had fixed a small power failure in Splinter's private bathroom. The father rewarded his son with a smile just as he had done it with the young scientist.
"Get out of the way! The star of this family is coming in!" It was Mikey accompanied by his oldest brother who helped him to open the door, the prankster was carrying a bed tray with several dishes on it, a kettle, and the master's favorite cup.
"It's done! Just what you need, sensei", removing the lids from the plates and bowls, Mikey, proudly listed everything his father was going to eat. "These are spring rolls, salmon sushi, and his favorite noodle soup."
"Mikey..." murmured Leo, noticing right away that the freckled little turtle was forgetting something.
"Oh, yes... I almost forgot, Leo made the tea," he added winking at his older brother and making him smile.
"My children, thank you." The boys surrounded their father's body with their arms, happy to see him on his way to a speedy recovery.
…..
After the incident of Master Splinter's illness that fortunately lasted only a month, Raphael had the misfortune of falling from a rather dangerous height even for a ninja as well trained as him. As an outcome, Raphael fractured his leg in the fall.
The boys protected and saved the red-banded turtle who became an easy target even for a group of clumsy but determined thugs. After that silly accident, they couldn't explain the reason for that mishap.
"Does it hurt a lot, Raph?" Leonardo asked, waiting for the answer to slow down his walking if the answer was "yes" because he was carrying the turtle in red on his back.
"I'm fine, Fearless! When are you going to stop treating us like babies?" The tough turtle spat out before releasing a slight whine that was only heard by his older brother.
Instantly, Leonardo slowed down his walking, making the two remaining turtles smile. They didn't ask the blue-banded turtle the reason for the change to leave intact the pride of the emerald-skinned turtle, but they exchanged many mischievous glances and some giggles that Raphael failed to hear.
…..
Raphael spent the next two months resting, he wasn't happy doing it because sometimes he was dying of boredom without going out to crack some skulls, but his brothers, as always, when someone was in a situation of need took care of him and treated him gently.
Mikey spent every free minute he had to hang out with Raphael, playing all the video games they had in the lair and using the pinball machines too. Raphael, being in the company of his freckled little brother, completely forgot that he was almost like a prisoner in his own home, but hanging out with Mikey, those long hours not only became more bearable, but they also became shorter.
They also "trained" a lot along with Ice Cream Kitty and Chompy, playing with all the action figures they both had. Thanks to Mikey's child-like personality, Raphael could cut loose without any fear of feeling silly or childish. Leonardo smiled as he watched them play, their childhood had recently finished, but they were still hungry to satisfy the inner child who, in many people, never dies.
…..
Donatello, keeping a detailed record of Raphael's medicines and diet, was pleased to know that all his efforts for the health of his brother in red were going along nicely. Raphael was deeply grateful for everything his good brother did for him, although sometimes Donatello scared him a little because anytime the smartest one saw him doing something excessive or dangerous for his leg, he could almost feel the purple banded turtle's breath not on his neck, but almost inside his brain, warning him with his eyes to stop.
…..
"Leo, I can do it by myself, slowly, but I can," Raphael said as he watched his oldest brother help him make his bed and clean his room. Leonardo also spent time sharing great moments with his best friend.
"I know, Raph, I just wanted you to have a little more time to rest, this way we can also chat for a while," explained the turtle in blue, "but don't get used to it because I will only do it a few times." Leo finished, smiling at his best friend and tapping his fist against Raph's.
"In that case, I think you forgot to shake the dust from my shelves and arrange my magazines, fearless leader," grinning mockingly, Raphael placed his casted leg on a stool and leaned back comfortably in his chair, placing his hands behind his neck after pointing the piles of publications he had collected in all those years.
"That was so hilarious that I even forgot to laugh..." Leo replied looking at several magazines under the bed and on one side of the bed, the one next to the wall. "Is this place always so messy?"
"Less talk, more action, Leo," laughed the red-banded turtle making Leo laugh too. The young leader hurried up to clean his brother's bedroom out immediately.
...
"I can bath myself, you goofball!" Raphael yelled at little Mikey who had begun to follow him when the grumpy turtle, using the crutches that April got for him, was making his way to the bathroom with his towel on his shoulders.
"But… I have to wrap the plaster on your leg in plastic so it doesn't get wet! Besides, I can help you clean your shell and pass you the soap and help you out of the tub and..."
"Okay, okay… stop it, you're going to drive me crazy! Come on, let's go..." the turtle in red gave up.
"We forgot the most important object, Raphie, I'll be right back!" The prankster immediately ran into Raphael's bedroom. When Raphael saw that, he frowned; nobody could get inside his room without his permission, nobody.
"What do you think you're doing snooping inside my room?"
"Whenever you go to bathe I notice that you have wrapped it in your towel, Raphie... but this time you forgot it." Mikey smiled and showed Raphael his rubber ducky.
"THAT ISN'T TRUE!" The turtle in red denied it aloud, making the prankster back off a bit due to the shouting; but, with his leg in a cast, Raphael couldn't pursue his little brother. Besides, he couldn't have done it when he saw a smile of complicity on Mikey's face. Sighing in defeat, he gave up again, smiled, and went into the bathroom with Mikey. Another fun day for the tough turtle.
…..
"Do you want to watch the sports channel, Raph?" Without waiting for an answer, Leonardo immediately changed the channel, he didn't mind missing Space Heroes.
"Weren't you expecting to watch the whole marathon of your stupid show?" Casey's unexpected presence in the lair convinced Raphael to accept his brother's kind gesture. "I think I'll take you up on that, Fearless." Leo smiled.
"Hey, Raph! How are you? Getting better?" Casey sat next to his friend, the human had set aside that afternoon to hang out with Raphael because Leonardo wanted to please his grumpy brother in red who had mentioned to him that he was about to perish from boredom, and secretly Leo had planned everything for his little brother.
It was a great afternoon for the two street fighters, shouting due to the excitement of sports and provided with different and tasty snacks courtesy of the freckled turtle.
When night came, Donatello and Leonardo helped Casey get to the guest room because they didn't want him to have any setbacks going out on the streets being so sleepy. After making sure the human friend was comfortable, Leonardo carried Rafael again, but this time to Donnie's lab to take an X-ray to check the progress in the bones of the tough turtle's leg.
"Okay, okay... he has healed completely," was the conclusion after Donatello's well-trained eyes observed in detail the image created by the x-rays. "Being a mutant in addition to being young was crucial to his recovery; when humans suffer from such fractures they take twice as long to heal.
"It was thanks to you, Donnie, you set his bones, plastered his leg, and administered the pain meds," Leonardo added, smiling at his little brother. "Are you going to remove the cast?"
"Yep, Leo, I think when he wakes up tomorrow, he's gonna be really happy about the surprise."
"Of course, poor Raph, he is not cut out to stay locked up for long, I'm glad he can finally get back to his normal life."
Donatello set to work, letting his older brother know that he would take care of the rest. Leonardo retired, blindly trusting his little brother. Raphael was so tired that he didn't wake up when the squeaking sound of the saw was heard. With unsurpassed skill, the smartest turtle slid the saw through the cast without touching Raphael's skin.
After Donatello cleaned up his brother's entire leg, he took him to his room and bunked down with him.
When he woke up, the first thing Raphael noticed was his brother in purple sleeping next to him and the second thing was that he was already free of the "chain" that had kept him in confinement that seemed endless to him.
"Don't abuse, Raph, let your leg get used to your body's weight again." Those words caught him off guard.
"You scared me, Don!"
"I'm sorry," his brother in purple apologized, turning his body to lie on his side to get a better view of his brother in red, "but I wanted to make sure you knew it was a good idea to go carefully after you regain your mobility, Raphael. You can come and go as you please, but don't jump, or run for a couple of days, our father already has a special training prepared for you from today so that you will have the same strength and maybe more than before. Don't waste all the time invested in your health."
Donatello said those last words with his doctor's voice, it was on those occasions when everybody couldn't protest anything against the dispositions of the smartest one.
To be continued…