Donatello left the infirmary and ran into April; the redhead girl had brought them a special breakfast. She went to Murakami's to get a take-out after learning about what had happened with Mikey.
"Donnie! You look terrible. What happened?"
"I took care of Mikey during the night, April. He suffered from a very high fever for many hours..." He replied in a slow, sleepy voice. April was sure her good friend was going straight to his room, but instead of doing that, Donnie sat on one of the steps and relaxed quite a bit.
"Donnie, shouldn't you go to sleep in your room?" April asked. Thanks to her psychic powers, she immediately could felt the smartest's concern for the young prankster.
"No, April, what I truly have to do is to stay as close to my little brother as I can. I'm afraid the reactions of Mikey's body to that strange substance may be unpredictable, and every second in an emergency count, it could be the difference between life and death." The turtle in purple explained to his good friend, getting ready to lie down on the step to sleep.
April squinted her eyes, feeling an infinite tenderness for the protective feelings of the turtle who was in love with her. She approached Donatello, and before the brainy turtle could lie down to fully surrendered to the restful sleep, April sat beside him and helped him rest his head on her legs so they would serve him as a pillow.
"Thank you... April... don't worry about me..." Donnie muttered, sleeping almost immediately, letting a slight smile dilate his lips as he felt the softness of April's legs and the scent of the perfume she was wearing.
"You really are someone wonderful, Donnie." The redhead murmured as she stroked Donatello's head with one of her hands as she watched him breathe calmly, sheltering and making his well-deserved rest more pleasant.
Meanwhile, Leonardo and Raphael were looking after their baby brother. Leonardo noticed something strange in Raphael's attitude.
"What's wrong with you that you are so thoughtful, Raph?" Leonardo asked, gently touching one of his hot-head brother's shoulders. Raphael beside frowning, was folding his arms as if trying to reason something that didn't make sense to him.
"Huh? No, it's nothing, Fearless, it's just... don't you think it's strange that they both came out of nowhere?"
"To be honest, yeah, a little, but I think maybe at some point they switched places when you were looking somewhere else in our home. I don't think Donatello or Mikey left the lair. You know Donatello, if he knows you're sick, he first ties us to the bed with chains before allowing us to get up without his permission." Leonardo concluded, Raphael couldn't agree more.
"Hopefully, that stupid substance won't hurt our little brother, Leo," Raphael said, sharing his fears with his best friend, wetting the towel again with fresh water to place it gently on Mikey's forehead.
"I also hope it won't, Raph, but if it happens, I fully trust Donnie's abilities to save him. You and I will always be helping him," the turtle in blue assured, looking at his brother in red with a smile full of hope.
"You can bet your shell!" The one in red nodded, smiling as well, tapping his fit against Leo's, agreeing with him. Those words awakened their loved mischievous turtle.
"W-where am I?" Mikey asked: his weakness mixed with joy when he saw his two brothers standing by his bed watching over him. His eyelids seemed extremely heavy to him.
"Hi, guys..." Sick or not, Mikey always offered all his family members a big smile every time he saw them.
"Mikey, how are you feeling?" Leo asked him, grabbing the edge of the blanket to better tuck in his beloved prankster while Raphael smiled at Mikey, now feeling more calmly after seeing his little brother conscious.
"I'm feeling much better than last night... where is Donnie?" Mikey tried to sit up in his bed to look around, looking for his brother in purple, but Leonardo stopped him by gently pressing his chest helping him to go back to his original position.
"He went to get some sleep, little brother; he took care of you most of the night." His oldest brother answered. Mikey let out a sigh, anyone could guess he was feeling a little guilty.
"If I hadn't lagged... I didn't want to give you anything else to worry about..." Mikey looked down, letting out a sad sigh.
"Don't feel bad, Mikey," Leonardo said, stroking his little brother's head, trying to comfort him while Raphael nodded, looking at him without recriminations, "any of us could have been the target."
"Do you mean it, guys?"
"Of course we mean it, goofball," his brother in red assured him, "what made you think we didn't?"
"It's just that... well, I'm sure Leo would have immediately noticed a strange presence, and you, Raph, would have been quicker to react after seeing an object that was about to hit you, but I... When I'm having fun, I get distracted... it's not like in Dimension X. There, I'm a great ninja... but here...
"That's not true, little brother!" the eldest exclaimed; it sounded like he was gently scolding the young jokester, "you are always a great ninja. Remember when at the farm you sensed that April's mom was an imposter? This Dimension X thing is just a matter of geography, nothing more."
Mikey was so happy to hear it that he let out a couple of tears; at seeing them, Leonardo and Raphael kissed the young turtle's forehead that made the freckle turtle laugh softly, blushing at the same time.
"How do you feel now, Mikey? Just now that I touched you, your skin feels less hot." The oldest one was more than ready to continue pampering the youngest one. And Raphael didn't lag far behind from his best friend.
"Yep, guys, I feel much better, thanks."
"Are you hungry?" the tough asked.
"Yes, I'm a little hungry," Mikey admitted shyly.
"I'll bring you something to eat right away, little brother." Leonardo immediately left the infirmary to head for the kitchen. On his way out, he saw Donatello, sleeping comfortably with his head on Abril's legs.
The young leader welcomed his friend waving his hand. April did the same and gave Leonardo a sign to approach her.
"I brought you breakfast, guys, some pizzas gyozas. A takeout I just picked up from Murakami's." The teen girl explained quietly; she didn't want to interrupt the sleep of the brainy turtle. His friend's kindness made Leonardo happy. He was a little worried about coking something good for his little brother.
"Thank you, April!"
Very pleased with April's goodwill, Leonardo went to the kitchen, served the food on three plates leaving the rations of the others on the table, and went with the bed tray to the infirmary to eat in the company of his two brothers.
Raphael and Michelangelo were also happy about the red-haired teen's foresight to bring them some food. After all, they weren't very good at cooking, and knowing that the one who prepared the all the meals was sick, well, she knew all of them would appreciate it.
"Pizza Gyoza!" Mikey exclaimed, filled with joy. His greedy and always hungry side made him lick his lips despite not feeling very well.
Leonardo asked Mikey to sit up in his bed to place a few pillows behind his shell; that way, he could eat while sitting on the bed. The mischievous turtle tried to do it, but strangely he was too weak, and after a couple of unsuccessful attempts, his brothers offered to help him.
Leonardo hugged Mikey's torso to help him sit and held him while Raphael placed the pillows behind Mikey's shell. The freckled turtle felt so loved as his brothers did all that for him that he kept smiling; weakly, but he did it.
Trying to get food into his mouth was the second round for Mikey against weakness, and unfortunately, he lost that round too, but a few seconds later, his brothers helped him, so he didn't mind being weak.
Leonardo and Raphael, taking turns, fed him. Leonardo, with his chopsticks, gave his baby brother small bites of gyoza, the prankster chewed them with pleasure. Raphael had brought Mikey a full glass of his favorite fruit juice, and with the help of a straw, Mikey could drink small sips.
At the end of the meal, the two elders were happy to see that Mikey's body hadn't rejected the food, which somewhat dispelled a little bit the concern of both Leo and Raph.
"Why am I feeling so weak?" Mikey asked without addressing anyone in particular. "Hopefully, I won't become a burden to you guys."
"Of course you won't, you fool! I didn't feel like a burden when I broke my leg, and I lasted almost two months without being able to do almost anything." His hot-headed brother assured him.
"And while we truly hope the consequences won't last long, Mikey," Leonardo began, "if it takes you a long time to recover, it doesn't matter; none of us will ever consider you a burden, ever."
Once again, the young turtle felt very happy to have his brothers supporting him in everything. The freckled turtle began to yawn. Upon seeing that, Leonardo tucked his little brother in to let him sleep.
"I will stay to keep Mikey's fever under control, Fearless," Raphael assured his oldest brother. The turtle in blue nodded, and before leaving, he checked Donnie's test tube. When he was left alone with his sleepy little brother, Raphael stroked Mikey's head gently. The goofball was happy to feel Raph's affectionate touch on him.
A couple of hours later, Donatello woke up from his nap, but when he remembered what his head was resting on, he indulged himself to lie still with his eyes closed for a couple more minutes. After all, he didn't always have the opportunity to enjoy being in the care of his beloved redhead. During that short lapse, he took a deep breath every time he inhaled, wishing with all his soul that the bodily aroma of April would be engraved in his nostrils for all eternity.
But after a while, he was resigned to finally 'waking up' fully.
"April, thanks for taking care of me while I was sleeping," the young genius thanked her, rising slowly until sitting down, raising his arms to the sky to stretch and get rid of what little fatigue he had left.
"My pleasure, Donnie, besides, I promised you I'd spend more time with you, didn't I? So I have come to fulfill my promise," the girl smiled. As always that action succeeded to divest Donatello's brain of all his intellect for a few seconds after looking at her with adoration.
"Donnie... Donnie..."
"Donatello..." It was Leo's voice. The young leader was trying to attract his brainy brother's attention, but there was no way to get Don's mind out of the trance. Leonardo knew that after his purple brother put on a zombie face, he had to wait a few minutes until he could reconnect with the world.
Meanwhile, Leonardo knew that despite being under a spell, Donatello could walk, so Leonardo placed his hands on Donatello's shoulders and led him to the kitchen. After sitting him in front of his portion of pizza gyoza, Leonardo sat next to Splinter and Abril at the other end of the table to have breakfast while talking among themselves.
Donatello's consciousness returned faster thanks to the food's aroma.
"Pizza gyoza!" Donatello exclaimed, grabbing his chopsticks immediately to start eating the food, without even bothering to ask how he had got to the table.
As soon as the smartest one finished his breakfast, his oldest brother spoke to him.
"Donnie, before I got out of the infirmary, I looked at your test tube, and the contents had changed color." Putting down the chopsticks, Donatello, without delay, got up and went straight to the place. Raphael, next to a sleeping Mikey, looked at Donatello with curiosity. The brainy turtle entered quickly, went straight to his table, took the tube, and examined it closely.
The rest of the family also came in a few minutes later.
"Well? What is it, genius!?" Raphael asked impatiently after a few moments waiting for Donatello to speak, but the smartest turtle was immersed in looking through his microscope at a sample of the contents in the tube.
The high volume of Raphael's voice caused the others to hush him up and looked at him like: keep quiet.
"Sorry..."
"What have you discovered, Donatello?" Leonardo asked after biding a good time since his hot-headed brother's first question.
"Look at this," the turtle in purple told them, stepping away from his desk, leaving the spot for Leo to look at the sample.
The young leader was able to observe some small microorganisms swimming in the liquid; all the others did the same.
"What are those?" the girl asked.
"Not only the most complex living organisms on the planet are susceptible to mutation, guys, but also the most basic living beings can be altered by the mutagen." Donatello began to explain. "It appears that some kind of bacteria on the planet has been purposely mutated to cause adverse effects on our mutated bodies."
"Do you know what kind of bacteria has been mutated, Donnie? Leo asked, reasoning that if it was a known organism there was already a way to eliminate it.
"Sadly not, Leo. I've been analyzing the rest of the mixture that filled the container. The dark coloration of the substance was only the product of the waste of these bacteria that you've observed. I think the only option I have left is to look at all the symptoms that Mikey's going through from now on to sort them out and then figure out what the original bacteria was. But…"
Before the pause that brainy turtle made, all of them looked at Donatello expectantly. Certainly, there was something else the young scientist didn't want to mention for some reason.
"What are you worried about, my son?" Master Splinter asked, ready to face some horrible possibility, ready to support his children so they wouldn't give up hope.
"I'm worried that it could be some altered bacteria, sensei; several scientists on the planet are dedicated to create new microorganisms. If somehow some dangerous bacteria that have an altered DNA gets stolen by a villain and he mixes it with the mutagen... the consequences could be terrible."
Everyone understood Donnie's explanation and fully shared his concerns. Such a problem could drag not only them, but the entire population to face an uncertain fate. One that might result in the extinction of all life on the planet.
"At least there is one good news," the turtle in purple added, trying to fade a little those disturbing thoughts.
"What could be good about all of this, genius? Raphael asked with his well-known tone of sarcasm.
"The good news is that the bacteria our little brother has, for some reason that I can't still understand, isn't contagious, Raphael. That's good because if it had been the opposite, we couldn't be by his side, and you know well that Mikey, before dying from the disease, would die of sadness because we wouldn't be able to touch him in any way. We have seen with our own eyes that he has the mind of an innocent child."
"How long will it take you to discover the original bacteria, my son?" The old sensei asked amid his cavils.
"I don't know, sensei, right now I see that Mikey is sleeping peacefully, and if his immune system reacts favorably, he could be cured within a few days or he could also start spitting blood out of nowhere." That answer didn't make anyone happy, but the reality for all of them was to keep in mind that someone, an unknown enemy had planned all that to get rid of them.
"I think it may be risky for you to go out right now," Master Splinter thought aloud, "if any of you come into contact with that biological weapon, it could decimate us one by one. It seems we are now facing someone who will not only have the patience but the intelligence to overcome us little by little. So none of you will surface until your brother determines the nature of the illness that attacks Michelangelo´s body."
Although Leonardo and Raphael wanted to catch the culprit and get the truth out of him in any way to save their little brother, Splinter was adamant in giving the order not to leave the lair.
Over the next few weeks, all of them devoted themselves in body and spirit to take care of Mikey and help Donatello. April's father generously offered to pay for all the food prepared by Murakami for the mutant family while they were locked up. He wasn't the only one who contributed with money to support the turtles and his sensei, Casey also did it. He had found a part-time job delivering pizzas on his bike. When the owner of the pizza place confirmed the efficiency of his new employee, he included him in the list of people who could take one or two pizzas that had been leftover from the day's production. The young man's sincere friendship had been demonstrated by far, because everything he earned, money and food, was for his friends in that time of need.
As Don collected all the data of Mikey's symptoms, he also collected much more details. But unfortunately, as the information accumulated, so did the sufferings of the youngest of the turtles.
To be continued…