Part 13-A New Day (Morning)

It was a beautiful and peaceful morning at the camp as the sun slowly rose high into the sky on the third day of the camping trip. However, everyone had decided to stay in bed for a bit longer to sleep off their exhaustion after the events from yesterday's encounter and near-death experience with the H.A.T.E gang.

After another hour of sleeping, Leo was the first one to wake up. He got out of his and Raph's tent and stretched his body whilst letting out a yawn before he walked towards Donnie and Mikey's tent to check on Mikey when he noticed that he was the only one awake. He tapped the tent's door and waited for about a minute before the door opened and a half-awake Donnie appeared at the door.

"Good morning, Donnie…Were you still asleep when I knocked?" Leo greeted his brother softly.

"Morning, Leo…I was just waking up when you knocked, so it's fine…I'm guessing you came over to check on Mikey?" Donnie replied with a small smile. Leo nodded with a hum and entered the tent quietly as soon as Donnie moved aside to welcome him inside.

When he got closer to Mikey, Leo saw that he was still asleep but he had a more peaceful look on his face whilst his breathing was better than it was before. Letting his curiosity take over, Leo gently placed a hand on Mikey's forehead to check his temperature and found that his fever was almost gone, causing his eyes to widen in surprise before looking at Donnie who chuckled lightly before he smiled warmly as he spoke.

"I know, right? I was surprised myself when I checked him over earlier…Despite everything that happened yesterday, he's already overcome a big hurdle…!"

Leo smiled and nodded at Donnie's words before they both heard a soft yawn coming from the sleeping turtle. They looked at Mikey to see that his eyes were slowly opening, meaning that he was starting to wake up.

"Mmm…L-Leo…D-Donnie…?" Mikey said sleepily as soon as he saw Leo and Donnie looking at him with relieved smiles on their faces.

"Morning, Mikey…How are you feeling?" Leo asked Mikey first with a warm smile.

"A lil' sore…in my leg…but I'm ok…" Mikey answered tiredly with a small smile despite the slight burning pain that he was feeling in his wounded leg before he saw Donnie come into view.

"I'm glad to see that you're awake, Mikey…I was worried that you might go back to square one with your illness after last night's events, but you just proved me wrong today because your fever is almost gone! You are one lucky turtle, bro…!" He said softly before he held Mikey's hand and gently squeezed it which Mikey squeezed back.

"Do we still have any pain medicine left, Donnie?" Leo asked since he didn't like the idea of seeing Mikey in pain all day.

"Yes, we still have plenty but they can only be taken after food consumption, so Mikey will need to have breakfast first before he can take any..." Donnie answered in his 'Doctor Don' voice. Leo nodded in understanding before he helped Mikey sit up after noticing him trying to push his exhausted body up from the inside of his sleeping bag.

"Do you think that you can move and leave the tent with our help, Mikey?" Leo then asked softly to his baby brother, who nodded with a hum before Leo wrapped Mikey's arm around his shoulder and wrapped his own arm around Mikey's shell-covered back whilst Donnie did the same on the other side. Luckily, the tent was tall and wide enough for the three turtles to move and exit it without aggravating Mikey's wounded leg in the process.

Once they were outside, Leo and Donnie slowly and carefully guided Mikey towards the seating area, where they all saw that April was already there and setting up the cooker to start making breakfast.

"Morning, April!" Mikey called out to get her attention as soon as they were closer to the seating area, which had worked because April looked up and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw a smiling Mikey being helped by Leo and Donnie.

"Mikey!" She said in relief as she got up and quickly went over to the turtles and engulfed Mikey into a warm grateful hug before she released him and spoke again.

"I'm so glad you're up and moving again! I was so worried that you'd…well…"

"Hey…Don't worry, April; I'm a little sore but I'm fine…" Mikey reassured April who smiled after hearing that.

"That's right, and I'll give him some pain medicine after breakfast to help ease the pain..." Donnie said before he and Leo helped Mikey to sit down on one of the camping seats.

"Would you like a hand with breakfast, April?" Leo asked.

"Well, I could do with someone helping me with making sure that the cutlery and plates are clean and prepared. Thanks, Leo!" April answered before she went over to the food box and got out the eggs, bacon, and fruit, and then she walked back to her seat to start the process of preparing and cooking breakfast. Leo nodded and went over to where the cutlery and plates are kept and went to work with checking and preparing them before breakfast was ready.

A few minutes later, breakfast was almost ready and Raph and Casey appeared from their tents and walked over to join the others whilst yawning and stretching their bodies since they only just woke up.

"Morning, dudes!" Mikey said as soon as he saw the duo walking closer to the seating area, causing Raph and Casey to look over at him with surprised looks on their faces before developing a smile.

"Hey, bro! Great ta see ya up and doin' ok!" Raph said before he rubbed Mikey's head affectionately, causing the orange-banded turtle to giggle.

"Yeah…ya gave us a scare when ya vanished into da forest after ya got shot yesterday…Glad ta see dat ya doin' alright now, man…!" Casey said in agreement as he placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder.

"Haha, thanks…I'll admit that I was a bit scared last night after that near-death experience, but I'm alright now cos all that matters is that everyone is ok…" Mikey replied with a small smile whilst blushing when he admitted that he was scared from last night's ordeal.

The others smiled warmly at the orange-banded turtle before they all gave him a group hug, which Mikey greatly accepted. A moment later, the group released Mikey from the hug and April and Leo went over to the cooker to begin plating up breakfast.

"Here's yours, Mikey…" Leo said as he passed the first plate, which had a few pieces of chopped fruit and two slices of bacon on it, to his baby brother who was surprised at what he had just received before he heard Donnie speak up next to him.

"It was my idea, Mikey. I thought that we could try and see if you can manage to eat more than just fruit today since you are feeling a lot better than yesterday. Just make sure that you eat it slowly or you might throw it back up again if you eat too fast…"

Mikey beamed at Donnie and said 'thank you' to him after hearing those words before he turned back to his plate and began to slowly eat his breakfast whilst the others received their breakfasts and tucked in as well.

Around 20 minutes later, everyone had finished eating their breakfasts and they all relaxed in their seats to allow their stomachs to settle, and Mikey was able to finish his without feeling sick which was the good news that the others were hoping for, so they all sighed in relief when they first noticed this. After a long silence, Leo turned to Mikey and spoke.

"Hey, Mikey? Would you like to continue our game of 'Skip the Rocks' when you're ready? We still need to know who wins after we put it on hold yesterday…"

"I'd be happy to, bro! I've got a feeling that I'm gonna win for sure!" Mikey replied in excitement after finishing his drink of water.

"Heh, not if I have anythin' ta do about it, Chucklehead…!" Raph said with a cocky smirk.

"Don't forget about me; I'm definitely going to catch up to you guys and win this time!" Donnie said as he stood up from his seat and placed his hands on his hips.

"Ok, guys…let's clean up first and then we will continue from where we left off with our game, alright?" April butted in firmly whilst wearing an amused smile when she saw the confidence and competitiveness that the boys were showing before she saw them freeze and then groan once they heard her words.

Nevertheless, the boys, except Mikey who was still resting in his seat due to his injured leg despite just taking his painkillers, helped April in gathering all the cutlery and plates and placed them in a bucket of water to clean them up. Once they were washed, the plates and cutlery were towel-dried by Donnie and Mikey, before April and Leo stored them away in the box which was used to store and transfer them during their camping trip.

"Are you ready to stand up, Mikey?" Donnie asked Mikey after he stood up and held out his hand towards him with a smile.

"Yeah…!" Mikey answered happily as he reached and grabbed his brother's hand, and he was then pulled up by Donnie who then gave him his bo staff for him to use as a crutch.

With Mikey supported by Donnie and ready to go, the group made their way towards the lake to continue with their game. Once they reached the lake and got into position, April opened her notepad and read aloud the current scores so far.

"Ok, guys; the scores from yesterday show that Leo is currently in the lead with 100 points and Mikey is second with 90 points, and Donnie is third with 86 points…"

"Got it! Ok, everyone, get ready ta have ya butts kicked with my rock throwin' skills!" Raph said with a nod whilst wearing a cocky smirk.

"Raph, you do know that you won't be able to catch up and win in this round since you didn't take part in the first round yesterday…" Donnie reminded his red-banded brother with a chuckle.

"Huh? What makes ya think dat!?" Raph replied firmly with narrowed eyes.

"Err…Raphie, what part of 'didn't take part in the first round yesterday' did you not understand? Unless you have a really good throwing arm, you've got no chance!" Mikey answered before he laughed a little.

"Hey, last I heard it was yer leg that took da bullet and not yer head, so shut it or I'll throw ya into da lake!" He said with a mocking glare and a raised fist, causing Mikey back away slightly with a small shriek before Donnie stood in front of him with a serious look on his face.

"You will do no such thing, Raph! The stitches in his leg are not waterproof and the last thing we want to do is redo them…!" He said firmly.

"Donnie, I was jokin'…calm down…!" Raph said whilst waving his hand at his purple-banded brother.

"Alright, you guys, settle down! We're all here at the lake to have a fun time with each other's company, no matter who wins the game…right?" Leo then said calmly as he stepped in to prevent the chance of a fight from occurring.

The younger brothers looked at each other in thought before they smiled at one another and nodded in agreement with Leo's words.

"Good, now let's get into position!" Leo said happily before he, his brothers, and Casey picked up a suitable rock, got into their positions at the edge of the lake, and waited for April to give them the signal to start the game.

"Ready…set…go!" April shouted as she signalled the boys by raising her hand in the air and quickly lowering it down again to start throwing their first rock.

The game went on for about an hour until April called an end to it. Throughout the whole game, there were a couple of times where Raph and Casey would try to put each other off by attempting to push one or the other into the water, so they were both disqualified for disrupting the game, and there were also occasions where Mikey struggled to throw his rocks properly at first due to his injured leg but he eventually managed to find a suitable standing pose and was able to skip the rocks correctly for the rest of the game. The boys gathered together around April as she read aloud the final scores.

"Ok, guys…It was a close final round, but the overall winner of 'Skip the Rocks' is…Leo with 200 points!"

"Alright!" Leo shouted out in victory after hearing that he won the game.

"Well done, Leo!" Donnie complimented his oldest brother before giving him a high-three.

"Yeah, way to go, bro!" Mikey said in agreement despite the slight inner disappointment that he was feeling due to not winning the game himself.

"Hey, you weren't so bad yourself, Mikey, despite having an injured leg…!" Leo pointed out as he wrapped an arm around Mikey's shoulders.

"Leo's right, Mikey. In fact, you came second with 196 points! That's a good score!" April said as she pointed her pen on her notepad whilst she read out Mikey's score.

"Whoa…really!?" Mikey said with a stunned look on his face.

"Yes, but it doesn't matter how high the score is because it's the taking part and having fun that counts…" Donnie said with a warm smile, causing everyone to do the same and then nod in agreement.

"Yeah, well I would've caught up ta Leo if Casey hadn't tried ta do somethin' funny…!" Raph then said gruffly as he looked at Casey with a smirk and narrowed eyes.

"Hey! You were da one who started it by tryin' ta push me in da water first…!" Casey countered back firmly whilst glaring mockingly at Raph who growled and got closer to Casey's face.

"Pfff…Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

The two hotheads stopped bickering and looked at Mikey as he suddenly burst into laughter due to the way they were arguing with each other before Leo, Donnie, and April were heard laughing with him.

"D-Dudes, don't you ever play nice with each other…? It's just a game after all…!" Mikey questioned as he tried to calm himself down after laughing so much.

This caused Raph and Casey to freeze and look at each other after hearing Mikey's words before they too slowly cracked into a burst of laughter and wrapped an arm around each others' shoulders.

"Oh…Oh, man…W-What are we doin'…?" Raph said whilst gasping for breath from all the laughing he did.

"I…I don't know…!" Casey replied whilst trying to catch his breath after laughing so much.

"Ha, ha! I guess Mikey has helped in reminding you two about the funny side to all of this…" April said with a smile, causing Leo and Donnie to do the same and nod in agreement whilst Mikey just blushed and giggled to that statement.

"Yeah, ya right, April…Thanks, lil' bro…" Raph said in agreement to April's words before he turned to Mikey and wrapped an arm around him to give him a sideways hug, causing the orange-banded turtle to giggle.

"Yeah, thanks, man…" Casey then said before he offered Mikey a fist bump, which the orange-banded turtle accepted by gently bumping his own fist with Casey's.

It was then that Mikey began to cough a couple of times, causing Donnie to approach him worryingly due to the possibility that his little brother might be having a relapse of his illness.

"Mikey?" Donnie said nervously.

"I'm fine, Donnie…" Mikey reassured his purple-banded brother as soon as his coughing fit had ended before he then rubbed his eyes as tiredness began to kick in.

"Looks like it's time for you to take a nap, Mikey…I think today's game has worn you out…" Leo said softly when he noticed that Mikey was close to dozing off.

"Aww, but I-"

"I agree with Leo, Mikey; your illness hasn't completely left you yet and the last thing we want is for you to push yourself too hard and go straight back to square one…" Donnie said firmly but softly as he cut off Mikey when he was about to refuse his naptime.

"Ok…ok, I understand…" Mikey said as he looked down with a defeated sigh.

"Hey, don't feel down, Mikey…you'll still be able to do things with us after you've had your nap. Also, we think that we should roast some marshmallows after dinner tonight since we haven't had the chance to do that yet…!" April said sweetly before she watched Mikey look up at her with a surprised look on his face before he said, "Really!?"

"Yeah, so…" Raph answered before he suddenly lifted Mikey up in his arms in a bridal-style hold, startling him, before he continued speaking. "Until then, let's get ya ta bed, Chucklehead!"

Mikey laughed a little before he accepted the lift from his red-banded brother by resting his head on Raph's shoulder whilst letting out a yawn and closing his eyes, causing everyone to look at him with warm smiles before they all started their walk back to their campsite.

Once they got back to the camp, Raph entered Mikey and Donnie's tent with Donnie following close behind him and he gently laid a now sleeping Mikey down on his sleeping bag before he moved slightly to allow Donnie to tuck him in and make sure that his leg was in a comfortable position.

"Man, he really is worn out…" Raph said quietly with a hint of concern as he looked at his sleeping baby brother.

"Yeah, I know…but at least his temperature hasn't risen, so he's going to be just fine after a couple of hours' rest…" Donnie reassured his red-banded brother as he gently placed a hand on Mikey's forehead to check his fever which was found to remain on a low temperature still, much to his relief, before he spoke again but in a whisper.

"Let's leave him to sleep now…"

Raph nodded with a hum before he followed Donnie out of the tent quietly to allow Mikey to sleep in peace.