Hanami – Chapter 9
Cabbage lay on her side, still slightly curled, but definitely much more relaxed. "So, what'd you think Donnie? How do we help her?" Mike pointed to the large abscess along her side. "It's a lot warmer then the rest of her." He looked down into her sleepy face, "Don't you fret! Donnie can fix anything!"
"No pressure then, huh?" Donatello enjoyed being his family's miracle worker, but some times the things they wanted – well, he was scared to disappoint them; especially with something like this. "We'll have to cut it open, drain it, sterilize it, and insert a cleaning tube, before we can stitch it back up." He glanced up at his brothers. Michelangelo suddenly looked very young.
Leonardo, however, asked, "How do I help?"
Michelangelo moved Cabbage to the counter top by the kitchen sink and steadied her as she sat upright. Donatello and Leonardo had prepared the tools, and Mikey was doing his best to explain things to her. "Cabbage, this is for the best. If we don't fix it now, Donnie says the fever will kill you. I'm sorry. I know this isn't gonna be much fun, but I'll make it up to you! We can go sledding. I'll teach you how to make the best kinds of Pizza. I'll let you read all my comics, especially the ones about mutants. And there's a tire swing outside. And I'll teach you how to skateboard. And –"
He cut off as she slowly raised a finger to his beak. "Shh. S'ok. M'ready."
"Oh. Ok. So I should tell you a story while Don's tending you, so you don't have to think about…" Blink. Mike was back on familiar ground. Tell a story. Make her laugh. He did it all the time for April when she'd had a bad day. Story. Story. Any story. "Yeah! So, we don't usually live here. My family and I live in this rockin'ly retro abandoned subway station beneath the city. The only way to reach it is through the sewers, which is great 'cause that keeps the humans out…"
Donatello was amazed. He had dreaded performing even a mild surgery without any real anesthetic. Sure, ice numbed the skin, but it was the stuff underneath that was the problem. Cabbage squirmed from time to time, but on the whole, she sat still. The only response he got to his attentions were sharp intakes of breath when he touched a nerve. As he sewed the skin back together, he listened to Mike ramble, occasionally picking up snippets of, "… well then I dropped the mystic egg timer! … n't help it, my horse didn't have a head!" He looked at Leo. If his brother was anywhere near as tired as he looked, they'd be carrying him to bed soon.
"Okay Cabbage. That's it. You can have some more water and head to bed, ok?"
He was rewarded with a slight smile and a Blink. "…T'anx."