Hanami – Chapter 34
Raphael felt her hands tightening on his shoulders. His stomach plummeted with the popping crack that prefaced her speech. He spun out of his chair, knocking it out of his way, cradling her in his arms before Sterling could hit the floor.
She sagged across his lap, her mouth opened and bleeding freely again. Clutching her body, he scanned the room, desperately clinging to his training, looking for something to fight. Splinter's breath caught in his throat as the anger receded from Raphael's eyes, replaced by something entirely different but just as strong: fear. Raphael, his proudest son, uttered the one word he'd not spoken since childhood.
"…Help…"
Cabbage unwound all at once. She had been tensed with rage and fear, but at the bone-snapping crack of her sister's jaw all of her emotions fled. She was a doctor first and foremost. This was her sister. She would deal with her new brother in time, but now, "…Help…"
"Raphael, take her to the living room, sit her up slightly on a mattress. Keep her head elevated. Get some soap and water and wash off the wounded area thoroughly. Michelangelo, boil some water. I need the following items sterilized: paring knife, needle, tweezers, scissors, probe – a metal chopstick will do – fishing line and the tray to carry them into the living room. Donatello, I need you to get gauze, medical tape, towels, q-tips, and a strong flashlight. Pipes, Leo, you two are going to hold pressure points." Cabbage looked up at Shima. She was not going to be very helpful right now. "Master Splinter, please take Shima away from this."
He nodded and took her shaking hand, "Tell me child have you ever heard the stories of the kitsune Japanese foxes… shape-shifters? She followed him hesitantly out of the room.
Cabbage washed her hands up to her elbows and led Leo and Pipes into the living room. She knelt by her sister's head, and addressed the group around her. "I do not know the exact extent of the original injury. I do know that, regardless of its extremity, it went untreated and Sterling's body reacted in the most biologically efficient way: namely, her body assumed the worse and tightened into a natural cast, as it were, around the damaged area. In forcing her mouth open, she cracked that 'natural cast' and caused herself to black out from pain."
Cabbage drew a deep breath. "Unfortunately, that 'cast' was made up of her jaw muscles, and her jaw's tendons (attaching the muscles to the bones.) Right now, beyond the damage done by impact, the bruising and the fracture, Sterling has ripped the muscle tissue around the joint. If left to heal by itself, there are two possibilities. First, she only ripped muscle, and by the time her jaw bone knits, she'll be just fine. Second, and most likely, she tore tendon, either along its length or where it joins the muscle. Should the second be the case, the tendon must be repaired surgically if she is to regain full use of her jaw."
Mike brought in the implements. "Thanks. Now, since we lack any kind of meaningful anesthetic, I want to perform this surgery quickly before she regains consciousness. Pipes and Leo, you will keep full pressure on the points I show you. We do not have the ability to deaden nerve endings, but we can keep her still."
Leo stared at Cabbage; 'She seems like a whole other turtle in a crisis. That perky "Shirley Temple on a Half-Shell" attitude got replaced by an almost obscene amount of competence. Whoa.' Leo's brain sent up a signal flare to gather the bits of it that had wandered. He shook his head, and his thoughts cleared. "We've seen you use pressure points before, though. I thought you and Pipes woke Sterling the other morning by—"
+"By immobilizing her and tickling her. She's gonna feel all of this if she wakes up before Cabbage's done."+ Pipes straddled her sister's thighs and placed her fingers on four points just below Sterling's hips. The body twitched slightly. +"Got 'em."+
Cabbage nodded. "Ok, Leo. Place your fingers here and here." Cabbage pointed to two points on the slopes of Sterling's neck. "Keep firm pressure, or she'll move her head, if she wakes up." Sterling's body twitched once more as Leo found the pressure points.
Turning to Mike, Don, and Raph, Cabbage continued, "Whoever has the steadiest hands right now should be holding the flashlight. Whoever can handle blood the best, go to the kitchen and scrub up to your elbows. Whoever is left, will be handing me gauze and swabs and dealing with the mess."
Raph held the flashlight, Don headed into the kitchen, and Mike positioned himself behind Cabbage. Cabbage locked eyes with Mike, "You will only handle the items that have not been sterilized: gauze, etc. Don and I have scrubbed, and hopefully we can do this without risking infection. Alright? Good."
Cabbage adjusted Sterling's head and with a steady hand, sliced a diagonal opening an inch and a half long across the joint of the jaw. "Probe." She pushed the top layer of skin aside. "Gauze. Mop that up, Don." Cabbage inhaled through her teeth. Even Leo could see the white of bone plainly. "Snapped it all, like popping rubber bands. How can a sister of mine be so stupid?" She turned and began threading the needle.
"Gauze." The surgery neared its end. 'Thank god. Don't think I could hold this flashlight still for another twenty minutes. Mikey's running out of gauze. Hell, even Leo looks like he needs to move.'
Sterling hurt a lot. She opened her eyes and quickly shut them again. 'Shit! Too bright! Ow!' "Shit, she's coming around!" 'Raphael?' Sterling tried to open her eyes again, but that light kept her from seeing anything.
Cabbage's voice spoke to her. The words were at odds with the pleasant, soothing tone. "Hey there sister-stupid! I really hate patching you up, you know that? You continually find the most moronic things to do to yourself. Remember that skylight you tried to weather-proof? How about the shock therapy equipment, huh? Or that time you got you finger stuck in that u-bend pipe? I'm afraid this was just as bone-headed. This is gonna hurt a whole bunch. But when it's over, you can go get your skanky-ass in the shower, ok?"
Sterling whimpered; she recognized Cabbage's bedside manner. 'The worse it was gonna be, the more she tries to distract – OWOW!' "Mff! MFFfff! mmmff…" Sterling cried out, but she did not tear up. 'Small miracles to salve the pride…' Cabbage was speaking again.
"Ok, that's it for the stitches. I'm gonna wrap your face good and tight now. YOU ARE NOT TO THINK ABOUT MOVING THAT JAW OF YOURS. EVER." Cabbage took a series of ace bandages and wound them round her sister's beak and head in a figure eight. "Just like an ankle bind."
Cabbage nodded to Leo and Pipes, who let go gratefully. Sterling sagged suddenly as her muscle control returned to her. Raphael killed the flashlight and Mike, Don, and Pipes started to clean up the mess.
Cabbage hugged her sister. "Look you, you're filthy. Go take a shower. Leave the bandage on, just wash around it tonight. When you come back down I'll have water, a hot pack, and a pen and paper waiting. Okay?"