CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

LIVING SPECIMEN

This is short. Sorry guys. (Well, not really. But I'll pretend to be sorry if it'll make you feel better.)

"You mean you got another one here?" Raphael asked, feigning shock. It had been almost three weeks now, and he was finally getting to the point with these damned scientists. After plenty of talking and beating around the bush, they were letting him into the rest of the building. "How'd you capture it?"

"Well, that's kind of complicated," Dr. Richardson laughed.

"You must understand that due to the nature of these experiments, there are things which you won't need to know," Dr. Rossini explained.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Raph mumbled. He felt like he'd just signed his life away. Fifteen pages of non-disclosure agreements. Somehow they didn't doubt that they would try to kill him if he ever broke that agreement.

He followed them through the bright white halls and into a large room. Metal tables were lined with scientific equipment: microscopes, beakers, racks of vials, and plenty of paperwork. Spirit looked up as they entered and smiled at him. "Good morning, John," she greeted.

Her lab coat was longer than her skirt. She walked over to him. "Afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to put this on," she informed, handing him a paper mask.

"What for?" he asked.

Catherine took the mask and helped to tie it around his head. "Just a percaution," she explained. "We're dealing with a lot of active viruses in here and we don't want you to catch any of them. This should reduce that risk."

"We also have an innoculation that you'll need to get if you're going to be in here," Lexton added. "I'll get that for you in just a minute."

Raphael tensed. "Oh, woah, man... I kinda got a... thing with needles."

"It's just a little poke," Spirit smiled. "And it means you won't have to wear that mask after twenty four hours."

He wasn't comforted. He didn't want anything to do with these guys' needles. Catherine walked to the table where Spirit had been working. Rossini followed her and Lexton headed for the opposite corner of the room. "If it makes you feel any better," Spirit whispered. "I'll do it myself."

Oh damn it. Step out of character or take a risk with the needle. Not much of a choice. He forced a very convincing smile. "You sure you're qualified to do that?" he teased.

"Hey, I'm a med student," she grinned. "They teach you that in your first year."

"Okay then."

"Come right over here."

She slipped her hand into his and led him to a black leather chair with arm rests. "Just sit down there and relax," she cooed.

He complied. Damn, she was easy. He'd hardly said anything to her and she was already coming on hard. He wasn't sure he liked it. Not that he minded flirting, but it almost seemed forced. For a moment, she had to wonder if she was like this with everyone or if she had her eye on him. He didn't want his own trick to backfire on him.

She rubbed the inside of his wrist gently, and smiled up at him as Dr. Lexton set the syringe and tiny needle down next to her. Raphael eyed it suspiciously. He didn't trust her as far as he could throw her, despite his smile. That needle wasn't supposed to go in his wrist, he knew. It was too short. It was the kind that they used to give immunizations, and it belonged in his upper arm.

She massaged her way up to his bicep, raising his shirt sleeve. "This might sting a little," she warned.

He felt the needle puncture his skin and remembered to cringe. He had to measure his reaction. He wanted it to look like he was hurt, but not willing to show it. He was, after all, trying to impress her. Crying over a needle would've defeated the whole purpose of the acting.

"There," she smiled. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

He grinned back at her, although she couldn't see it through the mask. "I have to ask, Doctor," he began. "How old are you?"

She giggled. "Nurse," she corrected. "I'm an RN. Although I'm working toward my doctorate. And I'm twenty-five. You?"

He laughed. "We're two years apart," he informed her. "But whether I'm older or younger can be yours to decide."

"Spirit, did you record the eleven o'clock?"

The woman stood and turned away. "Yeah, but I didn't chart it yet. I put it straight into the computer."

Rossini looked up from the clipboard in his hand. "Did you redraw the progressional?"

"Yeah, I did. Printout is at the computer."

Raphael stood up. He felt lost in here. He followed behind Spirit as discreetly as possible. "What is that?" he asked, looking over her shoulder at the computer printout she retrieved.

"Vital signs," she informed. "For the past hour." She began to point out the various lines. "Blood pressure, heart rate, breathing. Then this is the results of the blood test." She flipped to the second page. "We do this every two hours. "White blood cell count, red, hemoglobin."

"Is it supposed to be that high?" he asked.

"Uh huh," she answered. "That means the specimen has a healthy immune system."

She handed the pages over to Rossini and he glanced over them. "Any chance I'll ever get to see this specimen?" Raph joked.

Spirit laughed. "Maybe."

Maybe not. Raphael wandered around the room for the next three hours. Spirit was the only one who made an attempt to explain things to him. He didn't catch most of it anyway. Science wasn't his thing, and he knew it. But he knew from the readouts that Donny was at least alive.

He took notes, fully aware that Rossini would have to look over them before he could ever take them out of the building. It was nothing really important. Times and numbers that he might allegedly write about someday. But he watched the minutes pass knowing that he only had one purpose here.

It was almost six o'clock before the end was in sight. "Spirit, why don't you go run the six on B," Richardson directed. "And take John with you."

Raphael glanced at her, his ears perking at the suggestion. He was leaving the room and "running the six" whatever the hell that meant. Every two hours... The scheduled blood test? That had to be it. He sighed inwardly and began the process of preparing himself. He had to be ready to look at his brother with no recognition at all, and no sign of emotion.

Spirit winked at him as she walked past and he followed her out of the room. "So where's B?" he asked.

"Not far," she assured him. "We're having to monitor him very closely because of the nature of his condition."

Raphael hoped that didn't mean what he thought it did. "What, is he not doing well?"

"No, it's not that," she smiled. "He's doing very well in fact. We're most pleased with the results."

She walked into another room, turning the handle without unlocking it. He stared as they stepped inside and she walked up to the curtain that was pulled a few feet in front of them. Not much in the way of security...

She pulled the curtain aside and revealed a bed with a still, mutant figure on it, hooked to tubes and monitors. Raphael felt his heart stop. He nearly collapsed as his lungs suddenly decided they weren't going to function anymore.

It wasn't Donatello.

It was a baby.