His True Love

Disclaimer: I deny any ownership of any adult or adolescent transformed shadow warrior chelonians.

Buslady: I really don't want to give more detail then that. I rather leave it to the author's imagination. Though bringing out Raph's darkside could be fun I think enough was in that chapter to suffice.

Chapter Twenty Nine – A Promising sign

MICHAELANGELO:

How I dearly wanted Rama to show some sign some little improvement, even the tiniest hint of one to let me know she would at the very least pull through this. Better yet I wanted her to sit up and tell me she was only foolin' her old man.

I could sense Don's frustration and it didn't help me feel any better. Don always knew what to do in matters like this. The very fact that he was out of ideas to help Rama wasn't very comforting to me. It was understandable considering the circumstances but I didn't want Don to fail this time around not with the stakes so high. I knew he was at a loss and so forced myself to be quiet and not badger him.

Give him time to think he'd come up with something he just had to.

Sara scowled she turned and poured a tiny bit of tea into the bottom of the cup " Here Mike see if maybe a smaller dose might stay down a little better." She suggested.

I looked at the cup there was only a mouthful or two in it and I had to wonder why we should even bother that little wouldn't do a lot of good for Rama and considering how quickly she had rejected the first portion I doubted that it would stay down.

" Go ahead Mike worse that is going happen is she rejects it again but if she keeps it down it might start to help her a little" Sara urged gently.

I nodded and slipped the warm drink into her mouth and then we waited patiently counting seconds then minutes and Rama kept it down.

Don turned and gave us a wearied grin after ten minutes " Try it again. Same amount then we will let her be for awhile," he decided.

I felt a little more encouraged by Rama's success and so got some more tea into her.

Don nodded " Good idea Sara the small amounts might be the key but I don't want to give too much at once." He turned back to the computer and the information he had found on Buzz.

" Any thing of interest Don?" I asked hopefully.

" There just isn't a great deal known about it from strictly the medical point of view Buzz is just too new and it seems to have some nasty side effects. Doctors have noticed that it does increase heart rate and it could be potentially dangerous due to that fact." Don murmured.

I sighed it didn't seem that the information would give us what we needed to help treat Rama.

" Why won't Rama wake up Don?"

" One of two possible reasons Mike. I am hoping that her inability to wake up could be connected to a hibernation response due to her dropped body temperature." Don began.

" Yeah but when animals hibernate their heat beat slows down" I stated knowing Don himself ought to be aware of that little fact.

" True but her heart beat is beating fast due to the drug and while there is nothing I see about humans suffering from a hypothermic style reaction to taking Buzz, we have to make certain allowances due to our differences." Don explained, " If it is a hibernation response well warm her up and she should wake up."

I nodded that was true enough as far as it went but Don had mentioned two possibilities

" What is the other option?" I just had to ask that question though I was fairly sure I wasn't going to like the answer.

Don looked away his voice a low whisper " She could be in a coma due to the drug."

I was afraid that was the other possibility. I knew we didn't really have the medical supplies to deal with a comatose victim. If Rama was in a coma she could easily die without ever waking up again.

I looked down on her small frame in the bed she looked so vulnerable huddled under the blankets. Sure she was home but she was a long shot from being safe or well.

Damn Shay! Damn her to hell!

I had been trying to puzzle out what reason she could have had to give Rama such a dangerous drug. Shay knew how different we were from humans. Okay she also knew our ability to pick up on things and our other mental abilities and might have only wanted to make it harder for us to find Rama.

Didn't she realize that she was jeopardizing Rama's life though?

Sure Shay might have had a problem getting Rama to swallow any pills especially if Rama was suspicious or scared. Injecting the drug meant that Rama couldn't refuse it or reject it later.

Then again knowing Rama's opinion of having needles injecting her was not an easy task. I had known times when Don and I both had a good fight on her hands to do a simple blood test or when Don went to give her some other necessary needle.

Course Rama had been tied up which is probably how they managed to give her the drug in the first place.

Don came over and pried an eye open and shook his head a bit " I think we might have to wait for the drugs to leave her system on their own."

I didn't like that it was the blasted drug that was messing her up in the first place " Don…"

" Listen Mike quite honestly at the moment I don't know what to do to help her and I'm scared that what I do could make things worse." He sighed in frustration and gave me a sympathetic smile " What good is it to her or to you if in trying to cure her I cause more damage or accidentally kill her?"

I shrugged I couldn't answer that.

Don placed a hand on my shoulder " I'm sorry Mike I will do what I can to treat her to help her. But I don't want to lose her either."

I nodded silently ducking my head I just hoped what little he could do was enough to save my daughter.

Don turned and retrieved the stethoscope and checked the heart monitors he gave a tiny smile " Her heart has slowed down a little. It isn't very noticeable but it has started to come down in speed. I think I will give her another mouthful or two of tea."

Leo came in and I saw him wince slightly a pained look coming into his blue eyes. I turned unwilling to meet or hold his gaze I looked instead on my daughter's still form.

What good was any of my training when I hadn't been able to protect her?

" Wake up Rama please" I whispered as I took her hand in mine.

I heard the infirmary door open and shut and realized that Don and Leo had left the room for the moment.

Knowing Leo he wanted to know every thing what was being done to help Rama, what her odds were of pulling through, and any other information that he felt might be pertinent at the time.

Knowing how stressed and frazzled Don all ready was I doubted that he would feel any better after our leader demanding answers that he didn't have. It wouldn't help Don any. I did know though that Don would give straight answers to Leo where they were available.

At the moment though I didn't want to know what Rama was up against it was hard enough just seeing her like this. If I knew that her odds of surviving were one in five it wouldn't be enough for me. But considering the circumstances I would guess that the odds were stacked far more against her.

Sara came over and sat down beside me " How you doing Mike?"

" I'd do better if I knew Rama would…" I paused and shook my head.

"Hey come on that isn't the optimistic Mike I know" she scolded gently " Look sometimes the best way of recuperating from an illness is to rest and her body knows that. It is doing what it needs to Mike and Ramiela is a pretty strong and healthy kid that will make a difference."

" Yeah she is a pretty lively thing normally" I agreed, " I think that is what makes it so hard to see her like this now."

" She stands a much better chance of making it though because of that. The tea is starting to help her some too not a great deal but maybe a larger amount of tea might slow the heart too quickly and cause other problems."

I turned to look at her. I had never seen Sara like this so compassionate and caring up until now she was this tough hardened hooker and yet she cared about kids otherwise she wouldn't be going against Red. It was just she had taken me by surprise because for once I was seeing in her the nurse she wanted to be.

She had held it together during the crisis and now she was offering me gentle reassurance. I realized then what a fantastic nurse she would be she was tough and hardened enough not to let blood, guts and gore get to her and yet caring enough that she wouldn't be telling patients where they could take their complaints.

" You want something to eat or drink Mike?"

I shook my head " No thanks Sara."

" You know Mike sometimes it isn't easy to sit by and want someone to do some thing to help those we love, but Don does have the right of it when dealing with things you don't know sometimes it is far better to let it run it's course and then see what you can do."

" I know that. I know Don is doing all he can. I just wish I could do something that might help Rama so I feel like I'm not so useless." I admitted.

" Now I don't know a great deal about hibernation but a great deal of coma victims wake up and tell you about music that was played for them, stories that had been read, conversations all kinds of things like that." Sara said " In fact medical science says that it is better for families to do that kind of thing with coma victims. It really helps them and that is something you can do for her."

I smiled she was right I could let her hear some of her music or read to her and talk to her it might not help her a great deal but it wouldn't hurt her and it wouldn't jeopardize her life either.

" It is so strange Rama is usually such a light sleeper." I murmured.

" This isn't a natural sleep for her Mike so of course it might take more to wake her up. Maybe it is just her body's way of shutting down until it is ready to start up again." Sara reminded me gently " I'm going see if Raph is here." she stood up to leave.

" Uh Sara he won't be home just yet. Raph is probably taking care of some Clan business at the moment." I informed her gently.

Sara paused her eyes growing large " Candy asked Raph if he would hurt Shay and he told her that it all depended on what had been done to Ramiela."

I winced she probably figured Raph was doing something unpleasant then and I really didn't want to be the one to inform her as to what it was.

" I don't think it would have really changed matters Sara even if Shay hadn't administered the drug to Rama" I explained " Shay has caused too many problems for our Clan. Each time she comes back into our lives she poses more of a threat to us." I sighed and glanced away.

I knew that Raph cared for Sara and she cared for him too and I was glad of it but I also knew her feelings towards Raph might change if she thought for one moment that Raph killed those who proved to be too much of a threat to us and our way of life.

" Raph is off somewhere beating the crap out of Shay?" Sara demanded sharply her eyes narrowing.

" Its possible" I admitted uneasily.

" What aren't you telling me Mike?" Sara insisted sharply.

Here was the tough no nonsense hooker back.

" Look Sara there are times when harsh as it might seem a person proves that they will be a continued threat to us. When someone decides to hunt us, destroy us or continually bring harm to a member of our Clan we are limited by what we can do to stop them." I stated in exasperation.

" Don't you try some alternative first or do you just skip to plan B?" she snapped sharply her eyes narrowing.

" Of course we try other alternatives we give them a warning, some times we might rough them up a little and give them a warning."

Sara glared at me.

" Look when it becomes necessary to do it to kill then we have to do it or spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders wondering when it will come. Raph has what it takes to do this job, none of us really like it or want to do it" I told her honestly enough " It's just Raph is more up to the task then the rest of us are" I confessed reluctantly.

I knew it was one thing to kill in self defense when you had no other choice but it was something else to take a life and justify the killing by saying it was necessary for future protection. That made it harder to accept.

" We don't do this indiscriminately Sara, we can't afford to kill someone without just cause" I tried to explain to her. I didn't want her leaving Raph because she could not accept that side of him.

Sara sighed " I just thought you guys wouldn't do that especially with Splinter's teachings about life being valuable."

" I know it makes it very hard to balance the two at times Sara. Look at it this way do you want to sell your body to pay for your schooling?"

" No but I don't want to be in debt for the next few years and allowing the debt to accumulate interest either. So I made my choice and I live with it," Sara replied then she gave me a small smile " I get your point Mike. You don't really want to but you make your choice and live with it."

I grinned at her. " Don't hold it against Raph."

" I'm not the type Mike" she assured me.

Don came in " Shay donated the last of the Buzz she had to us so I can maybe analyze it and break it down get a better understanding of it." He turned to the monitors " her heartbeat is still coming down bit by bit. Still have a way to go but it is a start."

" You think she will make it then Donny?" I asked him hopefully.

" It is a promising sign Mike but it is still too early to say for sure" Don hedged.

A promising sign, it might not be much in the grand scheme of things but at the moment I would take all of them I could get.

TBC