Chapter 7-What's Nest For Mikey?

The next day…

The atmosphere within the Hamato family lair was very quiet, and everyone was busy doing their own thing.

Donnie and Leatherhead were in the infirmary doing some assessments on Mikey's vitals and healing status of his injuries, Master Splinter was having his afternoon meditation in his room, Raph was in the garage again and still making adjustments to his motorbike, and Leo was in the training area practicing his katas with his katana swords.

April and Casey came over to visit the family in the early morning to see how Mikey was doing after they were told the news by Leo that the youngest turtle had woken up, and they gave him a little get well soon present before they returned home to run the antiques shop.

Just then, the infirmary door opened and Donnie and Leatherhead walked out of the room.

"Leonardo, may we speak with you for a moment?" Leatherhead called out to Leo, who had just finished his kata seconds ago and was the first person to be seen by big croc and Donnie.

"Of course…" Leo answered before be put his katana swords away and walked over to Donnie and Leatherhead.

"What is it that you wish to talk to me about?" Leo questioned in slight worry due to thinking about the possibility that something was wrong.

"It's nothing to worry about, Leo. We just want to give you an update on Mikey's condition…" Donnie answered reassuringly.

"Ok, so…how is Mikey doing right now?" Leo asked, his worries easing a bit after hearing Donnie's words.

"His vitals are a lot better than they were during these past few days and his sleep pattern has returned to normal, so he won't be going back into a healing slumber anytime soon, and his wounds are also healing well without any signs of relapse in terms of infection. However…" Leatherhead explained before he cut himself off due to something concerning him about Mikey's current condition.

"Mikey still has a long way to go in his recovery, doesn't he?" Leo speculated sadly, despite feeling relieved that Mikey's condition had improved.

"Yeah…the fractured bones and weakened nerves near those areas could greatly affect Mikey's way of life if they're not properly treated in time…" Donnie explained in his 'Doctor Don' tone.

"So, what's the plan now?" Leo asked.

"Once the bullet wounds in his muscles have healed a bit more, we will start making a weekly schedule for his sessions in physiotherapy…" Leatherhead explained.

"Good idea, Leatherhead; the last thing we want is Mikey to be completely stiff or immobile in certain parts of his body…" Leo said in agreement.

"Also, I think we need to think about helping and supporting him mentally…" Donnie then added.

"Yeah, true; the combination of seeing Donnie in his secondary mutation and being disowned and blamed by Raph has definitely done a number on his emotional state…I'm worried about him going into a deep depression…" Leo said in agreement.

"Which is why I will include counselling sessions into the schedule to help him with his emotional recovery…" Leatherhead said.

"Thank you, Leatherhead…We really appreciate it…" Leo said gratefully before he asked the duo a question.

"Is it ok if I go and see Mikey right now? I can tell him about your plans for him whilst I speak with him…"

"Of course, Leo, just make sure that you speak to him gently since he's still not 100% himself right now…" Donnie told his brother in a slightly serious tone.

Leo nodded in understanding before he made his way towards the infirmary to go and see Mikey.

/

The infirmary…

As soon as Leo entered the infirmary, he saw Mikey with his upper body propped up with pillows and he had an oxygen line under his nose. He then noticed that Mikey had a glum look on his face, which worried him slightly.

"Hey, Mikey…!" Leo greeted his brother softly.

"…" Mikey looked up at Leo for a moment, but he didn't say anything as he lowered his head back down.

"How are you feeling today?" Leo asked gently as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"…M'okay…just sore…" Mikey answered tiredly.

Leo just nodded before he looked at the brown rectangle-shaped envelope next to Mikey's right leg. Judging by its condition, it looked as if it had been barely opened, but Leo already knew what was inside it.

"Did you see what April and Casey got you today?" He asked in an uplifting tone to try and cheer Mikey up a bit.

"…Y-Yeah, but…even though I appreciated them for getting it for me...I-I don't want it…" Mikey answered glumly whilst looking down.

"Why not?" Leo asked, a bit stunned and confused as to why Mikey would either refuse or turn away a new comic book, which was completely unlike him to do so.

"C-Cos I don't deserve it…" Mikey answered shakily with tears developing in his eyes.

"What makes you think that, bro? We all know that you love your comic books…!" Leo questioned in shock.

"I-It's cos of them that I'm a childish and idiotic failure…!" Mikey cried out, his tears now falling.

Leo was shocked to hear those words from his little brother. He had always known how excited the youngest turtle would be whenever he got a new issue of his favourite comic books, so to hear him say that he didn't want the comic book gifted to him by April and Casey was something that was hard for the blue-banded turtle to swallow. What was worse was that Mikey was now ashamed of his love for comic books because he felt that they were partly the cause of his failures.

"That's not true, little brother…! You're not a failure, and you're not a childish idiot!" Leo countered, placing a hand on Mikey's shoulder.

"B-But it was my fault…that Donnie got mutated into a monster…!" Mikey sobbed.

"No, it wasn't; Bishop was the one who caused the outbreak, not you…!" Leo countered again in a slightly firmer tone.

"…I-I still don't know why I'm even alive…after being shot at so many times…" Mikey continued on as if he didn't hear Leo speak to him.

"Because you're a strong turtle, Mikey…! You never give up without a fight!" Leo told his brother confidently.

"N-No, I'm not…I-I'll never be strong like you guys…" Mikey denied miserably.

"Don't be silly, little brother…! Surviving such horrendous injuries just proves to us that you are strong in both body and spirit!" Leo countered proudly, giving Mikey's hand a gentle squeeze.

"B-But what good am I…if I keep making things harder for you all…?" Mikey questioned shakily.

"You don't make things harder for us, Mikey…! There may have been times where you got on our nerves, but that doesn't mean that we don't love or care about you…!" Leo stated, shaking his head.

"T-Then why…does no-one love me for who I am?" Mikey questioned through sniffles and hiccups.

That question made Leo's heart skip a beat in shock. Why on Earth would Mikey ask such a thing?

"Mikey, we do love you as you are…! You bring us a ray of light that helps to guide us through even the darkest of times, and you also make us smile and laugh with your jokes and dance moves!" Leo answered as he placed his hands on Mikey's cheeks and wiped his tears away with his thumbs.

"R-Raph hates me, though…h-he disowned me, remember?" Mikey reminded with more tears falling down his face.

"Raph's just being selfish, Mikey…He'll come around once things have settled down a bit…!" Leo reassured.

"W-When, though? H-He hasn't come in to see me or talk to me at all since we got back home…" Mikey reminded in a heartbroken tone.

Leo didn't know what to say to his baby brother. He knew that Raph was still refusing to acknowledge that Mikey was innocent in Bishop's crimes, and like Donnie, he became a victim of the viral outbreak created by the Agent himself by becoming his scapegoat. However, as much as he wanted to confront Raph again about his current attitude and behaviour towards Mikey, there was a chance that things could be made worse by stressing both Donnie and Mikey out and making their emotional conditions deteriorate since they were still recovering from their traumatic experience at Bishop's base.

Still, his baby brother needed reassurance from his big brother in order to maintain his stress, so Leo took both of his brother's hands and held them gently as he spoke.

"Mikey, listen…I can't promise you that things will get better sooner; healing both physically and spiritually from a traumatic experience takes time, a lot of it. We've all been affected by what had happened to both Donnie and you, and we each experience trauma differently. The way Raph is behaving towards you is just one example; even though none of this was your fault, he had put all the anger and blame for what happened to Donnie onto you because Bishop wasn't there for him to confront face-to-face…However, I think that Raph is now feeling sad and guilty deep down for what he's done to you, and he's currently finding hard to make amends with you on that because he doesn't know where to start at the moment…"

"D-Do you really think so?" Mikey questioned with both hope and doubt in his heart.

"It's a theory, but I definitely believe that Raph will come around and talk to you sooner or later…You just need to wait and have a bit of patience until then…" Leo answered in an honest tone.

Mikey was anxious and unsure of whether or not Leo's theory would become reality, but he realised that his big brother was right; there was no point in trying to beg for Raph to come and talk to him since the red-banded turtle would rather take his time in sorting his emotions out than go say something that he might regret to his youngest brother.

"…Fine…I'll try…" Mikey said with a defeated sigh.

"Good…" Leo replied before he became a bit more serious and changed the subject.

"By the way, I've spoken to Donnie and Leatherhead earlier and they have told me that they're putting a little treatment plan together for you that will include sessions of physiotherapy and counselling…"

"R-Really?" Mikey said in surprise with his eyes widening slightly.

"Yeah, it'll really help in your recovery both physically and mentally…" Leo added with a nod.

"W-What if it doesn't work?" Mikey questioned anxiously.

"It will, bro; you'll never know unless you try…We need you back in your top form in order to be a proper team again…" Leo said confidently.

"B-But you guys work fine without me..." Mikey said miserably.

"No, we don't!" Leo snapped suddenly, causing Mikey to flinch and become scared. Leo immediately regretted his outburst and spoke to Mikey again but in a softer tone.

"Mikey, our family found it hard to remain strong during your first few days of recovery, because your light of joy had been dimmed from your near-death experience. We were really fearful that we would be lost in the darkness due to the possibility of losing you and your light forever…"

"L-Light…?" Mikey questioned in confusion.

"Yeah, little brother…! Why do you think we've always smiled whenever you're nearby? And why do you think we've been doing a lot of family things together?" Leo questioned with a proud smile.

"I-I don't know…" Mikey said shakily.

"It's because of you…! You have the ability to make us happy and think positive during the tougher times…and those are the things that make you our family's light!" Leo answered for him.

Mikey was surprised to hear that about himself from his oldest brother, but he immediately felt down again due to a nagging feeling in his mind.

"I-I wanna believe that, Leo, I really do…but I just…I-I don't know…I can't even trust myself right now…" He told his oldest brother in a doubtful tone.

"You will, Mikey, with time…just focus on getting well again, ok?" Leo reassured his youngest brother.

"I'll leave you to rest now, little brother…I'll come and see you again later…" He then said when he noticed that Mikey was starting to get tired, before he stood up and begun to head towards the door.

"W-Wait…"

Leo immediately stopped when he heard Mikey's voice and he turned around to see him looking at him with nervous eyes.

"Erm…Y-You wanna look at my new comic with me…?" Mikey asked shyly.

Mikey's offer surprised Leo greatly. Even though he was not a keen fan of comic books, he didn't really mind whenever Mikey decided to suddenly talk to him about his latest comic book issue, especially if it was something to do with Silver Sentry, because this was one of his brother's passions other than ninjitsu.

"Of course, I'd love to see it…!" Leo answered eagerly before he walked back over to the bed and sat on the edge of the bed.

Mikey felt relief flowing through him, and he smiled a bit before he grabbed the brown envelope and took out his brand new Silver Sentry comic book.

Unbeknownst to the duo, they were being watched by Donnie and Leatherhead as they hid themselves behind the doorframe to avoid being spotted.

"It looks like Mikey's slowly starting to open up a bit more…" Donnie said quietly as he watched and heard Mikey talk happily to Leo about what was going on in his new comic book.

"Indeed…it will still be a long a challenging recovery for Michelangelo, but I believe that he will do well with everyone by his side and supporting him…" Leatherhead replied in agreement.

Donnie nodded to that before he and Leatherhead took one more look at Mikey and Leo, who were now cuddled up together, before they walked away to give them peace and resume their work on their schedule for Mikey's physio and counselling.