The Good Guys Aren't Invincible: IV
Five Days Later...
After more time resting then he could stand, Casey was finally out of bed. With a crutch under his left arm to support his right leg, and his right arm wrapped around his ribcage, he began hobbling out of the lab, despite Donatello's insistance that he stay in bed. There was still a dark bruise around his right eye, but it was no longer swolen shut. The cuts on his face had begun to scar, but some other bruises remained. Casey's back was pretty much the worst of his injuries, besides his broken ribs, and was mostly a giant bruise. He had continued to explain to Donatello that being on his back for more than five days in bed wasn't helping, but the turtle had informed him he'd been planning that Casey heal his other injuries before doing anything about it. True to his stubborness, Casey just kept on hobbling down the hall to where the main living area was.
April had been staying at the turtle's lair off and on to help play nursemaid to Casey, and had just returned from a groceries run with Michelangelo while the rest of the guys were out, to find him hobbling painfully toward the couch. "Casey!" she exclaimed, slamming the bags of groceries down on the counter and rushing toward him. "What on Earth are you doing up? I could've sworn that Donatello forbid you to get out of bed.
"Yeh," Casey grunted, gritting his teeth and grimacing slightly in pain. "He did. But I ain't listenin'." He didn't have the good sense to hide his smirk as April glared at him with a motherly look of dissappointment.
"Haha," Mikey laughed a little. "Donnie's gonna have kittens! Way ta show him Case." he smiled broadly.
April soon turned her glare on the turtle. "Don't encourage him Mikey." she frowned, then helped Casey ease himself down on the couch before leaning his crutch against it.
"Ooh, that smarts." Casey muttered under his breath with a wince as he leaned his back against the couch, still clutching at his left side with his right arm. His ribs were bandaged tightly to help alleviate the pain, and there was a bandage on his right leg around the knee and shin areas. Thankfully, Casey had told April where she could get him a few changes of clothes so he wasn't stuck in the same nasty, dirty ones all that time. He remembered those thugs that beat him up had burned his apartment down, and most everything he owned had been destroyed. He had luckily always kept a duffle bag full of clothes and a few other necessities beside a dumpster near his building.
"Casey, careful..." April warned gingerly, then glanced over at Michelangelo who was just standing there. "Mikey, go get me a few miligrams of morphine from the lab cabinet."
"No," Casey said firmly, reaching out a hand to stop the turtle. He looked at April, his brows set in a line. "I don't need it."
April sighed at his stubborness. Ever since he'd been off the I.V. and able to sit up on his own and speak clearly again, he'd refused any kind of medication they tried to give him, though Donnie or April would occasionally slip him some meds in his food, or by a syringe when he was too tired to protest or put up a fight. "You're hurting Casey, you need something."
He just frowned, his mouth set in a determined grim line. "You want me to get addicted to the stuff or somethin'? That's stuff's addictive ya know. People become addicts because of stuff like that. You want me to become an addict April?" Casey had a serious look on his face, but he was kidding around. And he had to keep empasizing on the words addict, and addictive, like he was trying to drill it into her brain that he didn't want the morphine. Like she didn't get the hint.
She just rolled her eyes. It was funny how he could amuse and annoy her at the same time. Casey was a goofball, that was true. A crazy, hotheaded, goofball, but for some reason....she really liked him. Getting serious again, April stared hard at him. "You can quit the tough-guy stuff Casey, I'm serious. You really need to take something or you're just going to feel worse."
Stubborn as usual, Casey kept that determined look on his face.
"Fine!" April threw her arms up in the air and stormed off toward the kitchen to put the groceries away. "But don't come complaining to me if you can't get back up again because it hurts too much to move!" she knew it was harsh, and regreted saying it a little bit after the words were out, but began putting the groceries away and didn't look back at him anyway.
Mikey stood there beside the couch dumbly. "So, uh...I guess I'll just....sit here." he shrugged, then grabbed the remote off the floor and plopped himself down in front of the tv while Casey remained where he was on the couch and stared at it, not uttering another word.
- - - - -
An hour or so went by, and Casey continued to stare stoically at the television set while Mikey watched whatever he was watching. He would have much rather enjoyed watching a hockey game, but Casey kept his mouth shut and sat there, trying to prove to April that he was perfectly fine and in no need of medicating. Deep down he knew what he was doing was immature, stupid, and pointless, but that didn't mean he was going to admit he was wrong. No matter how much pain he was in either. And he was starting to feel it as he sat there, trying not to move and aggrivate his injuries further.
"Hahaha!!" Mikey suddenly burst into a fit of later, tossing more popcorn in his mouth from the fresh bowl he'd filled last commercial. He glanced back at Casey, pointing at the screen. "Did you see that?! Hahaha! Get it? Pizza Apostles!! Hahaha!!"
Maybe, just maybe on a normal day Casey would have found it funny, but he wasn't in the mood for a comedy, nor was he in the mood to laugh. It just hurt too damn much.
April was sitting at the kitchen counter reading a book she'd started a few nights ago. It had been something to occupy her time when she'd been looking after Casey, and now she was well into it. She tried to forget about her little argument with him, but she was being just as stubborn about it and hadn't spoken to him since.
Master Splinter soon entered the main part of the lair, having had been meditating in the dojo most of the day. He appeared refreshed and in a rather good mood, as much as he showed it. "Good evening April." he nodded toward her as he stopped in the kitchen, then looked around before heading back toward the dojo. It appeared as though he wasn't done with his meditating. Either that, or he could sense the tension in the air and would have just rather stayed away. The latter was a bit more likely.
Soon the lair regained it's noisiness when Raphael, Leonardo, and Donatello returned. Suffice to say, Donnie was not too happy when he discovered Casey was out of the lab.
"Casey!" he exclaimed, marching over to the couch. "I told you to stay in bed!" Donnie put his hands on his hips like an overbearing mother and glared.
Mikey turned to his brother and grinned a little. "I wouldn't go there Donnie!"
"Quiet Mikey," Donatello said without taking his eyes off Casey who refused to even look at him.
Casey's mouth was still set in that grim line, his brows furrowed angrily. "Can it Don. I ain't takin' no meds an' I'm sick o' bein' confined to a bed 24/7." he snarled, still staring at the tv.
"I told you so." Mikey sang with a big goofy grin.
Donnie rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut the shell up." he let out a frustrated sigh, glancing once at Casey before stomping off toward the kitchen. "Fine, fine. I'm only here worrying about your well-being, but I guess that doesn't mean anything to someone so hard-headed!"
"You talkin' about me?" Raphael asked as he walked out of the kitchen with a soda in his hand, watching Donatello storm past him.
Mikey was nearly rolling on the floor with laughter. "Not this time Raph, Donnie-boy was talkin' about Casey." he laughed, shaking his head.
Raphael shrugged, then headed for the couch, plopping himself down opposite Casey. "Hey Case, how ya doin'?" he asked generally.
"Ooh, wrong question to ask." Mikey muttered, wincing as he prepared for Casey's rath.
Before giving his friend the chance to retaliate, Raphael waved his hands toward Casey. "Ah, nevermind that. Forget I asked." he smiled partly, then glanced at the tv a moment before he turned to Mikey. "Hey bro, gimme the remote, I ain't watchin' this crap!"
"No way dude! There's a Crank Yankers marathon on Comedy Central in five minutes!"
Raph let out an annoyed sigh, but was too tired from their outing to argue or fight for the remote. Instead, he got up off the couch, waved to Casey, and walked off towards his bedroom to get in an early night's rest.
In the kitchen, April was now sipping at a cup of tea while Leonardo flipped through some comic books, and Donatello had gone off to work on some of his gadgets in the other lab.
"Casey's still being stubborn about taking medication huh?" Leo asked April as he closed up the comic he was reading and set it aside on the counter.
April sighed, resting her elbow on the counter top and putting her head in her hands.
"Eh...I'll take that as a yes." Leonardo smiled lightheartedly. When April looked up again, there were tears going down her cheeks, and Leo frowned. "April, what is it? Is it Casey?"
"Yes," she began, her voice shaking a little with her crying, "and no." Sniffling, April tried to compose herself. She shook her head, lowering her voice so no one could hear her in the livingroom nearby. "I don't know...I just...I feel responcible for what happened to him. I keep thinking; maybe if I let him in my apartment the first time he came by, he'd be alright....maybe those guys would have stopped looking for him...." she sniffled again, then wiped away her tears. That was the first time April had told any of the guys what she felt about that night, and it felt good to get it off her chest.
"April, it wasn't your fault. Don't be kicking yourself over this." Leo patted her arm, gaining a small smile from her.
"Thanks Leo." she let out a slow breath before her brows furrowed and she stuck out her lower lip. "He's so stubborn though! Ugh!" April rolled her eyes, glaring toward the livingroom. "A few days ago when he could barely stay conscious without being in pain, Casey let us give him medication whenever we got the chance. Now....Now he won't let us go anywhere near him with the stuff. Arg, he's so stubborn!" she complained.
Leonardo looked at her thoughtfully a moment. "I think that maybe Casey doesn't want the meds because he doesn't want to have to rely on us so much," he reasoned, "I mean, he never really had to before and I guess it just bothers him. He used to be solely responcible for himself, now since he's met us, it's like he has an instant family. He's not used to that. Having people care for him and having to care for others in return."
"Thanks again Leo." April smiled, then got up and kissed his cheek, causing the turtle to blush. "I'll sneak some pills in his dinner." she took off to get the medicine before Leo got the chance to say anything else.
He sighed, shaking his head. "That's not exactly what I was getting at." With a shrug and a yawn, Leonardo got up and walked off, preparing to get in a brief workout with his katanas before going to bed.
- - - - -
Another two hours had passed, and Casey still sat unmoving on the couch, staring at the tv while almost everyone else had gone to bed. He hadn't bothered to eat the food laced with medicine, much to April's chagrin, claiming that he wasn't hungry. He was still too stubborn to admit maybe April was right, and he wasn't going to get up until she had gone to sleep first. Well, that had been his original plan, until he realized that April's bed was on the couch and he was still sitting there, and wouldn't move. More like couldn't move. Casey had been sitting there without budging for so long that he was practically numb all over.
After finishing her book after all that time she was left with to read it, April slammed it down on the counter and got up, walking with determined strides toward the couch. She sat down beside Casey, intent on ending this stupid, pointless feud. "Look Casey, I'm sorry about trying to get you to take the medication when you really don't want it. I just want this to end, it's stupid. We shouldn't be acting like five-year-olds giving eachother the silent treatment all day."
Letting out a long sigh, his expression finally softening a little, Casey turned his head so that he was facing April, though his body barely moved. "No, you were right." he frowned slightly. "I know now, that you jus' been tryin' ta help me."
April smiled. "Okay, then let's get you back to the lab so you can get some sleep." she got up, preparing to help him along.
Casey gave a somewhat sheepish crooked grin. "I...can't." he sighed.
"Casey, if this about pride or something-"
"No," he shook his head slightly. "April, I really can't get up. I been sittin' here too damn long." he frowned with a slight grimace. His entire body felt too stiff and sore to move.
"Oh," April's expression turned to that of a sympathetic frown. "Alright, well...uh...I'll help you. Just...try and move slowly."
Nodding and taking in a deep breath, Casey gingerly used his arms and pushed himself forward slightly on the couch cushions as April helped him and reached for his crutch. "Unnh.." Casey groaned and clenched his eyes shut as he was almost standing fully upright, the crutch under his left arm and his right arm clutching at his ribs. "Maybe...I could use a little..o' that morphine...now." he grunted with a wince.
April's brows furrowed in concern as she helped him hobble along with an arm around his waist at his right side. "Okay, just take it easy now," she instructed quietly.
"I'm...sorry 'bout bein'...such a hardhead." Casey said through gritted teeth as they reached the lab and he sat down carefully on the bed.
"It's okay, I understand." April told him quietly with a gentle smile as she went to the cabinet for the medicine, thankful that he was now willing to take it.
Slowly pulling his legs up on the bed, Casey carefully laid back, grimacing as he finally rested against the soft pillows. He didn't want to lay down, when laying down meant that it would just cause his back more pain, and he couldn't lay down on his stomach because of his ribs.
As April gently injected the medicine into Casey's arm, he seemed not to notice, his eyes closed trying to block out the pain and wait for everything to feel better. She smiled sympathetically and turned to leave, stopping suddenly at the door when she remembered something. "Hey, you didn't eat. Do you want something?"
It took Casey a minute to respond. "Nah, I'm good." he finally answered quietly, eyes still closed as he heard April leaving the lab. He soon began to drift off into blissful nothingness, only hoping the medicine would be enough to keep him asleep the entire night without waking up in pain.
- - - - -