Disclaimer: The turtles don't want me as an owner. I'm too busy. Hence I don't own them.
A/N" Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up guys. Track is keeping me busy and I have this rule that if I can't drag myself over to the computer to turn it on I don't update until the next day. But hey I qualified to go to Districts yesterday! … yes that's my excuse for not updating sooner. On to the story!.
Pacphys: (Giggles) Man! You hit those nails all on the head! I'm not saying anything else though… you have to read to hear more. As for Cobart I love writing him. He was originally just supposed to be in one scene as a filler but it developed into more and changed the whole story. Thanks for reviewing!
ShikamaruChick: (giggles evilly) Poor Raphy boy. I'm so mean to him. You'll have to read on to see how it all pans out though! Thanks for reviewing!
BubblyShell22: Thank you for the offered info. I may very well use it sooner or later. I wrote this story because blindness is something that for some odd reason is very close to my heart. I don't honestly know why because no one I know is blind. I want to be a Guide Dog Trainer when I get older so I am some what oppressed with anything to do with the career. Thanks for reviewing!
Lunar-ninja: Yes Kevin is a little on the coward side of things but he knows when something needs to be done, a shame that he chickened out though.. but who would blame him? Alas poor Raph has many obstacles ahead of him and I can guarantee you get to see his anger flourish to new levels. Thanks for reviewing!
hazlov2004: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Glad to have you on board!
Kellie Fay: Oh dear yes I know how cranky you get. I am only updating about a chapter a week because I don't have much time and I want to give me readers time to do just that, read. I don't want to over load them. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
"Hold that leg tight Mike."
Raph sat straight up on the couch eyes open wide with a roar, swatting at whoever was touching him as he felt the pain in his leg come back more intense than ever.
"Woah! Raph cool it! It's done okay?"
"That what you think Mike. I still have to clean out that stab wound and it's a nasty one."
Raph was oblivious to it all. Despite the fact that the pain of having his leg patched was over he still sat panting and sweating.
"Mikey." His voice was on the edge of panic.
"Yeah Raph?"
Mike was only half paying attention to Raph, focused on helping Don. When Raph didn't answer he turned to look at his brother. His eyes were wide and glassy.
"Where are you?"
Mike felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Raph was staring right at him. Something a kin to fear on his face.
"I'm right here bro."
He left go of Raph's uninjured leg and reached out an arm to lay on his shoulder. As soon as Raph felt his touch he grabbed hold of Mike's forearm like a lifeline to assure himself that he was really there.
"Mike I can't see a thing." The same barely controlled anxiety was now evident in his voice.
"Donny?" Mike looked toward his genius brother.
"You're retinas might have detached Raph, or it could be a pool of blood from a ruptured blood vessel impairing your vision. Most like it is the former but I won't be able to tell until you're well enough to go back up to the eye clinic which, judging by your wounds, won't be any time soon."
"Ah!" Raph pulled his arm away from Don's grasp.
"What are you puttin in there? Hurts like hell."
"Well, shell-for-brains. When you fell you got all sorts of stuff in your stab wound here and now it's up to me to get it all out. I could use a wire brush if you like, instead of tweezers that is."
Just be careful, arm's one of a kind."
There was silence as Don picked out the debris in Raph's wound bit by bit.
"So how bad is it Don?"
"Well I couldn't find a whole bullet in your leg. I found a fragment or two but it was pretty much just a flesh wound. The guy was a bad shot I guess. I don't think you should walk on it anytime soon though. With your arm you won't be able to use crutches for a few days so I guess bed rest is all you've got left."
Raph cut Don's ramblings off.
"What about my eyes? Is that it? I'm blind?"
"I'm not sure. It's not my area of expertise. I was talking to Kevin though and he said,"
"Wait Kevin?" Raph interrupted again. "Eye doc Kevin? You mean he didn't run off after I blanked out?"
This time Mike answered. He seemed to be somewhat peppy despite Raph's recent misfortunes.
"Nope the dude was all curled up on the ground when I got there. I heard him yelling two blocks away. It was the only way I found you, him yelling that he was going to call the cops if they didn't leave you alone. Leo brought him back to the Lair for questioning and Splinter is having a royal fit. That's where he is now, in Sensei's room getting the tongue lashing of his life.
"I'm done here. Help me get Raph up to his room Mike."
Raph winced and groaned as his brothers helps him up from the couch, a turtle under each arm."
"So how many were left?"
"Two, real big guys. I took one out. The other ran off when he saw he was the only one left."
"Where are my sais?"
"In the dojo."
"If you use them anytime within the next two weeks I'll kill you." Don butted in.
"Kin you run and get um for me Mike?"
"Sure thing Dude."
Raph lay down on his bed with equally as loud of a groan as when he first got up, Mike ran off to go fetch his sais.
"You know that Kevin dude is pretty cool. He's pretty shy to begin with but once you get him talking he won't shut up. I was telling him about my problem with getting the rain water to run away from the Lair and he thinks he can help me design something."
Mikey came skipping back with Raph's sais in hand. Raph took them from him and laid them on his nightstand.
"Take these Raph. They'll help with the pain."
"I don't need no pain killers Don."
"You should take them anyway."
"If I need them then you would definitely know it."
Don gave up, knowing that he wouldn't win this fight with his stubborn brother. He sighed setting the pills on Raph's nightstand.
"Fine suffer if you want, but they're here on your nightstand if you need them. We gotta go to practice but I'll be back to check on you in a few. I have April up topside getting to some things so I can stitch those wounds shut. Until she comes back don't move at all or you might make your bleeding worse."
"Take it easy Bro." Mike patted Raph's shoulder and headed out of the room, closing the door.
Raph shifted in his bed as he heard the door click closed. He started sweating again as he tried to look around. He knew exactly where he was and what he should seeing but all that greeted his damaged eyes was a darkness that seemed to be coming closer and closer by the second. Blinking only made it worse. Yet blink he did, trying to see something in this new world of black. Though each time he opened his eyes his hope of seeing something different dwindled more. He forced himself to calm down. Keeping his eyes closed, he breathed slowly and deeply. Music. Music would calm his nerves. He felt for his radio and was slightly relieved when he found it where it should be. Flipping the switch, he listened to the electronically enhanced hard rock come flowing through the speakers into his room and bounce harshly off the walls. Raph grabbed one of his sais and held it up to what should have been his direct line of vision and imagined the light filtering through from under his door glint off the metal.
Never again would he see that. He only had memories to live off of now. Memories of how his family looked. Memories of Don's image when he finally figured out how to make one of his new inventions work, the pride in Leo's eyes when the four of them all did well in battle. He would even miss the look on Mikey's face when he pulled off the perfect prank. Never again would he be able to tell when he had pissed Leo off enough for him to attack, and never again would he see the face of an enemy he was about to bring down. Never was a long time and that was exactly when Raph would get to see those things again. Only in his dreams would he be able to see anything, but he would only see things of the past. He couldn't make up anything new. He had to rewind the old videos and replay them over and over. Never again would he see anything new. Never.
He laid his sai back down on the nightstand and settled down farther in to his pillow, forcing the depressing thoughts from his head.
Don was right about suffering. His leg throbbed with occasional flashes of pain that made him grimace, and his arm felt like it was being stabbed all over again. Maybe he would take those pain killers Don was talking about. Even the numb, out of it feeling they gave him would be better than this.
He carefully slid his hand across the nightstand but jerked to a stop when he hit the capsules. Cursing he threw his injured left hand out to catch the pills that were now on their way to his cluttered bedroom floor. His body twisted slightly as his arm pressed over his chest. The movement caused weight to be put on his still open leg wound. He bit back a scream yet still gasped as he quickly moved back to his former position, forgetting about the pills. He massaged the area just above his knee, terrified to mess with the torn flesh below that point. He hoped April would come back soon with the stuff Donny needed. How much time had gone by since Don had left? What time was it? He wouldn't be able to tell time now that he was blind either he told himself. April would probably be gone an hour and a half to two hours and if it was still evening Don would be back from practice in an hour. If it was morning he would have awhile to wait. He hoped dearly for his own good that it was still night. Raph turned his music down and could faintly hear the sounds of his brothers talking while they practiced. Evening practice was for perfecting balance and some of the more internal arts of Ninjitsu. Morning was when they sparred and did physical practice. If he were with his brothers now they would probably have just finished a few warm up katas and were stretching out. Usually they would make jokes and poke fun at each other while stretching out but tonight Raph could only hear low worried voices. They were talking about him, worried about him. No one ever needed to worry about him before. He was Raph. He could handle anything. Now though he was Raph, the cripple. Just as extra burden for his brothers to carry.
He heard Master Splinter enter the dojo and greet his students as if it were any other day. No doubt Leo had filled him in on the fight and Don would soon fill him in on his condition. Splinter wouldn't be surprised though. Sensei was never surprised. He would have sensed Raph's fear and drawn his own conclusions. Even in the worst of times Splinter was able to keep his cool. Raph thought back to the time when Mike and Don had gone missing from the Lair. He settled back and tried to relax as he focused on the distant memory.
FLASHBACK
TEN YEARS AGO (The turtles were six)
Splinter walked into the living room where Raphael and Leonardo were into an intense game of stare down. He watch, intrigued as his two sons fought not to blink.
It was such a silly game that kept them busy so long. If one would just relax and stop concentrating they could easily win the match. Their eyes teared as they stared at each other, dead set on winning. Splinter shook his head as he remembered what he had come in for.
"My sons."
Both the boys jumped and blinked. Raphael smiled and pumped a fist in the air.
"Ha! I won! You blinked!"
"Nut uh! You blinked before me!" Leonardo protested.
"Nut uh!"
"Yu huh!"
"My sons," Splinter tried again.
Both young turtles looked at their father.
"Leonardo, you blinked first. Raphael is the victor." Leonardo folded his arms and made a face. "Do you by chance know where Michaelangelo might be found? He is in great need of some reprimanding." Splinter held up the bucket of water that was meant to fall on him as he opened his bedroom door.
"Last I saw he was with Donny Sensei. I don't know where they went."
"Very well. Thank you Raphael."
Splinter left his sons to continue their game to search for the other two.
Many hours later the whole Lair had been searched. It puzzled Splinter as to where his sons had gone. He wondered out into the sewers, hoping to find them somewhere near. He had already searched the immediate area though and nothing had come up before. Knowing they had gotten into trouble somewhere, Splinter started an extensive search of the tunnels.
Not even an hour into his search he heard a scream. Identifying it as one of his sons, he dashed off in the direction it had originated from. The tunnel opened up into a room and the old rat was greeted by a horrifying sight.
Michaelangelo and Donatello were on the ground level of the huge room that seemed to be the main tunnel, reaching to all the levels of the sewers. Michaelangelo seemed to have his leg stuck under a pile of rock and Donatello seemed to be trying futilely to release him. Michaelangelo cried to Don as his brother worked at a slab of concrete.
"I'm gonna die down here Don. We never told anyone where we were going and now I'm gonna die!" He rubbed a grubby hand into his tear stained face and sniffed loudly.
"No you're not Mikey. I'm going to get you out."
"My leg hurts. It's going to fall off Don!"
"Your leg is not going to fall off. You probably twisted it when you feel and that ledge falling on it probably didn't help it any."
"I can't feel my leg and more Don!" Mikey's voice squeaked and rose ten notches.
"You just said ten seconds ago that it hurt. You're lying."
"No I'm not! I can't feel it! It fell off and now I'm going to die!"
Splinter worked his way down to the main tunnel hopping from ledge to ledge. He reached the ground floor just as Mikey's tears reached their peak.
"Do not worry Michaelangelo. I'm sure your leg will be just fine."
He helped Don to move the concrete slab off of Mike's leg. Michaelangelo took one look at his leg and screamed again, breaking into a fresh round of tears. Don's eyes grew big and he paled slightly.
"Master Splinter?' He whispered.
Mikey's leg was covered in blood and was swelling rapidly.
"Do not worry my son. Your brother shall be fine. Though you shall both be punished when we get home for you both have disobeyed me and wondered far."
He gently scooped Michaelangelo up into his arms and started home.
Splinter entered the Lair with Michaelangelo shivering violently in his arms. Donatello's constant stream of worried questions helped none to calm his brother who was now in shock.
Raphael wondered out into the living room where Splinter was lying Mikey out on the couch.
"Mikey!" he yelled when he caught sight of his sibling. He rushed to his side at the couch.
"Your brother has been hurt Raphael. Please go find blankets for him. He needs to be kept warm."
"Is he going to die Master Splinter?"
"No he shall not. Now go find some blankets, and some warm water and a cloth too to wipe out his wound."
Raphael dashed off to get the supplies.
That night had been one of the roughest nights of all their lives. True, now that they were older they had experienced more severe injuries but it was the first time any of them had gotten seriously hurt and it caused emotions to be on high. Splinter had let them sleep out in the living room to be with Mike. All of them had cried that night and the question of 'Is Mikey going to die?' was asked more than once. There never really was any danger of Mike dying but all four turtles sure thought there was. One would have thought that after a night of stress and questions that Splinter would be near his breaking point, but each inquiry brought to him by on of his sons he answered as best he could. Never once did he sigh in frustration or shrug off one of their concerns.
Raph was snapped out of his thoughts by April's voice echoing through the Lair.
"Guys! I'm back!"
Don appeared from the dojo.
"Hey Ap. Splinter says we're almost done in here. I'll be right out. Raph's in his room if you want to see him."
"Alright. Go finish whatever your doing."
Don disappeared back into the dojo while April headed to Raph's room.
She knocked lightly on his door and opened it a crack, poking her head in. He was lying on his bed with his hands over his eyes.
"Hey," She spoke loud enough to be heard over the music but not so loud as to be obvious. His head shot up as he heard her in his room and he fumbled for the knob to turn it down.
"How you feeling?"
"Like I got beat up."
"Tell me about it. You look like you just came back from war. Did Don clean out that stab wound already?"
"Yeah he was just waiting for you to come back to stitch it up."
"Well they're almost done with practice…. Why did Splinter make them have practice when you were hurt anyway?" April asked.
"Cuz I'm not dying." Raph smiled. "And he thinks that having a schedule that you always stick to helps with stress and all that fun stuff."
"Oh well, Don said he'd be in soon."
"Good. My leg hurts like Hell."
"Didn't he give you anything for it?"
Raph shifted in his bed.
"Sorta"
"How can he sorta give you something."
"Well I knocked it onto the floor."
April understood immediately and rushed out of the room only to come back moments later with two capsules and a glass of water in her hands.
"Here. Take. Swallow. Feel better."
She put the capsules in his hand and wrapped the other one around the glass of water. She helped him to sit up as he downed the pills and drained the glass of water. He laid back down and carefully placed the glass on his nightstand. April found a chair and cleared it off to sit down.
"So what's new April?"
April knew that question all too well. Anytime one of the boys got hurt they would try to make small to take their minds off of things. When they asked what was new she had better have an answer or else there would be a long painful silence.
"I found another guy to rent my downstairs apartment to. He's moving in next week."
"Is all the remodeling gonna be done by then?"
Raph knew that April had taken the reward money from finding the stolen jewels and was rebuilding her apartment.
"Oh yeah. After I threatened to sue those painters for lazying about every single one of those men kicked it into high gear.
"Sue? April, since when did you sue anybody?"
"Oh I don't, but use a few big words that Webster wouldn't know the meaning of and it sure scares their pants off! I feel kind of bad for them though. Between all of them they don't have the IQ of a monkey."
Raph chuckled.
The door opened once again and Don entered the room with his hands full of medical supplies. He set them down on the edge of Raph's bed.
"So which do you want me to fix first Raph? Arm or Leg?"
"I donno, flip for it."
"Leg it is then."
Don rummaged around in the shopping bag by his side until he found what he needed. He pulled out some floss and a needle as well as peroxide and a few cotton balls. He dipped the cotton ball in the peroxide and wiped off the needle as April and Raph continued to talk.
"So when are we going to get to see this new apartment April?" His face fell slightly at the phrase. His brothers may see it but he never would.
" As soon as the painters leave and right before this new guy moves in, some time this week."
"If your arm heals quickly enough," Don butted in. He threaded the unwaxed floss through the needle eye and unwrapped the temporary bandage he had put on Raph's leg.
"Aw shhhell! Raph!" He leaned forward and smacked his brother on the head.
"What'd I do?" Raph retorted as he blindly swatted back at his brother and rubbed his head where Don had hit him.
"You… well it's not really your fault. I didn't notice it before but there's not enough skin for me to just sew up this gun shot wound on your leg."
"That pretty huh? So what are we going to do?"
"Well I still have to sew it up. Normally in the hospitals they would either get donor skin to cover the area, or if they were doing a surgery they would insert balloons and fill them with saline solution slowly to stretch the skin, then use the extra skin. I don't have that though. It's going to be tight and it's going to hurt like your shell's on fire but I think I'm going to have to kind of stretch the skin and make it fit."
"Spare me the details." Raph moaned as he laid his head back down.
Don went to the door.
"Mikey! Leo! I need your help in here!"
Mike came bounding in first way ahead of Leo.
"Watch ya need Donny?" He asked as he grinned ear to ear.
"I need you to help hold Raph down. I need to stitch up his leg."
"Sure thing!"
He skipped over to Raph's bed and pounced right on to his plastron. Raph's eyes grew large as all the air was driven from his lungs.
"Ouf! Get off stupid!"
He used his good leg to kick him a solid on in the head. Mikey made a face and pushed his foot away. Raph slapped him on the shell and Mikey punched back. The skirmish was just reaching full scale when Leo strolled into the room. He noticed the exasperated look on Don's face and took stock of the situation. He walked up behind Mikey, dodging a few flailing limbs. He grabbed Mike by the shell and dragged him off of Raph who attempted to go after the retreating turtle. Quick as a flash Don took Mike's place on top of Raph's plastron.
"Don't you move an inch!" He growled.
Raph's face moved in his direction and for a moment he was shocked at his brother's abrupt order, but his face soon twisted into a grin and he let out a chuckle that soon developed into a full blown laugh.
"You're serious about this aren't you Don?"
"Yeah well if you move that leg we'll see who's laughing when gang green sets in and I take a saw to it!"
He pulled back off Raph but still gave him the death glare.
"Mike, Leo, hold him down while I stitch this up."
A piece of leather was placed in Raph's mouth and Leo and Mike were placed either side of him. It was times like these that Raph wished he drank.
"Ready?" Don asked with his needle in hand.
Raph closed his eyes and nodded, speaking around the leather strap causing his speech to slur slightly."
"Do it"
Don didn't wait. He crouched down and as gently as possible tried to pick the good flesh ends out of the wound so he could sew them back together. The second Don touched Raph's injury with his needle he jumped and kicked out with his good leg as pain shot up his bad one. He heard an 'oof' from Don and he muttered an apology, took a breath, and tried to calm himself. Leo and Mike threw all their weight on their brother and Don tried again. He had to tug and pull pretty hard to get the skin in place, much to Raph's dismay. The actual stitching was almost painless compared to what it took to get there.
"There done. Now all I have to do is stitch up your arm and I'm done. That one's not going to hurt nearly as much.
"Need anything else Don?" Leo asked as he got up to leave.
"Not at the moment. You can leave. I'll call you if I need you."
"Alright."
Leo strolled back out of the room. He flopped onto the couch and turned on the TV. Letting the controller fall to his side as he stretched out the full length of the sofa. For the first time that night he allowed his thoughts to wonder.
He had barely gotten out of Splinter's room unpunished. Sensei had been cross to say the least. He has almost been given double practice, which wouldn't have been bad except that he didn't deserve it. The reprimanding and disappointment was always worse than the punishment anyway, but Master Splinter finally saw it Leo's way and realized there really wasn't anything else he could have done under the circumstances. None the less he had still gotten a great lecture about letting strangers into their home. Leo had to grin at that. It was almost like a normal teen thing to be lectured for letting a stranger in, but he wasn't a normal teen. He was a ninja and a turtle at that. He could never be normal. Nor could the rest of his family, but Raph, Raph was even less normal now. How would he ever be able to function as a ninja again? Leo had read many stories about the wisdom and strength a blind man could poses, but even blind he couldn't see Raphael becoming wise. No, Raph would want to continue being a ninja, but was it possible? He didn't know but he was going to try and find out.
Leo flipped off the TV and went into the dojo. He took off his mask and flipped it around so the eye holes were in the back. He approached their newest piece of equipment in the dojo, the mook yan jong.
All four brothers had made it together. Finding scraps of wood and forming them into the replica of a fighting human. Don had varnished it and it now stood in the dojo. It was a spin off from their old wooden dummy, only better. It really wasn't even a mook yan jong, it was a step up. The arms and legs were actually wooden wheels. Each wheel had six spokes attached. When one was hit another would come to the for front. It was the perfect tool to practice blocks on. One could also see the result of a punch or kick gone wrong. Concentration was needed to keep from making a wrong move. One needed to know exactly where each spoke was to keep from getting hit.
Leo started out slowly punching the imitation hands and kicking at the feet. Practicing with the mook yan jong was like fighting a human with too many limbs that moved at warp speed. As soon as one arm spun out of the way another one was there. Leo's strikes intensified causing the tables to spin faster and faster. He took a step forward, purposely coming in line with the table. Lighting quick, he threw his hands up and his leg out to stop three of the four tables.
"Ow!"
He hadn't timed it right. He had successfully stopped two of them, probably by chance, but the third one had a spoke that slipped past his arm and had hit him on the head. Again he set the tables in motion, using the same pattern he had used last time, and again when he blocked he failed. This time two spokes slipped past. Many times he tried to stop three of the tables but only a few times did he succeed.
One out of three. Those were the odds that in a fight again three guys that Raph would get hurt. It wasn't that Leo couldn't work the mook yan jong right. It was that without seeing it he couldn't block the spokes right. It was only by chance that all would be blocked. Out of frustration at the results, Leo continued his experiment. Time and time again he was struck on the head, arms, and shins by the whirling spokes. Finally he stopped, pulling up his mask so he could see. There just had to be a way to fix this.
"Why not pull away my son?" Leo turned to see Master Splinter at the door. He bowed deeply.
"Sensei. I didn't know you were watching."
Splinter returned a small bow as he stepped into the room.
"Why put yourself in the line of danger if it is not needed. By striking and pulling back you make your enemy come for you. Try again."
Leo replaced his mask blindfold and set the tables in motion. When he was prepared to block he ducked in and around the whirling wheels, stopping them one as a time. Each time he waited to feel the crack of the wood against his bones but it never came. He lifted his mask and found all the tables at a complete stop. Splinter nodded with a slight smile and silently made his way out of the dojo. Leo still wasn't happy though. He may have achieved his goal but that didn't help Raph any. Fighting the mook yan jong was nothing like fighting a real human in battle. Humans didn't stay still like a piece of wood. Even after his experiment his question wasn't answered. Would Raph ever be able to be ninja again?
He placed his mask on correctly and wondered back out into the living room where he found Splinter waiting for him in his arm chair.
"Something more than Ninjitsu troubles you my son."
Leo sighed as he knelt by his Master's side.
"It's Raph Sensei. I wasn't thinking about it too much before because I guess I hoped by ignoring it that it wouldn't happen. I think we all thought that, but now that it has happened I find myself unprepared for it and I don't know what we are going to do. How is Raph ever going to be bale to fight again? It has always been the four of us fighting in battle together, but now that Raph is blind how are we going to manage? How is he going to manage for that matter?
"When a fighter falls down my son, the others double their efforts to make up for the lost one. The same is for Raphael's senses. He may no longer have his sight but his other senses will fill in and take over. My son, Raphael is still a ninja. He never stopped being one. He will just have to relearn the skills he once knew how to do in a different way. It he wants it bad enough he will be just as good a ninja blind as he was sighted. We just have to give it time."
Splinter got up from his chair and headed off to his room, leaving Leonardo to ponder his words. Once again Leo's questions were still left unanswered, but he now had something he could go on. Raphael never stopped being a ninja. Maybe there was still hope after all.
Leo stood, opting to lay on the more comfortable couch. He stretched out and rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands. He used his forearm to shield his eyes from the light as he lay there thinking.
"Excuse me?" Came a voice from somewhere to the side of him. "I think I've been forgotten about."
Leo moved his arm away from his eyes so he could see who was talking. His eyes were greeted by a rather fidgety and nervous Kevin. It was clear it had taken a great amount of his courage just to step out of the room he was in and see where everyone had gotten to. They really had forgotten about him. He sat up as Kevin walked closer.
"Oh yeah. Don went to go fix Raph up. He should be out soon."
"As if on cue Raph's voice could be heard bellowing from the direction of his room.
"A week? Don! That's torture!"
Leo rolled his eyes.
"My name's Leonardo, Leo for short. Sorry about drawing on you back in the alley. I don't trust humans too easy." He offered his hand and Kevin shook it.
"Kevin Broody."
Leo noticed that Kevin had a bandage on his shoulder where his shirt had been torn.
"What happened there?" He asked motioning towards the wound.
"Oh ah… a casualty of war."
"Raph did that didn't he?"
Kevin winced as he was roped into telling the truth. He didn't really want to get his rescuer in trouble and it looked, by the dark frown on Leo's face, that that was exactly what was going to happen.
"Yeah, but it wasn't his fault. He couldn't see right or walk any more and it was a last stand kind of thing. He told me to duck before he threw some metal disks but I wasn't fast enough and managed to get one in my shoulder. It wasn't very deep though. I had pulled it out before you guys even showed up."
Leo nodded slowly. He would let it slid with Raph for now but he mentally added it to the ever growing list of things that he needed to talk over with Raph.
I never had the chance to thank you or your brothers for saving me."
"You might not want to thank us just yet."
Kevin gave him an odd. 'why wouldn't I?' look to which Leo only sighed.
"Long story short. Raph found out not too long ago that both his retinas were tearing after he was hit in the face by a flash bomb last month then again a about two weeks ago. We didn't know until he started showing symptoms. He and Don snuck into your office to confirm it. Don told him it could only be fixed with a surgery that he couldn't perform and once the retinas were fully detached there was no hope of getting his sight back. When he got hit during that fight Don said it must have caused his retinas to detach completely. He must have been stalking you in hopes that you would help him with his sight. I figured he'd try to get in contact with you but I didn't figure he'd do it like that.
"You were asking for it though dude. Stayin out that late in that kinda outfit. What were you doin out that that late anyways?"
"Why aren't you helping Don?"
Mikey grinned.
"He kicked me out and said I was being a nuisance. I'm ordering a pizza for dinner. You wanna stay Dude?
He looked back at Kevin as he pulled out his shell cell and punched in the digits for an outside line.
"Um yeah sure it that's ok."
"Sure it is. I bet Raph will wanna talk to you too so that'll give him a chance."
Leo sighed knowing that Raph probably wouldn't be in the mood to talk but they couldn't uninvited Kevin now. Still pizza might cheer Raph up.
Mikey closed his Shell Cell down and placed it back in his belt.
"Alright. I'm goin out to get that pizza! Be back in forty!"
He grabbed his skateboard and was out of the Lair in a second flat. Leo turned to Kevin intending to start a conversation when he noticed Kevin was still dressed in his mud and filth covered shirt and pants. He took him by the arm and guided him into the room Casey used when he came over.
"Let's get you some clean cloths."
He yanked open a dresser drawer and pulled out a bundle of cloths which he shoved into Kevin's arms.
"They might be a little big."
"They should be fine. Thanks."
Leo left to give Kevin some privacy. Minutes later Kevin emerged from the room, a changed man. No longer was he the shy, slightly nervous eye doctor. Now he was a cop passing as a gangster, of maybe an army sergeant on R and R. He certainly wasn't shy looking. With one outfit change the young man transformed into a force to be reckoned with. Even his eyes took on a certain gleam, seeming to alter his very soul Yet underneath that hard exterior there was a certain softness that showed through. Leo wasn't sure but he thought it was kindness, maybe mercy or sympathy. Whatever it was though it gave the gangster cop in Kevin the need to protect the innocent and the resting solider a yearning to see his long missed wife and daughter. All this only by a simple white beater and a pair of black slightly oversized jeans. It made him quite intimidating to say the least.
Leo's eyes grew slightly as he took in the massive change. Kevin frowned slightly and picked at the baggy jeans.
"Do these pants make me look fat?" Insecurity leaking through in his voice.
Nope same Kevin. Leo grinned at the comment knowing that Kevin could look every bit the dangerous thug until he spoke, then it was all out the window.
"No, they look good on you." Leo turned Kevin in the general direction of the kitchen. "Seeing as three pizzas would never hold us over let alone two extra guests, what do you say you help me make a salad of something to go with it?"
"Um.. sure I guess."
For the next thirty minutes Leo filled Kevin in on everything about their lives that Don had missed and Kevin told a bit of his own history.
He had come from Michigan. He had one older sister who owned her own hair parlor. His father had died of a heart attack when Kevin was just fourteen and his mother was living out the rest of her life happily back in Michigan with her daughter. Kevin had moved to New York in hopes of finding better work just over two years ago. It was only by chance that he had found the perfect building for sale. Using the money he had inherited from his dad he started his own eye doctor office.
"I still keep in touch with my Mom and sister though I don't visit as much as I should."
They were just putting their finishing touches to the salad when Mikey came back with the pizzas.
"Time to eat!" Leo hollered when he saw Mikey walk through the door, skateboard in one hand, and the three pizzas balance precariously in the palm of the other.
Splinter emerged from his room, knowing full well how much food one got when they were last to the table. April appeared from Raph's room with the two turtles right behind her. Raph had a crutch under one arm and Don under the other to help guide him. They all quickly took their seats at the table, pulling up two extra chairs for their guests.
By the time everyone was settled Mike was drooling like a starving dog. His dark brown eyes spoke volumes to their Sensei, who they were locked on. Splinter gave a nod of his head and they dug in, being sure to serve their guests first. Pizza was passed around closely followed by salad. The meal was well underway before anyone noticed that Raph was staring intently at where his salad should be with a slight frown on his face, fork in hand.
"What's wrong Raph?" Don asked as he grabbed another slice of pizza.
"How am I supposed to eat it?" He asked as it were something simple and everyday.
Don stopped mid chew. What could he tell him? He hadn't had the chance to look up the way blind people did simple things like making sure their food was small enough to fit in their mouths. He sat for a second thinking while Raph continued to stare.
"Take your knife and use it to tell where the edges are so you can tell if you need to cut anything or not." It was Kevin who had spoken up.
Everyone gave him a 'how would you know that?' look except for Raph who felt around for his knife. Everyone stared and momentarily stopped eating to watch Raph try out the new procedure. To most's surprise it worked. Kevin only shrugged when Don looked at him.
"My sister's best friend was partial blind. I picked up a lot of the tricks she knew. It's what got me into optometry.
Don nodded in understanding and continued eating his own meal.
"How's the leg Raph? Leo asked from the opposite corner of the table from where Raph sat."
"t's fine. Donny says I'm not allowed to use the crutches for a whole week though. I'm gonna go out of my mind,"
"Hey you're lucky. If that bullet hole was any bigger I don't know what I would have done. It was pure luck on your part that bone wasn't damaged."
Raph shrugged and went back to eating.
A/N: The mook yan jong is a wooden dummy meant to improve acurracy. I modifed it a bit and made the arms and legs spin. Please tell me if you understand my discription. Thanks!