Chapter 3-Brotherly Turmoil
It took Leatherhead and Bishop's medics over half an hour to remove the bullets and treat Mikey's wounds on his body.
Leo, Raph, and Master Splinter were waiting anxiously outside of the infirmary throughout the procedure after they were told to wait outside just as Leatherhead and Bishop's medics begun treating Mikey. Despite their reluctance, Leo, Raph, and Master Splinter did as they were told since they didn't know much about medicine or surgical procedures, so they wouldn't be much help in just standing by and watching them with panicked faces.
Just then, the infirmary door opened and Leatherhead came out of the room and approach the trio with an exhausted but serious look on his face.
"How is Michelangelo, Leatherhead?" Master Splinter asked in a worried tone.
"Michelangelo is stable for now, but some of his injuries were severe…" Leatherhead answered grimly.
"How severe?" Leo asked nervously.
"Some of the bullets in his right leg and left arm have caused bone fractures, which may take many weeks to heal in plaster casts…Also, one of the bullets that struck his plastron had pierced his right lung, causing it to fill with blood, so we had to insert a drain tube into his side to drain the blood and relieve the pressure in his lung to keep it from collapsing…" Leatherhead explained the list of injuries that Mikey had sustained from the shooting.
At the end of Leatherhead's diagnosis, Leo and Master Splinter looked at him with horrified faces. The poor youngest member of their family was suffering from wounds that were more serious than they first expected. Raph, on the other hand, just released a frustrated sigh as he looked away and closed his eyes.
"C-Can we see him?" Leo asked anxiously.
"Of course…though I must warn you that his current state might not be very pleasant to see…" Leatherhead said with a warning.
Leo, Raph, and Master Splinter nodded in understanding before they followed Leatherhead into the infirmary to go and see their wounded family member.
/
The infirmary…
As soon as they entered the room, they immediately understood what Leatherhead meant in his warning about Mikey's current state, because what they saw on the medical bed in front of them looked like something out of an intense hospital drama series; there on the bed was an unconscious Mikey with an oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth. His left shoulder had a gauze covering the bullet wound, and his plastron was heavily bandaged. His left arm and right leg had been covered in thin plaster casts, and a drain tube was sticking out of his ride side with blood pouring out into a bucket.
"Mikey…" Leo whispered before he quickly walked towards the bed and placed comforting hands on Mikey's head and chest, whilst Master Splinter held the youngest turtle's hand in support. Raph just stayed put by the foot of the bed and had his arms folded as he looked at the unconscious turtle with a flat expression on his face.
"The general anaesthetic should wear off in another few minutes, but Michelangelo might still be too weak to awaken straight away due to the amount of blood that he's lost…" Leatherhead explained sadly as he approached the other side of the bed.
"Will he need a blood transfusion?" Leo asked in concern.
"No, not at the moment; he did not lose enough blood for one, so it wasn't necessary during his treatment…The only thing we can do for now is watch over him for any changes as he recovers…" Leatherhead answered softly.
Leo nodded in understanding before he leaned his head against Mikey's and allowed his developing tears to fall.
"Don't worry, Mikey…I'm right here…" He whispered soothingly whilst trying his best to keep his emotions under control.
Master Splinter was too upset to say anything, and instead just lowered his head with tears of his own falling down his face as he tightened his grip slightly on Mikey's hand. The poor sensei's heart was close to shattering; not only was his third son's life in danger, but his fourth and youngest son's life was also hanging in the balance. He couldn't bear the thought of losing both of them in one night, but he wasn't going to give up hope on them yet.
"Grr…What da shell was he thinkin' playin' hero like dat!?" Raph suddenly shouted out in anger since he could no longer contain it.
"He wasn't playing hero, Raph, he saved Donnie's life!" Leo countered in Mikey's defence.
"Well, it still doesn't change da fact dat Donnie is in dis situation and losin' more time cos of him!" Raph then shouted bitterly.
"How can you still blame him for this!? He's done nothing wrong! And besides, any one of us would've done the same thing as Mikey did earlier!" Leo countered in deep shock.
"Why do you hate him for even doing that!?" He then questioned.
Raph only glared at Leo without saying anything, which instantly made the blue-banded turtle draw to a horrific theory for his brother's reason.
"Wait…You…you wanted Mikey to take Donnie's place on that horrible night, didn't you!?" Leo questioned with wide eyes.
"…" Raph didn't answer and just turned his head slightly to the side to avoid eye contact with his immediate older brother.
"WHY!?" Leo shouted, now extremely angry with Raph.
"Raphael, tell me that you do not think of such a thing…please…" Master Splinter pleaded, finding it hard to believe that his red-banded son would think of his youngest brother in such a terrible manner.
"Oh, ya don't know!? Mikey's da useless burden out of da four of us! Donnie, on da other hand, is da only one who can keep dis family safe and together!" Raph said cruelly.
"That's NOT true! We all have a vital role to play in keeping our family safe and together, including Mikey!" Leo countered in a furious tone.
"Oh, really? Then why don't ya tell me how many times Mikey had almost gotten Master Splinter killed!? And how many times has Mikey screwed up durin' our missions!? Cos, ta me, I've lost count!" Raph demanded furiously.
"My friends, please…we must-"
"First of all, Raphael, Master Splinter chose to risk his life in protecting Mikey from harm because he is his father, and he would do the same thing for us too! Second, not every mission we were involved in went wrong because of Mikey; we too have made mistakes during missions! So, don't you dare try to deny that!" Leo reminded firmly with his hands on his hips, cutting Leatherhead's sentence off in the process.
"I ain't denyin' nothin'! I'm just statin' da facts!" Raph said dismissively.
"Facts that only you made up and believe in!? Face it, Raph; you have always used Mikey as an object to pin all the blame onto, instead of taking responsibility for your own actions!" Leo said accusingly.
"Says da 'Fearless Leader' who tries everythin' he can ta make Mikey as perfect as you!" Raph bit back.
"What's that supposed to mean!?" Leo questioned heatedly.
"You heard me; I've seen and heard ya constantly tellin' Mikey dat his stupidity and childish behaviour was turnin' him into a bad ninja and dat he needed ta change!" Raph explained accusingly.
"I never said that to him! All I told him was that he needed to be more focused during training and missions, that's it!" Leo corrected firmly.
"In other words, he needed ta be more like you and no-one else!" Raph taunted snidely.
"That's NOT what my intentions were, Raphael!" Leo shouted in a rage-filled outburst, now having had enough of Raph's attitude.
"My sons! Please, we must calm-"
"Oh, come on, Leo; we all know dat you've always been embarrassed by him, and ya try ta make him into a perfect ninja like you in order ta keep both yer self and Master Splinter happy!" Raph pointed out with his arms folded, cutting off Master Splinter's sentence in the process.
"I'm embarrassed!? Why don't you go look into a mirror and say that to yourself for once!?" Leo demanded crossly, making Master Splinter and Leatherhead gasp.
"Wha-? Excuse me!?" Raph said in confusion, anger, and hurt.
"You have always used every excuse to try and get away from Mikey whenever he wanted to be around you, because you only saw him as a screw-up and a disaster-bringer!" Leo fired at Raph accusingly as he got closer to his face.
"It ain't like dat! He always comes ta me at da wrong place at da wrong time!" Raph countered in denial.
"Which is all the time to you! Just admit it, Raph; you NEVER loved or cared about Mikey, and you're too ashamed to even SEE him as your brother because of who he is as a person!" Leo accused as he pointed at the unconscious turtle on the bed.
Suddenly…
BAM!
Leo was knocked to the ground after being swiftly punched in the face by an enraged Raph, shocking Leatherhead and Master Splinter.
"SHUT UP, LEO! You don't know a thing about how I feel about Mikey, so mind yer own business! Besides, dis ain't about him, it's about savin' Donnie!" Raph shouted down at Leo, his anger now worsening.
"Raphael, I swear you-"
"My friends, ENOUGH!"
The quarrelling brothers froze when Leatherhead shouted and stood in between them.
"Now is not the time to be throwing accusations and punches at each other! Donatello and Michelangelo both need us all to be calm and level-headed, and neither of you are helping them at this point! You should be ashamed of yourselves!" The big croc scolded the two brothers.
Leo slowly stood up and looked down in guilt as he rubbed his sore cheek, whilst Raph started panting as he took a moment to calm his anger down.
"I am very disappointed in you two…Do you honestly believe that Michelangelo would want you both arguing in front of him whilst he is currently fighting for his life!? I think not! And do not forget that Donatello's life is also hanging in the balance, and arguing with one another will only make us lose more precious time in saving him!" Master Splinter said sternly, tapping his walking stick hard on the ground.
Hearing the two older mutants' words, Leo and Raph both instantly felt very ashamed of what they did. They looked at Mikey for a moment before they looked down sadly and avoided eye contact with each other as well as Master Splinter and Leatherhead.
"Ahem…"
The group heard someone clearing their throat before they turned their heads towards the doorway to see Agent Bishop standing in front of the doorway and looking at them with an unhappy and annoyed face.
"Not to interrupt your little 'discussion', but don't we have more pressing matters to attend to? Such as curing the city and your brother, Donatello?" Bishop questioned in a slightly sarcastic tone, even though he stayed serious on the subject at hand.
"Yes, we know…We were just about to come out and speak with you, anyway…" Leo said in understanding.
"Good…I will be waiting for you outside, but only for 2 minutes…Don't be late…" Bishop warned before he left the infirmary.
"We had better be going; we cannot leave this matter for much longer…" Master Splinter insisted urgently but calmly.
"You are right, Master Splinter…besides, we cannot let Michelangelo's actions be all for nothing; he would want us to save Donatello, no matter what…" Leatherhead said in agreement before he and the others (except Raph) looked at Mikey with sad eyes.
"Ya don't have ta tell me twice about savin' Donnie…Come on…" Raph said bluntly before he stormed out of the infirmary without looking back at Mikey.
Leo, Master Splinter, and Leatherhead looked at each other before they started making their way towards the doorway as well. Before leaving himself, however, Leo approached Mikey's bed and placed a comforting hand on his head again as he spoke.
"We'll be back, Mikey…with Donnie cured and back with us…I promise…"
He then gave Mikey a soft kiss on the head before he left the infirmary altogether.
However, what the oldest turtle didn't notice shortly after leaving Mikey's bedside were tears of heartbreak falling down the unconscious turtle's face.