Raph settled her into one of the seats in the back of the van, and strapped her in loosely. Immediately, he took the chair near her. They were soon joined by Casey, and he cringed when he saw Elizabeth.
"Geeze! They sure did do a number on her," he muttered. He saw Raph glaring at him, and strapped himself into a seat without another word. Mikey was driving, as Don was tending to a wound that Leo had sustained in the battle.
"Slow it down a little bit, Mikey," Don said, as he also took a seat. Raph stared out of one of the tinted windows, buried in his thoughts. How could those bastards do that to her? Hasn't she been through enough already?
"There was nothing that you could had done, Raph," Leo softly spoke.
"Yeah? Tell that ta' her!" He nodded his head in Elizabeth's direction. Only then did he notice that she was staring at him. He reached for her hand and then decided against it, remembering the nail wounds in her wrists.
"You ok, Lizzie?" he asked. Idiot! Of course she isn't ok, he berated himself. She didn't say anything, just continued to stare at him. Then she started making choking noises and her whole body jerked and spasmed.
"Lizzie! What the...Donatello!" Raph struggled to get the seatbelt off of himself. Don had better luck with his. He shot out of his seat and was at his niece's side, unbuckling her belt in seconds! He gently laid her on the floor of the van. He then grabbed a bandage strip from the bag. Opening her mouth, he quickly stuck his fingers in, and pulled her
tongue back out of her throat. Then he pulled the bandage like a gag across her mouth, preventing her from gnashing her teeth together. Raph finally managed to free himself and then stood, not sure what to do.
"What's wrong with her!" he yelled.
"It's just a seizure," explained Don.
"Just a...ya' say that like it's a good thing!" Raph snapped.
"You want me to stop!" Mikey yelled from up front.
"No. Keep driving. It isn't as bad as you think it is...at least I Hope not," Don muttered the last part. Finally she quietened down and laid still, her eyes blinking slowly. Then once more she renewed her struggles. She tried to remove the bandage that Don had stuck between her lips, as her eyes frantically darted about. Don promptly removed the bandage and tossed it aside. He pulled a penlight from his bag and flashed it in her eyes. She weakly batted the light away as she tried to cover her face. Don then put the light back into the bag.
"She's ok," he said to her very relieved father. Also causing Leo, Mikey and Casey to relax.
"Help me get her up." Don looked at Raph who moved in straight away, and they lifted her together. They put her back in her seat. All the time she was making soft mewling sounds, like a kitten in pain. Don returned to his seat. But he stayed alert for anything else that might happen to her. Raph crouched in front of Elizabeth. Ignoring the motion of the van, he moved his hand gently down her cheek.
"It's ok, baby. I'm right here," he comforted. After a long moment she stopped making noises, and drifted back into sleep. Raph stayed where he was, until they got back to the warehouse above the sewers. Raph then gathered her into his arms tenderly, and they headed down to the Lair. He put her gently on the bed in the infirmary, and then looked at Don.
"What ya' need me ta' help with?" he asked. Don glanced nervously at him. He knew that Raph wasn't going to like what he was going to say.
"Actually, April is going to help me," he said. Raph stared at him for a long moment.
"What!" he finally exploded.
"This is my daughter, Don!"
"Which is exactly why you shouldn't be here, Raph. They did some things to her. And you really don't want to see that when I examine her," Don said.
"What things?" Raph asked fearfully. Don sighed. He shouldn't have said that.
"I'll tell you later. Right now you need to let take care of her. Trust me, bro'. As soon as I'm done I'll tell you everything...ok?" Don looked deep into Raph's eyes.
"Yeah, just...if she wakes up again, make sure she ain't scared." Raph took one last look at his sleeping daughter, and then left the infirmary. Not even acknowledging April, as she came in and closed the door behind her. Don washed his hands with the disinfectant wash. And April put on a pair of sterile latex gloves. He lifted Elizabeth up and held her against his plastron, while April removed the blanket. She let out a loud gasp, as she saw the injuries that covered Elizabeth from head to toe. Don gently laid her back down on the clean sheet that April spread out on the bed. Then he went to wash his hands again while April changed her gloves, and started to get more bandages and equipment ready. Under Don's instruction she hooked up a fluid IV, and set it to flow as fast as possible. Don looked at the IV bag and then at April.
"You get them?" he asked. She gestured to where the bags of blood were.
"Let's get these in her fast." Don grabbed one of the bags himself, and quickly switched it with the fluid bag. April started peeling off the bandages that he had put on Elizabeth earlier, revealing the worst of her wounds. Don knew he was going to have to stitch the torn flesh of her right shoulder, and long cut on her spine, and he was readying what he'd need to do it. All this time Elizabeth hadn't woke up and didn't make a single noise. But as soon as April touched her shoulder with the gauze and disinfectant, she screamed. There was a crashing sound nearby, and Don knew that Raph had probably been standing outside the infirmary. They both heard Leo's quiet, reasoning voice talking to Raph, trying to calm him down. Don ignored this as he moved quickly to the top of the bed, both of his hands cupping her face. He was reminded of when she first came to the Lair all those years ago, and she had been afraid of him. Because he was usually carrying some sort of tool around, and she always thought he was going to do something to her with them. Since that time she had come to trust him.
"Look at me Lizzie," he said gently. He could feel the muscles in her neck as she struggled. He repeated himself, "Look at me."
Her eyes were darting around, never stopping long enough to actually see anything. Then her eyes locked on his and stayed. He could see the terror in her eyes and feel her trembling.
"We're not going to let anything bad happen...ok?" he said. At first she tried to nod, and then she shook her head jerkily.
"I know you're scared. But you're safe here."
"O-ok," she finally whispered.
Don didn't look away from her as he spoke to April. "Keep cleaning," he said.
He felt Lizzie stiffen as April wiped her wounds clean, and small sobs escaped her. He took a moment to change the IV for another pouch of fresh blood.
"Don, take a look at this," April said. Don joined her, and inspected the wound near the top of her inner thigh. It had small pieces of glass embedded in it. He tried to remove a piece of the broken glass with plastic tweezers.
"Nooo," Elizabeth moaned. Don stopped what he was doing, and put the tweezers aside.
"Just clean around it," he told April. She looked at him, confused as to why he wasn't to do it now. He pulled her away out of earshot of Elizabeth.
"Once that bag is empty, it should be ok to knock her out for a while." He glanced back toward Elizabeth who was now laying still again, all of her energy probably spent.
He lowered his voice, "When we found her they had these things stuck in her. I'm pretty sure they raped her, and probably just not the conventional way," he felt sick just saying it.
"How in the hell can someone do that to another human being?" April asked in disgust.
"Well, judging from what I saw, it's more than a possibility," Don said sadly. April went back to cleaning the less serious burns and injuries. Don noticed that she was being extra careful, trying not to cause the girl any pain.
Don brought the x-ray machine over, and positioned it over Elizabeth's head,
"What...what for?" Lizzie asked.
"It's just for a minute, honey," April told her.
"It's to check and make sure that you're ok." April didn't think that the girl would fully understand what the machine was for. Don moved quickly as he could, taking as many x-rays as needed. He'd take one of her back later on.
"It's almost empty," April said, referring to the bag of blood.
"Good," Don said tersely. He picked up a syringe and filled it.
"Needles...no," Lizzie looked at him with pleading eyes. He glanced at April who just shrugged.
"I need to Lizzie. So I can help you to feel better."
"NO!" The word exploded from her, as she frantically shook her head. Don sighed loudly. She always hated needles, he knew that. Then he remembered something else, and put the needle down.
"Ok. No needles...alright?" he said.
"Ok," she stared at him. As if not quite trusting that he wouldn't use the needle on her still. He rolled the gas bottle over. It was already attached to a face mask.
"I'm just going to put this on for a minute, and then you'll sleep for a while." He waited for a moment until she nodded. And then he placed the gas mask on, until it covered her mouth and nose.
"Just take some deep breaths," he instructed her. Within a few minutes her eyes had drifted closed, and her breathing deepened. He took the mask off, and set it down on the gas cylinder.
"Let's get to work." He picked up a needle and carefully started stitching up her shoulder. Once he was done, he had April loosely bandage it.
Meanwhile in the Dojo...
Raph pounded away at the punching bag. He imagined the punching bag first as the Shredder, then as one of the Elite. Splinter had been watching his temperamental son for some time. Eventually, he decided to step in.
"Ahhh...you are so angry my son," Splinter said, as he placed one paw on Raph's shoulder.
"Come...we shall have some tea," his tone left no room for arguments. So Raph followed Splinter to his room, where Leo had prepared some tea them and then left.
"Sit." Splinter sat down and crossed his legs, as Raph sat down in front of him.
"I want ta' be with her!" Raph exploded. Splinter handed him a cup of tea, and then poured one for himself.
"Your brother is right, Raphael," Splinter said. Raph opened his mouth, a retort at the ready. Splinter held up his paw.
"Tell me one thing. Do you want to be there for her, or for yourself?"
"For..." Raph started. Splinter raised one eyebrow and Raph knew that he couldn't lie.
"...both of us," he finished.
"Exactly. Donatello was also looking out for you. He does not want you to see your child in pain. For that will also cause you to be in pain. In fact, I think he wishes to speak to you now." Splinter took a sip of his tea. Donatello entered the room, and bowed to Splinter.
"I apologize for interrupting, Sensei," he said.
"I shall leave you two alone," Splinter stated.
"Please...Master Splinter. Stay," Raph asked, and then he looked at Don expectantly.
"I've done all I can for her. She will heal fully...at least physically," said Don.
"Ya' said that ya' would tell me what those bastards did ta' her!" Raph exclaimed. Don took a seat across from Raph.
"Yes, I did." Don took a deep breath wondering where to start.
"She has a broken wrist from where she was nailed up. Various slashed cuts from a knife, and some type of sword. Someone, as you saw earlier, peeled the skin on her right shoulder and over her spine. I'm going to have to watch that, to make sure it doesn't get infected. Some burns that were made my metal, those weren't too bad." Don paused, not wanting to reveal the last part.
"What are ya' not tellin' me?" asked Raph suspiciously.
"When Mikey and I found her, she had some kind of wooden poles with spikes on it stuck in her…front part and back part, which caused a lot of internal damage. Before that, he had men rape her both vaginally and anally. Numerous times they used knives, broken bottles, and many other objects that I couldn't identify. She was very badly torn up on the
inside, but I repaired most of the damage." When Don himself had seen the extent of the damage, he had felt a wave of anger come over him. Raph just stared at him for a moment, his brow wrinkled as he tried to understand what was told him. Raph's head then dropped into his hands, and his whole body shook. Don heard a sob coming from his brother, and looked at his father.
"I had to tell him," Don said helplessly.
"And you were right in doing so. He needed to know. Now leave us, my son," Splinter said. Splinter went to his crying son, and sat beside him.
"Tell him that he can come and visit with Elizabeth," then Don wasted no time getting out of there and back to the infirmary.
Splinter touched Raphael's shoulder in comfort, but the turtle continued to cry, "Sometimes bad things happen that we have no control over. Yet, when it happens to a parent, it is so much more bitter. As parents we are blessed and cursed in that we have to live with that which our children have to go through. We have to deal with our child's pain as well as our own." Splinter sigh softly, as Raphael finally looked at him through tear filled eyes.
"How in the hell can she go through this? After what they did ta' her, how can she survive!" exclaimed Raph.
"She has me, her uncles and a very loving father. Sometimes all we can do is to be there for them...to hold them and to wipe away their tears when they cry. She will be like this for the next several weeks, maybe even months."
"All that pain and I did nothin' ta' stop it!" Raph clenched his fists. Splinter reached over, and with his paw, wiped away the tears that fell from Raphael's eyes.
"You could have done nothing," Splinter smiled gently at his son.
"I know this is not the first time you have cried because of her."
"What...?" Raph didn't finish.
"You think that you are the only one who has shed tears, because of the pain that they see their child in? Many times I have cried over you, Leonardo, Donatello, and Michalangelo. This is what it means to be a father...you feel Elizabeth's hurt. All children, no matter their age, see their parents as the strong ones. She needs to know you will not fall apart. Or leave her by herself to deal with this." Splinter looked searchingly into Raphael's eyes.
"I would never...I could never leave her alone to deal with this!" Raph said defensively.
"You mistake my meaning, my son. We can all pretend that nothing is wrong, when inside all we feel is emptiness and pain. We can feel that as though everyone has abandoned us, when we need them the most. You of all know best that Elizabeth does not like to talk about what troubles her. You will have to be there, and listen to what she says. Sometimes, all we need is for someone that loves us, to listen to us, and hear what we have to say. Even though we may not understand, or want to do something else. You must be the rock that she clings to in this storm. And she must know that you will not waver in your support. Or feel any differently about her, no matter what she chooses to tell you," Splinter told him.
"I...I understand, Sensei," Raph said. He took a deep gulping breath and stood up, wiping the last of his tears from his eyes.
"I think I should go to her now."
"It is where you need to be right now, Raphael," Splinter smiled understandingly. Raph opened the door of Splinter's room, and was about to leave when his father spoke again.
"Do not cry in the shadows like I have done, my son. Come to me, and I will be the shoulder for you to cry on."
"Thank you father," Raph said to him.