Part 6
The infirmary…
"Well I guess that's it, you don't need to stay in here any longer," Don told his niece.
"Last," she muttered. She hated being sick at all and after being on forced bed rest for the last few days she would have done anything to get out of the infirmary. Her father Raphael grinned at her and she knew he was putting on a false front for her.
"No more infirmary, what ya think o' that, Lizzie?" He asked. She just rolled her eyes at him and limped out of the infirmary. Raph winced as he watched her.
"It's the internal injuries," Don said. Raph knew what internal injuries Don was talking about.
"Don't worry, Raph. She will get better,"
"I know I'm just worried about her, she still ain't talked about anything they did ta her," Raph said.
"You can't force her to talk about it if she doesn't want to," Don told him.
"Don'tcha think I know that already!" Raph snapped at him. Don didn't take offence at his brothers' sharp tone.
The living room…
"Hey, look at who's been allowed out of Don's prison," Mikey said, from his position on the sofa. He moved over to make room on for Elizabeth to sit down; as soon as she did she leaped to her feet with a hiss of pain and instead chose to kneel on the floor. Mikey didn't comment, but he did keep a close eye on her as she watched the TV with him.
After about an hour she stood up and left the living room without saying anything to Mikey. She entered the dojo silently; or so she thought.
"Don has finally decided it's okay for you to leave," Splinter said. He opened his eyes and smiled at her, she tentatively smiled back at him.
"But you are not allowed to practice yet, child. So why are you here?" He gestured for her to sit with him on the mat and she knelt down.
"Say talk him," she said. Splinter stayed silent and she knew he understood.
"No talk…no…" she made a sound of frustration at not being able to say what she meant.
"You feel unable to talk to him?" Splinter asked.
"Yeah," she nodded. Splinter looked her in the eyes.
"Have you tried?" He asked.
"Yeah…no," she found herself unable to lie to the old rat.
"No talk, he speak say he know, not know. Not make him know, think he does, not,"
"Maybe you should try writing about it," he suggested.
"Writing?" She asked.
"Yes, like a diary, but write down everything that happened and how it makes you feel inside. Sometimes when I do not understand something and meditating does nothing I write. Then when you are finished give him the diary. Perhaps then he will understand and maybe it will help you as well," he said.
"Yeah," she gave that tiny smile again as she leaned forward to hug Splinter before standing up to go to her room to take a small rest.
Elizabeth's bedroom…
"Wake up," Leo's voice brought her back to consciousness.
"What!" She groaned, she wanted to go back to sleep.
"You were screaming, I think you were having a nightmare," her uncle told her.
"Oh," now she could remember, she shivered involuntarily at the memory of it.
"Hey, it's okay," Leo said.
"Come on Mikey has dinner ready," he followed her to the kitchen. For once all of them were there for dinner at the same time.
"You don't look so good. Are you alright?" Don asked, as she sat down in between him and Raph.
"I just woke her up," Leo replied for her.
"Yes, you're still going to get tired pretty quickly for the next few days," Don said. Splinter entered and took a chair.
"Now that we're all here I think we should discuss what Elizabeth is able to do for the next week or two," Don looked at everyone, making sure that they were all listening.
"Able?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes, able to do. Unfortunately you will be fairly limited in just what or how much you can do." He said. She gave him a blank stare. Don cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"Because of your injuries," he explained.
"Leo, she's allowed to practice for half an hour each day but nothing to strenuous,"
"Not a problem," Leo said.
"But-" Elizabeth started.
"Or I can just have Leo make sure that you don't go anywhere near the dojo for the next month, which would you prefer?" Don asked. She muttered under her breath and made a face.
"Mikey, try not to clown around to much with her, ok?" All eyes turned on the orange masked turtle as Don said this.
"I'll try my best," Mikey said.
"Raph, make sure that she's in bed and asleep by nine each night and not to much junk food," Don said.
"Consider it done," Raph responded.
"And you must follow these rules, Lizzie, ok?" Don asked. She had a notebook balanced on one knee and was writing in it, totally oblivious to the conversation going on around her.
"What's this?" Mikey asked as he snatched the notebook from her and started to flick through it.
"NO!" She yelled at him, she tried to grab it back of him, but he held it out of her reach. She looked to Splinter for help.
"Michelangelo!" Splinter snapped.
"Give Elizabeth back her book now!"
"Aww…I was just having some fun," Mikey handed the notebook back to her. She held it to her chest and glared at Mikey.
"Hmm…it is strange how I do not see anyone laughing," Splinter commented. Mikey took a look around, indeed Splinter was right. Leo and Raph were glaring at him, Don was shaking his head in obvious disappointment and Elizabeth actually had tears in her eyes as she glared at him. Mikey gulped audibly.
"I'm sorry, Lizzie, that was stupid of me," he said.
"Leave the kid alone, Mikey, or ya'll be sorry," Raph growled.
After they were finished Leo brought her to the dojo where she went through some exercises. All the while he watched her carefully, making sure that she didn't do too much or injure herself further. She ran through the exercises slowly and Leo didn't push her, knowing that she was probably going as fast as she could. He was going to suggest that they meditate together but remembered something that Master Splinter had told him long ago about seeing unwanted images or memories he decided against it. Besides he could see that she was tiring, so he brought the practice to a stop.
"I think it's time for you to get some sleep now," he said. She nodded tiredly and Leo was surprised that she didn't disagree with him.
"Ready to go, baby?" Raph came into the dojo.
"Yeah," she didn't even argue with Raph just left the dojo with him. Now that was really strange, Leo just shrugged, after what happened to her he wasn't all that surprised by her behaviour.
She was asleep within moments of crawling into her bed. Raph tucked the covers in around her, something he had not done in a long time. He stepped back and watched her sleep, she looked peaceful her face relaxing far more than it did when she was awake.
The next morning…
"Come on, Lizzie, wake up," Raph shook her shoulder gently.
"Away," she mumbled sleepily.
"Ya gotta get up. Today's the day yer goin back to school," Raph said. That got her to wake up pretty quickly and she stared at him.
"Why?" She asked.
"Because Don thinks that yer well enough to go, so get up and get dressed." Raph said. As soon as he left she dragged herself out of bed, got dressed and went to the kitchen. Leo leaned up against a counter drinking coffee.
"Look, I know ya don't really want to go, but I think Don's right, this'll be good for ya," Raph set a bowl of cereal in front of her. He didn't have to tell her that he had argued vehemently against it and that Don had finally convinced him that it was alright. She ate the cereal silently and then stood up.
"Bag?" She asked. Raph handed the backpack to her and she left without another word to him. Raph made to follow her.
"I got it, don't worry, Raph, I'll keep an eye on her," Leo said.
The school…
"Hey, Lizzie," Hannah Grennall greeted her. The two weren't all that close, but they had been hounded by the same school bullies all year and as a result they had gotten to know each other.
"Hey, nice t-shirt" Elizabeth said, Hannah wore the same t-shirt as she did.
"Got this boring assembly this morning, some idiot's been sticking gum in the water fountains again," Hannah said. She wasn't all that surprised when Elizabeth didn't say anything; because of not being able to talk properly her friend usually didn't speak unless she had to. They headed for the large lecture hall and sat near the back, waiting for the principal to start.
"Excuse me, girls," Miss Beth Hart, one of their teachers said as she sat down next to Hannah. Elizabeth didn't know her all that well, but she knew Miss Hart loved her job and her students. Mr Randall; the principal stepped up on the stage and tapped the microphone a few times and then started talking into it. Elizabeth tuned him out.
"Yeah, you always make up some stupid fucking excuse, don't you Randal!" A male voice yelled out of the crowd of students, jarring Elizabeth out of her daydreaming. A tall guy was standing up, he gestured around at all the other students as he was shouting.
"How is it our fault that this happened! You call us all in here when you know who did it!" He screamed. Then he pulled something out of his backpack; Elizabeth couldn't see what. She a loud noise and another, she stared in shock as Mr Randall dropped to the floor of the stage the front of his pristine white shirt stained red.
"Holy shit!" Hannah screamed. Then Miss Hart was pushing us and some of the other students out of the room.
"Go, GO!" She yelled. We got out in the hallway and that was when all hell broke loose. Some other students seemed to be waiting outside and like the guy inside they had guns.
First person POV-Elizabeth…
I dropped to the floor, jerking every time I heard a gunshot and a scream coming from someone who had been shot. Hannah fell to the floor next to me and I turned to look at her and cried out when I realized that she no longer had any face. Her hair and clothes were splattered with her own blood and brain.
"Move!" Miss Hart shoved me and from the side and we crawled down a side corridor. She went back for another student; a young boy. I imagined that I looked as terrified as he did. Fear drove us on, until Miss Hart faltered and I realized that she had been shot in the stomach. I moved in next to her, pulling on arm across my shoulders and lifting her up, I could feel the pain slice through me from my recent injuries but I tried to ignore it.
"Go!" I called to the boy, who stood frozen as if unsure what to do. I dragged Miss Hart along the corridor towards the nearby exit.
"Go on without me, I'll just slow you down," Miss Hart said. All I could remember thinking was that a ninja wouldn't leave someone who was injured behind. I set her down on the floor against the wall.
"I've got to go back," I said.
"You can't!" Miss Hart said. We could still hear intermittent gunshots and a few people screaming.
"Have to…come soon someone," I told her and turned my back. Yeah, I was scared, but if I could help someone else then I had to.
Leonardo…
I sat on the rooftop. Boring work just waiting to see if she could go through the whole day without having to run home again. But if Elizabeth did I know I wouldn't judge her for doing it and nor would anyone else in the family. I had chosen to do this because I knew Raph was worried and I didn't want him doing something he shouldn't. So here I was, watching and waiting.
A sound like a gunshot rang through the early morning air and then another followed by screams of terror. I leapt to my feet and stared down at the entrance of the school as students and teachers alike poured out the doors. Some were screaming or crying, but they all had one thing in common they all looked terrified. I didn't see Elizabeth amongst them. It only took me a split second to decide what to do as I leaped from one rooftop to another until I was able to get down to ground level. I slipped in a side entrance, unnoticed by anyone. Inside I found a young boy and a female teacher. The teacher was bleeding from a bad stomach wound, obviously she had been shot. I moved quickly towards them and gathered the teacher up in my arms. The boy stared at me, obviously wondering if I was real.
"Come on, you have to get out of here," I told him. I carried the woman outside and gently laid her on the grass and then turned to the boy.
"Wait with her until someone comes," he nodded at my instructions. The teacher mumbled something that I didn't quite catch. I wanted to stay with her until help arrived, but I had to find my niece. I hurried back into the school and down the hallway towards where I could hear voices, one of them Elizabeth's voice. Then there was a gunshot and I didn't her any voices anymore. I ran around the corner and saw her lying on the floor, my heart stopped momentarily as I dropped to my knees next to her dead body.
"No…Elizabeth?" I picked her up and held her against me, but she was obviously dead. I heard voices coming towards me and knew that I had to get out of there or risk being discovered.
On the way back to the Lair…
How am I going to tell Raph? I wondered. I pushed the door to the lair open and stepped inside. Mikey glanced up from his usual position on the sofa.
"Hey, Leo where's Lizz…what in the shell happened to you!" He asked, leaping up from the sofa and coming over to me when he saw the blood on me.
"Where's Raph?" I asked, ignoring his question.
"In the dojo with Splinter…what's going on Leo?" He asked. Just then the cartoons that he was watching were cut off and the grim face of a new reporter appeared.
"We are sorry to take a break from the scheduled programmes," the reporter said said, he shuffled some sheets of paper on the desk in front of him.
"Today at approximately nine thirty am there was a shooting in Ignautius high school. So far we do not have any names of those involved in the shooting, but the death toll is very high. As soon as we have any more information we will let you know as soon as possible."
Mikey was staring at the TV, then his eyes turned on me.
"Leo?" Was all he said.
"I have to go and tell Raph," I told him. I headed for the dojo with a heavy heart. Mikey was very sensitive and I knew that he would take this hard. We all would. He followed me to the dojo, obviously not wanting to be alone.
"Raph," I called. He was practicing under the watchful eye of our sensei. Don was working through some exercises on the other side of the room. Raph was so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn't even look at me.
"Raph!" I said a little louder. Now he seemed to notice me.
"Leo, where's Lizzie?" He asked. I looked at him through bleak eyes.
"Raph, she…" I gulped down a breath as my feelings tried to overwhelm me.
"There was a shooting in the school," Mikey said.
"That ain't even funny, Mikey…wait you're not kidding. Is she alright?" Raph looked at me.
"She's gone, Raph," I said quietly.
"Gone whe…? No!" The last word exploded from Raph.
"Raph, I saw her…I-I held her after…she's dead," I could barely get the words out. Emotions ran across Raph's face as he turned in a circle, not sure what to do or how to react. He was shaking his head and I could see the tears in his eyes. Don had stopped practicing and he just stood silently. Mikey was behind me I could hear him sniffling as he tried not to cry. Splinter had a shocked look on his face and in his eyes, but he recovered quickly to go to his red masked son and draw him into a comforting hug.
The dojo a few hours later-Leo POV
I was angry at myself. If only I had moved faster, if only I had gotten their in time. If I had left that teacher there and went looking for Elizabeth then she'd still be alive. I closed my eyes trying to shut out the pain and the guilt…
Mikey POV…
She's gone. That was all I could think. My niece was gone. I rubbed at his burning, tearing eyes as I tried to stop crying. She was so young and her life had been taken to soon. It was so unfair…
Raph POV…
Lizzie's dead, my mind screamed the words over and over at me. I couldn't stop crying. I could remember when she first came to live with us, how scared she had been. Over time she had learned that I or any of the others weren't going to hurt her. The look in her eyes this morning as she had left had told me that she didn't want to go to school that day and I had insisted. Dammit! Why did I make her go?
Don POV
Why had I told Raph that it was okay for her to go? Good for her in fact. I shouldn't have done that. Now she was dead, because of what I had done. I cursed myself, how could I have been so stupid?
The sewers…
She sloshed her way through the sewers. She was so exhausted, she just wanted to stop and rest for a moment. She knew it was nearly eight pm and that they were no doubt worried about her. But after what happened at the school she had just wanted to be left alone for a while. Now all she wanted was to get home where it was safe, where her father and uncles and Master Splinter were no doubt worried about her. She dragged herself along by hanging onto one of the pipes overhead until she finally got to the lair and quietly pushed the door open. Home, at last she was home. She collapsed to the floor on her hands and knees as soon as she got inside, not caring if it made her look weak. Today she felt as though someone had sucker punched her one to many times.
"Elizabeth?" The voice of one of her uncles spurred her to look up.
"Uncle Donnie," she whispered.
"Raph!" Don yelled, as he came over and helped her up.
"What!" Raph came out of his room and stopped when he saw his daughter. His daughter who he had thought was dead. Blood and grime was smeared all over her.
"Lizzie," Raph couldn't believe it, as he came over and gently took his daughter from Don.
"Daddy," she buried her face in his shoulder and started to cry. Raph gently held her in his arms, thanking God that his daughter had been returned to him.
"It's okay, I'm right here," He whispered to her.
"What…? But I…I saw her and she was…" Leo and Mikey had entered the main room of the lair.
"Hannah," Elizabeth said as she gulped for breath.
"Oh," Leo said. He knew about Hannah, they all did because Elizabeth had talked about her before.
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up," Raph said.
"Sleep," she said. All she wanted to do right now was sleep.
"After I clean you up then you can sleep, ok baby?" Raph smiled down at her. Then looked at Don.
"I'll come check on her in a while. It doesn't look like she's badly hurt or anything though," the purple masked turtle said. Raph led his trembling daughter to the bathroom.
"What's going on? I was so sure that was here that I found in the school," Leo said.
"Ya don't suppose that it's possible that Hannah could have been wearing the same t-shirt that Lizzie was, do you?" Mikey asked. He was grinning like an idiot; he looked like a kid who had just discovered that all his Christmases and birthdays had come at once. Don shook his head, smiling at Leo and shrugged.
"He's got a point, Leo. Don't worry, I think Raph will understand, besides right now he's just happy that she's okay," he said.