Chapter 7 -

April's scream ripped through the lair, causing Mike and Leo to look at each other only for a moment before jumping up and running down the hall.

As they left the dojo, Raph cut in front of them a few feet ahead. He got to the door first, and stopped dead in his tracks.

Leo's heart fell at Raph's sudden stop, and the expression on his face. For a moment, it was the exact look that Raph bore as they looked at their fallen brother's form on the ground, those horrible months ago. The horror quickly turned to anger.

Raph let out a growl, before continuing into the room. Leo and Mike reached the room at the same time, and looked in. What happened next was a blur of chaos, and time that seemed to speed up unmercifully.

April was on the ground next to Don, who was convulsing terribly and frighteningly… his body thrashing without relief, without control. As they watched, one of Don's arms flew up and hit April in the side of the head, hard enough to knock her backwards to the floor.

Raph went to grab for his arms, but stopped when a hoarse "No!" came from the doorway.

Leo walked into the room. "Don't hold him down. Just make sure his airway is open and that he won't hit anything else." He turned. "Mikey, go grab some pillows. Now." As Mike scuttled away at the order, Leo walked a few more steps into the room. "I'll move some stuff out of the way so he can't reach it." He said, looking at Raph. "You wanna help…?"

"I'd rather him hit me than the floor." Raph said softly, his eyes watching April carefully. April had sat up, a hand on her head, and tears flowing down her cheeks.

Leo nodded. Mike brought over the pillows, and they carefully placed it under Don's head. Leo grimaced when he saw the scratches on Don's head from the fall.

"What now?" Mike whispered.

"We wait." Leo said flatly.

Don's seizure stopped as suddenly as it started. One moment he was thrashing on the ground, and the next he was calm as could be.

They lifted him gently to the bed, where Mike and Leo tended to his scratches, as Raph took April to get some ice for her head.

"You okay?" Raph asked carefully.

A sob escaping April was the only answer he got.

He sighed heavily. "April…" He stopped. He was no good at this crap. He didn't know what to say, what to do to help her feel better. The way he looked at it, what she had seen was scary, and was frightening, and he didn't see how words could make that go away.

So he walked up behind her, and awkwardly started to put his arms around her. He stopped suddenly, rethinking his actions. April, however, made the decision for him, as she turned and buried her face in his chest.

"When does it end, Raph?" She cried. "He was just sitting there talking to me… and then… and then…"

" I know, I know." He soothed. He stopped, sighing, and rubbing her hair. "I don't know when it'll end." He said suddenly. "I almost don't want to know."

She nodded silently, the tears slowing their path down her cheeks. "I wish I could help more." She said softly, then straightened up, pulling away from Raphael. "I will find a way."

Raph grinned lightly. There's the old spark again.

"I don't doubt it April, but… if, you know… things get… bad… all it takes is you being here for him. For us." At this, Raphael found himself lightly choking up at the words.

April nodded resolutely.

Raph returned the nod. Right now, they needed all the help they could get. He cleared his throat. "Y'ready to get back in there?"

"Yeah." She said after a moment's hesitation. With that, they wordlessly walked back to Don's room.

Don's unconscious state lasted far into the night. The other residents of the lair, however, were not so lucky as to find a few hours of rest.

Leo walked into Don's room, past Raph, who was hovering outside the doorway, and walked up to Mike, who sat next to the bed.

"Mikey…" Leo whispered. His brother looked up with red, tired eyes. "Take a break, huh? I'll sit here a bit longer." Leo continued. Mike shook his head.

"You're exhausted, Mike. Please." Michaelangelo looked into his brother's eyes, and saw the concern there.

"Alright." He finally relented. "But call me…"

"I will." Leo agreed.

Mike nodded, then walked up to April, who was quietly, yet furiously, typing on Don's computer.

"April, you need to give it a rest, too." Mike said wearily.

April ignored him, however, her eyes fastened to the screen. "I… I think I found something, Mikey."

"What?"

"Look…" She pointed to the screen. "Leo, come over here for this. Raph." She called quietly.

"What's up?" Raph asked as they gathered around her.

"I was searching, and I found this information." She began. "I think this is what happened to Donnie." Her voice broke of then, but she continued on. "Post Traumatic Epilepsy. It can start long after the injury takes place. But you just don't know how many times it'll happen, or when." She swiveled the chair around to face them. "Not good news. But it's news. At least we know that much now."

Raph nodded. "So, what can we do?"

"Well…" April sighed. "The hardest thing. We wait."

Raph growled low in his throat. "I'm tired of waiting." He snarled in a harsh whisper. "For months now, all we've been doin' is wait. I wanna do somethin'."

"There's nothing we can do, Raph." April said gently. "Trust me, I know what you're going throu-"

"I don't take that answer anymore. There's gotta be something… somewhere I can do."

"There's not-"

"No!" Raph interrupted. "No." He walked to the doorway, slamming his hand on the wall. "I can't take 'no' for an answer no more. I can't." He looked back at them, his eyes holding a mixture of rage and sadness and despair. April's heart burst for him, she knew his hurt. She knew how it felt to be completely powerless to help the one you loved.

"Go take a break, Raph." Leo said softly. "We're all frustrated. But losing it right now will not help."

Mike's eyes went to his other brother, dreading the response to that order. But Raph, surprising them all and, most likely, himself, just turned and went to his room, shutting the door behind him.

"Thank you, April." Leo said, turning back to her. "Knowing that much, even as just a slight possibility, helps."

She nodded at him, and then stretched. "I'm gonna get some sleep, too." She said finally, her voice soft. "I want to…" She broke off, her eyes shining. Leo nodded, watching as she left the room, then turned back to his brother's still form on the bed.

A soft knock interrupted Raph's thoughts. His mind had been whirling since April's discovery earlier, and he'd been unable to relax, much less sleep.

"You want the next watch?" Leo's head peeked into the room.

"Yeah." Raph said gruffly, sitting up. "I'll go."

Leo smiled grimly, falling into step with Raph as he walked towards Don's room. "Nothing's changed." Leo said quietly. "He hasn't woken up yet." Neither spoke for a few more moments. "Raph, I know this is hard, and I…"

"You don't know nothin'." Raph hissed suddenly, whipping his head around to face Leo. "We did this dance before, remember? You weren't there, Leo." He jutted a finger at his brother. "Sure, ya were physically," He said, when Leo's mouth opened to retaliate. "But when push came ta shove, you weren't. You didn't spend days sittin' with him, except when ya had to. Ya weren't there when he would wake up every day lookin' frightened as anything." Raph's face distorted in pain. "Ya weren't there when he cried 'cause he couldn't talk, and needed to."

Leo blinked suddenly. Raph didn't take time to wonder if he'd made his brother cry. He carried on, unable to stop himself now. "So don't you dare try and comfort me. I spent months comforting Don and Mike when they needed it, because you couldn't care less. Don't lecture me now." Raph said, venom in his voice, as he entered Don's room, closing the door swiftly in Leo's face.

Anger fueling his movement, Raph stalked over to the chair next to Don's bed and jerked it away, giving him room to sit.

He stretched his neck, thinking of Leo again, and feeling his anger rise. No. He couldn't. Not now.

Raph took deep breaths, trying to tame the white-hot anger, the urge to hit something. He looked down at his brother. If he'd just wake up.

"Come on, Donnie." He said softly. "I know you can hear me. Just wake up and be all better, so we can go back to normal."

At the lack of movement, besides the steady breathing of his brother, Raph felt hot tears spring to his eyes.

"Damn you, Don. Wake up." He lowered his head, unable to stop the flow of tears. A loud sob left him, and he buried his face in the mattress beside his brother.

He was trying so hard to control the deep, raggedy breaths from escaping him, he hardly registered the soft sigh, and barely felt the pressure of a hand touching his, comfortingly.

His eyes flew to the head of the bed. Don's eyes were open.

Author's Notes –

Wow… I never cease to be touched and amazed by the wonderful reviews I get. I am truly humbled. (And yes, Rene, I do love Don. ;) Hehe…)

My apologies to tbreader, though. I really tried to get this out for them to read before they left, but I could not. Good luck to you, though, tbreader. And a happy and safe return!

And to Chibi Rose Angel… No need to thank me. I love the story. Thank you for writing it.

And yes, the part with April feeling Don's breath on her neck was supposed to be an intimate moment. A cookie to the fine reviewer who caught that! ;)

Again: Thank you, thank you, thank you. From the bottom of my heart. Hopefully another new chapter shall be coming soon.