Hello again! Heres another chapter! I hope you enjoy, and I'm sorry that its a bit shorter than usual, but I struggled to write this chapter, though I am not sure why :/

Splinters Point Of View

I knew as soon as I saw my daughters face that something was bothering her. Usually my son would come to tend to my wounds, whilst my daughter saw to her siblings. But this morning there was no sign of Donatello, as Bella entered my room and bowed to me.

"Father, I am afraid that Don has fallen ill, and will not be able to attend to you this morning" she said, and straightened slowly. "I am here to ask for an order for him to rest for the day, as he will not listen to me, though I am the medic within this family."

"Has he told you himself that he will disobey your commands?" I raised an eyebrow at my daughter. I had a suspicion that something like this would happen to my third son, as he had been straining himself too much the last few weeks.

"He is not aware that I know that he is ill, as he has been hiding it from me the last couple of days. I checked him last night, and found that he has a raised temperature. Don will not want to loose a day where he could be working, and if he did obey my instruction, he would soon find a way to cross me. If you were to order him to rest for the day, I am sure that he would be much more willing to stay in bed and rest"

"I see your concern, and will see to it that he does not leave his room or strain himself." I smiled at her. When it came to someone's health, Bella was always very formal. Since I had told her, from a very young age, that one day the lives of her loved ones could rest in her hands, she has never taken that duty lightly.

"Thank you father. How have you been feeling? And the truth, Master, as I know that you have been keeping things from me." She knelt at my bedside, gently checking my pulse with her forefinger.

"I am as well as I was the last time you asked me." I answered gently, watching as she counted the beats of my heart.

"You say this, but your heart tells me a very different story. Your pulse is weak Father, and you are cold to the touch. If this continues, we shall have to return home before we planned to. I need to be able to treat you before this becomes worse, and I simply do not have the equipment to treat you here." She shook her head, rummaging through her bag for my daily medication.

"We will return home when we are all fully healed, and you and your brothers are no where near healed" I told her sternly. I would not have my children's health put at risk for an old man such as myself.

"I am afraid that if you do not improve Master, then we will have no choice. I will monitor you myself for the next few days, and if there is no noticeable improvement between now and then, we will have to return." She looked me straight in the eyes as she said this, and I was impressed that she had managed to stand her ground.

"I am growing old, and the battle put a strain on my body. I shall be fine if I allow my body the time to heal. We shall only return to New York once you have all healed."

"I am afraid that is not an order that I can comply to Father. You trained me to keep us alive, and you have taught me all that you know. During my time in Forks, I learnt many things, things that you have not been able to teach me. Donatello and I are studying modern medicines, and have managed to master many theories. I am the medic of this family, and though you are my Father and Master, what I say stands. I will monitor you, and if I deem it necessary, then we shall return home, where I can treat you." Her shoulders were tense, and she had clenched her hands into fists as she spoke. I had trained all of them to obey my command, and to listen to the wisdom I had to offer. Bella was struggling against my teachings, clearly visible in the way she held herself. But there was no doubt within her eyes, and I knew that she would not waver.

"Very well, but only if Donatello agrees with your judgement." I finally gave in. I knew that she was worried, and that she would only force the issue this much if there was a real danger to my health. "How are your brothers? I hope that they are healing well? There seems to be a vast improvement with Leonardo." I relaxed against the pillows, taking the pills that my daughter offered me.

"We all came together to help him deal with his emotions. You have trained him well Father, but sometimes I feel that he carries too many burdens on his shoulders. Leo blamed himself for our near failure against the Shredder. After we explained to him that we all felt the same, he soon opened up. Physically, they are all healing well, apart from Don, but with enough rest he will soon be back to full health. Mikey should soon be able to have his casts removed, though it will be about two weeks yet. Raph's ribs are healing nicely, he still experiences pain, but that is to be expected. In another week or so I will be able to start him training again, but it will be a slow process. Leo's wound is doing well, there is no infection and it is very clean thanks to the Utroms."Bella unwrapped the bandages from my arms, slowly inspecting the cuts that marked my skin. She gently pushed aside my fur, inspecting the now faded bruises.

"And you? How are you healing?" I asked. Bella had been treating herself, so not even Donatello knew how she was healing. I trusted her to take good care of herself, but she was very prone to putting others ahead of herself.

"I am healing, I have been treating my wounds every day, and in a day or two I will be able to remove my bandages for good." she had finished examining my arms by now. "In fact, I think you are ready to have your bandages removed Father.

"That is good news, my dear daughter. Tell me, when will you and your brothers be able to begin training?" I was eager to begin their training again. Once they were fully healed, it would take time to build their muscle strength once again. Of course, Leo had been training without permission, but now that had been stopped.

"By my estimate, we should be able to resume training in a three weeks, give or take a few days. My wounds have healed, so I would be able to train in a few days, the same goes for Don, once he has recovered from his fever. Leo, Raph and Mikey should all be able to begin training in three weeks, but it will be slow for them. They will need the most help in building their strength, as if they are put under too much strain they could cause themselves further injuries." There was now a pile of bandages at Bella's side, and she began to place her things back into the bag that she had brought in with her. "But, depending on how you heal, will determine who will train us."

"I am healing, I am sure with Donatello and you watching over me, I will be more than ready to resume your training." I smiled at her, and I could see she relax, even though it wasn't by much. I was worried myself. I had been feeling very weak recently, but had blamed it on the mental and physical stress that my body and mind had been through. To hear that my heart was weakening was a troubling sign indeed.

"We shall see Father. When Don is better I shall have him examine you, and if he sees what I see, then we shall be returning home." she warned me. "I have a request to ask of you." Bella suddenly added, and I could see that she wasn't sure of what the outcome of this request might be.

"Oh? And what would this request be?" I raised an eyebrow at her, waiting patiently for her to continue.

"I know that you meditate daily, and that it is your normal practice to stay in meditation for hours, several times a day. This worries me because it takes great mental strength to be able to achieve the deep meditation that you seem to have no trouble finding. This kind of meditation calms the body, mind and soul. I am concerned because it slows your heart rate, and as your pulse is already weak, and weakening as it would seem, then your heart might stop altogether."

"I am sure that this will not happen. I have been meditating daily for many years, and I have remained perfectly fine throughout this time period." I assured her.

"I understand Father, but when you reached me on the astral plane a few days ago, it weakened you. I know that there was no other option, of Don would not have asked that of you. Your heart rate is slowly declining, and that is something to worry about. If you continue to meditate, which slows the heart rate naturally, then you could put your self at very high risk of something going wrong." She looked at me, and I could see the genuine concern and fear within her eyes. "Please Father, if only for a few days, will you not meditate, so we can see if there is any improvement?" She pleaded.

I had trained my daughter well. She had always taken her duty very seriously, and I had told her that if she believed that something would put a member of our family at risk, then she should put a stop to it as quickly as possible. I had been the one to teach her this, and had taught her brothers that if Bella said that they could possibly cause physical harm to themselves by continuing to do something they shouldn't or know could cause problems, then they would listen to her, whether they agreed with her judgement or not. I could not go against my own words, and I would not cause my children to go through any more stress or worry on my part.

"very well, I will not meditate for four days, during that time you will be able to monitor my health." Bella smiled at my words, releasing a breath I hadn't realised that she had been holding.

"Thank you Father. I should go check on the others and prepare breakfast, I shall bring a cup of tea up to you in half hour, try and rest some more in the mean time." She bowed to me again, before turning to leave the room.

I could hear that there was no one else awake yet, and that all was peaceful. This would soon change, as my sons awoke to the smell of breakfast and would await impatiently for Bella to appear at their bedsides with the food she had prepared. Soon the house and land would be filled with the sounds of laughter and Michelangelo's story of choice for the day. There would be moaning and groaning because of their injuries, and the sound of things hitting the floor when a playful fight would break out between two brothers.

These sounds would soon fill the house, comforting and familiar sounds that I had grown used to. But despite this, I frown masked my face.

I sensed that there was dark times ahead for my family, and I knew that I could not do anything to avoid or steer my children away from them. I was worried, and somehow I knew that there was not going to be many options that we could take. I have a horrible feeling, that the life of a member of our family would hang in the balance, and a choice would have to be made.

But maybe this could change? My predictions were not always correct. As soon as this thought crossed my mind, I felt a cold hand grip my heart.

I know know that there is no avoiding the future, and that allot of suffering will have to be endured.

And there we have it, another chapter finished. I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a review!
Pingu xx