AUTHOURS NOTE:
This story will contain some possible injury detail and also contains details of medical procedures, if you feel as if you can't handle such things please click way right now.
Hey! This is gonna be my first ever published fanfic!
I decided to write this as I haven't seen much if any fanfics/information about Fibromyalgia in this fandom and so I thought that I'd get it out there by using my own experiences with this illness and write a fanfic about it! I hope you enoy it ^^
Also please note that everything I'm saying has happened to me and my experiences with this illness may be different from someone else who has the same illness, I am in no way saying that this is what Fibromyalgia is like for everyone!
CHAPTER 1
He could still remember when the pain had begun to show up in his body, it had started on his left side right where his kidneys were placed. It often left him with tears in his eyes as it was pretty unbearable, it was like no pain he had felt before and that was saying something.
He could deal with broken arms and legs, bruised ribs and concussions but this pain, whatever it was, was leaving him pretty much emobile. He couldn't add pressure onto his side as it only made the pain so much worse than it had been at the start.
It always began to hurt him when he was just sitting down and even sometimes when he was laying down in bed for the first few minutes, making it pretty much impossible for him to sleep. He would often lay awake at night wishing the pain away, which never actually worked but he always found that it was worth the shot to have a few hours of non pained sleep.
Other times it would show up out of the blue during training or when they were in the middle of their patrols around the city, he always managed to make himself push through just enough to be sure his brothers wouldn't notice his intense agony. However, it all came crumbling down during a fight with the foot clan.
A month earlier.
The night had been pretty uneventful so the group of four were getting ready to head home. Leonardo had called the end of the patrol only a few moments earlier leaving Raphael to let out a sigh of relief, his side had begun to hurt only a few moments prior and he just wanted to lay in bed with a heat pack.
His brothers had noticed how eager he was to get home but thought nothing of it as the weather had begun to get a lot cooler so they put it down to that, they were soon running across the rooftops to the alleyway above the sewer tunnel that would take them to the lair, when they realised that a group of foot soldiers were following them.
Raphael held back a groan of frustration as the boys took their weapons out and got ready to fight. He really wasn't in the mood for a fight right now but the universe obviously had other plans. He glared at the black cladded ninja as they started to appear on the rooftop before them, they were waiting for the turtles to make the first move which was unusual.
Thinking nothing of it he rushed forwards a battle cry leaving his lips as he ignored his brothers cry to stay back for the plan, he just wanted to get this over as soon as possible so he could continue with his plans for the night. He had been hoping to get a couple more hours of sleep than usual, however, that was obviously not going to happen now.
He gripped his sai between his fingers and threw punches at the circle of ninja surrounding him, sweat already starting to bead at the top of his forehead making his mask turn wet as the beads slowly flowed down his face, turning his mask a darker red colour from its usual crimson.
His face was stretched back into a scowl as he heard his brothers starting to join the fight beside him, he ignored them as he continued to dish out punishment to the ninja in front of him, taking any hits that his brothers didn't see coming. However, he lost his focus as he disarmed a ninja that had been going to attack Donnie.
"Donnie! Watch out genius, we kind of need that brain of yours!" His voice came out sounding a bit strained as he threw the ninja behind his back, a small grunt of pain leaving his lips.
He turned slowly as the pain slowly got worse not noticing the ninja that had been waiting behind him, his brothers being too engrossed in their own battles to warn him. He didn't notice them until it was already too late and he felt the ninja kicking him forcefully in the side.
He couldn't stop the scream of pure agony that left him as his vision swam from the pain, he fell back as he held onto his side tears starting to form at the corners of his eyes, and for once he did nothing to stop them as they flowed slowly down his cheeks.
"RAPH!" he heard his brothers calling his name as he fell onto his back, curling up into a fetal position, trying everything in his power to keep his side from getting any more injured than it already was.
He heard the clash of weapons above him as he continued to lay on his side, his eyes closed tightly from the pain. It hurt so bad that he could've sworn that he felt himself pale slightly, his grip on his side tightening as he felt the pain slowly seeping into his spine.
His face scrunched up in discomfort as he held his breath, it had never done this before and it was freaking him out slightly. As far as he knew he had had no problems with his spine up until this very moment, and he could only hope that it was due to him being injured and not a long time thing. He couldn't deal with any more pain than the amount he was in already.
Raph felt his brothers kneel next to him as he continued to keep his eyes closed, refusing to open his eyes in fears of seeing the pity in their eyes. He hated when people pitied him, especially his family.
"Raph, if you can hear me, we're going to lift you up and take you back to the shell raiser," Donnie's voice was soft as he spoke, trying to give his brother comfort in any way possible.
Donnie nodded at Leo and Mikey, silently telling them to lift their fallen brother up carefully, however he wasn't expecting for Raph to let out another pained scream, his face instantly darkening in panic.
"Put him down! PUT HIM DOWN!" His shout caused his brothers to instantly place Rapahel back down as the family genius rushed forward his medical bag at his side.
He knelt at the hotheads side and began to look him over for any noticeable injuries frowning in panic when he couldn't find anything on the surface, this then prompted him to start gently pressing on different areas of his brother's body.
Donnie jolted slightly as a shout left his brother after he added even just a slight amount of pressure onto his left side, his eyes widening in slight panic as he thought about possible damage to his kidneys. He looked up at his leader and his younger brother.
"I think he may have sustained damage to his kidneys, it seems that the most pain is coming from the left side right where his kidneys are placed. I want to take him home and perform an ultrasound on him, see if i can find any damage there, or even a possible kidney stone." with that said he stood up once more and allowed Leo and Mikey to pick him up once more.
"What if the damage is serious enough where his kidneys have to be taken out, what are we going to do then?" Leo tried to hide the panic in his voice but yet some still managed to seep in there somehow.
Donnie could only look down at Raph anxiously as he wrapped his hands around the strap of his bag. "I don't know, Leo. I just don't know." he looked down at his feet as they continued to walk back to the shell raiser, his anxiety growing the more he didn't know what was wrong with his brother.
Once in the shell raiser Donnie instructed his brothers to lay Raph down on the makeshift bed he had learnt to keep in the shell raiser at all times, especially after Leo had been thrown in through the window at April's apartment. It never hurt to be prepared for any attacks that may cause a brother to be unconscious and for that preparedness he was grateful.
He watched as Leo started the engine and began the long trek back to the lair, the genius of the group of four keeping constant vigil over their fallen brother. He had been hoping that Raph would have woken up at this point but it didn't seem likely that that was going to happen anytime soon.
The drive back to the lair had been silent other than the pained breathing from Raph, it was the one comforting reminder that their brother was still with them no matter how much pain he was in, or how knocked out he was.
Once they had made it back to the lair Leo and Mikey each picked up Raph's arms and legs as Donnie rushed ahead of them to get the ultrasound machine set up, he ignored his fathers questions of what was wrong as he brushed past the man that had raised him.
"I don't have time for questions sensei, sorry!" He barged through his lab doors and quickly pulled the machine out from its place and plugged it in.
He turned to see his brothers carrying in Raphael, his father following in soon after them. "Place him on the cot and then leave please, I'll tell you everything I find when I'm finished."
Donnie didn't look back to see if his family had actually left or not, he just pulled out the gel he would be using for the ultrasound. He slapped on a pair of purple rubber gloves and looked down at Raphael, his face was still pretty pale but his face had a more peaceful look to it.
His brother's breathing was still laboured but Donnie found comfort from the fact that he had found peace in his sleep, he held his breath as he placed some gel on his brother's side. He knew he would have to lean pretty hard on the soft sides of the shell to even remotely see anything of importance.
It was a wonder that his brother hadn't woken up from the cold gel being put on him but for that Donnie counted his lucky stars, he then started up the ultrasound machine and began to look for any abnormalities in the kidneys. His brows furrowing deeper the more he looked.
He couldn't find anything wrong, no damage, no swelling, no kidney stones. It was confusing to the genius turtle as the pain his brother had felt from this one specific injury was astounding and unnatural, especially if there wasn't actually anything wrong with him in this portion of his body. He bit his lip as he decided to check around the kidneys just once more.
Once he was absolutely sure that nothing was damaged he decided to check the muscles around his kidneys, just checking to see if the pain had been coming from any torn tissues around the organs. He spent a few moments gently moving the stick around slowly.
A frown garced his features as he once again came up empty handed from his search, this didn't seem possible, there had to be something wrong somewhere. He bit his lip as he started to clean the gel off of his brother's side and abdomen, a soft sigh leaving his lips while he took off his gloves and cleaned up the rest of the equipment.
He pulled a blanket over Raphael's still form before he left his lab to tell his family the findings, or rather the failure of an attempt he'd had trying to find what was wrong. He felt frustrated at himself that he couldn't figure out the problem that was so obviously there, he felt like a failure.
He supposed that he would have to wait for Raphael to wake up to ask him some questions, he had a feelings that the pain was just the beginning of a new problem that his brother was facing, and he would stop at nothing to figure it all out.
"As far as I could see with the ultrasound there are no abnormalities around or in the kidneys, I have no idea why he would have been in so much pain from that specific area. The only thing that I can do now is wait for Raph to wake up and hope that he is in the mood to talk," he spoke in a voice he only used for medical emergencies watching as his family gave him somewhat confused looks.
"My son are you saying that this injury of sorts may have happened before the battle you had with the foot?" Master Splinter's entire being showed how concerned he was, from the slight shakiness of his hands to the somewhat terrified look he had on his face.
"That's exactly what I'm saying, Sensei. I don't know if it's even an injury that caused this. It could be from something entirely different, though i don't know what that could be at the moment."
Donnie wrung his hands anxiously as he spoke to his family, his eyes training downwards as he talked about the possibility of it being something else. He didn't want to cause them too much worry but it was hard not too when he had no idea what was wrong with his immediate older brother.
"I'm not saying that it's anything dangerous, it could be something as simple as a strained muscle from training that hasn't healed, that's why I have to talk with Raph as soon as he wakes up. I need to know how long it's been hurting him if my theory of a strained muscle is correct."
"And if it isn't?" Donnie let his eyes roam up to Leo, he wished he was able to give him a straight answer but with not knowing enough about the situation he just couldn't.
"If it's not a strained muscle then I don't know what else it could be. I'd have to run multiple tests to try and pinpoint a source and even then i'm not sure if I'd even find anything. But i promise you guys, I will do anything in my power to help him."
He smiled softly as Mikey put a gentle hand on his shoulder. Showing comfort to his immediate older brother in the only way he knew how, by smiling brightly and giving him a heartfelt hug.
"We know that you'll do nothing but your best, D! We believe in you and so does Raphie," he stuck his tongue out slightly and gave his brother a thumbs up.
Donnie wiped at his cheeks and nodded while giving his brother a soft smile, that was exactly what he needed to hear. He had always wondered how the youngest always knew what to say when one of them got stressed or down in the dumps.
"Mikey's right Don, Raph is in the best possible hands right now. You're the only one any of us would trust with a thing like this, there's absolutely no reason for you to be getting down or insecure about it," the leader in blue stood up and pulled his two brothers into a warm hug.
The young genius couldn't stop the small laugh that escaped his lips as he hugged his two brothers back, he was glad they had such an open family dynamic. He wasn't sure if he would've been able to calm down if they weren't there with him at the moment.
Master Splinter joined the hug, giving the three of his four sons a gentle squeeze. "I am proud of who you have all become, my sons. You have become a better team than I could have ever imagined. Now if you would excuse me, I would like to go sit with your brother until he awakens."
With those final words and a final gentle squeeze the father figure of the four brothers left to sit with his second oldest son, he hoped he could meditate and bring his sons obviously hurting soul some closure from his pain.
He set a chair beside the makeshift cot his fallen son was placed upon and grabbed his son's hand as he prepared himself to start meditating, he let out a soft breath and shifted himself into a more comfortable position. He let the image of his son be the last thing that he saw before he closed his eyes and started to drift off.