It was a week later since Randall's return and treatment, and just when it seemed that things were going to turn south, there finally came the miracle!

Randall finally opened his eyes again for the first time in a week. He had had to rely on the family to take care of his needs for a whole week. He was lucky to have them.

Randall looked around the room and he came to see a dark, green skinned being in the room with him. He saw a touch of red. Raph was looking out for him this time. He was currently doing a rare thing; reading a book. He was almost ready to go to sleep.

The lizard moaned and started to move a bit, to stretch out some more.

Raph recognized something different. He looked over to see that Randall had his eyes open. He was a little startled that he dropped the book. He sat up to look at him better.

"Hey, Randall. You awake, bud?" Raph asked gently.

"Little." He moaned out.

"Guys! He's awake!" Raph called out.

Randall cringed at his loud voice. His ears were a little sensitive right now. Just then, everyone came running into the room.

Mikey came up first. "Randall, I'm so sorry for this."

Don came up next, "How are you feeling?"

Randall's eyes were now wide open and looking at the big crowd in here with him. They must have been concerned for him, for which no one had ever been this concerned over his wellbeing before as much as this.

"Tired." Randall tried to swallow. His mouth felt so dry. "Get this… out of me…" He gagged.

"Your breathing seems just fine. Hold still." Don said. He came over and unhooked everything before slowly and gently, guiding the tube out of his trachea.

Randall was finally able to swallow efficiently. "How long have I been asleep?"

"A little over a week. You were in a fever induced coma." Don explained. "Your fever was really high. We had to put you in cold water just to keep your temperature down. We didn't know if you were going to make it hence with the pierced lung making your breathing sound so hard. But at least you're awake now." Don smiled at him.

"I'm sorry, Randall, for what happened." Mikey said to him.

"For what?"

"I think you had the worst of the hit from the copter blast. I had just a broken arm, but it was Bishop who did all these cuts on me." Mikey said.

"It's possible, but I don't remember much. I just remember we were fighting together, trying to beat commandoes, and the blast came out of nowhere so fast." Randall said.

To the others, it didn't sound like Randall was blaming Mikey at all for anything. Mikey felt relieved that his friend wasn't mad for what happened.

"So, how far gone am I?" Randall asked. "My condition, I mean?"

"You have a lot of broken bones and will need a lot of time to heal before you train or patrol again." April spoke up. "A pierced lung that's still healing, and you had a concussion. Your left lower arm and front leg are broken, three broken ribs, and the bone in your tail."

Randall knew he wouldn't be able to use his tail as a weapon for awhile.

"If what Mikey said was true, Randall, then you saved his life." Leo said. "About you taking more of the blast."

"It's possible. He's a good friend." Randall admitted. "I just don't remember."

"It is alright, Randall. We will not dwell on this moment any longer. We must move on." Splinter said.

"I second that." Raph said. He was more than ready to move on too.

After awhile, Randall was finally allowed something to drink to wet his mouth down, then he was allowed to get up and walk. He was a little unsteady on his feet after all this time, but he managed.

His leg was in a cast. His lower arm was in the brace from before. It was acceptable for either arm. His tail was also in a cast and had to be straight out behind him, as he usually had it lifted into the air behind him to make sure no one stepped on it. His chest and upper stomach were also bandaged due to the ribs and bad lung. The lung was still healing nicely.

Soon, after seeing how well he could move around, Randall was finally given some of the same soup for his first meal since before the attack. He too, was thin, but he would manage. His stomach woke up after eating the chicken soup and wanted some more.

He was given a little more to not upset his stomach. Randall was just so hungry. The soup was fine on him. He would be living on it for the next few days to make sure his system was fully functional again. Things would only continue to improve for him with the injuries.

…..

In the monster world, Waternoose's crony gang were looking in different areas to where Randall had been dumped off, but there was no trace of him anywhere. They were all calling out in these areas and calling out a bluffing lie that his banishment was over. They just hoped it would get the lizard's attention.

After all their efforts were being thwarted, it was possible Randall was either dead or had moved on. They just weren't finding anything.

When they told Waternoose of this, he was disappointed, but he was going to make sure that Fungus got the Scream Extractor operational again. He had studied the machine's mechanics too. And he wasn't leaving until it was operational.

Fungus had been missing for weeks. He was being treated horribly by his captors, and he had never thought Waternoose, someone he had known and trusted, would do this to him, or let others do this to him. He was threatened on a daily basis. He was hit on a daily basis.

From all the time that he had known his former boss, Waternoose had had a grandfatherly exterior to the public, but now, he was a criminal hell-bent on revenge.

Fungus just wanted out of this nightmare, and he heard that they couldn't find his former scaring partner. At least then Randall was being spared this humiliation, but then, the last time he had known Randall, he had participated in this madness. Would he do it again if he was found?

….

When Randall was finally well enough to leave the infirmary, he wanted to go back to April's basement. He knew Mikey would sugarcoat his injuries, but at least he still had both of his legs intact and not broken. Leatherhead had gone home again once Randall was well again.

Aside from the broken bones, his lung had been the most concerning injury to worry about. But because of his broken leg, Don and April said it would be better for him to stay in the lair as climbing April's stairs was probably not a good thing for him right now. There were a lot less stairs here in the lair for him.

Randall one day confronted Don, "Don, I know how Mike gets when he's injured, and it would be a lot less stress on me if I just go to April's. I could stay in the basement and not go upstairs until the injuries are healed. You or her could still take care of me in my own apartment."

"True, but you shouldn't get your casts wet either. Walking through the sewers could get them wet." Don said.

"You guys have a stretcher. Can't you just carry me there on it?" Randall asked.

"I suppose. I'll talk to the others." Don said.

Randall nodded.

Don went to talk to Leo and Raph and they agreed to take Randall back to spare him from Mike's whining days.

They got the stretcher out and Leo and Raph let him get on it and they carried him through the sewers to April's basement. Don stayed behind with Mikey. Today was when Mikey was getting the stitches out of his cuts that Bishop had given him. Don distracted Mikey so Leo and Raph could take Randall back to his adopted home at April's so Mikey wouldn't give a fuss seeing his best friend going out.

Mikey was more than happy to get his stitches out, but he still had to let his arm heal. He could still do things for himself. He still cooked, but Splinter or Raph were now helping him in the kitchen. Randall had helped too a time or two while like this, but Don didn't want him on his injured leg too much.

Even though Mikey could still do things for himself, even train a little bit, he still needed help with only one working arm.

When Mikey got out of the infirmary with Don, he wanted to play games with Randall, and found he was gone, along with Leo and Raph.

"Where is he, Donny?" Mikey asked.

"Leo and Raph carried him back to April's. He just wanted to go back to his home." Don replied.

"Aww! I wanted to play some video games with him." Mikey whined.

"You can still go over and play the games with him, but just don't annoy him, Mikey. He still needs a lot of rest." Don said.

This was going to be a long time period for Mikey and Randall to heal.

…

Leo and Raph arrived at the basement, and set the stretcher down. Randall was glad to get off of it. It had been a nice ride through the sewers, but he was ready to get on his own feet again. But he just couldn't be allowed to get his foot cast wet. If he needed treatment, all he had to do was call and they would come get him.

As much as Randall liked the turtles as friends, he just wanted time to himself. And he knew Mikey would be really annoying over the following weeks while healing. He knew he would still come over and hang out and that was fine, but in limited quantities at the moment. The injuries were still so fresh that with the lung and ribs still healing at the most, Randall just needed all the rest he could get.

While here in his own home, April would take over Randall's daily care of any cloth baths and getting any food from the store. Randall could still cook for himself down here. He just wouldn't be allowed to climb the stairs for a few more weeks. Don and April knew that he shouldn't stress his lungs.

"Thanks for bringing me back here, guys." Randall thanked Leo and Raph.

"You're welcome, Randall." Leo said.

"We don't blame ya for wantin' to come back here to avoid Mikey's complainin.'" Raph said.

"You know, just take it easy and get all the rest you need." Leo said.

"I plan to." Randall said.

"We need to go. We have some training to do back at the lair." Leo said.

The lizard nodded his head and let them go. He looked over at the bed that awaited him. He went and climbed onto it. It did hurt him a little to walk on that leg. He was just happy to be off of it. During his time of the stitches being in his side from the lung surgery, Randall had preferred lying on his back or stomach. It was easier for him to get up from the front.

Randall was glad that monsters were definitely tougher than humans were when it came to injuries. Perhaps it had been being a monster was why he had survived such a traumatic event that had almost done him in. And once again, this had been caused by Bishop. Randall growled at the thought of that human.

Randall vowed he would take Bishop down too, at some point in the future once he recovered from this. He settled down afterwards for sleep. It felt good to be back in this bed.

….

A few days later, when Mikey was visiting Randall at April's, Randall had to ask him something.

"Mike, did Bishop ask you why he was after us?" Randall asked.

"He wanted to know where my family was, and where you were. He wants our DNA to create his super soldiers army to what he thinks is protecting the Earth from alien invasions." Mikey explained.

"Same old story, huh?"

"Yep. But he said your DNA was very different and wanted you back most of all. It could have very bad results if he gets his hands on you again." Mikey said.

"Yeah. He's just like most other humans that we monsters were told about when we were young that they were bad, and they would do something to kill us and study us for the bad reasons. That was another reason perhaps why we were taught from a young age that humans were toxic." Randall explained some lessons from his world that he remembered well.

"And of course, you know that humans aren't toxic to you." Mikey said.

"Not the basic touch, no."

"Do you ever think about going back to the monster world, for your safety?" Mikey asked.

"Sometimes. I'm not the same monster that I was a year ago. Well, I am, but not the same in evil ways that I once considered to be like." Randall said. "You guys have helped me to become a way better uh, person than I ever thought possible. You guys are the truest and best friends I've ever had. I never thought there was much to honor and compassion before I met you guys. Sure, when I was younger, I was nice before my fraternity taught me the dark ways, but I didn't have anyone there to stand in my corner that seemed to really care for me like you guys do. Wazowski was for a short time before he made friends with Sullivan, but he seemed to care more about himself than me."

Randall still preferred calling Mike Wazowski by his last name, and it helped to tell him and Michelangelo apart better by name, other than using the turtle's whole name.

"I would miss you if you went back." Mike said. "Would you miss us?"

"Of course. I have thought of going back to just see what things are going on in my former world. I wouldn't cause trouble. Then I would come back. But I'll wait until I'm well again first. I would need my invisibility there to not be caught. Chances are I could be sent to jail if I was caught. I'm sure Sullivan and Wazowski would have told what I had done with the Scream Extractor, or Mr. Waternoose would get me in trouble. I was expendable to him."

"Just because we're reptiles doesn't mean we don't have feelings. You can always count on me to be your friend, Randall. But then, your world sounds incredible too." Mikey said.

"It probably is to the person visiting there. Don's mentioned it to me before too that he would love to see the technology of my world if he had the chance." Randall giggled a bit.

"Oh, I know Donny would definitely see it that way, and plus a thousand times more." Mike laughed. "Leo and Raph would be more wary."

"If you all ever stepped foot into my world, you would have to be very careful. The CDA are very protective about what comes into our world. Even pets from this world were considered toxic." Randall warned.

"I hope you'll still stay though." Mikey pleaded.

"I'll stay as much as I can. And if I was allowed to stay in my old world, I would plan to visit. There are secret stations in the factory that some of us knew to have access to that were done unseen from the CDA."

Randall knew a lot about the dirty secrets of his former job's factory. His ex-boss had shown him these things. It would have been necessary to pull off the caper that he and Waternoose had planned originally. But, Randall was a reformed monster now. He would only do these things for the right reasons and not to harm human kids, just to travel between both worlds to see his friends.

…..

After his talk with Mikey about his former world, the more he thought about it, the more Randall did want to go back to just see how life there had gone on without him. And if possible, to claim back some of his own personal possessions. But he would wait until he was well again first. He couldn't be wearing bandages there. He had to have all of his body functioning at its normal capacity.