Chapter 11-From Wounded to Sick

It didn't take long for the Ancient One and the other acolytes to return with more bandages for Mikey, as well as materials that could be used to make a stretcher to help carry him back to the boat with ease.

After being given the bandages, Donnie went straight to work in patching up his little brother with the help of Master Splinter and Leo, who swapped places with Raph to be closer to his brother's wounded side whilst they worked, despite protests from their Red-banded brother.

"Don't worry, Raph, he'll be fine. Go and help the others with the stretcher," Leo reassured him before turning his head back to help Donnie. Raph reluctantly left his brothers to do their thing and went to help the Ancient One and the other acolytes in building a sturdy stretcher for Mikey.

10 minutes later, Donnie wiped the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand before looking at the bandage work on Mikey, and then he turned his head towards Mikey to see how he was doing since he fell asleep not long ago.

It was then that he noticed his little brother's head was sweating more than it was earlier and his breathing was shaky and slightly laboured still, so he reached over to place the palm of his hand onto Mikey's head before removing it quickly after feeling the intense heat radiating from it.

"Oh, shell…" Donnie said worriedly before double-checking his theory by flipping his hand from front to back and placing it again on Mikey's forehead, still feeling the same temperature once more.

"What's wrong, Donnie?" Leo asked after he and Master Splinter noticed the worry on Donnie's face.

"A fever…Mikey's burning up!" Donnie replied before he watched Leo's eyes widen and Master Splinter placing his paw on Mikey's forehead to confirm it himself.

"My sons, it seems that the severe exhaustion and the long battle with Dark Fang as a dragon combined have taken a heavy toll on your brother both physically and spiritually. We must get him back to the temple and give him the medicine he needs to fight his fever," He said with urgency in his voice.

Shortly after Master Splinter spoke, Raph hurried over with the other acolytes and the newly-built stretcher after he overheard them talking about Mikey's condition.

"What!? Mike's sick!?" He snapped at his brothers and sensei before crouching down next to his little brother to place a hand on his cheek and then backing it away slightly after feeling the heat coming from it.

"Oh, no…Mikey…" He said quietly as he looked at Mikey in shock with tears beginning to develop in his eyes.

"Do not worry, Raphael, your brother will pull through with our support and with the right medical care," Master Splinter soothed his red-banded son as he placed a comforting paw on his shoulder.

Raph nodded in understanding at his father's words and stood back up to turn to Leo. "Da stretcher's ready when you guys are," He said after composing himself before he looked at Donnie. "Is it ok ta move him now, Donnie?"

"We have patched up Mikey as best we could for now, but even though he has a high fever, he is stable enough to be transferred onto the stretcher," Donnie confirmed.

His older brothers nodded before signaling the others to bring the stretcher over, and they worked together to carefully transfer Mikey onto it. Master Splinter then covered his son with a blanket, which was also found in the rubble, and tucked him in to help make him feel more comfortable during the journey back to the boat.

"Raph, you and Adam will carry Mikey back to the boat. Make sure that you transport him at a slow but steady pace to reduce the risk of jostling him too much and aggravating his injuries, ok?" Leo instructed his immediate younger brother who nodded with a grunt before taking his position at the bottom part of the stretcher and, with Adam holding the top handles of the stretcher, they both gently lifted Mikey up from the ground.

"Ok, let's get back to the boat, everyone!" Leo said to the whole group before taking the lead towards the direction of where their boat was docked.

30 minutes had passed since they set off, and the group was halfway towards their destination when Mikey began to start groaning and moving his head slowly from side to side before he started to mumble to himself.

"N-No…d-don't…leave t-them alone…"

Raph watched his brother with worry as he struggled in his internal battle before it caught Donnie's attention, much to Raph's relief.

"Stop, you two, let me check on him a minute," He said after halting Adam and Raph and then coming over to take a look at his sick and wounded brother. He assessed the symptoms that Mikey was showing until he figured out what was going on before he leaned closer to him.

"Mikey…it's alright…it's me, Donnie…You're having a dream...we're ok… and you're ok…" He said soothingly whilst he placed a comforting hand on Mikey's cheek. Then, Mikey groaned again as he leaned against Donnie's hand before settling back into a peaceful sleep.

"Is he ok, Don? What happened just now?" Raph asked his purple-banded brother, desperate to know what was going on right now.

"Mikey was having a fever dream, Raph. If I hadn't come over another minute later, he would have tried to get off the stretcher in a panicked state, which would have made his injuries worse," Donnie explained calmly to his immediate older brother, who took a minute to take in what he just said before nodding in understanding as Donnie continued.

"I think we should take a break for a bit to catch our breath and make sure that Mikey is comfortable and hydrated because the amount of sweating that he is currently experiencing can result in him becoming severely dehydrated."

Everyone looked at each other before they all nodded and Leo spoke up. "Ok, Donnie, we'll take a break for 10 minutes and then we'll head straight off again."

Donnie smiled and nodded in agreement to the amount of time given for a break before he guided Raph and Adam to a safe spot where they could lower Mikey down gently to the ground, and Master Splinter was there straight away after filling a small bowl with water from the wooden bucket that was used and taken from the well and grabbing a piece of cloth from the supplies found in the rubble.

"These will help in lowering Michelangelo's fever, my son," the old rat said before he handed them over to him.

"Thank you, Master Splinter. This will help him greatly, even if it's only temporary it will bide us some time until we get back to the temple," Donnie said to his sensei after he received the much-needed items from him and placed the bowl next to him before dipping the cloth into the cool water.

After he wrung out the excess water from the cloth, Donnie folded it and gently placed it on his little brother's forehead, resulting in Mikey letting out a sigh of relief before developing a small smile on his face, causing Donnie to smile too with a light chuckle.

"I bet that feels much better, huh?" He said softly before he heard Mikey hum in response as if agreeing to what he said, whilst he gently stroked his brother's cheek with his thumb.

A moment later, Donnie carefully placed a hand under Mikey's head and lifted it slightly so that he could get him to drink some water from the bowl, which he asked Raph to bring closer to Mikey's mouth.

"Drink some water, Mikey. Take slow and small sips, ok?" Donnie instructed him as he and Raph watched Mikey open his mouth slightly to accept the water bowl that came into contact with his lips and drank the water slowly and in small sips like he was told.

"They ya go, bro…" Raph said softly to his little brother, who then finished drinking with a slight cough which caused him to wince and moan in pain because the cough made him move slightly and aggravate his injuries a bit.

"Easy, Mikey…I know it hurts but you'll be ok once we get back to the temple," Donnie said whilst gently laying Mikey's head back down and then checking to see if his injuries were still stable. Luckily, the bandages were still keeping the wounds from bleeding any further and keeping the claw nail in his shoulder secure from too much movement, so Donnie placed the blanket back on top of Mikey and then tucked him in a bit more.

"How's he doing, Donnie?" Leo asked his purple-banded brother after observing him from a small distance away.

"The bandages are holding for now, and his fever is still high but not as bad as it was earlier thanks to the cold water we have leftover. We should get moving as soon as we're ready, though…" Donnie explained with his voice sounded a bit on edge as he said the last sentence.

Leo placed a hand on Donnie's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze before he spoke. "Don't worry, Don, we'll be setting off again in 5 minutes, so try and take a breather while you still can cos we won't be making any more stops after this one."

Donnie nodded in understanding. "Ok…Thanks, Leo," he then said with a smile of gratitude towards his oldest brother before walking away and dragging a reluctant Raph with him to go and have a chat with the other acolytes, who were keeping a lookout for any danger during their stop, and took a break from tending to Mikey. After seeing them off, Leo sat next to his sick and wounded little brother, whose eyes suddenly opened slightly, showing the feverish glaze within them.

"Hey, Mikey…" Leo said quietly to make sure that he didn't scare him before placing a comforting hand on Mikey's chest.

Mikey moved his head slightly to the right to see his blue-banded brother looking at him with a warm smile, so he blinked before giving him a small smile of his own despite the discomfort that he was feeling right now. He was about to talk but Leo shook his head a little, telling him that he shouldn't right now.

"Don't try to talk, Mikey, Ok? Save your strength for the journey back," Leo said before receiving a small nod his little brother and then watched as he slowly closed his eyes to fall back to sleep again.

After a few more minutes of resting, Leo stood back up and the others gathered around him shortly after.

"Ok, let's continue our way back to the boat, everyone," Leo said before watching Adam and Raph go back to their duty of carrying Mikey and catching up with the others as everyone set off towards the location and safety of their boat once more.