(3333 Words)
Raph wakes up with the biggest headache he had ever felt. His whole body ached and he felt like death. "Oh..." He grumbles, sitting up. He looks around groggily and blinks a few times. It was dark in the room and he knew it must've been night. He looks at where he was sitting and frowns. It was a white bed.
Suddenly it all came back to him. "Oh no..." He starts to move but his hand was caught. He looks down, scared of what he'd see and lets out a sigh of relief when he sees another hand. Mikey was sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed, fast asleep with a grip on Raph's hand. He looks farther into the dark room and sees Donnie sleeping in an armchair in the right corner, a blanket draped over him.
All he wants to do is apologize and pretend like it never happened, just like Leo and Mikey's jokes in the van. How long ago was that now? Hours? Raph pulls his knees up to his chest, leaving his hand down for Mikey to hold. He was in a hospital. He had to let it sink in. How was it so bad he was in the hospital?
He'd be sent away... He didn't want to. He finally found a family he liked, for the most part anyways. He wished they'd let him stay but even if they did things would change. They always did. The second he slips up, the second he lets his guard down something triggers him and he freaks out. The world spinning out of control and the family looks at him different.
They treat him like a baby, like he'll be set off like a bomb. That's when he takes matters into his own hands. That's when he leaves. God, he wished they would just stay the same.
Raph picks at a loose thread in the blanket and sits his chin down on his knees. He was so tired but he knew there was no way he was going to fall asleep. Not until he knew he was okay. Seconds turn to minutes, minutes turn to hours and before he knew it the sun had risen. Raph had barely moved. His stomach growled and his hands itched but he still didn't move. He felt like the slightest movement might make them more mad at him.
He feels an itch in his nose and he curses himself before he lets out a loud sneeze. They were sure to have heard it though it wasn't actually that loud, the room was quiet so anything louder than a fly taking a shit sounded loud. Mikey pops his head up and looks directly at Raph. He gasps and goes to hug him but stops quickly. "Raph, are you okay?" He asks.
He didn't seem mad but at the same time, Mikey didn't really have any authority. Raph shrugs. "D-Do you want anything? Water, or food?" He asks, seeming to cover all his bases. Raph just shakes his head, even though it felt like his stomach was trying to eat itself at this point. Mikey squeezes Raph's hand. "You scared us really bad." He says quietly. "We didn't know what to do."
He looks over at Donnie who was stirring in the chair. "We both came with to make sure you'd be okay... I don't know what was up with Leo though... He's just being and ass." Mikey says, trying to cheer Raph up. It doesn't work. Raph wants to ask if he was mad, if he thinks he'd be sent away after this but he can't get his mouth to open.
"Raph?" It was Donnie now. He had woken up and was now walking slowly over to the bed, the blanket around his shoulders like a cape. "Raph, I'm so g-glad you're alright. How do you feel?" Oh boy. Raph was not ready for non 'yes or no' questions. He looks away, trying to figure out how to get his voice to work again. It hurt to try, he knew this already. Once again Raph shrugs.
"We called Dad to see if he would be able to pick us up and he told us a friend had died and he was taking some time to grieve." Raph bobs his head. "But he said he could send an uber or something, after he got back home." Donnie adds. Raph picks his head up a little. "H-He doesn't want to get rid of me?" Raph asks in a quiet, raspy voice. Donnie gives an awkward smile. "Well, he didn't say anything about that and I'd assume not. You haven't really done anything wrong."
"B-But I caused trouble." Raph says, putting his head back down. "Oh please, So you had a breakdown. We cause more trouble than that. Besides, you couldn't really help that." Donnie reassures. Raph shakes his head. "How do you know... How do you know he won't boot me?" Raph says, his voice painfully scratching his throat.
"To be honest... We don't. But even if he does want to, we'll fight tooth and nail for you." Donnie says with Mikey nodding his head vigorously beside him. Raph looks at his feet. "What happens now?"
Raph found out what happened next. A doctor of some sort comes into the room and asked Donnie and Mikey to wait outside. He went through, asking Raph questions about situations that had happened and situations that had never happened. Raph could tell the man was looking for something. Something that would tell him what was wrong with him but Raph didn't like that. He didn't like people probing him.
He'd ask questions like 'when do you feel safe' or 'why do you think you had such an extreme reaction.' But Raph would just shrug without giving a real answer. And yeah, he did have real answers, just none that he wanted to give to the man. 'when do you feel safe?' Never. 'Why do you think you had such an extreme reaction?' Because I had a fucking flashback. Like he'd tell the man that.
The man asked so many probing questions Raph was sure he'd slipped up and given an actual answer here and there but he didn't think that would change much. When the man stopped asking questions he looks at Raph very seriously. and tells him all of the shit that was wrong with him. Raph rolls his eyes when the man was done. He knew he was messed up, he didn't care if there was a name for it.
The man tells him he can proscribe multiple drugs to make him 'More stable' but Raph just crosses his arms. He didn't want to rely on some medication for him to have a life. He wanted to just move on, but of course the universe could never let that happen. Thankfully he was allowed to deny the medication. After a while of talking to the man he leaves, allowing Mikey and Donnie back in, bringing some food with them.
"Raph, dude! That took forever!" Mikey says as Donnie lays a small trey of food on Raph's lap. "You weren't the one in here." Raph says. "Brutal." He finishes, looking at the food. "Thanks guys." He says, starting to feel better. He was no longer panicking about being kicked out. Donnie nods. "Hey, it's no problem." Raph picks up a fruit cup and starts eating them one by one. Mikey smiles. "It's what brothers are for."
This makes Raph tear up. Normally he'd brush it off or make a joke but he'd been a tad bit emotionally unstable lately if you hadn't noticed. He puts a hand to his mouth and looks down and away. "Thanks." he mumbles. Mikey breathes out a small laugh and steals one of his slices of orange. Donnie takes a grape and they just sit there in the silence, hoping for the best.
For hours Leo had been playing back what had happened the day before. His chest hurt and so did his head, he couldn't focus on anything but what happened.
Leo and Karai had been sitting on the couch, making out so much that they barely had time to breathe. She had reached down and started groping when he pulled away. "What are you doing?" He asked. "What do you mean? I thought you loved me?" Karai says. Leo scoots away a bit. "I do. But we can't do that." Karai huffs. "Why not?" Leo rolls his eyes. "I told you, I'm not having sex until I'm married." Karai crosses her arms
"Maybe I should find someone who will do this for me." She says, annoyed. "Because you don't love me." She says to his face. Leo stays quiet. "Don't you love me!?" Karai shouts. "I do but I can't do that!" Leo shouts back. "But Leo, don't you want to do this for me!?" Karai asks loudly, getting angrier. "It's dishonorable! Not before marriage!"
"FINE! I don't need you!" Karai shouts. "FINE!" Leo says as Karai storms away. "Manipulating little bitch." Leo mumbles. He hears Karai go upstairs and Leo doesn't think anything of it, just crossing his arms and glaring out the back windows of the house. All he could think about was how angry he got at her... And just when she had gotten back. He sits alone, cooling off for a few minutes until he decides it would be best to go apologize.
He gets up and heads upstairs, guilt resting in his gut. He goes, checking all the rooms. First he checks his room then Donnie's and Mikey's, seeing Donnie forcing Mikey to do his homework. He walks away and toward Raph's room tentatively. He didn't really like people going in his room so Karai being in there probably wasn't the best. But then again, him going in there wouldn't be the best for him either.
He pushes the door open and takes the scene in Karai was on top of Raph, his pants down and Karai going for his boxers. He lets out a yell of surprise and stands, frozen in the doorway. Raph Lets out an ear splitting scream, shoving Karai off of him and yanking up his pants. Leo looks at Karai in horror. The girl bolts up and out of the door
"What the fuck Raphael!" Leo says angrily, not able to note Raph's distressed state in his anger. "You can't just go fuck with my girlfriend you reject!" Leo stomps out of the room, quickly slamming the door and locking it tight. Leo lets out a frustrated growl and slams the back of his forearm into the wall. "We took him in, we gave him a home! And he goes and does some shit like that!? UGH!" Leo feels so much energy in his body and he couldn't get it out.
Normally he'd go train but there wasn't any way he could get to the dojo, at least not without driving and he'd been taught never to drive angry. He hears someone knock on his door and he turns away from it. "Leo! Leo, something's really wrong with Raph, we need help." It was Mikey. Leo makes a disgusted noise. "Whatever's wrong with him I don't care." Leo says. "Leo, please!" Leo huffs. "Go away Mikey, He can die for all I care." He hears Mikey dash away and then he hears some chatter from the other end of the hall.
And then. "Screw it! I'm calling nine one one!" Leo frowns and listens carefully. There was soft noises coming from outside but he couldn't make out what they were. Finally he hears Donnie's voice from just downstairs. "Yes, hello, My brother, he just started screaming and now he's curled up, non-responsive but clearly conscious." There was silence and then Donnie speaks again. "Yeah, okay. Okay. Hold on a second."
Leo hears Donnie run up the stairs and down the hall. He feels like he should do something but he was still pissed. Raph had been trying to have sex with his girlfriend. It was disgusting! He hears Donnie saying Raph's name loudly over and over, asking if he could try and respond but he didn't hear Raph's response at all. He either didn't give one or it was silent.
Eventually he hears a siren blaring from down the street, stopping just outside the house. Again, someone rushes downstairs and opens the door. At this point Leo's curiosity was getting the better of him. He opens his door, just in time to see Raph run past him, tripping down each stair and out the door. He follows Mikey, Donnie and three paramedics outside and watches as Raph breaks down in front of their house.
"He's sick." Leo had said. "He shouldn't be here. He's sick." He said before going back inside. He was a danger to Leo's family and Raphael needed to go.
Leo growls and walks downstairs. His brothers had been gone all night with that lunatic and Leo didn't like it. They shouldn't be around someone like him. He hears the front door open and he dashes out of his room. He lets out a breath when he sees his father walk tiredly through the door. "Father!" Leo says. Yoshi glances up the stairs at his eldest son and tries to smile. "Hello Leonardo." He says quietly.
"Father, is something wrong?" Leo asks, his mind wandering from it's original task. "My so, I have grievous news. Our friend Yusagi's mother has passed." Leo's heart drops. Yusagi was one of his best friends. Though he was quite a few years older than himself, Leo had made good friends with the young adult. "Oh no!" Leo says. "She was so nice..." Leo keeps a moment of silence before picking his head back up.
"Father I'm afraid I have some unpleasant news of my own." Leo says, his hands folded behind his back. " I saw Raphael try to have sex with Karai last night." Leo says awkwardly. Yoshi strokes his short beard. "Hm, I do not condone intercourse until marriage..." He says slowly. "Who, may I ask, was on top?" Leo cringes. "What?"
"Who was on top." He asks again. "Father, I don't understand the pertinence of-" Oh. He get's it. Whoever was on top would've been the one instigating it. Thinking back to it he realizes Karai was the one on top. Raph had pushed her off of him. He didn't want it to happen. "Raphael." He says confidently. It didn't matter. He needed to say whatever would get that maniac out. He would hurt his family.
Yoshi nods. "Where is he now?" He asks, his voice steady. Leo tightens his hands behind his back. "Probably the hospital." Leo says awkwardly. "What?!" Yoshi nearly shouts. Leo cringes and quickly explains. "He freaked himself out. He was curled up in a ball outside last time I saw him. The guys must've called nine one one because an ambulance ended up coming too." Yoshi frowns. "Thank you for telling me Leonardo."
Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello step out of the car, waving to their driver. They were glad their father had paid for them prier to them getting their otherwise they would've been stranded. Raph walked in between the two brothers, a hospital bracelet still attached to his arm. "I'm sorry again." Raph says, rubbing his arm. "It's fine." Mikey says. "Besides, you're pretty much family at this point."
Donnie turns the handle and opens the door. "Hey, who's car is that out there?" He asks absentmindedly. Mikey shrugs and Raph is barely able to look back at it before his eyes widen. "No..." He whispers. "Come to the family room my sons." Yoshi calls and all three of them walk curiously to the doorway at the end of the hall. They look inside and Raph feels his heart plummet to his toes. No, no, no...
Leo, Yoshi and one other man were sitting in the living-room, two bags were sitting near the end of the couch. "Raphael." The man says, addressing the boy. Raph shakes his head slightly. "I think it'd be best if we kept this brief." Greg says, sighing. Donnie and Mikey look at each-other in shock. "My sons, please say your goodbyes." Yoshi says blankly, his eyes showing a burning fire behind them. Donnie looks at his father, a horrified expression on his face. Mikey takes Raph's hand and has tears in his eyes.
Leo looks at Raph with a dark, grim glare. He gives a little wave, looking almost bored. Raph looks unbelievably at Greg and then Yoshi. "Wh-What did I do? What did I do?" Raph asks. "I'm sorry Raphael." Yoshi says. "Please, I'll-I'll be good!" Raph pleads. He didn't want to leave. He just found a family he liked. "I'll be good! I'll be good!" Raph repeats. "I didn't do anything!" Donnie goes closer to his father.
"He didn't do anything Dad, I promise! He really didn't." He says, pleading Raph's case. "That's a different story than Leonardo told me." He says quietly. "Tell me Donatello, were you there the whole time? what about You Michelangelo?" He says, noticing Mikey was about to speak. "No..." Both of them say. "So how do you know what happened?" The boys look at each-other and then to Raph.
He had pricks of tears in the corners of his eyes and he was almost shaking. "Please! I didn't do anything wrong! I'll be good, I won't cause any trouble! Please!" Raph begs, taking a step forward. "Time to go Raphael." Greg says, coming up from behind and taking Raph's arm. "No, no! Please!" Raph says, pulling away. Greg takes Raph's other arm and pulls them together, making his shoulder-blades touch. Raph once again feels the gun to his back and moves along.
He unwillingly feels his legs taking him to the door. He lets the tears fall down his face as he's lead out the door and to the car. "Please, please, please..." Raph repeats. "I tried so hard, please." The car door closes and Raph is trapped inside. He has to sit and watch as Greg goes in to get his bags. He's shocked when he sees Mikey run to the door as Greg tries to leave.
A little green lump moves in Mikey's hands and Raph chokes back a sob. It was spike. Mikey tries to get Greg to take it but he shakes his head, walking back to the car with just the bags. Raph buries his face in his knees as Greg gets in the car. "I'm sorry Raphael."
I'll be good, I'll be good
And I'll love the world, like I should
Yeah, I'll be good, I'll be good
For all of the time
That I never could
I'll Be Good
Jaymes Young
Hahahahhahahahahahahaha! I am the angst QUEEN. Bow to my power! Thank you all for reading and thank you for your reviews. (Oh, and TBH, I just finished this chapter in the same day I wrote the last one, I just Decided to hold off on posting it.)