Leonardo wearily opened his eyes, thankful that the Shredder's voice had once again gone – for now.
What am I doing on the floor? Did I pass out?
"Leo?"
The leader froze in shock at how unaware he was in sensing the presence of his own family and cautiously turned towards the voice of concern.
"Wh-Donnie? You shouldn't be here." Leonardo winced from using his hoarse throat.
"We're not in Oz, Leo. We're in your room."
"Exactly! You shouldn't be in here."
"I was worried about you. We'reall worried about you."
"You should be worrying about Raph. Especially after…what I did…" Leonardo retracted from his brother.
"Leo, I don't want to alarm you, but you just had a seizure. You cut yourself."
Leonardo's heart raced.
I don't remember…What did he see?
"I had some spare dressings so I wrapped up your arm to stop the bleeding, but it's only temporary. We need to get it looked at as well as reset your shoulder. The cuts are quite deep. You're lucky you didn't sever an artery." Fortunately for Donatello, the eldest didn't seem to realise his tanto blade was missing.
"I'll be fine. You should be looking after Raph."
"Leo - what happened up there? With the Shredder."
Leonardo tried hard not to resurrect the memories of the rooftop once again.
"I wasn't sure at first, but now that I see it…" Donatello pondered.
"…the symptoms you are presenting would indicate PTSD. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This is serious." The eldest said nothing.
"I understand…why you hurt Raph. You must have been so…emotionally distressed. You lashed out because you were protecting yourself."
"He'll never forgive me." Leonardo quickly sat up facing away from his caring brother but immediately regretted said action when a dizzy spell hit him. He was still subconsciously tucking his left arm in to protect it.
"He's a tough turtle. He'll be fine, but right now I need you to come with me to the lab."
"Can't I just fix my arm here?"
Donatello frowned and mentally kicked himself. Of course Leo wouldn't want to go back to the lab. That's where Raph was…Returning to another traumatic event could have dire consequences.
Oh shell, Raph! I've been gone too long.
"Alright. Why don't you wait for me in the bathroom? I'll just get my med kit. I'll be back shortly, okay?"
"Sure." The weakened brother smiled weakly.
As Leonardo cautiously rose from the floor and walked out, Donatello frantically grabbed a bin, dustpan and brush from the kitchen and carefully picked up the larger pieces of glass from the bedroom floor. He feared that if in the likely chance of his brother returning to his room on his own, he could potentially harm himself once again.
Donatello fought hard against the decision to leave the eldest on his own for any length of time, however he knew Raphael needed immediate help. He prayed removing his brother from his room would prevent any triggers until he got back. When he reached his laboratory he was relieved to see Raphael hadn't moved. Or maybe that was a bad thing? Donatello knelt next to him and realised Raphael was unconscious; his head was bowed down but he was still holding his injured hand, now propped up on a stool to keep it there.
"Raph? Raph, c'mon buddy. Wake up." Shaking his brother proved unsuccessful.
"Please forgive me. Wake up!" The slap echoed in both turtles' ears.
"Owwwww. Donnie! Can't you see I'm in enough pain as it is?"
"Raph, I'm so sorry. I had to wake you. How are you feeling? Any nausea? Dizziness?"
"Apart from the fact I've been stabbed? Yeah…fantastic. In all seriousness I feel a little light headed, and sore on the jaw from where you slapped me. Thanks for the additional touch by the way."
"Well at least your sarcasm is intact. Good job on keeping your hand above your head."
"Aww gee thanks, Donnie. Shame I had to keep it there 'til I couldn't feel my butt anymore."
Donatello peeled back part of the cloth and was surprised but relieved the bleeding had stopped for now.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to leave you for so long. Leo took a bit longer to find than I would have liked."
"Why?" Raphael grunted.
"He…ran out the lair. Understandably upset. Found him in one of the sewer tunnels. Took a fall though so he didn't get far thankfully." Raphael pulled a face of disgust.
"Oh he's upset?!" Raphael was baffled.
"Where is he now?" The injured terrapin struggled to move from his current position for his body had become stiff in keeping his arm elevated. His legs also stuck to the floor from sweating profusely earlier.
"He's cleaning himself off in the bathroom."
"Are you sure he won't run out again?"
Donatello looked at him with uncertainty and said nothing. In all honesty, he really regretted leaving his eldest brother in such a vulnerable state – both of his brothers in fact, but he couldn't treat both of them simultaneously.
How could I have been so stupid…
"Donnie, I really think you should check him over. I think he took a nasty blow that's messed with his head. Agh!"
"Raph, take it easy. I'm going to wrap your hand in a temporary cast for a few hours once I've cleaned and dressed the puncture wound properly. I can't afford you to rip the hole fully open again whilst the tissues start to heal."
"So I can't punch fearless with this hand?" Raphael smirked as he raised his damaged limb once again.
"Neither hand preferably. C'mon. Up we get."
Donatello helped Raphael to hobble towards a nearby cot and started to wipe down Raphael's puncture wound, much to his brother's agonising displeasure. After a large number of crimson stained wipes were disposed of, the scientist (or rather stand in doctor) confirmed a gruesome result. Sure enough, the blade had pierced right through the flesh and out the other side. The exit wound looked much more swollen than the entry wound.
I really hope this doesn't get infected. I'll have to procure some more antibiotics. I forgot to stock up after the incident with muckman. Maybe I can ask April to get some for me, or Mikey…
"Wonder what messed him up so bad. It's not like him to freak out like that."
"You're taking this remarkably well, Raph. I'm impressed."
"Well something's definitely not right, Donnie. I mean, he got really mad when he thought we wanted to replace him as leader. I know I dig at him a lot about being the golden boy but this was overboard – and all that stuff about weakness?"
"Where did he get that idea?"
"And when we were fightin', it was like he was a different person. More determined… and lethal…"
"Hmmm I know what you mean. I'll try to talk to him again once I've fixed you up."
"Heh, good luck(!)"
"Raph?"
"Yeah?"
"May I suggest we don't tell Mikey about this?"
"Errr why not?"
"I don't want to freak him out and think that this was all his fault."
"Of course it isn't. That's stupid!"
"I know, but remember he's very sensitive about these things. He'll take it to heart."
"*Sigh* Alright, but when things are better, we need to say somethin'."
In all honesty, Donatello wasn't sure when things would get better…
"By the way, what are we gonna say about this?" Raphael nudged in the direction of the hand Donatello had finally finished wrapping. He could just about see the ends of his three fingers to know his hand was still in there somewhere.
"Ehh, make something up, but nothing too exciting. Don't go in to too many details."
"I know - I'll just blame one of your science projects."
"Hey! You can't say that."
"Why not? It's perfectly believable. They've caused enough problems in this place."
"Grrrr whatever. Right, your respiration, blood pressure and other vitals check out fine, so I'm just going to check on Leo. Don't go anywhere."
"Hey, don't forget your knockout pen, or chloroform bandana, or mutant net. Get it? Not fish net, mutant net. Nnnahhh that was terrible…"
Donatello had already walked away at this point.
Raphael suddenly relished the feeling of being pain free. Initially he didn't realise Donatello had inserted an IV in to his arm after they moved him to a nearby cot. Now that the drugs were kicking in, Raphael felt oddly euphoric.
"Whoa, these painkillers are the jam."