LEO'S POV:

My entire body aches. Mainly my chest. It's only when I let out a groan, that I realize how quiet it is. Where is everybody? Where am I? I can't bring myself to open my eyes, but when I see how dark it is. I'm in my bedroom.

None of the lights are on, and my door is shut. I would've thought I was in complete darkness if it weren't for my video camera currently charging. The green charging light is on, but that's almost the only way I can see.

Absentmindedly, I try to sit up. I let out another uncomfortable groan, this time, louder. I'm in so much pain. Despite the severe pain I'm in, I feel a weight lifted off my shoulder (definitely not off my chest) that I had saved Lexi from this pain, if not, worse. Human skin is definitely not as thick as our plastron. She would be dead.

Lexi could be dead.

I let out a breath and then another groan from the pain. I saved her from death. The pain doesn't matter to me anymore. If Lexi is safe, I don't care how long it takes me to recover. Suddenly, my door is opened. The light in the hallway hurts my eyes and when the light in my room is turned on, I have to shut my eyes again. It's too much.

"Oops...sorry," a voice mumbles, shutting the light back off. The door closes. A few minutes later, it opens again.

"Don't try to open your eyes right away," Donnie's voice advises. I hear my lamp turn on. "Just wait a few minutes. I'll get my supplies, alright?" I desperately hope he doesn't genuinely expect an answer. He leaves the room. Even with my eyes closed, I can feel them getting used to the light.

"Leo..." a quiet voice says. Lexi's. I try opening my eyes again. "Shhh...shut your eyes. I don't wanna get in trouble with Donnie again." She must've been the one to turn on my light and apologize. I laugh, but then groan in pain. "Don't laugh either. Don's gonna kill me..."

I want to say something-anything. I want to tell her how happy I am that she's safe. I want to say how she should've been paying more attention. I want to let her know I'm so, so happy she's alright...

"Lexi, you can't be in here," Don informs, coming back in. I hear his case of supplies set on my desk.

"Donnie, let her stay," I mumble. I'm surprised at how normal my voice sounds. I don't know what I expected: a sore throat, maybe? A cough? A raspy voice? My voice sounds normal, but ten times quieter. I don't want to strain it.

Don sighs. "Okay. But if she makes you sit up or anything, she has to leave. No offense, Lexi."

"None taken."

"Leo, I'm going to get you an ice pack for your chest, okay?" Donnie says, but I don't answer. "Okay, so you can tell me to let her stay, but you can't answer me?"

"Yep," I mumble.

After a few moments, I open my eyes. The burning in my eyes has gone away but my chest still stings. In front of me sits Lexi. She wraps her hand around mine and looks at me worriedly. Her hair is pulled back into a low bun and her cheeks are tear-stained. She's been crying.

"Isn't it weird," she sniffles, "how just six months ago, I was the one lying in this bed injured and you and Donnie were the ones fixing me up?" I chuckle and the action makes my chest hurt. Her eyebrows scrunch up. "I'm not supposed to make you laugh! It's hurting you!"

"Not on the inside," I say quietly. My eyes fill with amusement, but she still looks concerned. "Lexi, I'm alright."

Donnie comes back with an ice pack in his hands. He looks worn out from the fight.

"Lexi, do you wanna be my medical helper?" Donnie asks.

She smiles. "Sure."

He hands her his box of medical tools. He looks at me and smiles sympathetically.

"Leo, you got hit pretty hard with that knife. It'll take a lot to get it out. Do you know who hit you?" Donnie asks. He begins to dab some ointment around me wound. I notice that my shoulder would is cleaned off and bandaged.

"Karai," I say quietly. "She was...going to throw it at Lexi." My eyes flicker to hers. "I couldn't let that happen." We both stare at each other for a moment and she looks like she's going to cry again.

"Leo," she whispers. "You didn't have to do that..."

"I really wouldn't want you to be in this pain right now," I insist, hissing at the stinging sensation as Don dabs more ointment. "Trust me."

"He's right," Don says. "If Leo hadn't have done that, you'd be dead."

"Why isn't Leo dead?" Lexi challenges, raising her eyebrows.

"Humans have thinner skin. At the force that knife was thrown at, it would've definitely punctured the heart. Our plastron is thicker so it slowed the knife enough to avoid reaching the crucial heart area. But if we don't get it out soon, the blade will continue to block the arteries and will eventually cause some serious blood flow difficulties," Don explains. He turns to me. "I'm going to give you an anesthetic, okay?" It isn't a choice. He's just making sure I know. He also sticks a needle into my arm. After all the pain from tonight, it hardly hurts.

"How long have I been out?" I ask, watching Donnie get ready to take out the knife. His eyes meet mine for a moment, and then he looks back at his tools.

"Put your focus on something else - it'll be easier to ignore the pain that way," he orders. "And to answer your question, it's one in the morning." That doesn't exactly answer my question, but I don't bother saying anything. "Lexi, try to talk to Leo and distract him. This will hurt a lot."

I feel Donnie picking at the knife with some dentist-like tools. I flinch at the metal sound scraping against the knife and inside of my plastron where the blade has punctured.

Lexi turns to me. "Mallory and Raph have been arguing the entire time about what's better: a carving knife or a turkey-cutting razor."

"Who's on who's side?"

"Raph is the carving knife, and Mallory is for the razor." I'm about to say something back to show that I'm listening, but she takes it into her own hands to continue talking. She sees the pain I'm in and doesn't care if I don't respond.

"Mikey's been playing video games with Benj. They've been screaming at the top of their lungs the last few hours so that's why the door was shut. Also, sorry for turning on your light. Anyway, don't feel bad about keeping us here because it's like our second home. Did you know high heels were originally meant for men to make their calves look better? I've also heard that they were made for butchers but I mean, either way, they were made for men. But because of societal ridicule, it's not their trend anymore, which honestly-"

There is a sudden yank. I hiss.

The next thing I see is the knife, which blood dried all over it. Donnie holds it and hurries to put it away. He takes out a few cotton squares and dabs some disinfectant onto my wound. I grit my teeth and shut my eyes tightly. Now that the wound is open and the knife is out, the pain is even more noticeable.

"Let's patch you up," Don says. "You're gonna have to sit up, Leo."

I bite my lip and nod. I try to sit up and ignore the pain that's throbbing in my chest. Lexi squeezes my hand even tighter. My eyes lock with hers and she smiles. I smile back and she averts her eyes from mine, but keeps holding onto my hand. Don wraps the bandages around my plastron a few times.

"Thanks, Don," I say.

He nods. "I think I'm going to wash off the blood and do some research on the knife. It looks suspicious."

"Knives altogether are suspicious. Why are you particularly cautious about this one? What did it ever do to you?" Lexi jokes.

"To me? Nothing." He motions his head to me. "To Leo? Stabbed him in the chest." He leaves the room. It's just me and Lexi.

"Leo...that was the nicest and bravest thing anyone has ever done for me," she says slowly.

"It was nothing..." I trail, but she's already shaking her head.

"You heard Donnie. I would be dead."

I search her deep blue eyes, and throughout my pain, offer her a smile. "I really care about you, Lexi."

And I do. More than she knows.

A/N: Yayy Leo's okay haha. Dude honestly Lexi is so blind if she still thinks that Leo doesn't like her more than a friend. All the tell-tale signs are there. But when will he tell her...? I can guarantee it won't be long!

Okay, I'm gonna be honest with you: I've been feeling really down about my writing lately. Like, I read other books & stuff and just think to myself, "Wow, I stink at writing." All my ideas seem to be all over the place & I try really hard, I do. But it's hard because I think I'm decent and then I read other stuff and then feel bad about my own work. I'm trying not to feel like that but that's how it is.

I'll keep updating for this story, of course. But I'm telling you this to show that when I thank you for reading and reviewing, I mean it with all my heart. Sometimes I just feel so self-deprecating about my writing so it literally makes my day when people review. Really - thank you so, so much.