Raph woke with a start. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. As the fogginess faded, he saw Donnie's put out expression.
"You were suppose to wake me up hours ago." Donnie said as he pointed to the sun halfway across the sky. Raph looked up and confirmed that Donnie was, in fact, correct. The sun finally bore through the clouds and burned his parched throat.
"Sorry," was all Raph gave him. He'd really only meant to sleep for a few minutes. He'd spent most of the few hours after Donnie'd fallen asleep, chest gently rising and falling, keeping an eye out with a small hope that Leo or Mikey would come wandering through the woods. His head did him in though. He'd sat down and close his eyes just to give his brain a break, just to stop the throbbing. Guess he'd fallen asleep.
"It's fine," Donnie reluctantly conceded. "We both clearly needed the rest. But we're going to have make up for lost time." Donnie didn't have to explain his urgency or the tension in his voice, Raph knew. "But before that, let me take a look at your injuries."
Raph relinquished and Donnie began studying the lacerations or, really, the puncture wounds. Most of the lesions were shallow and already beginning to close up but there were several that lay deep. Raph's right arm had a cut about five inches along his deltoid and a quarter inch deep. A laceration in his left leg ran down the length his thigh and looked to be almost a half inch deep. In both, the underlying, pink muscle lay exposed, the dark red blood gathered deep into the wound. Not good. Donnie looked up for a moment,
"How did you even get these?"
"Ran into a wolf. It attacked me and I scared it off." Raph replied.
"What?"
"What do you mean what? I told you —"
"No, no, no." Donnie cut him off, "Not that. A wolf? Just attacked you? Did you provoke it?"
"I'm not an idiot." Raph grumbled.
"But then why would it attack? Was it drooling excessively or, I dunno, crazy looking?"
"Like rabbis or something?" Donnie nodded. "Nah. It looked…" Raph hesitated. "focused… like it'd been looking for a fight." Donnie felt an inadvertent shiver fall down his spine. He shook his head. Maybe it did have rabies and Raph just didn't notice.
Donnie refocused on the wounds. He didn't need to waste time thinking about weird mammalian habits.
So far there was no infection but there was clearly debris and likely bacteria in the cuts. Donnie's forehead creased further, his frown deepening. These wounds needed proper treatment. He needed to disinfect the wounds and stitch up the major puncture wounds but he had none of his equipment and no access to medical supplies. Donnie swallowed his anger and sat back.
"There's not a whole lot I can do now. I don't have my medical kit with me," Donnie tried to keep his frustration from showing. "We'll just have to keep and eye out for infection. Let me know if these cuts change color, smell, or temperature. Right now all we can do wrap them." And hope. Raph simply nodded, indifferent to the danger Donnie knew he was in.
"Seriously, keep an eye out." Donnie added as he started wrapping the deeper cuts. Raph raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't say I wouldn't." With a glance at the look on Donnie's face, he added, "I'll keep an eye out." Donnie nodded in satisfaction.
"Now where to begin." Donnie spoke to himself as he stood from wrapping Raph's wounds. Raph rose to his feet, offering no suggestions. They stood in silence for a moment, feeling the vastness of the forest that lay heavy on their task. Raph switched his attention from Donnie to the trees, waiting for some clue. None arrived.
"There." Raph pointed, letting his irritation slip into the gruffness of his response. Donnie looked at him with watering eyes.
"Sure." Better to start somewhere than sit there twiddling their thumbs. Raph took the lead, letting the motion keep the hellish thoughts out of his head. A small noise from Donnie, made him pause.
"How hard did you hit your it?" Donnie asked, gesturing towards the back of his head.
"It's fine." Raph mumbled, jumping ahead to the next question.
"The bruising indicates otherwise." Donnie replied, raising a brow bone. Raph crossed his arms in defiance.
"It's nothin'. Can we keep walking?" Raph jerked his thumb in the direction they'd been headed.
"No, not until you tell me your symptoms." Donnie crossed his arms, paralleling Raph's stance. They stared each other down, testing the other's determination. Raph gave in with an eye roll.
"Bruising, pain, I think my vision got blurry too." Raph let out the little breakdown he'd had. Donnie didn't need to know.
"Definitely a concussion." Donnie nodded with a finger on his chin. "Jeez, Raph. Have you been trying to get yourself in trouble?" Raph glared.
"No less than you, Tarzan." He spat. Donnie relaxed his stance. He knew when to drop it. Something Raph appreciated more than he showed.
"Has the pain decreased at all?" Donnie continued. After a moment's hesitation, Raph nodded. "Good. I'll keep an eye on it but tell me if any of your symptoms get worse." Raph huffed and started walking. Donnie nodded in satisfaction.
Two hours later, Raph's patience was running dangerously thin and Donnie's anxiety was spiking to new heights. Their silence was finally broken with a yell, slicing the tension like butter. They exchanged a brief look of hope and horror before running towards the noise.
They found Leo writhing on the ground, screaming their names. Raph ducked down and placed a firm hand on Leo's shoulder.
"Leo. Hey, Leo. We're here, buddy. We're here. Calm down. Calm down." Leo seemed to respond to Raph's voice but tears continued to stream down his face. Only after one final convulsion did Leo stop twitching. Donnie knelt on Leo's other side, checking him over.
"What… I can't…" Donnie voiced his bewilderment. "Some sort of poison, most likely… Dilated pupils, rapid breathing and heart rate… possible seizure and hyperthermia… potentially an hallucinogen based on the symptoms… Definite fever…. There's a welt here… maybe.. well…" Donnie paused for another moment, eyebrows knitted together. "The swelling on his ankle is a separate issue. He'll need to stay off it for awhile…" Donnie half spoke to Raph, half to himself.
"What are we gonna do?" Raph asked, an edge to his voice.
"I don't know." Donnie mumbled. "I don't have any of my medical supplies and I'm not familiar with the possible medical properties of the plant species here." Donnie thought furiously, eyes darting back and forth across Leo. "The best we can do is try to make him comfortable, reduce his fever, and wait."
"What." Raph did nothing to hide the anger in the statement.
"I don't know what you want me to do Raph!" Donnie responded with exasperation. When Raph continued scowling, Donnie added, "We're in the middle of nowhere in an unknown location," He lifted his arms for emphasis. "Despite what you might think, I'm not a miracle worker!" Raph glared at him for another second before looking back down at Leo. His older brother was shaking slightly, his forehead drenched in sweat. "We can at least find running water. That way we can clean your wounds, get a cool cloth on his head, and give him something to drink to calm his fever." Raph nodded. Good. Something to do. "But we should stick together. No telling what we'll run into and we're in no shape to handle anything on our own." The fear of being separated again went unspoken. Raph nodded.
Gently, they each took an arm and lifted Leo off the ground. Donnie took the side that allowed him to keep Leo off his injured arm. Raph took the other, trying not to put too much pressure on his worst cuts. Leo moaned and leaned all his weight on his brothers. Raph grunted.
"Geez. Could he be any heavier?" Donnie just shook his head. Slowly, they shuffled off in the direction they were already facing (no point in doing anything except hope it was the right one).
The forest seemed to love making them walk in circles. It felt like days since they'd started looking for water, Leo's weight making the search difficult and long. Raph felt what little patience he had slithering away. He glanced up at the sky, trying to gage how long hey'd been walking but could only see monstrous, dark clouds had returned to cover every inch of blue. He returned his attention to his feet, frowning. The gashes in his skin from his fight with the wolf still stung and puckered angrily. His head was better but it still made it hard to focus on anyone thing for too long. His mouth felt like sand and his stomach ached angrily.
He took another side glance at Donnie who's face was creased with concentration and pain. Leo had yet to open his eyes or help carry his weight. They all looked terrible and Raph knew it.
"Goddamn it." He halted, anger finally bubbling over. "What the hell are we doing anyway?" When Donnie didn't respond he continued. "We just walkin' around in circles hoping we might run into a gently bubbling stream?" The sarcasm dripped from his voice. Donnie rolled his eyes and gently leaned Leo on a tree before turning on Raph.
"Well, what do you think is best, hothead? You've got a better idea?" Raph growled.
"I'm just saying this plan is stupid. We don't even know how the hell we got here or who sent us and we're just gonna keep walking in some random direction, hoping our luck's gonna turn?"
"I don't know what you expect, Raph. I can't just snap my fingers and fix it." Donnie waved his arms in exasperation. "We don't have any other choice! And in case you haven't noticed, we've done surprisingly well considering all we've had on our sides is luck." He said gesturing towards Leo.
"Yeah? What about Mikey? Huh? What about him? Think he's feeling lucky?" Lightening cracked as Raph leaned into Donnie's face, spitting anger and hurt. Donnie blinked and looked down, avoiding Raph's gaze. His voice came out small.
"I don't know, Raph." They stood in silence for a long moment. Eventually, Raph stepped back and went back to pick up Leo. Donnie silently followed. As they lifted their older brother, Raph caught a whiff of smoke. He looked over at Donnie who's face was also a mask of brief confusion before going wide. "Forest fire." He rasped.
Raph quickly scanned the forest and saw thick, black smoke to their right. The flames would be on them in seconds.
This day just kept getting better.
"Put him on my back." Raph ordered. Donnie, to his credit, responded immediately, helping Raph maneuver Leo on to his shell. Using the wrap on his arm Raph was able to secure him.
A loud crack caught Raph's attention.
"Move!" Donnie yelled. And Raph did. He heard the crash of a tree hit behind him as he sprinted away, Donnie to his left. Sparks and shards flew at their backs,, bouncing off their shells and cutting into any exposed flesh. The fire was enveloping everything behind them fast. Raph could feel the heat wherever Leo wasn't covering his skin. He ran faster. The heat began to sting and the smoke wrapped around them, chocking out their air supply and drying out his already dehydrated throat.
"Look!" Donnie yelled before a coughing fit made him stumble. Raph slowed for a moment before seeing Donnie catch his balance. As Donnie ran to catch up, Raph looked where he'd pointed. Through the hazy smoke, he caught a glimpse of water, moving water. A slight smile spread across his face. He was on the bank in a second, launching himself and Leo into its cold depths. Sparks flew as the water enveloped them.
Raph gasped as they hit the surface again, heat blasting his face. He struggled to keep above water with Leo as dead weight but he was only able to catch a glimpse of Donnie breaking the surface before he was dunked below it.
The current of the river they'd fallen into was strong, the previous days rain swelling the river above it's usual waterline. It tugged Raph along, forcing him to succumb to its pull. He tried to reach the surface of the water so Leo could breath but the river never yielded. It yanked Raph away every time he got close.
A hard surface struck Raph in his plastron, forcing whatever air he had left out into the water. Raph's struggle doubled as he felt his vision blur. His dragged his arms against the current in a vain attempt to beat out mother nature but it was fruitless and eventually his vision dimmed and Raph let go.
Sorry about the hiatus! Had a bit of a tough week. Gave you all a bit of a longer chapter this week in order to make up for my not updated Wednesday. Hope you enjoy! And let me know what you think in the comments. I love hearing from you all :)