April's POV

"Whoo! Casey Jones is back!" a certain vigilante shouted as he entered the lair. I couldn't help but smile, seeing him so cheerful after all that's happened. As he made it into the main living area he was flanked by both Leo and Raph who had picked him up from the hospital in the shell-raiser. Raph had one arm round Casey who's arm was round his shoulder, helping him get down the stairs since every few steps he'd grimace and clutch his side. Leo followed just behind them watching Casey carefully so that he could jump in to help at any moment.

Since we got the word from the hospital that he could be picked up me and the guys quickly got a little party ready. I painted a banner with Donnie saying 'Welcome back!' on it that we hung up on the wall. Raph and Leo blew up some balloons and put up some decorations before they left while Mikey got the food sorted. I even dressed Shadow up who was currently sleeping in my arms in a cute little party dress.

"Do ya like the party? I organise it." Mikey said proudly.

Casey seemed really impressed by our efforts. I could tell that he was touched by the fact that we even held him a celebration party. He shouldn't since he truly deserves it

"I made a special pizza for you!"

"What's in in?" He asked sceptically

Mikey grinned mischievously "Trust me you'll love it!"

Casey had a right to look worried.

"What did the doctors say?" I asked, changing the subject.

"They said that due to my 'hockey injury' I should stay of the ice for a while" he said with obviously no intension of doing so.

"That means no patrols" Leo said firmly.

"Awww come on Leo. I could still take down plenty of purple dragons-"

"Absolutely not!" Master Splinter said materialising behind the sofa "You must rest you injury"

Casey jumped at Splinters voice then nodded quickly slightly sacred since he hadn't entirely got over his fear of rats yet. Besides NOBODY goes against Master Splinter.

"Thanks for taking care of Shadow for me. I'm sorry for being such a pain" he awkwardly scratched his neck.

Splinter shook his head "Nonsense, you are part of our family now Casey Jones, besides" he said waking over to Shadow and gently stroking her cheek "I have missed the presence of young ones in the lair. It has been to long." he strode over so that he stood in front of Casey. "And to show that you truly are one of our family I present you with this" he held out his paw to reveal a knife engraved with the Homato symbol on it. "This belonged to my great uncle. When he was a boy had was accidentally trapped in dark basement with no one around to hear his cries for help. In the basement he found this knife which he used to break free and he was trapped no longer." He placed the knife in Casey's hand "I give this knife to you, treasure it and listen to it's story."

Casey looked at the knife in disbelief "I can't take this, I don't deserve it" he said in shock.

Splinter shook his head "You deserve a lot more then merely a knife, my son" and with that he left to meditate in the dojo. Splinter don't party.

It took us a minute to shake off what had just happened then Donnie walked up to Casey.

"I just want to apologise for giving you a hard time. I had no idea what you were going through and I prejudged you. I'm sorry" Donnie said apologetically.

Casey just shook his head "No sweat man. I was a jerk. I should've tried to get along with you better. Are we cool?"

Donnie nodded and they fist pumped. I smiled proudly at them. I was so happy that they made up although I never understood why thy hated each other in the first place.

"How's Shadow?" Casey asked.

Shadow immediately when he said her name. She started squealing "Casey!" and her arms were stretched out towards him. I giggled at her then I walked to Casey's side.

"How ya doin' Shadow?" he asked as he placed her on his hip, which was pretty hard to do with one arm.

"Has my best buddy Raph been lookin' after ya?"

"RAPHIE!" Shadow cried sending us all into fits if laughter and a rare smile appeared on Raph's face replacing his usual scowl. Like the rest of us he was just glad to have his best friend back and happy again. While we laughed I noticed Casey grimace at the weight of Shadow on his side. He still clearly didn't have all his strength back yet.

"Here why don't I hold her for a bit?" I said taking her from his arms.

He flashed a grateful smile at me then cleared his throat. "Er...hey I erm... well... I just wanna say that...if you hadn't been there to ... ya know stop my dad and force me to the hospital then ... well I could've been worse- a lot worse so ... Thank you." he said while awkwardly rubbing his neck. It was adorable.

"That's what friends are for." I said giving him a peck on the cheek causing him to uncharacteristically go the shade of Raph's bandana.

"Who wants PIZZA!" Mikey shouted breaking the suddenly stiff air. He was met with a chorus of cheers. He grinned and raced off to the kitchen while we all sat down on the floor or couch. I placed Shadow on my lap and Raph helped Casey to sit down. Mikey cane back holding a pizza over flowing with ingredients.

"I present to you 'The Mikey Meat Feast Special'!"

It really was a meat feast. It looked like a butchers had exploded on it. It had everything on it from chicken to pepperoni to steak. Not one of my personal favourites but Casey was in heaven. He was practically drooling just looking at it.

"Wow Mikey! This is so awesome. Ya didn't have to do this." he said.

Mikey pfftted "No problamo bro." he said shoving two slices in his mouth.

We picked up a slice each and started eating it when I noticed that Donnie hadn't touched the pizza yet.

"Hey Donnie, are you ok?" I asked "Is the meat to much for you?"

He shook his head and forced a smile but I could see a sad look in his eyes. I frowned. I was about to ask him what's wrong when Casey's phone rang. He checked the screen then turned to us.

"Sorry guys. I gotta take this." he apologised. Raph tried to help him get up but he just shook his head and manger it with only a small flash if pain.

"Hey Angel! Waz up?" he answered. He went a few paces then stopped suddenly.

"Whoa whoa Angel calm down. What's wrong?" I shared a worried glance with Donnie. I hoped Angel was alright.

Then Casey's phone dropped to the floor, smashing the screen into thousands of tiny diamonds. He stood suspended in a moment that stretched for several moments before his knees gave way and he too crashed to the ground.

Raph lept off the couch and was at Casey's side in an instant to catch him before he hit the ground. I placed Shadow on the couch then ran along with the others after him.

Casey was on his leaning entirely on Raph who didn't seem fazed by his weight. His eyes were wide and unfocused and his skin was deathly pale. His breathes were coming out in jagged rasps and he appeared to be in shock.

"Casey what's wrong?" my voice cane out as a helpless plea.

He gave no indication that he had heard me.

"Oh man..." he kept repeating over and over again. "Oh man..."

I looked at the others. Mikey and Donnie seemed clueless, Leo very concerned and Raph just looked terrified.

"Casey! Talk to me man!" He cried in the most heartbreaking tone I'd ever heard.

Casey gulped and staggered out his words "He... Oh man God he... he jumped... He jumped man! My dad jumped out the window. MY DAD JUNPED OUT THE WINDOW TRYING TO KILL HIMSELF!"