Psychiatric Ward: Friend
A/N this is set after Revelations but before April has had to stay 24/7 in the psychiatric ward. I tried to use as much dialogue from the invasion as possible.
Irma Langstein was April O'Neil's best friend. And had been since the first day of pre-school when she said that she liked her glasses when the boys were making fun of them. So when April's mother had died she was their for her in whatever way she could help. Irma wasn't very close with her own parents. They were scientists and would often be away on business for long periods of time. Still if one of them had died she would be completely heart broken.
However after April's mother died she became distant which was understandable but Irma couldn't help but feel abandoned. April wasn't just her best friend, she was her only friend. Everyone else thought that she was strange and either bullied her or dismissed without April she was alone.
So when it became clear that April had these 'secret friends' she couldn't help but feel left out. But when April asked her too come to some therapy sessions with her to help deal with the loss of her mum she jumped at the opportunity. She was confused as to why April was only having therapy now when her mother had died a few months ago but she let it slide, she was just happy to be wanted again.
They would sit for an hour in a room with either someone called Kev or Pete. They always talked about how April had to accept that her mother was gone and that nobody would come to hurt her either. Honestly she didn't pay much attention to what they were saying after a they'd been going for a while. It was the same old stuff every week and Irma was easily distracted. But her being there was good for April and that was all that mattered.
One crisp winter's day she was walking home in the snow. She wasn't wearing a coat since all teenagers naturally don't feel the cold and she was enjoying the tingle of snowflakes falling on her arms. Suddenly April came running out the alley way next to her and ran straight into her. They fell to the floor with an 'umph' and sat there for a moment dazed.
"Move Irma run!" April shouted as she yanked her and dragged her up. She pulled a very confused Irma along behind her who was already struggling for breathe.
"April 'gasp' what's 'gasp' happening?" Irma managed to ask.
"These creeps are after me. They kidnapped me but I escaped and I found myself in that alleyway. I could hear them following me so I ran and crashed into you." she explained hurriedly.
If Irma was confused before she was really confused now. She thought that April was going to therapy now. How could she have been kidnapped? Why had she been kidnapped? And why did Irma have to be brought into this?
Out of the corner of her eye Irma saw a man dressed in white armed with what looked like a small gun in his hand as they raced round a corner. Irma felt her heart stop with fear and nearly tripped as April continued to pull her along.
"Who are these freaks April?" Irma screamed terrified.
"Doesn't matter run! Faster Irma, move those little legs!"
"I'm moving! I'm moving!"
They ran down a street only to find their path blocked by a large overturned old truck.
"A dead end" Irma cried. It couldn't end this way. She never got to graduate or kiss a boy or get a-
"Quick down here" April said opening a manhole cover.
Irma recoiled in disgust "You're not serious" April lowered herself into the sewer "Oh you are serious"
The last thing she wanted to do was go down into the sewer. Although she personally was a fan of rats she was well aware that they carried lots of dangerous diseases and weren't as fond of her as she was of them. Not to mention last week some worker down there claimed to have seen a giant lizard and squirrels. Even if later they found that his drink had been spiked.
However the sound of loud voices and the stomping of heavy feet behind her quickly changed her mind.
Vile rises in her throat as the smell poisoned her entire body.
"This is making my sinuses melt" Irma moaned trying not to gag as she climbed down the rusty old sewer steps.
She hurried after April who was just in font of her and they soon came to an abandoned old subway station. It was littered with old pieces of rusting junk that looked older then the station which only worsened the stench of the nearby sewer drain.
April was standing out of breath near the entrance to the looking past the rubble to someone that Irma couldn't see.
"Guys I'm sorry about this but footbots were after us and Irma here is really good at keeping secrets" April said.
Irma tried to see who April was talking to but there was no one there. They were all alone.
"Don't worry Master Splinter she's cool, right Irma?" she said.
That's when it all clicked into place. The therapy sessions, the secret friends everything. Irma had finally realised that her only friend had cracked and she'd been so desperate to hold on to her that she'd been blind to it.
She started to back away slowly and tried to pull out her phone with out being noticed.
"Irma where are going? Don't you see the turtles?" April asked walking closer with a strange look on her face.
"Turtles?" she replied confused only to bite her lip straight afterwards realising her mistake.
Her old friend stared blankly at her "You don't see them" It wasn't a question.
Suddenly April let out a blood curdling scream forcing Irma to clutch her ears tight.
"KRAANG!" she shouted pointing directly her. Then with a yell she launched herself at her best friend who badly had time to defend herself as she was locked to the floor.
Suddenly the sound of loud footsteps came from the tunnels as people cane pouring into the old subway station. Irma noticed now that most of them were wearing doctors uniforms and that they hadn't been holding guns but mostly tastes or tranquillisers.
Two of them that she recognised to be Kev and Pete grabbed April off her who was still shouting that she was a Kraang whatever they were. One of them shoved a needle into her arm and after a moment she went limp. He picked her up bridle style while the other came down to Irma who was still laying down in shock.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
She nodded numbly in response.
"I'm sorry but your friend here was submitted to overnight stays at the hospital yesterday. But thanks to this escapade unfortunately her stay there might be permanent."
It took a moment for it to sink in then a rush of emotions bubbled inside her until she couldn't take it anymore and she bust into tears. The man held her as she cried for the loss of her only friend and for spending the rest of her life alone.