Author's Note: Chapter four, guys!

Yoshi lay on the floor of his apartment, fighting for each breath he took, every little movement causing him agonizing pain and threatened to sweep him into unconsciousness, but he knew that if he closed his eyes he'd never open them again. The bitter, metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, the coppery scent assaulted his nose, but he could do nothing but lay there in the growing pool of his own blood and fight to breathe, to live, praying someone would find him before he lost the fight.

Everything was getting fuzzy. His head felt like it was stuffed with cotton. He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes, but he couldn't. He didn't fear death, but he wasn't ready to die yet. His torso was on fire. By some miracle, the Shredder had missed his heart, yet now Yoshi found himself half wishing that he hadn't missed.

Footsteps sounding like they were far away, and a shout sounding like it was underwater rather than nearby. Darin and Jamal's horrified, worried faces appeared in his line of sight.

"Yoshi! Yoshi, can you hear me?!" Darin cried, his bright green eyes suddenly giving Yoshi a focal point to look at.

Seeing that the Guardian Prime was focusing on him, Darin took action. He ripped off his jacket and tied it around Yoshi's wounds, though he had to move him to do so.

The pain suddenly increased what felt like a hundredfold! Yoshi heard himself scream and the desperate apologizes from the other two Guardians, yet all that really registered in his mind was the pain.

"Jamal, call Mortu! They need to get a stasis chamber ready for him or he'll never survive!" Darin managed to yell over the Guardian Prime's agonized screams.

Jamal scrambled to comply, while Darin tried to calm Yoshi. He came back moments later.

"They're on their way."

"He can't wait. We have to meet them on the way or he'll be dead before they get him back to T.C.R.I."

Jamal blanched at the thought of moving Yoshi again, let alone carrying him anywhere.

"Can we move him again?"

"We don't have a choice! Grab his legs."

Yoshi screamed as they lifted him and carried him out of the building to Darin's car.

Darin sat on the floor with Yoshi on the backseat, and Jamal started the car, calling Mortu again and putting the phone on speaker so he would know what route the Utroms and the Guardians they had with them would be taking so he could meet up with them.

"Go, Jamal! Go!"

He sped out onto the streets, listening to his boss telling him where they were and what roads they would be taking.

Darin, meanwhile, tired to keep Yoshi as still and calm as he could. Yoshi was now talking, or rather babbling. Darin managed to make sense of a little. It seemed that the Shredder had found the Guardian Prime and tortured him for information, which Yoshi had refused to give him, so he tried to kill him. One thing Yoshi kept going back to was his pet rat, Splinter. Darin knew how much the little rodent meant to Yoshi, as the last connection to his dead love and his home back in Japan. He vowed to go back to Yoshi's apartment as soon as he could and try to find him. No doubt the rat was hiding somewhere in the apartment, terrified by all that had happened.

"There they are!" Jamal explained.

Transferring Yoshi from the car to the medical truck went quickly yet brought more agonized screams from the poor man. The truck sped away, and Jamal and Darin sank to the ground in relief as Mortu called them and told them that bringing Yoshi to them had given them the time they needed to get him into the healing stasis pod back at T.C.R.I. They had saved his life.

The two Guardians returned to the apartment building and set about cleaning up the blood. Once they finished that, Darin spotted the shattered remains on Splinter's cage and remembered that he had planned to look for the rat. He wearily got to his feet.

"Splinter? Come here, boy! Splinter!"

Normally the friendly rodent would come running at Darin's voice, eager for a scratch or treat, but this time no gray rat appeared at his calls.

"Maybe he's too scared to come out," Jamal suggested.

Darin knew that if Splinter was still in the apartment that he most likely was terrified by all that had happened, especially Yoshi's screams. The rat was the most intelligent little creature Darin had ever come across, smart to even mimic Yoshi's martial arts moves. He had to be hiding. At least Darin hoped he was.

"Lets look for him."

Jamal nodded, and the two of them combed the apartment, all the while calling for the little rat. After two hours of searching, the Guardians were forced to give up, Splinter was nowhere to be found, at least not in the apartment.

"He could just be too scared to come to us."

Darin nodded.

"Maybe. Well, when Yoshi comes back, he should come to him."

Yoshi spent two weeks in the healing stasis pod, his body being knit back together, his wounds healing like it had never happened. When Darin told him about Splinter, he hurried home to begin his own search. Darin and Jamal helped him comb the neighborhood, but their search came up empty.

"I'm sorry, Yoshi. We can't search New York for one little rat."

He sighed, his shoulders slumping.

"I know, Darin. Thank you for helping me look for him."

"You're welcome, and you never know. Maybe he'll come back."

"Maybe."

Darin and Jamal went home, and Yoshi went inside. He could only hope that where ever he was, his little Splinter was safe.

XXXXX

Yoshi took the storybook from Splinter's paw and put away, gently pulling the blanket a little tighter around him and the four little turtles, smiling down at them. Storytime sometimes ended like this; putting not only the boys to sleep but their father as well. He kissed the turtles on the head softly and then, on a whim, kissed Splinter's forehead.

"Goodnight, my Splinter. Goodnight, my little grandsons," he whispered.

He turned off the lamp and started for the door, pausing to look back at them with a smile.

"I love you all."

End Note: Chapter four, and Yoshi's story in a bit more detail. Please review.