Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT
*The guys are 25 years old in this fic.*
*I have the guys at about 6'2" in this fic*
Chapter Twenty One: A Tale
Jamie jumped as the door to her and her sister's apartment banged open, she could hear her sister arguing with someone and as the door slammed shut she saw that her sister was on the phone.
Leo Jamie thought with a roll of her eyes. That man is ugh…too overbearing for me.
Trisha slammed the phone down on the counter before furiously tying her short hair behind her head and slamming dishes into the sink.
Jamie got up and walked over to her sister.
"Trish?" she offered softly, "what's wrong? You two fight again?"
Trish merely choked back a sob.
"Trish?" Jamie asked softly.
Trish put her head in her hands and sobbed.
"We broke up!" Trish shouted finally.
Jamie dropped her cup and pulled her sister into a hug.
"Oh Trish I'm so sorry I know you liked him," she whispered.
"He's a selfish jerk! I Hate him!" Trish sobbed.
~Meanwhile~
Leo pounded the punching bag with everything he had, knuckles cracking under the strain of each blow and bruises forming on his legs, forearms, and the bottoms of his feet.
He kicked out and sent the punching bag flying into the wall at his left, spun and slammed his fists into the brick wall behind him a few times, before overturning a few weapons wracks and dropping to his knees, choking back tears.
He slammed his battered fists into the tatami mats a few times before slumping on the floor in a heap, heaving dry sobs.
"I love you Trish…I'm sorry, so sorry," he choked out.
Splinter found him out cold early the next morning and woke the disoriented warrior. After waking Donatello to tend to Leonardo's wounds, Splinter sent Donatello away and bade Leonardo join him in his quarters.
Leo sat in silence as Splinter watched him.
"Leonardo, please explain to me the reasoning as to why you felt it was necessary to harm your hands in such a way?" Splinter asked softly.
Leo remained silent, head down, bandaged hands gently gripping his cup, the whole time ignoring the twinges of pain he felt when he moved his fingers.
"Leonardo?" Splinter inquired softly.
"M'sorry Sensei...not really feeling well," Leo whispered softly, in actuality he just didn't feel like telling his father about how he'd screwed up and that he'd been seeing a woman for a year.
He flinched slightly as a feverish sweat tore through him and his stomach churned painfully. Some chest pain and some heaviness in his head made him slump over in a dead faint.
Was this a another part of his depression? This weight of misery? This feeling of uselessness?
He was vaguely aware of Splinter trying to wake him, of Splinter crying out in panic, before he slipped into unconciousness
"Leonardo?" Splinter asked frantically, then, "DONATELLO!"
Leo was lying on the floor, struggling from the pain and difficulty breathing when Don burst in.
"Leo?" Don asked, "Tell me what's wrong. Sensei what happened?
"He simply…he collapsed," Splinter whispered,
Sorry Trish…so sorry
Don frowned, mulling over what the problem could be then he took Leo's temp.
"My goodness its spiked! He wasn't running a fever when I patched him up," Don muttered worriedly.
~Trisha & Jamie's~
Trisha was fumbling with her cup when she noticed the bag of medication that she had meant to give Leo last night, she froze.
His heart disease. Part of her wanted to leap from the couch and run to the lair and give him the medication, the other part was reluctant to contact him after the cold words they had exchanged last night.
Plus he hadn't even made an attempt to contact her since last night. She shrank down into the couch. I'll send him a text and tell him to come pick it up.
She sighed and fumbled with her phone before typing out the text and sending it.
~Lair~
Mike was leaning against the doorframe in worry, Don had told them that yesterday Leo had suffered a heart attack and it was touch and go so far as to how well he'd recover. Raph had been pacing the lair ever since and Mike had barely moved from the infirmary door.
Don had chased them all out and demanded that they let Leo rest.
Splinter was the only one who stayed by Leo's side.
It was a good month before Leo was allowed to get up and move around and it wasn't until then that he found the text from Trisha.
He sighed and simply sat on his bed, clutching his phone and feeling miserable.
Mike knocked on his door and Leo looked up.
"Hey, bro, how're you feeling?" Mike asked softly.
"M'fine," Leo mumbled softly, not making eye contact.
"You know we just…we're worried-" Mike started.
"Leave me alone," Leo whispered.
Mike paused and then nodded softly.
"Ok," he mumbled.
Leo laid back, resting his hands on his face in pain, a deep aching agony welled up in his chest.
It was another month before he was able to get away, another month before he slipped into the apartment he had come to know so well and saw Trisha entertaining another man, it felt like a gunshot to his chest.
He pulled back, into a side closet, and stood there, chest heaving, heart breaking, tears trying to spill free.
It was Jamie who found him in the closet, biting down on his fingers to stay silent. It was Jamie who stood frozen as huge tears rolled down the skinny figure's frame, who watched as Leo looked up and then shook his head. It was Jamie who realized Leo had been sick. Very sick.
"Leo?" Jamie whispered.
He shook his head again, she saw the pain, saw the agony in his eyes and paused.
"She doesn't want to see you," Jamie whispered softly, "but I can get you your medication and help you get back out."
Leo choked back a sob and nodded softly.
It was Jamie who kept contacting him to let him know how things were going, who watched out for him when he came by to get his medication, it was Jamie who helped him handle the pain of having Trish see someone else.
It was Jamie who told him when Trish was home crying because Todd had broken up with her. It was Jamie who timed it so that Leo could be there to talk to Trish. It was Jamie who forced them to talk to each other and end up together again. Not out of needing someone to rely on but out of needing a friend that they could rely on. It was a slow recovery of their relationship but it came back, they returned the love they had first known.
All because Jamie made sure that her sister was the one to find him after he got shot taking down a robber in their home.
It was Trish though that bandaged his wound and talked to him about how they had split up and why they should try again.
Leo leaned back against the counter and looked at Mike.
A/N: :) so next chapter should be Friday. Please review!