"I know my son" Dad tells me, sitting on the edge of my bed. I frown, sitting up upon seeing his concerned gaze.
"What's wrong?" I ask, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
"Jack just called me, Michelangelo wants to see you again. He wants you to continue the story"
Never have I felt so grateful about having granted a second chance. I thought I had blown it that day by spilling every secret to Mikey so soon. I should've known not to attack him with knowledge that soon. Even Raph had trouble grasping everything, and he was considerably better than Mikey was now.
It was still chilly outside, and I wrapped myself tighter in my jacket, grimacing slightly. I had the privilege of growing up with my real father, so had Donnie. Even though mom was removed from the picture before we could remember a thing, we had dad to ask, ask about our mother. We knew what traits came from whom.
I could see half of myself in Dad, I could see Donnie in my father, and in return Dad talked to us about our mother, telling him where we were familiar.
Raph never had that chance, and neither had Mikey. They probably never even knew that they were adopted. And on top of that, they probably never had a real family, a normal one. They never knew if they looked like their mother, or father. Where they got their eye colour from, their personality and so on.
Then again, the police had no idea where Mikey came from. If he had a normal family before all of this, or that he was in that place from the beginning.
"Glad you could make it so fast Leo" Jack greets me, already waiting for me in front of the building. I nod vaguely, following him inside the building and walking down the familiar halls.
"Any more news on him? Where he came from?" I ask him but jack shakes his head at my question.
"None so far, we're working on it though. They are taking DNA samples and finger prints right now actually, hopefully we can match them to someone"
"And the ones.. he was with before? Surely they didn't adopt an infant and raised him to do something like that"
Both Jack and me stop at the familiar door, Jack quickly unlocking the door from the outside and letting me inside the room. He gestures to the couch in the room and I comply by sitting down, glancing at Mikey's door for a few seconds. But figuring they were probably busy taking DNA samples, we didn't go in.
"The boss won't talk to us, so we have no clue until someone starts to talk, unless we get some answer through documents." Jack informs me, walking over to the kitchen to fill a cup with water. He looks at me and I nod silently, prompting Jack to fill a cup for me as well.
"Thanks" I mumble, taking the cup from him and took a sip from the cold water. "So what happens now? Did you talk to dad?"
Jack frowns slightly, setting aside his own cup. "We have, your dad wants to take Michelangelo in, it's his son after all. But he needs to discuss it with you and your brothers first and of course Mikey's health is something we have to look at. He's going to need a lot of help"
I sigh bitterly, closing my eyes for a second. "Just like Raph" I mumble, rubbing my face slightly.
"I know kiddo, let's just see how he's doing right now. Convincing him is the thing you should be focused on right now, he needs to know that there are people out there that care about him"
As if on cue, the door to Mikey's room opened and two people walked out. One was a police officer, carrying a bag with presumably the DNA samples they just took, but the second person confused me. It was a middle-aged man. He had black/greyish hair which was slightly longer at the neck. But most importantly, he wore a white coat of some sorts.
A doctor, I deducted grimly.
"I thought they were taking fingerprints and DNA" I ask with a confused look, leaning towards Jack. The latter blinks in confusion until realisation dawns down on him, and he shakes his head slightly.
"I guess you can better go in and see for yourself" Jack says, gesturing to the door that was still open. I hesitate for a few seconds until I finally stand up before cautiously walking into the room I had been in just the previous day. The first thing I noticed was the still untouched room he was in.
The second thing I noticed was Mikey sitting on his usual spot on the bed.
"What's happening?" I speak up, confusingly eyeing at the scene in front of me. Mikey was currently only in some sweatpants, displaying his clearly malnourished form and his collection of bruises that were littering his torso, including the one on his neck I had seen the previous day.
Next to him on the bed was a young woman, barely a few older than me actually. She had blond hair that was tied in a ponytail. She was wearing a lab coat, just like the man had, and was now carefully applying something on Mikey's bruises, the latter wincing every now and then.
"Just finishing up" The girl responds, not looking at me as she continues to cover the last few bruises. Mikey grits his teeth, looking away in anger and shame.
"But why? Was he.. injured bad?" I felt weird, talking about someone, who was my little brother nonetheless, as if he wasn't there. But from the looks, and the previous conversation, I knew he wasn't a talker.
"You know don't you?" The girl, or woman, I don't even know, asks cautiously and I nod. "That leaves scars dear, and wounds that need to be treated. He's malnourished and his system is weak" She tells me gently, finishing tending to his wounds and handing him a shirt, which he accepts without a visible emotion or reaction.
"Hand me my bag will you?" The girl ask me with a small smile on her face, and I immediately give her her bag. She slides off the bed and places the bag next to Mikey, clicking it open to reveal several needles, bags, gauzes, bandages and more stuff. She takes out some disinfect and Mikey extends his arms without question.
She quickly cleans his upper arm and takes a clean needle with a clear substance. She taps a few times, making sure there are no air bubbles before quickly, but carefully, injecting the needle into Mikey's skin. The latter grimaces slightly but otherwise stays still.
"It's an antibiotic" The girl explains to me, as if she could sense my confusion. "Okay kiddo, I have two options for you. I can either give you a fluid drip, or something to stop you from vomiting."
Mikey scowls slightly. "No fluid drip" He mutters, keeping his head from both me and the girl.
"Agreed" The girl grins, pulling out another cotton swap. Mikey extents his arm again and the girl injects him again with a fluid, this time for vomiting apparently. When that was done the girl threw the empty syringes and cotton swipes away and closed her bag.
"Done for today hopefully" The girl says with a sad smile. She reaches out for Mikey's hand, squeezing it softly but Mikey slowly withdraws his hand, not looking at the girl. "I will send some food up in a moment. See you tomorrow kiddo"
I wave at her politely as she leaves, leaving Mikey and me alone for now.
"Can I ask what that was about?" I ask almost shyly, afraid that Mikey would get defensive again and send me out of the room. Instead of replying Mikey scowls, turning his head away from me.
"Check-ups" Mikey shrugs, his voice breaking slightly. "Couldn't keep my food down yesterday"
Something to stop you from vomiting. I remember grimly. And he was already thin and malnourished to begin with. Of course they had to get something in his system, which wouldn't work if he kept puking it up.
I look up to him, tears were stinging in his eyes but he quickly rubbed them out of his eyes. I had to restrain myself from crawling up his bed and give him a tight hug, something which always eased Raph when he was feeling down again. Instead I smiled sadly.
"Thanks for answering" I say, waiting for a few seconds but I got no reaction in return. "You wanted me to continue my story?"
At this Mikey turns to me, unable to fully hide the tears that were stinging in his eyes, and I had trouble keeping them at bay as well. Slowly he nods, looking at me almost hopefully before he turns to his window again.
So I continue the story, continue what Jack had told me that day. Information that was new for me as well. About our mother's murder, us being put up for adoption, and him and Raph being adopted before dad could prove his innocence.
"And Raph.." Mikey interrupts me, 'surprisingly' not looking at me.
"We found him 5 years ago.. or Jack did." I respond, and this time Mikey does look at me.
"How.. what happened" He asks, and I can't decide if he means how we found him or what he went through. But that doesn't matter, because I tell both.
"5 years ago a boy was admitted to the hospital, neighbours had heard screams and they called the cops. That boy was Raph, but nobody knew who he was, even the neighbours hadn't seen him before. He was badly injured and had old and new scars on his body. When they couldn't figure out who it was, they contacted the police
Jack, the man you saw yesterday, works with the police and was made aware. But Jack is also a good friend of ours and knows about Raph, so he immediately sent them a picture of Raph when he was a baby, and the hospital were almost completely sure it was him. So Jack ordered a DNA test and it was a match. That's when Raph was transported to the hospital here in New York"
I look at Mikey expectantly, almost waiting for him to say something but he remained silent.
"Dad talked to us about taking Raph in, and Donnie and I both agreed. It was tough to get him into our family of course, he was abused by his previous 'parents' for most of his life, that left him damaged. But he's better now." I finished, looking hopefully at my youngest brother. "If you want, you can come live with us"
"Why would you want me?" Mikey whispers, his voice sounding utterly defeated.
"Because you're our little brother. You're family"
"Only by blood." Mikey replies, staring at his hands that were now resting in his lap.
"That doesn't matter Mikey. Raph was in the same situation but we took him in nevertheless because he was family."
Mikey remains silent, lifting his head at the window once again. Smiling slightly as he looked out of the window. My smile falters at the sight. He probably hasn't seen such a sight in a long time. He probably hasn't been outside for a long time.
A silence dawns upon the room and I shift slightly, almost uneasily.
"Mikey, may I ask how long you've been there?" I ask carefully, before putting up my hands in defense. "You don't have to tell if you don't want to, and I won't tell the rest of you don't want to either" I quickly say.
The small blonde boy seemed to be lost in thought and I look at him hopefully. His short blonde hair was slowly turning black at the top of his head, evidence of the fact that he bleached it. The bruise on his neck was slowly starting to fade, considerably better than yesterday but still present.
And he seemed thin, almost malnourished.
"Mikey?" I press lightly and at this he looks down at his lap again.
"4 years"
Somehow that didn't soothe me at all. Sure it was a better answer than 'my whole life' but 4 years was still too much. That just shouldn't happen. Every month, every day was too much for a child, for anyone that was forced into such a thing against their will.
"Thank you" I tell him but Mikey doesn't react to my statement. I sit there for a while, neither of us talking or saying anything to each other. And Mikey remains frozen in his position, his gaze frozen on the view in front of him.
After a long silence I stand up softly, figuring I had pushed my luck enough today.
"Hey, I'm heading home. Jack has my number if you want to… talk or something. If you ever need someone to talk to, about anything, you can call me or my, your, brothers anytime. 'kay?"
I feel a pang of disappointment as Mikey doesn't move an inch, but I guess I shouldn't expect too much so soon. 4 years.. that was a lot of time to be ruined emotionally. Enough to ruin trust in others, adults and teenagers.
I walk over to the door, opening it to walk outside but before I can do so Mikey speaks up softly.
"Leo?" He asks and I turn to him again, but he hasn't moved from his spot.
"Yea?" This time he turns his head slightly, looking at me from the corner of his eyes.
"You can tell them, I know the doctors and… dad, want to know"
I swallow slightly at the sentence, the word 'dad' was spoken so hesitant, almost as if he was testing it, testing how it'd sound. And how relieved I was to hear him talk to dad like that, it made me sad how hesitant it sounded, and not fully convinced yet. As if he didn't accept him as his dad, not yet I hoped.
"Thanks little brother" I say, watching his reaction closely at the name calling. Was I really expecting something? Clearly I had expected a miracle to happen. No, Mikey just turned his head back again, just like he had done the whole morning.
But he didn't deny it either.
Reviews are highly appreciated *hint hint* ^^
Also, next chapter will focus more on Raph and Mikey!
On another note: does anyone have any experience with wisdom teeth? I'm afraid mine are coming through and neither my mom/dad or my friends had them (yet) so I have no clue xD