A/N: Moving across the country tends to take a lot outta ya. Sorry for the abysmal amount of time it took to bring this chapter to y'all. For those who are still sticking it out, here's the next chapter. I love y'all. Again, I'm so very sorry.
Chapter 22: Hopeful.
"She doesn't look good…"
"Beat the hell outta her…"
"She's gonna be okay, isn't she...?"
"She's stronger than we think…"
"I am certain she'll come back to us soon…"
Voices continually resounded in the blackness. Kaliyah could hear the fear, could hear the concern and the hope in each of their voices, but she could do nothing about it. No matter how hard she tried to open her eyes, to fight against the all consuming darkness that constantly surrounded her, she just couldn't wake up. Perhaps she wasn't going to wake up. Perhaps she was dead and the voices that were haunting her belonged to the ones that she had let down. It'd kind of be poetic ya know? To be forced to constantly listen to those you failed. It was a punishment for sure, but Kaliyah couldn't help but feel warmed at the thought of always being able to hear her brother's voices.
Until the voices turned to screams as Robert systematically snapped each of their necks, one at a time...
OoOoOoO
Raphael was asleep in the chair next to Kallie's bed.
Again.
Leo sighed, but couldn't help the fond smile that crept on his lips. No matter what the hot head said and tried to make others see, he cared deeply for his family.
And Kaliyah was family.
She had become the little sister Leo had never known he needed. It was the same with the rest too; she had become a big sister to them. She was important to each of them. Even Master Splinter.
"How's she doing?" Leo asked, loud enough for Raph to snort awake. The red banded turtle looked down at the sleeping figure next to him and lightly stroked a hand through her curly hair.
"Still won't wake up." Raph replied, his voice slightly gravely from sleep.
Leo made his way next to his little brother. "She's gonna be okay." He told him.
Raph looked up at Leo. "How do ya know that?" Raph asked softly. His amber eyes softer than Leonardo could remember ever seeing except for in life or death situations.
Leo grabbed Raph by the shoulders, firm and reassuring, and told him, "Because she's a Hamato. And Hamato's always make it through."
Raph kind of smirked at that. "Yer right."
Leonardo got a smirk of his own. "Damn right I am."
Raph rolled his eyes. "Alright Fearless, don't give ya self a big head now."
Leo playfully punched him in the arm. Raph turned back to Kallie and the smile died on his face as he took in her pale features.
Now, Kallie was normally pale. She was very fair-skinned, but this was a different kind of pale. She had lost a lot of blood according to Donnie. The bruising on her face was finally starting to fade. Her split lip was still healing. The broken ribs she had obtained were on the mend as well, it seemed as if her face and head had gotten the brunt of the damage. And Raph wasn't sure if that was better or not. She had dark circles under her eyes, both from blood loss and the bruises caused by Roberts's fists.
Robert.
Just thinking of the man-made Raph's blood boil with rage. The man was lucky he was dead because Raphael would've taken his sweet time in extracting his revenge against the man who did this to Kallie. He would've made sure that Robert suffered a slow and very painful death. No one touched his family. No one.
Thinking about Robert also filled Raphael with confusion. They were all still unsure of how he died. Don wanted to examine the body of course so they dragged Robert back to the lair. Donnie had done a complete autopsy on the jerk and found out that his brain melted.
That's right. His brain had melted. Literally oozed right out of his friggin' ears. They had no idea how it happened and Don had spent three days straight trying to figure it out, going back and forth between the freezer part in his lab (don't ask how he built it, they still had no idea), and checking on Kaliyah. Master Splinter eventually had to step in and force the genius turtle to rest. And just then said turtle walked in, rubbing at his eyes and looking a bit worn down again.
"Hey Donnie." Leo greeted.
"Hey." Don replied. "How long have you two been up?"
It was nearing 4am and Don had crashed about three hours ago, trying to get a quick nap in before the others banned him from the lab again. Raphael had sat in the same chair, but as far as he knew Leonardo had been asleep in his room.
"An hour or two." Leo answered.
"Couldn't sleep?" The genius turtle asked.
Leo shrugged. Don decided not to question his big brother as he made his way over to Kallie. Despite the fact that she was still unconscious and had obviously gotten the ever-loving snot beat out of her, she looked better. She was sleeping more peacefully as well. She hadn't been as restless according to Raphael and Michelangelo. At least one of them was with her at all times.
"Well, if you two could please step away for a moment, I'd like to get her vitals again." Don stated, already in doctor mode.
The two older brother's moved away and allowed Donnie to work, knowing that she was in good hands. Kaliyah had been unconscious for the past nine days and with each passing day her chances of waking up slimmed. Don hadn't told his brothers this of course. He didn't want them to worry more than they already were. In all honesty she needed to be at a regular hospital. Donatello had no idea if he was doing the right thing or not by keeping her here. But Leonardo and Master Splinter both agreed that if she was at a regular hospital and they found something abnormal that it would be worse for Kallie. She could end up being someone's experiment, and there was no way any of them were going to let that happen. Don replaced all of her bandages, checked on her busted ribs and deemed them almost completely healed, replaced the cast on her writs, and checked the stitches on the gash on her head. Don sighed in relief when he saw that the bandages around her head did not have any blood stains on them. This was the first day that there was no blood.
"No blood." Don stated.
Raph and Leo both grinned. "Finally." The two turtles said at the same time. Don chuckled at that.
"Should we wake up Mike and let him know?" Leo asked.
"Nah, let him sleep. He's been up later than I have most of the time." Raph replied.
Leo nodded, hoping that his youngest brother was indeed getting rest. The orange banded turtle was really worried about Kallie. Leo had carried the 17-year-old turtle up the stairs and into his bed at least six times in the past 9 days.
"Ple…" A soft voice whispered.
Three heads whipped to look down at the human. Kaliyah's brow was furrowed slightly and her head moved to the side.
"Did she just…?" Raph trailed off.
"Ple…no…"
"Kallie?" Don asked softly. "Kallie can you hear me?"
"D'nt…hurt…"
"What is she saying?" Raphael asked, eyes full of concern.
"I dunno," said Leo. "Kallie?"
"My…broth'rs…no…hurt…" She begged, voice hoarse and slurred. She was clutching at the sheets, her fist on her uninjured hand tightening in them.
All three turtle's hearts broke at the desperate plea. She was dreaming that someone was hurting them.
Raph reached out and ran his fingers through her hair, sitting in the chair once more. "No one's hurtin' us Sweetness. We're right here." He assured her. He stroked her hair over and over until she finally released the sheets and her body relaxed once more.
"That's an improvement." Don grimaced.
"You call that an improvement?!" Raph demanded.
"Yes I do," said Don. "She's talking and even though she's not exactly having the most pleasant of dreams she's still communicating. That's an improvement."
"She needs to wake her ass up!" Raph growled.
"We all think she needs to wake up Raph." Leo stated calmly. "But we have to wait on her."
"I ain't a patient turtle Fearless."
Leo rolled his eyes. "You're telling me." He murmured, then shot his hot-headed little brother a smirk. Raph growled once more but couldn't help the slight quirk of his lips at the teasing.
"How is she?" A voice asked from the doorway. It was Michelangelo.
"Hey there sleepy head." Leonardo greeted. "Feeling better?"
The orange banded turtle nodded. He had complained of stomach aches the past two days. Donnie knew it was from the stress so he had ordered him to sleep more as well as some anti-acids to help with the nausea.
"She's doing fine, no blood on the bandages this morning," said Don. "And she even spoke a little bit."
"What?! Are you serious?! What did she say?! When did this happen?! And why the hell didn't you wake me up and tell me?!" Mike demanded angrily.
"Calm down shell head! It just happened no more than ten seconds ago!" Raph told him.
"What did she say?!"
"Just mumbled a few things like 'please.'" Leo answered. He wanted to spare his little brother the heartache of what the three of them had just heard.
"Is she gonna wake up now?" Mike asked. Leo was relieved he didn't ask more about what she had just said.
"I dunno Mikey, I hope she will," said Don. "Not having any blood on her bandages and the fact that she spoke are both really good signs."
Mikey smiled at that. "Good. I miss her."
"We all do Mikey." Leo replied, settling a hand on his shoulder for comfort. Michelangelo grinned at his big brother, feeling much more optimistic than he had in days.
OoOoOoO
"I will crush them all!"
"No! Please! Don't hurt them!"
"This is all your fault! You brought them into this Kaliyah! Their deaths are on your hands!"
"No! I didn't mean for this to happen!"
"It's too late!"
And then Robert snapped their necks one by one once again…
OoOoOoO
"Hey Mikey, hand me that soda will ya?" Raph asked. Michelangelo complied, tossing the can to his big brother.
The four turtles decided to camp out in the infirmary for the night. Kaliyah had been extremely restless ever since she had spoken three days ago. She was murmuring a lot more as well, the nightmares seeming to have not left. Mikey of course had heard exactly what she was saying and had been the one to insist on their little sleepover.
"I'm telling you guys, she's gonna wake up tonight." Mike told them.
The other three turtles had smiled encouragingly but of course did not feel the same way. They had no idea when she was going to wake up.
Sleeping bags littered the floor as well as a ton of junk food. Leonardo would normally insist on something marginally healthy, but his little brother's deserved some time off from the normal lecture. Hell, they all deserved some time off period; which is one of the reasons why they were doing this too. A little bonding time after the past stressful months would do them all good. They had invited Master Splinter to join them, but their Sensei declined, stating he wanted the four of them to just enjoy their time together with their bed-ridden sibling. Mikey was sitting on top of his sleeping bag, a comic book in one hand a soda in the other. Leo was reclining against the wall, a book his hands. Donnie was tinkering with something mechanical while nursing a cup of coffee. And Raph was engrossed in buffing his motorcycle helmet.
It was quiet, nice, and relaxing.
"No…no…"
Until Kaliyah started whimpering again.
Mikey clenched his eyes shut, his hands balling into fists. He hated hearing her cry out like that. It physically hurt. He would rather take a shuriken in his calf again over and over than to hear her hurting. And what was worse was that the four of them couldn't really do anything. Mikey was sitting closest to her so he shuffled towards her bed and rested his head against it.
"We're here Kallie…" He told her softly.
"Please…"
"I know."
"M-Mi…"
Mikey popped his head up, craning his neck to look at her. Her brow was furrowed once more, as if she was concentrating on something. Mike turned to his brothers.
"Is she…?" He trailed off as he scrambled to his feet, the others following suit.
"Mikey…" Kallie murmured hoarsely.
"Oh dudette I am totally right here with you." Mikey replied, a grin splitting on his face.
"R-Raph…D-Donnie…L-Leo…" She slowly said their names, one by one. All four brothers stood around her bed, encouraging her to open her eyes and assuring the young blonde that they were indeed there.
"C'mon Sweetness, ya gotta open yer eyes." Raph softly demanded. Kallie was moving her head back and forth slowly.
"Don't…call me…Swee'nss…" She mumbled.
The four brother's shouted in victory as Kallie finally responded!
"That's right Blondie, get those eyes open now!" Raph cried, grinning like a fool.
"Kallie, can you hear us okay?" Don asked.
Kallie nodded.
"I need you to try to open your eyes okay?"
"M'tryi'n..."
She looked frustrated. Mikey was stroking her hair and Raph was holding her hand, both turtles encouraging her to keep going. And slowly but surely cerulean eyes opened.
OoOoOoO
Kallie had finally fought through the nightmares. She could hear all four of them talking, laughing. It had given her strength. They were alive! They were talking to her, teasing her. It was almost too good to be true. It took all of what little strength she had to do what they were telling her to do, but eventually her eyes finally opened.
All she could see were swirling colors at first. Blurred images that swam before her.
"Awe man it is good to see those pretty blue eyes of yours." Mikey said. Kallie's vision was slowly coming back and she could see the outline of him, his orange mask tails lying on his shoulders.
"Y'r 'live..."She slurred, smiling.
"Course we are," said Raph soothingly. "Ain't nobody takin' us down that easy."
"H-He said...y'all...dead," she whimpered. "I din't think...I'd see...y'gain..." Tears were falling down her face.
All four turtles gathered around her, each one trying their best to soothe her, to let her know that
they were fine, that she was fine.
"We're right here Kallie...we're alive and well okay? And we aren't going anywhere." Leo told her as he placed a hand on her arm.
"Alright everyone move away from the Kaliyah, Dr. Donnie needs to check a few things."
The others moved out of the way as Don started his check up.
"Dn't call me...K'lyah..." She slurred. Don checked every vital sign and every wound, poking and prodding and asking what hurt and what was the level of pain on a scale of 1 to 10. Kallie of course insisted it was in the low 4s but each time but Donnie knew she was down playing the pain.
"Kallie...I know you're hurting more than that." Don said. "But I also know you're as stubborn as Raph so can you at least tell me what hurts the most?"
"M'head." Kallie groaned. It felt like it was splitting open.
"I bet...would you like to know the extent of your injuries?" Don asked.
Kallie nodded sleepily, her eyes slowly opening and closing.
Raphael put a hand on Don's shoulder. "Later Genius, she's already asleep again."
And sure enough she was indeed asleep once more. They all smiled down at her and then got comfortable on their sleeping bags once more. Michelangelo was still grinning like a fool.
"What?" Leo asked, a slight smirk on his own face.
Mikey grinned even bigger if that was possible. "Dudes...I so told you so!"
There was a collective groan throughout the room.
"No, no, no. No groaning! I was right and you guys were wrong! I am obviously the superior turtle!"
"Superior my ass." Raphael snorted.
"What was that Raph? I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over the sound of me being right."
"Keep it up Mikey." Raph growled.
"Keep up being right? My pleasure. I was right, you were wrong." The youngest turtle taunted.
"Alright that's it!" Raph declared as he lunged for Mikey. Mikey let out a girlish yell as he was tackled to the floor. He expected to be put in a headlock but instead he felt fingers digging into his sides.
"Nohohohoho! Rahahahaph! Stahahahap!" Mikey got out through his giggles. Raph tickled his sides for a few seconds before he released his little brother.
"Go ta sleep doofus." Raph said, giving Mikey a noogie before climbing back in his own sleeping bag.
Michelangelo swatted his Raph's arm but grinned widely at him as he snuggled into his sleeping bag. Don clapped his hands twice and the lights to the lab shut off.
"Good night guys." Leo called out.
"Night!" Mikey chirped.
"Good night." Donatello said next.
"Yeah, yeah, good night." Raph mumbled.
"G'night guys..." A softer voice added. The turtles looked up and saw a soft smile on Kaliyah's lips.
And for the first time in 9 days, all four turtles got a good night's sleep.
