A/N: Hey, guys! Welcome back to another chapter of I Need a Hero. I hope you guys are enjoying it. Thank you all for the sweet reviews, follows and favorites. They make my day.
It has been a week since Sarah started getting ill. She sleeps all the time and a fever has set in. The meek, dry cough has developed into a wet, powerful one; blood has even been spotted in the mucus the painful cough produces. She gets these awful chills and shortness of breath, but the worst symptom of all in Sarah's opinion is the nausea. She always hated throwing up, so she doesn't eat anymore. She barely drinks the water Trent offers her. Trent noticed the change in Sarah, but does nothing but give her the bottles of water. He no longer gives her any food as she does not eat anymore and the mere smell makes her cringe.
Sarah rose up weakly when a coughing fit threatened to emerge. Coughing into her tiny hand, she noticed the hint of blood in her hand again. Sarah was scared. All of those movies she had watched with her mother made coughing up blood a fetal thing. Sarah didn't want to die anymore, not now that she found her angel. She knew with all her heart that Angel would help her. He was her destiny. Her mother always believed that a person doesn't meet anyone by a simple accident. It was Fate. Sarah had come to believe like that as well.
Sarah wiped her hand on the edge of the cot and laid her head on the pillow and covered herself up with the itchy blanket. She wished her mother was still alive so she could comfort her. Every time Sarah was ill with the flu or something of that nature, she missed how her mother would smile at her and place a cold, damp cloth on her forehead. She would read her daughter stories and sing to her and would only leave her side to retrieve food or drink for herself and her daughter. Sarah never remember her mother leaving her side otherwise. She doesn't even remember her mom sleeping. She missed that, her mom.
Since the time she watched her mother die in front of her, she cried over the death of her mother, so much that her chest ached even more. All of the months she held back tears because of other things to worry about were finally released. She was sure the other prisoners, if there were any, and guards could hear her, but she didn't care. They didn't know the meaning of being truly alone and afraid at ten. The showers of emotions that rained down on her like a hurricane over not being loved anymore because her parents were dead was too much for her. She felt week and worthless. The only thing that kept her from wanting to die from whatever she contracted from living on the streets was the green and orange turtle that saved her.
The hilarity of it all placed small smile on the young girls face. She was sure that she was not only wrapped with a physical illness but her mental health was crumbling under the weight of grief and loneliness as well. It was funny how Trent, who claimed to have fathered her, didn't care enough for her to take her to the hospital when she was clearly ill, but Mikey, a stranger, went to a lot of trouble to help her, even so much as keeping a secret from his family and later getting lectured for it. She just hoped he would find her soon and help her just one, last time.
Donnie sat at his computer desk, solemnly staring at the screen. The results of Sarah's DNA test with the Foot soldier were both enlightening and devastating. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He thought that maybe the blood sample he believed to be Sarah's wasn't actually Sarah's, so he ran more test and did some digging and hacking on his computer and found something that was meant to stay buried. He couldn't be sure if he should be ecstatic or sorry for Sarah. He supposed it was both until he knew her reaction, that is if she is alive if and when they found her. Donnie scolded himself for thinking such thoughts. The girl would be alive, but they would have to be careful when handling her when they rescued the child.
Suddenly, his Hemotracker sounded in the background. He ran to it eagerly as it laid on the desk where Donnie placed it last. He picked up his new toy and pressed a button to activate the map that he had installed in the gadget. A red dot was placed in the center of the screen. Well, at least I have more good news than bad, Donatello thought to himself before he called his brothers and sensei entered the room.
"Yeah, Donnie?" Mikey asked as all four walked into Donnie's lab.
"Um, guys? I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I know where Sarah is and the blood found in her temporary home at the abandoned shop is her blood but I found cilia and mucus in the sample I found," Donnie started.
"Which means?" Leo asked.
"She had a nose bleed. She probably sneezed while she was having it and that's how the blood got on the walls," Donnie explained. Everyone picked up on Donnie's lack of enthusiasm. Mikey just wished his brainy brother would spit it out so they could go and find Sarah so they could rescue her.
"The bad news?" Splinter asked.
"She has Pneumonia. She could die without medical treatment. Treatment I'm not qualified for," Donnie explained. The confession knocked Mikey breath out of his lungs. He remember her coughing into her frail hand every now and then when he was with her. Mikey just figured it was just a cold or something, not something serious like the famous infection people die from on TV. She can't die; she is just ten. What else does one child have to go through? She is living on the streets since she lost her parents, now she might die too. Wait!
"Dude, did you do the thing I asked you to do?" Mikey asked his brother.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Again, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Sarah was right. He is a liar who isn't her biological father," Donnie explained, pausing to look at the ground.
"What's the bad news?" Raph asked his brother.
Sarah was awakened by arms picking her up. She looked up to come face to face with her mother. The sight brought tears to her eyes and a smile on her face. Sarah didn't question the fact that her mother has been dead for months; she just thought that her suffering was finally over and she was free from the prison of her own body as well as the cell her captures kept her in.
"Mom," Sarah croaked weekly as she roamed her mother's smiling, angelic face. She looked just like she remembered. "I've… missed you… so much." Her mother placed a gentle kiss on her daughter's forehead.
"I've missed you too, baby girl. Have you been a good girl for me?" her mother asked her. Sarah nodded her head at her mother to answer she has. Talking drained her energy much more than it should have and it pained her just to take a breath.
"I've been… livin' on the… street. They were mean… at the place… they took… me to. I ran away. I met… a giant turtle. His… name… is… Mikey. I call him… Angel… because he saved me. He helped me," Sarah told her mother even though it was painful. She didn't know dying hurt so much. Her mother smiled brightly with tears shining in her brown eyes then slowly traveling down her cheeks.
"That is great, baby. I knew you were a fighter. My strong baby girl. I've been watching over you. Me and your daddy are always with you," her mother promised.
"I love… you, Mom." Sarah just wanted her mother to know that, to hear it.
"I love you too, Sarah," her mom answered. Sarah's body was wracked with another round of painful, wet coughs. Her mother soothed her, rocking her small child in her arms.
"Hush, Sarah. It's okay, baby girl," her mother repeated until the cough eased.
"Mom, it… hurts," Sarah said, looking up at her mother again.
"I know it does, dear. Just close your eyes and sleep. It'll all be over soon," her mother assured. Sarah didn't want to succumb to sleep when her mother was there. She wanted to talk to her and tell her everything that has happened since she died, but she was so tired and figured she would see her mother she awoke again, so Sarah closed her eyes and let darkness overthrow her mind with a smile upon her face.
A/N: That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Thank you guys for reading and sticking with this story. Thanks again for the awesome reviews, follows and favorites. You guys are the best.
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