Hey all, so next chapter is up!=) Thank you again forgottenforever13 for your amazing review of the last chapter, it really means a lot! I hope everyone enjoys the next chapter!
Chapter 9
Katherine was trying to sleep, but couldn't. The silence of the house was oppressive. She was having a hard time dealing with her Uncle's literal Estate. There was too much. Just the contents of the house alone were worth a fortune. This was a big problem because she didn't feel it was right to sell any of the antique collections, or the book collections or anything in the house really. She was at a complete and total standstill. She knew she needed to do something, but she didn't know what the something was. She felt oddly reluctant to sell the house, but she couldn't keep it, and yet she wanted to keep it. She didn't know why. It was an amazing house, but it was in the States and she lived in Canada. It had no emotional or sentimental value to her, and yet she was reluctant to do anything, but stay right where she was. This was strange to her considering the uneasy tingling of something was constantly making her skin crawl.
The presence of the male had not abated any in the month she had been here. He had begun watching and following her. She was finally able to see him. Just out of the corner of her eye she was able to see a dark silhouette. He didn't feel malicious or angry or even curious, more it felt like he was waiting for something, what, she wasn't sure, and this gave her a feeling of dread that sat in her stomach like a lead weight.
If this were not bad enough, her heart hurt, not physically, but emotionally, she was heart sore. She hadn't known why, had struggled with why. She felt like she had lost something important. She had been hurt at Leonardo's words, his desire to have her out of his life, and yet this hurt had, she discovered, run deeper than even she had known.
She had tried locking the hurt in a box in her head, but she found she hadn't been able to put it there. Every time she would look at the box, it would be open exposing the hurt to her mind's eye. Why? She asked herself. Why did not being with them hurt so much? She huffed out a frustrated breath. She had been avoiding dealing with the emotions in the box, but perhaps if she actually dealt with them, she could finally get some sleep and would no longer experience the overwhelming feeling of loss and hurt that had blazed through her the day the four brothers had walked out of her life.
She opened the box, dragged every thought and emotion out and logically looked sifted through them.
She had known she was attracted to them. This should have bothered her, but it didn't. Their appearance had never bothered her. Not from the first moment when she had seen Raphael, frightened and angry as he plunged his sai into her. In fact, she found them to be the most attractive men she knew.
She missed them, she worried for them, she felt more than friendship for them. She blinked at the realization. She poked at her feelings again as she analyzed them. She definitely felt more than friendship for all of them. She examined each of the brothers. Each of them had qualities that attracted her to them, but was there any one of them that she had a preference for? She examined her feelings. There was something about Raphael that distinguished him from his brothers, but if she was to explain what that something was, she couldn't explain it. He called to her somehow, and yet...and yet all of his brothers drew her to them as well
Sometime during the poking and prodding of her feelings, and the conclusion that she was no closer to understanding her feelings, she managed to fall asleep in the early hours of the morning.
Donatello watched as his brothers skirted the edge of the rooftop. They slowly crouched down to get a better view of the twenty or so Red Dragons who were loading a truck up with what looked to be weapons. It had been a month since Katherine had left, but it had felt like an eternity.
Every single one of his brothers was feeling the loss of her presence. Leonardo was more angry than Donatello had ever seen him. The tight rein he had always had on his emotions had broken. He spent much of his time alone training; constantly pushing his body to its physical limit so when he would be finished for the day he would be close to exhaustion. Raphael's rage simmered just below the surface. Donatello had been expecting a vicious rage, but Raphael had become oddly silent and withdrawn. Usually Raphael and Michelangelo would spend an inordinate amount of time watching TV or playing video games, but now, Raphael seemed to spend most of his time in his room throwing shuriken into his walls. Michelangelo had also withdrawn, their upbeat brother had become morose and silent, spending most of his time listlessly channel surfing, but not actually watching anything.
As for himself, Donatello had done what he did best. He threw himself into his work, his inventions, and his science.
However Leonardo had decided for the last few weeks that they had neglected their duties long enough, and so their nightly patrols had begun again. The problem was, with the exception of Leonardo and possibly Raphael, neither he or Michelangelo felt very much like patrolling at the moment.
Donatello's eyes focused on the Red Dragons. Leonardo motioned for Donatello to follow him, and for Raphael and Michelangelo to go around behind the Red Dragons. He and Leonardo would strike from the front. He gripped his bo tightly. He followed his older brother as they slipped silently to street level. They hid in the alley directly in front of the running truck into which the weapons were being loaded. The smell of garbage and general despair drifted up and hit his nostrils hard. He clenched his teeth as he tried to focus on the task at hand. Leonardo gave the signal and as one they moved. They hit the Red Dragons hard, Michelangelo and Raphael hitting them from behind.
His breathing became faster as his muscles worked to strike and lash out at the momentarily surprised Red Dragons. He avoided a bat from his left and kicked at an oncoming Dragon armed with a metal pipe. A chain wrapped itself around his bo almost pulling it from his grip. He could feel the sweat beginning to trickle down the back of his neck as he strained against the pull of the chain. He pulled harder throwing his opponent off balance. He kicked the Dragon in the face and he went down hard. He hit a Dragon who had gotten the drop on Michelangelo. His bo hit the soft flesh of his back, he cried out in pain as Michelangelo knocked him unconscious with a blow from his nunchuck.
The Dragons began shouting, Donatello turned towards the noise as he heard the crack of a gun being fired, He saw Leonardo, who was in front of him, leap out of the way. Pain ripped through his chest as he fell to his knees in shock. He looked at the blood that had blossomed on his chest, the red standing out starkly against the white of his jacket. He felt himself falling forward, his brother's voices calling his name, but the sound was so far away. Donatello closed his eyes and his world went black.
Leonardo watched as the Red Dragons who weren't unconscious began jumping into the truck. They had yelled a retreat. They were going to get away! Anger rolled off Leonardo. Leonardo watched as the Dragons began to pull guns. A shot was fired and he dodged to the left. He heard a shout, but his focus was on the truck that had pulled away, tires squealing as more shots were fired from the back of the retreating truck.
"Damn it!" He snarled in anger. He turned quickly to search for his brothers to see if they could possibly tail the truck. His eyes widened in shock at the sight of Donatello, lying in Michelangelo's arms, his chest a bloody mess.
His anger left him to be relaced by fear and horror. "Donny?" He managed to choke out as he rushed to his brother's side. Raphael was already leaning over Donatello's prone form.
"I can't find a pulse." Michelangelo whispered in fear.
Raphael closed his eyes and checked for Donatello's pulse, his face grim."He's still alive." Raphael's face was pale and strained. Raphael turned accusing eyes towards him. "Well Fearless?" He asked angrily. "What do we do?" Raphael was furious.
"It's my fault." He whispered. He hadn't known Donatello was right behind him. The bullet that had been meant for him had hit Donatello instead, and now...and now, he was dying.
"Damn rights it's your fault Leo!" Raphael roared at him.
"This isn't helping Donny." Michelangelo's soft worry, and terror filled voice intruded.
"Help me get him up." Raphael growled at Michelangelo. "We're taking him to Kitten."
Leonardo's head swung around in surprise. "Raph, she's two hours away!" He yelled, anguished fear filling him.
"You got a better idea Fearless, cause I'd love to hear it. I don't know about you, but I don't know what to do with a gunshot wound. Donny's the one who always patches us up! If you can save him, then be my guest!" Raphael yelled, his voice breaking as his worry overrode his anger.
"She's not a doctor." He whispered.
"She's the closest thing we got." Raphael said grimly.
Leonardo nodded in acknowledgement. He just hoped she would be able to save Donatello. They loaded him into their truck. Michelangelo had refused to let Donatello's pale limp body be taken from him. Donatello oppened his eyes.
"Donny?" Michelangelo asked him.
Donatello frowned in confusion. "I'm cold." He whispered.
Raphael drove like all the demons of Hell were on his tail, or perhaps he drove as if he could outrun Death himself. Michelangelo was constantly checking Donatello's pulse while Leonardo tried to staunch the flow of blood. "Come on Donny, just hold on a little longer." Leonardo pleaded.
Donatello's skin was pale, and clammy, his breathing was beginning to become rapid. They managed to make it to Katherine's door within an hour. Each minute had been an eternity. Leonardo watched as his brother lost more and more colour, and his pulse got weaker and weaker by the minute. He was unconscious by the time they reached Katherine's door.
Leonardo leapt from the truck and ran to the door. The gate had been open and the house blazed with lights. The door opened before he even reached the front step. Katherine stood illuminated by the light in the hallway. She looked at him grimly. Her face was pale, and there were dark circles beneath her eyes. "Bring Donatello upstairs, first door on the right." She said to him. "I hope you have medical supplies." She said walking past him to the truck at his shocked nod.
It didn't even occur to him to ask her how she had known they were here, or how she had known that Donatello was injured, he just moved out of the way as Michelangelo and Raphael brought their unconscious brother past them and into the house, following her to the back of the truck.
Katherine awoke as a feeling of utter and total wrongness raced through her. Her heart was beating a rapid tattoo in her chest. She looked around the room anxiously. The male presence was not in the room so that was not what was wrong. She closed her eyes and searched. What had awoken her? What was wrong?
Donatello. Her eyes shot open. She didn't know how or why she knew, but she knew without a shadow of a doubt that something had happened to Donatello. She leapt from her bed and walked down the hallway to the stairs. She ran down the stairs in the dark, her legs and body moving without her mind even weighing in on what she was doing. She decided to just go with it rather than try to logically understand what the hell she was doing.
She ran to the library, switched on the lights, and began combing through the books. Most of them were old and she had no idea what she was looking for but hoped her brain would tell her when she found it.
Her fingers skimmed leather bound books and stopped at one pulling it out. She looked at the front of the book the title leaping out at her. Treatment of gunshot wounds 1856. She paled. She wasn't sure which was worse, that she now knew that Donatello had been shot, or that she had known without knowing. She closed her eyes. Panic and hysteria welled up within her. She grabbed the emotions and shoved them hard into the little box in her head. She would have a mental breakdown later. Right now she needed to be prepared, they were coming, she knew they were. She sat down and scanned the book. She didn't know where he had been shot, but she hope it wasn't serious because if it was, Donatello was going to die. She wasn't a doctor and had only a rudimentary understanding of anatomy. For the most part she didn't deal with flesh, she dealt with bones. She would do the best she could, and she just hoped that her best would be good enough.
She got a basic idea of what she was doing and ran from the room, taking the book with her.
What was she looking for? She wondered as her brain burned with the need to find something. What had she seen that her brain was telling her was important? She stood at the bottom of the stairs and thought. He would be bleeding, fluids would need to be replaced. She was going to need an IV and saline drip, possibly oxygen. Where the hell was she going to get that? She didn't have any of that. She stood at the bottom of the stairs. Hopefully they had the equipment she would need. Donatello's medical supplies had been impressive, she had a feeling they must have raided an ambulance at some point in time.
She felt a tingling sensation crawl over her skin which was different than the constant crawling of skin she had had to contend with for the past month. They were getting close. She ran up the stairs to her room. She turned on the light and surveyed her room. It would do. She deposited the book on the nightstand. She ran to the linen closet in the hall and brought out more blankets and extra bedding. She managed to find a first aid kit and pulled out all of the bandages it had. She ran from the room and hit the kitchen. She opened the cupboards and searched furiously through them. She grabbed a jar and ran it back upstairs. She put it on the nightstand then raced back to the front door in time to open it before Leonardo had even managed to get onto the porch.
Leonardo was pale, and close to panic. She couldn't see Michelangelo, Donatello or Raphael yet. "Bring Donatello upstairs, first door on the right." She said to him calmly as she pushed down the absolute terror that was trying to overwhelm her. If she panicked the little box in her head would burst open and every single fear and emotion would burst out rendering her wholly incapable of completing the task she had before her. Michelangelo and Raphael came into view struggling under their brother's weight. He was unconscious which was a bad sign. "I hope you have medical supplies." She said walking past him to the truck at his nod.
She opened up the back of the truck, Leonardo's presence behind her was heavy, and full of fear and worry. "What happened?" She asked as she rifled through the storage shelves built into the side. She managed to find an IV drip, saline bag, more bandages, medical tape, IV needles, a suture kit, and forceps. She grabbed a bag that was lying on the floor and stuffed the supplies into it. She looked around the truck. She managed to find an oxygen tank and mask. She gave this to Leonardo and leapt from the truck, throwing the bag over her shoulder.
"We...we were scouting..." Leonardo began.
"Not helpful, where was he shot?" She asked him impatiently as she strode quickly up the steps of the porch.
"In the shoulder." Was the prompt reply.
Her mind calculated all of the variables of a gunshot wound to the shoulder. Possible bone damage, lung damage, arterial damage. "He is unconscious, it means his body is in shock, and if we don't treat that, he is going to die." She said as she ran up the stairs to her bedroom.
Michelangelo and Raphael looked up from their unconscious brother as they ran in. They had placed him flat on the bed.
"Move back." She ordered them. Her skin began to crawl as she tried to concentrate on what she was doing. The male presence was now in the room standing over her like some dark shadow if Death. She took a steadying breath, blinked away her tears and ignored the presence.
Leonardo looked at Katherine "Move back." Katherine ordered his brothers. Michelangelo and Raphael quickly moved out of the way. She pulled away the pad they had been using to stop the flow of blood. The bullet had grazed Donatello's chest leaving a deep laceration before embedding itself in his shoulder. When Leonardo had first seen the blood on Donatello's chest he had thought his brother had been shot in the chest, which would have been fatal.
Katherine nodded to herself. "Raphael keep applying pressure to the wound, we need to get Donatello stable first, then we will deal with the wounds." She grabbed the IV and began hooking it up. She put the solution above Donatello's head attaching it to a convenient iron curlicue that made up part of the headboard.
"Any of you ever inserted one of these things?" She asked holding up the IV needle.
Leonardo nodded. Donatello had taught him. "I can do it." He rasped out from a throat too tight for words. He was trying to quell the panic, but it kept rising up and choking him. He managed to insert the IV into Donatello's arm with a minimum of shaking. His eyes flicked to his brothers. Raphael was concentrating on his task, while Michelangelo was looking lost , panicked, and frightened all at the same time.
Meanwhile Katherine had thrown the oxygen mask over Donatello's face. She felt at his throat for a pulse. She closed her eyes. The room was deathly quiet. She opened her eyes and put a blanket over him. "Raphael help me roll him over a helped her roll him to the side. She looked at his back then rolled him back over.
She lifted Raphael's hand from Donatello's wound. She inspected it closely. And looked relieved. She pointed at the wound. "It looks like he was standing sideways when it hit him. The bullet struck the edge of his plastron, this sent the bullet into his shoulder at an upward angle, this helped to reduce its velocity, and by some miracle it didn't strike any bones. But it is still lodged in his shoulder." She closed her eyes. She seemed to be thinking furiously. "Which one of you is stronger?" She asked opening her eyes and touching Donatello's forehead. She looked between himself and Raphael.
"Raph." Leonardo managed to reply.
"Fine, Raphael you are up here with me. Leonardo and Michelangelo you take Donatello's legs. He's going to wake up soon and we have to get that bullet out. He isn't going to be happy about this and he is going to thrash around. I need you two to hold his legs, Raphael you will need to hold his upper body as still as you can so I can take the bullet out. I'll also need you to be quiet. I need him to focus on me and my words. If you guys all start crowding him, it will overwhelm him and I don't need him to start panicking alright?" She looked at each of them as they nodded in turn.
That was okay, Leonardo did not think he would be able to talk anyway. Bile was running hot in his throat and his tongue felt two sizes too big for his mouth.
"Donatello." Katherine said softly as she leaned towards him. "Donatello can you hear me?" She asked as she began stroking the side of his face gently.
Donatello blurrily opened his eyes. Michelangelo made a noise but managed to silence himself. "Hey Donatello." She said with a smile that held tenderness and affection. Donatello looked at her and then began to look around the room his eyes widening in confusion and panic. "Donatello, Donatello I need you to look at me." His eyes focused on hers. "Good, now you've been shot," His eyes widened in alarm. "And I need to take the bullet out okay?" She said soothingly. "It's going to hurt, I want you to bite down hard on this, your brothers are going to hold you down so you don't move okay?" She told him producing a tightly rolled strip of cloth.
Leonardo closed his eyes in horror and anger. If they were human, they could have taken Donatello to a hospital, instead here they were trying to save his life by the most basic of means. "Can't we give him anything for the pain?" Leonardo managed to choke out.
Katherien looked at him over her shoulder. "If you know what drugs to give him, and what dosage to give him that won't kill him." Katherine said. Leonardo shook his head. He didn't, that was what Donatello was for. Katherine looked at Leonardo sombrely, but with determination. She slipped her hand into his, giving it a quick squeeze before letting his hand go and turning her full attention back to Donatello.
She looked grimly at Raphael and nodded. Raphael placed his arm gently over Donatello's unhurt right shoulder and across his chest.
She picked up the forceps and looked at Donatello. Donatello closed his eyes turning his head away as if he didn't want to watch, he couldn't blame him, he didn't want to watch either, but he would.
Katherine took a deep breath and began probing his wound looking for the bullet. Donatello clenched his teeth and hands in pain. Then he began to buck, thrash and scream.
"Hold him down, the more he thrashes the worse it will be for him." Katherine said calmly. At that moment Leonardo could have almost hated her. Her calmness, her utter and total lack of any emotion was grating on his already frayed nerves.
Leonardo didn't know how long it took to dig the bullet out of Donatello's arm, minutes, hours, he wasn't sure, but eventually Donatello stopped struggling as he finally passed out from the pain.
Katherine pulled the bullet from his shoulder and stood looking at it. "To think such a small thing could bring about the end of a life." She said softly looking at the bullet. She dropped the bullet on the nightstand. The wound had begun bleeding and she began applying pressure. When the wound had finally stopped bleeding enough she had stitched up his shoulder and chest.
"Michelangelo hand me that jar." She said pointing to the jar of honey on the nightstand.
Michelangelo readily obeyed. They were all looking strained, exhausted and pale. She lathered up a folded pad with honey and placed it on the wound. She then began wrapping the wound quickly and efficiently. "Honey can be used as an antiseptic. This should stop much of Donatello's pain, stop necrosis and hopefully allow him to heal better." She said softly. She stood back and surveyed her handiwork. She nodded, checked his pulse again, and changed out the saline bag for a new one.
"Is Donny going to be okay?" Michelangelo asked in a small voice.
She looked at Michelangelo. "His body is stable." She said to him. "There are seven spare bedrooms, you all need some sleep." She said to them.
"We ain't leavin Donny." Raphael growled.
"Raphael do you trust me?" She asked him quietly. Raphael looked shocked but nodded his head. "Then know the best thing all of you can do for Donatello at this moment is to get some sleep. He will worry if he knows you all stood watch over him. I will stand watch since I am the most qualified to do so. If his condition changes or if he wakes up, I will come and get you. Trust me. You can all trip over yourselves making sure he is alright in the morning, until then, go to sleep." She said as she walked to the bathroom and began washing the blood off her hands.
She came back into the bedroom and began shooing them out the door. Leonardo's gaze fell upon the nightstand, his eyes widened as he read the title of the book laying there. She shoved him out of the room and closed the door in his face. He looked down the hallway.
"Raph?" Michelangelo asked.
"Yeah?" Raphael asked.
"Can I bunk with you?" He asked in a hollow voice.
"Sure Mikey." Raphael said as he opened the door to his left. Raphael's agreement showed his mental and emotional state. Raphael never let Michelangelo in his room, ever. Raphael was worried.
"Is Donny going to be okay?" Michelangelo asked.
"Kitten said he was, so he is." Raphael said with conviction as they entered the room. Raphael ushered Michelangelo in and gave Leonardo a glare before shutting the door.
Leonardo's shoulders slumped. Raphael was still angry with him. Not that he was surprised, he was furious with himself. If only he hadn't pushed Donatello so hard. He knew his brother, all of his brothers, were taking Katherine's absence hard, but he had thought immersing them into their former routine would help them forget her.
He had also hoped that they would finally realize that their lives were dangerous; that they had enemies who wanted them dead, and this night, their enemies had almost succeeded in killing his brother.
He blurrily stared at nothing. If only he hadn't jumped out of the way, Then it would be him and not Donatello laying on the bed. He would give anything to go back in time and have it so that he took the bullet instead.
"And what would have happened had you taken that bullet Leonardo?" Katherine's voice inquired from behind him.
He closed his eyes. He refused to face her. He was still angry with her and all of her calm rationality. "It would be me laying there instead of Donny." He said through clenched teeth. "That is the way it should have been. I should have at least warned my brothers that they were pulling guns, but I didn't. I messed up and now Donny's paying the price." His voice broke.
"Is Donatello paying the price for your mistake? Perhaps. But do you really believe that you would be laying in that bed? Where were you standing Leonardo?"
Leonardo closed his eyes as he tried to remember. He was facing the truck head on, the shooter aiming directly at him.
"Then you would be dead." She said grimly.
Leonardo's eyes opened as he realized he had spoken out loud. He turned around. She was calmly standing in the hallway, arms crossed.
"I think Donatello would pay the price he is now paying for your life, just as you would pay the price of your life for his." She said softly.
"Why are you so calm?" He growled at her.
"Who said I was calm?" She asked him. "Goodnight Leonardo." She said to him opening the door to Donatello's room. She paused and said something quietly as she slipped quietly back into Donatello's room.
But it had sounded as if she had said,'if you had taken that bullet, I would have lost you.'
He blinked as he tried to figure out if she had really said what he thought she had said. He rubbed his face. He was exhausted and he had probably just imagined it; putting words into her mouth that he wished she would say. He walked into the bedroom right beside Donatello's. He collapsed on the bed. He wouldn't sleep, but he figured he would be able to sneak in about an hour or so later, saying he had slept. He was determined to stand vigil at his brother's side.
This was Leonardo's last thought before sleep overcame him.