As always a big giant thank you to Amonrapheonix for her amazing job at beta reading this chapter, and for letting me pick her brain for her medical knowledge and ideas! You are awesome as always!
also a big thanks to my reviewers I love Kittens too, mela989898, moonie016 and leradomi!
Chapter 2
Donatello closed his eyes and with a sinking heart, slowly slid from the bed and made his way to the bedroom door. His fingers grasped the cool metal of the door handle and slowly turned the knob, sticking his head out and searching the hallway, while listening intently for any noises. He could hear the soft murmur of voices coming from the right, across and down the hall; Raphael's room.
He stepped into the hallway on shaking legs and walked with silent, leaden feet towards Raphael's bedroom door.
He put his ear against the smooth, cool surface of the wooden door and listened to Katherine's and Raphael's hushed voices coming from the other side. He couldn't hear what was being said, but Donatello was certain that he heard his name mentioned a few times.
He slowly turned the knob and found it to be surprisingly unlocked. He carefully slid the door open, steeling himself for what he was going to find behind the closed door.
The door moved soundlessly open, allowing the soft light from the hall to spill across the two figures on the bed.
Katherine was sitting on the edge of the bed, her back to the door, beside her was Raphael, who was lying down on his side. Katherine was dressed only in one of Raphael's t-shirts, her hair still damp from a recent shower, the light reflecting off of a bare, tanned leg.
Donatello felt tears sting his eyes and a lump of betrayal lodge in his throat as blinding anger tore through his shaking body. He took a step into the room his fists clenched together in white knuckled fury.
Katharine looked over her shoulder at him and her body sagged with relief. Her expression confused him for a moment before he realized she was probably relieved that she and Raphael had finally gotten caught in the act.
"Donny, go away." Raphael's voice growled, cracking in irritation.
"Raphael..." Katherine began warningly to his brother, but Donatello interrupted whatever she was going to say to his brother. Donatello ignored his brother for the moment because he couldn't deal with him. He had too many emotions rolling around within him and if he confronted Raphael at the moment, he wouldn't be able to speak, and instead, would try to beat his brother into a bloody pulp.
So instead Donatello focused all of his pain and hurt upon Katherine. "When I woke up you were gone." He managed to say to her through the lump of betrayal that blocked his throat, his voice surprisingly steady and calm.
She opened her mouth to reply but he talked over her, not wanting to hear her excuses. If she had wanted Raphael so badly all she had to do was break up with Donatello, she didn't have to go sneaking around behind his back, he would have understood. It would have broken his heart into a million pieces, but at least he wouldn't be drowning in the black wave of betrayal and agony that he was swimming in at the moment. "So that's how it is, you and Raph? I get it." He said softly his eyes boring into hers.
Katherine continued to look at him in baffled confusion as she slowly began to stand, her body having blocked Raphael's face from his view, when suddenly she stopped reached down and grabbed a bucket that was sitting beside the bed. Raphael rolled over slightly and heaved into the bucket she held up for him while she gently rubbed the skin between his carapace and neck in comforting circles.
The smell of bile and stomach acid drifted through the air and he had to cover his mouth to stop his own sudden urge to vomit.
His anger turned slightly towards worry as the poor light illuminated his brother's face, which was pale and beaded with sweat.
He looked at Katherine, who looked back at him with cool, blank eyes.
"I need some cold cloths," Donatello said as she nodded and stood, walking towards the bathroom. "And some ice from the kitchen." He shouted at her as he took up her spot beside Raphael.
He reached out and touched his brother's forehead which was burning under his cool touch. They tended to run colder that human's and Raphael would be feverish for a human.
He looked into his brother's sweat beaded face and glared at him, the anger and betrayal he felt towards his brother overwhelming him. "Damn it, Raph!" He hissed as he began to strip the soaked sheets from his brother's body. His brother was clothed in nothing but a pair of sweats pants and covered in sweat.
"Go away, Donny." Raphael managed to slur out. "I'm fine." He said trying to sit up. "Tried...Tried to tell Kitten to...to...not to get you." Raphael stuttered out with a shake of his head.
Donatello firmly stomped down the new wave of anger that assaulted him at his brother's words. Of course his brother wouldn't want him here. If Katherine had come to get him then Donatello would find out about their affair.
Donatello attempted to take a deep calming breath, and found that it didn't help him one bit. "You may be sleeping with my girlfriend, Raphael " he began his voice shaking slightly with betrayal. "But I'm still this family's doctor, and I will help you get better, but I don't think I can ever forgive you for what you've done. After this I am done with you. You are no longer my brother, so I hope she was worth it." He ground out spitefully through clenched teeth and a jaw that was so tense that he was surprised that he was even able to speak clearly.
Donatello heard the door to Raphael's room close at his words and he realized that Katherine had paused at the door and had heard what he had said to Raphael. Good. He thought viciously to himself as his tried to rein in his anger.
"Donny stop...stop talkin'." Raphael whispered as he winced and clutched at his head in pain. "I...I."
"Save your excuses, Raph. I don't want to hear them." He snapped out angrily.
Donatello heard the door open and knew that Katherine had just walked back into the room. Donatello found that he couldn't even bear look at her. It hurt too much. Her betrayal cut too deeply. He fought back his tears and closed his eyes briefly hoping she would just go away.
Cold towels were suddenly and unceremoniously dumped onto his lap. His eyes snapped open and he glanced up in surprise, encountering Katherine's furious, light green gaze. If Michelangelo's 'Katherine alert meter' was anything to go by, she was sitting at Defcon 1. Though her eyes were leaning towards a light blue, which meant that she was holding back her tears. In the nearly three years that he had known Katherine, he had never seen her cry...ever. This did not mean that she wouldn't be close to tears on occasion, but being close to tears tended to make her angry, which stopped any tears from ever gracing her soft, velvety cheeks.
"Here." She snapped angrily. "And here is a thermometer." She roughly handed him the thermometer. "I already gave him Tylenol but he just puked it up. He can't keep anything down including ginger ale." She informed him coldly.
Donatello nodded his head as he took his brother's temperature and saw that his fever was sitting at 102˚. He frowned in worry. He arranged the towels around his brother as well as the ice and knew that he was going to have to remove the ice in about 20 minutes or else his brother could go into shock.
Katherine helped him and then disappeared into the bathroom again. He glanced at Raphael who finally seemed to have fallen asleep. He looked towards the bathroom door as Katherine emerged carrying her clothes bundled into a ball in her hands.
Donatello took a shaky breath, and with tears stinging his eyes went to stand, but Katherine dropped her clothing in his lap. The stench and wetness of vomit rose from her clothing and he looked up into her angry green eyes in shock.
Her voice was low and steady but filled with barely controlled rage."About an hour ago I woke up because I heard a strange thump. I investigated and found Raphael had crawled halfway to the bathroom. I tried to help him the rest of the way but we didn't make it before he lost his lunch. He got all my clothing and my hair. I managed to get him back to bed. I grabbed a T-shirt and washed my hair in the sink not wanting to drip vomit all over the place. I then grabbed a bucket, some Tylenol and some ginger ale, but he didn't hold any of it down for long. I tried giving him some water and that didn't work either. I was trying to convince him that he needed to let me go get you because he was really sick and that is when you walked in." She said, her voice clipped and precise as she turned and walked to the bedroom door. She paused with her hand on the door handle and looked at him over her shoulder.
"And if you think we went for a nice little sex romp yesterday, when I was chasing Raphael down the beach, you can talk to Leonardo and Karai, who saw me fall flat on my face. Raphael had already passed by them and was long gone by then. Leonardo helped me to my feet and I brushed the sand off as best as I could but couldn't get the sand off my back, so I turned around and started walked back to where I had left you, thinking that you may have already gone up to the house. I heard Karai starting to fight with Leonardo and I thought that you had heard them, which is why I had asked about it when you seemed bothered by something. When I mentioned it I knew that you weren't worried about that and waited for you to talk to me instead, but you never did, and by this evening you seemed fine. But I guess you weren't fine, were you?" She asked rhetorically as she opened the door and walked out into the hall.
Donatello felt all of the blood drain from his face as shame and horror rose up like a black wave to wash over him. He leapt to his feet, her clothing falling into a pile at his feet as he desperately ran after her, determined to apologize.
He grabbed her arm halting her progress.
"Don't touch me." She hissed as she yanked her arm away from him. She turned and looked at him, her face full of anger, but beneath that anger was hurt.
He opened his mouth to apologize to her, but she closed her eyes, shook her head, and turned to walk away again. He snatched at her arm again. "Katherine..." He pleaded desperately, wanting to beg her forgiveness and fix the damage that he had created with his baseless accusation.
She pulled her arm away again. "I don't know which is worse Donatello, the fact that you thought that I was capable of cheating on you with your own brother; or you believing that Raphael would be capable of doing such a thing to you." She said bitingly.
Donatello flinched at the truth of her words.
"If I wanted to be with Raphael, the logical thing to do would be to break up with you and be with Raphael. It is by far the less messy option and it would not destroy my relationship and his with your entire family." She said in a soft, hushed voiced laced with wounded rage.
He opened his mouth but no words formed on his tongue. He couldn't explain his assumptions or beg forgiveness for them because he hadn't understood what had come over him. She turned and walked away then and he realized that she was walking away, possibly for good. The woman he loved was walking away from him because he had accused her of something that she hadn't done, and he needed to apologize; fall down on his knees and beg her to forgive him and for her not to leave him.
He felt himself moving to catch up with her. He caught her just as she was about to walk into their shared bedroom.
"Just let me explain." He begged, grabbing her arm again desperately. She halted her progress but didn't turn to look at him, instead she stared intently at her hand which was clutched in a white knuckled grip around the door knob.
"Donatello," she began softly in a voice that trembled with too many mixed emotions. "I need to walk away from you right now, because I am too angry to discuss this, and I don't want to say or do something I may regret later." She said as she stared at the door in front of her, her back rigid as she waited for his reply.
Donatello felt his skin grow cold as he realized that she wasn't going to fight with him. She was just going to run away instead of staying to confront the problem that needed to be discussed right now. He dropped her arm as dark thoughts assailed him. "You fight with Raph. If I was Raph, you'd stay and fight with me." His voice came out sounding oddly petulant. He blinked in horror as he realized that the thoughts that had crowded his mind had slipped out of his mouth. He looked at Katherine's back in dismay.
Her whole body tensed as her head snapped up. She slowly turned to face him, her eyes nearly white with rage. If light green with dark flecks of brown had been Defcon1, then Donatello was now staring into the very depths of a nuclear explosion.
Donatello swallowed and took an instinctive step backwards as she took a step towards him. "You want me to fight with you like I do with Raphael, then fine." She said, her voice containing all the warmth of a dead sun. She poked him hard in the center of his plastron. "You are being a total and complete ass. You just accused me of cheating on you with your brother and I am so pissed off right now I can barely think straight. So I want you to think about how you effed this whole thing up and when I can bear to be near you again without wanting to punch you in the face, I will talk with you. Until then I don't even want to see you, let alone talk to you." With that she turned, opened the bedroom door and paused. "Saying 'I'm sorry' is not going to make this right Donatello, and to be honest, I don't know if anything can." She said as she slipped into the room closing the door quietly but firmly in his face, the click of the lock turning into place was like death knell that shook him down to his very bones.
Donatello stared at the wooden door for a moment before making his way numbly back to Raphael's room. He pulled up a chair beside his brother's bedside and fell heavily into it. He looked at Raphael's sweat drenched face as he quietly panted. Donatello swallowed roughly and felt a black hole of despair swallow him up completely.
He rubbed his hands down his face and resisted the urge to cry. Unfortunately he knew that he deserved Katherine's wrath at the moment. He deserved to feel as if he had just broken the best thing he had in his life and there was a possibility that he wouldn't be able to fix it. Katherine was right, he 'effed up', as she so eloquently put it. Big time.
He had tried and convicted both her and Raphael without bothering to look at all of the evidence before him; or as Katherine helpfully pointed out, just talked to her. If he had just told her what Michelangelo had said then they could have begun an honest discussion and then none of this would have happened. Instead, he had probably just lost the woman he loved because he let his jealousy get the better of him.
He felt a tear roll down his cheek which he quickly brushed away. He turned and studied his brother's sleeping face, wondering if Raphael had felt the same crushing, suffocating guilt and regret that he was feeling at the moment; and knew that his brother had. In fact, Donatello knew that his brother had felt this and more, because his brother had lost Katherine. Donatello hadn't...yet.
Donatello had always known that Katherine still loved Raphael on some level, but she had told Raphael that she loved Donatello more. But Donatello had never asked her why she loved him more.
Donatello thought for a few moments and came to the conclusion that he had some very obvious and deep seeded insecurities that he hadn't even realize that he possessed. Did she only love me more because I wasn't the one who had punched her across the face and scarred her cheek? He wondered bleakly to himself.
Raphael thrashed slightly in his sleep and Donatello turned his attention to his ill brother. He removed the ice from Raphael's body and miserably realized that he had done almost exactly the same thing that Raphael had. Raphael had accused Leonardo of trying to steal Katherine away from him, which meant that Donatello had done even worse by actually accusing Katherine of cheating on him with Raphael.
Donatello slumped back into his chair and put his head in his hands. He tried to push his emotions away and look at the situation logically. Katherine was angry -very, very angry- but she hadn't outright broken up with him either, so that was promising. Unfortunately Donatello knew Katherine well enough to know that she was probably sitting in their room sifting through her feelings and reviewing his actions, deciding on whether there were more ticks in 'Pro' column or the 'Con' one.
Donatello leaned forward in his chair. "I messed up Raph. I messed up really, really bad, and I'm sorry for what I said. I just hope Katherine forgives me, because I can't imagine my life without her." He whispered to his sleeping brother.
Donatello watched Raphael for the rest of the night, managing to nod off every now and then. Unfortunately his sleep had been fitful and full of nightmares that he was unable to recall when he woke, but had probably centered on Katherine leaving him and running away with a mysterious lover.
Donatello shifted forward and checked Raphael's temperature again, and found it to be no better than it had been the night before. His brother seemed to be sleeping soundly despite this, so he stood up just as the door to Raphael's room quietly opened. Katherine slipped inside and Donatello felt himself grow cold and then flush with apprehension.
She looked how he felt. She appeared tired and exhausted, with black bags under her slightly puffy, red eyes. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail causing tiny curls to fall out here and there to surround her face.
"How is he?" Katherine asked worriedly.
Donatello swallowed and looked at his brother over his shoulder. "Not any better." He finally answered as he took a step towards Katherine, but she gave him a wintery look, daring him to come closer.
"I'm not talking to you yet." She informed him coolly as she pointedly gazed at the door, silently telling him to get out.
Donatello felt his shoulders slump a bit but nodded as he left the room, gently closing the door behind him.
He felt lost for a moment unsure what to do and where to go and finally decided to go downstairs to have some breakfast, but the thought of food made his stomach clench painfully and do a slight roll to the side. He decided that he would try to swallow down a cup of coffee.
"Kit didn't look so good this morning, I wonder if her mom called?" Holly's voice drifted into the hallway just outside the kitchen.
Donatello felt himself flinch at her words causing tears to prick his eyes as hot, sticky, guilt filled regret slid through him. He stopped just outside of the kitchen doorway, leaning against the wall and listening as he tried to compose himself.
"Why'd you say that?" Michelangelo asked, his voice muffled which meant that his baby brother was talking with his mouth full.
"Well her mom is probably riding on her to go home." Holly said as if it should be obvious.
"Home?" Michelangelo questioned slightly confused.
"Well Kit doesn't live in the States. I mean she does, but she is living at Uncle Carin's house. So her mom wants her to go back to Canada. Been bugging her for years. Kit left home almost 4 years ago. Her and her mom hit a little bit of a rough patch when she found out who her real dad was. She and her mom are okay now but..."
Donatello felt his eye ridges rise in surprise and he distinctly heard Michelangelo spit out whatever he had been drinking. "What!" Michelangelo's voice squeaked slightly.
"Yeah it's funny cause her dad isn't her dad so that means that we aren't even related at all by blood. I mean I already knew that but I don't think I ever really thought about it." Holly said thoughtfully. "Anyway she, found out her mom had a fling with some famous married guy before she met and married Kit's dad-well step-dad- and Kit wasn't very impressed. So Kit went halfway around the world for a bit then to New York to stay at Uncle Carin's place since he never uses it."
Donatello digested this information in shock. He had never asked Katherine why she had moved to New York State in the first place. She lived 2 hours outside of the city and had started sleeping over at the lair quite a bit after they had officially started dating, but he had always thought she had moved to the U.S. for her job.
Holly continued to talk as Donatello continued to eavesdrop."Kit knew that Uncle Trevor wasn't her dad, they never tried to hide that, but Kit had never really questioned who her father really was, until she found out that she was her mom and this guy's love child. It's one thing for a relationship not to work out, or I suppose, to be the kid of a one night stand, but to know your mom was 'the other woman' and an almost home wrecker, well, that's a different story. I mean I know Kit's mom was a young actress just starting out, but still. And Kit knows her dad is out there and can't even approach him because she could wreck his marriage. Not that he doesn't deserve to have his marriage wrecked since he cheated on is wife in the first place, but Kit believes that even if you make mistakes, everyone deserves a second chance."
"Does Kitten know who her father is?" Leonardo's voice asked.
"She knows, but she's never told me. All I know is that he is a really big famous Hollywood A-lister, just like her mom, and I think he may be older than her mom by a bit. Anyway her and her mom made up and stuff, but Kit doesn't like it when people lie, or betray those you love. That and Kitten had two boyfriends, one on high school and one in her first year of University that cheated on her, so she has very personal feelings on the subject of cheating."
"I thought Raph was Kitten's first boyfriend?" Michelangelo asked, his voice sounding confused.
"Well, he's the first guy she ever loved and slept with." Holly agreed. "I mean, I know she liked those other two guys, but she really loved Raph." Holy paused for a moment as Donatello closed his eyes at her words. Guilt welled up within Donatello for dating Katherine, but he squashed his guilt down. It was an old guilt that he had mostly dealt with long ago.
"Why did those two break up anyway?" Holly asked suddenly. "I mean, I know she's with Donny now, but I never did get the full story from her. She always just said that 'sometimes love isn't enough' and that was it. "Holly lowered her voice slightly. "Did Donny steal Kit away from Raph?" She asked in a conspiratorial voice.
"Uh..." Michelangelo began as if not knowing what to say. Donatello took this opportunity to walk into the kitchen, effectively cutting off their conversation. If Katherine hadn't wanted Holly to know what had happened between her and Raphael, it wasn't their right to tell her what happened.
"Morning." Donatello mumbled as he made a beeline for the coffee pot, deftly avoiding Michelangelo, Leonardo and Holly's eyes.
"Wow Donny, you look like hell." Michelangelo observed.
Donatello flicked a quick glance at Michelangelo before turning back to pour himself a generous cup of coffee.
"Trouble in paradise, Donny?" Michelangelo asked. "You look like you were up all night, and not in the fun way." He added with a teasing smirk.
Donatello sighed tiredly. "Raph's sick." He announced quietly, which got his brother's attention. Leonardo began to stand as Holly looked on in concern.
"Sick with what?" Leonardo asked worriedly as Donatello waved at Leonardo to stay seated.
"I'm not sure yet, he's got a fever and can't keep anything down. He may have gotten hyperthermia." At the confused looks he got from his brothers and Holly he said. "Heat stroke. Or possibly a flu of some sort." He said with a shake of his head. "I'll keep an eye on him for the rest of the day and hopefully we'll see an improvement before we leave tomorrow."
"Well you know Raph," Michelangelo began. "He'll be better than new by tomorrow." He said with a smile.
"I hope so, Mikey." Donatello said with a nod. "Otherwise we won't be going anywhere."
"But...we leave to go to Comic Con tomorrow."Michelangelo said in a whisper of horror at the thought of missing Comic Con.
"I'm sure Raph will be better by tomorrow, Mikey." Leonardo told their baby brother comfortingly.
"Yeah." Holly said with a nod. "After all, it would suck to miss seeing Auntie Sheila dressed up as Dark Cat."
Michelangelo turned wide eyes on Holly. "What?" He squeaked as Donatello looked at Holly in confusion. "Kitten's mom is going to be there!" He asked incredulous "No, you're lying. It doesn't say anywhere that the original Dark Cat played by 70's sex symbol Sheila Wraith is going to be there! I would have remembered seeing that!"
Holly nodded. "It's a surprise since they are launching the new Dark Cat movie they wanted a little more publicity by having the original Dark Cat there. Besides Kit's mom is still rocking the 'sexy at 43' look."
"Hey Donny, this means you get to meet Kitten's mom! Well sorta since we are going to be in 'costume'. But you can still meet her, isn't that great?" Michelangelo pointed out excitedly.
Donatello gave a wavering smile at the thought of meeting Katherine's mother, but felt his heart drop like a ball of lead into the region of his stomach because he wasn't sure if Katherine still wanted to even be with him anymore. "Yeah, great." He said pasting on a fake smile. "I'd better go check on Raph." He said as he took his cup of coffee and left the kitchen, hoping that he and Katherine could have a private discussion before they had to leave tomorrow.
Donatello entered Raphael's bedroom and found his brother to be awake, but shivering violently.
"He's still burning up but he's complaining that he can't get warm." Katherine said to him as Donatello took his brother's temperature again.
"I don't think he has heat stroke, which is good, that means that his body will cool down on its own." He said to her as he helped her spread another thick blanket over Raphael's shivering form.
"I...I'm s...s...so d...d...damn...c-cold." Raphael's voice growled from beneath his blankets. "D...Donny s...s...stop hoverin' over m-me like I'm dyin'."
"Well he's cranky, that's always a good sign." Katherine said with a wry smile.
Raphael groaned as he tried to roll over from his back to his side. Donatello leaned forward to help. "Go away." Raphael grumbled as he moaned softly again. "Everythin' hurts, includin my head."
"I'll go get you some Tylenol and see if you can actually handle having a little bit of water and some toast." Katherine offered as she left the room leaving Donatello alone with his brother.
Donatello looked at his brother in concern. Raphael was complaining about the pain, which was unusual for him. He usually just shouted at Donatello to leave him alone and no one would see Raphael for a good day, and then he would suddenly emerge from his room completely better.
"I hate it when Kitten sees me when I'm sick. I hate feelin' helpless." Raphael grumbled into his pillow.
Donatello nodded in understanding, realizing that his brother had wanted to get Katherine out of the room. Donatello swallowed. "Raph...I owe you an apology, for last night." He began as Raphael closed his eyes.
"Mmm?" His brother asked as Donatello felt his brother's forehead again. It felt hotter than it had a few minutes ago.
"Raph, I want you to try to stay awake so that you can take some Tylenol okay." He said to his brother who didn't answer him. "Raph." He shook his brother's shoulder gently and got no response.
Donatello sighed, he would have to apologize to Raphael later.
Katherine didn't stay after she found out Raphael had fallen asleep again. She said she still had packing to do and left him to look after Raphael for the rest of the day. By and by evening Raphael had failed to show any improvement.
His brother continued to be unable to keep anything down at all and seemed to still be suffering from a massive headache, along with muscle and joint pain. Unfortunately Raphael couldn't seem to keep down any medicine either, so Donatello couldn't alleviate any of the symptoms of his illness.
Donatello was also unable to talk with Katherine throughout the entire day. She was polite, but would only answer in monosyllables any question directed at her by him, and he knew the only reason that she was even talking to him at all was because there was family and friends around. Though Donatello did get a chance to observe Leonardo and Karai, he could sense that there was definitely some tension between the two of them, and it wasn't the good kind.
By morning Raphael was still no better, if anything he seemed worse. He was both exhausted and weak. Raphael had spent most of the night dry heaving into a bucket and tossing and turning fitfully, his bedding becoming drenched with sweat again.
Donatello had slept an hour or so at most. He felt tired, pulled and strained with the events happening around him. He walked slowly downstairs to give his family the bad news. Raphael was not well enough to travel.
He passed by a pile of bags sitting near the front door and felt loathe to tell Michelangelo that his trip to Comic Con was about to be cancelled, but they had no choice. He steeled himself against what he knew were going to be pleading arguments and protests as he walked into the kitchen, stopping in shock when he saw that the only occupant of the room was Katherine.
"Good morning Donatello." She said softly, a cup of hot chocolate in her hands. Donatello felt himself freeze, not knowing if he should approach her or just tuck tail and run the other way, because it looked as if she had reached some sort of decision and Donatello felt too cowardly to hear what she had to say to him.
His eyes darted around the room which looked to have already been used for breakfast. He looked at the coffee maker which was sitting beside Katherine's elbow, empty.
Donatello shifted nervously as he waited for Katherine to speak again. "Coffee?" She asked him as he nodded slowly. She pushed herself away from the counter allowing him access to the coffee maker. Katherine hated coffee and had on numerous occasions tried to get him to cut down, but she had only been partially successful. It also meant that she didn't know how to make coffee, no matter how many times he told her how.
He stepped near her and made himself a cup of coffee, his hands shaking slightly in nervous trepidation as he took a sip of the steaming brew and placing the cup back on the counter. He watched Katherine who seemed to be deep in thought, the silence of the room becoming uncomfortably oppressive before she finally spoke again. "Michelangelo, Leonardo, Karai and Holly are all heading to San Diego to go to Comic Con for four days. After Comic Con Karai is flying to Japan to attend some business and Holly needs to go home to Boston. So the plane will drop them off at their respective destinations on the 16th. Unfortunately other members of my extended family need the use of the plane, including my mother, so we won't be able to get it back here to pick us up until at least the 23rd. I have already talked to the director at the museum and told him that my vacation was going to last a little longer than expected and he was fine with that."
Donatello blinked at Katherine in shock. "So the three of us are staying here for another 11 days?" He asked her.
Katherine nodded. "That should give Raphael enough time to get better. With the whole recirculation of the air on the plane thing, I don't want everyone to get what Raphael has, and I don't want Michelangelo to be unable to go to Comic Con just because Raphael is sick. That and Karai needs to catch her flight to Japan on the 16th. Another 11 days here won't make any difference to the three of us." She finished with a shrug.
"You...you're going to miss Comic Con?" He asked in surprise knowing that she was as excited to be going as Michelangelo was.
"Well I can't leave you two here by yourselves. I mean, I suppose I could, but if I leave I know I will never see you again, and I don't want that. I want to at least try to fix us Donatello." She said to him softly.
Donatello felt himself start at her words, his eyes widening in shock and relief as he moved to pull her into him, but she deftly sidestepped his embrace.
"We are not okay, Donatello, not even close." She said to him softly. "I want to make us okay, but your sudden jealousy of Raphael is something that you have to get over."
"I know." He said softly as he nodded his head in agreement. "Katherine, I..."
"He's your brother and you all live together. I can't avoid him and I can't change the fact that we used to be lovers." She told him curtly.
"I know." He said as he slowly approached her again and this time she let him enfold her into his arms.
He buried his face into her neck and breathed in the flowery scent of her skin. "I'm sorry Katherine. I am so, so sorry." He whispered shakily.
Katherine nodded. "I also can't change the way I feel about him." She said quietly into his neck. "And if that is too much for you, then it would be better to just end this right now." She finished pulling away slightly and studying his face carefully.
Donatello felt himself pause before shaking his head. "I don't want to lose you." He finally told her softly. "I love you, and I know you love me. I understand that you will always have feelings for Raph, but I shouldn't have let Mikey's words get under my skin like that."
"What did Michelangelo say?" Katherine asked in confusion.
Donatello just shook his head, blushing slightly. "It isn't important, just that Raph seemed really happy and that you seemed really happy, and..."
"And because Raphael and I were happy you automatically thought that we were..." Katherine said putting the pieces together.
"No." He said shaking his head firmly, "But..."
"Hey Donny, hey Kitten!" Michelangelo chirped happily as he walked into the kitchen. "I know Raphie's still sick and everything and I know you really wanted to come Kitten, but thank you for letting us still go." Michelangelo said with a big grin as he pulled Katherine from Donatello's arms and gave her a bone crushing hug. "But I think you three will have an even better time without all of us here cramping your style." Michelangelo said with a knowing wink at Donatello.
"Mikey..." Donatello growled.
Michelangelo laughed impishly. "Don't worry, my lips are sealed. Anyway we have gotta get going so I just came in to say bye and help Leo grab the rest of the bags. I'm gonna run up and say bye to Raph. You three have fun, but maybe not too much. I would say don't do anything I wouldn't do, but I think you guys have already done that."
Michelangelo said with another wink as he practically skipped from the room.
"Um...?" Katherine asked, but was interrupted when Leonardo, Karai and Holly walked into the kitchen. After that is was a chaotic farewell as everyone made it onto the private jet that would take them to Comic Con in California.
Donatello watched the plane take off from Raphael's bedroom window. He looked at his brother's feverish features and felt a small feeling of apprehension roll through him.
Thoughts and opinions are always welcome:)