Journal entry N°3:
Wounds.
"A wound is a type of injury in which skin is torn, cut, or punctured, or where blunt force trauma causes a contusion. In pathology, it specifically refers to a sharp injury which damages the dermis of the skin.
As a matter of fact, there are several types of wounds and with time, they all heal.
All except one
The hardest to heal…"
…
The teakettle in the kitchen whistled announcing the tea was ready to be served; furry paws got a hold on the handle, moving the object away from the small flame then proceeded to pour the bitter steaming hot liquid into a porcelain cup.
"The guys will be coming back late again, I suppose"
The ninja master turned his head to the dark haired girl sitting by the table, worry plastered in her face.
"Do not worry about them, Who-san. Late or not, I am sure they will return"
The girl tilted her face up. "How can you be so sure, Sensei?"
"I know my sons very well" Splinter replied.
Who sighed. "Yeah but… haven't you thought that someday-"
"-All the time. Yes" Splinter subtly interrupted her. "With time, the Master in me has learned that his students are not so little anymore which means I can no longer defend them from the world outside. But I have trained them well and they have listened to my teachings. Now it is up to them to use them wisely"
The ninja master brought the cup to his lips and savored its content, lowering the porcelain object once his thirst had been quenched.
"However, the father in me worries a lot for their safety. There is not a day I do not pray for my sons to come back to their home. To me"
Who noticed the slight change in Splinter's voice; he was afraid and no one could judge him, his fear was justified. Just when she was about to talk, the lair's door opened automatically and voices could be heard from outside.
"Careful with his leg, Raph"
"I'm being careful! Blame Mikey, he keeps squirming!"
"Donnie, how much longer till we get to the lair? My leg is killing me!"
"Stop complaining, knucklehead. Or I'll break your other leg so you have a good reason to whine"
Master Splinter and Who rushed from the kitchen to meet the injured terrapins at the entrance. They were shocked to see the outcome of the young ninjas' supposed-to-be free night. The orange-clad ninja's limb was fractured in two places; he also had some cuts and the bruises all over his body were already turning black and purple but it was the leg what worried everyone the most.
Raphael and Donatello had been hurt as well, not as bad as Michelangelo but they were hurting as well. As for Leonardo, he was no were in sight and neither was the BattleShell so Splinter and Who could only guess he was parking it.
"Hi Sensei, hi Whoey" Mikey smiled at them the best he could though he couldn't mask the pain he was feeling at the moment. "What's up"
"What's up? What the hell happened?! I thought tonight was your free night!" Who said almost yelling but fought to control herself.
"Foot Ninjas" Raph answered struggling to not let Mikey fall to the floor.
"Raphael, where is Leonardo?" Splinter asked in concern while he helped his red masked son carry Michelangelo to the couch.
"He's in the BattleShell. Unconscious" Don informed.
"Can we leave this conversation for later? We gotta go get Leo now" Raph said, abruptly changing the subject before the questioning began.
Splinter nodded and with that, the remaining brothers ran to get their leader back home.
…
"…I thought that after 3 years living with ninjas I'd been used to scenarios like those.
But I was wrong.
Every time they came back with injuries, cuts, fractures or even blood lost something inside me hurt; I could feel my blood freeze and my senses go numb until their voices brought me back to reality. Only then I was able to assist them and help Donatello nurse their injuries.
Many times I wondered how Splinter must've felt the first time the guys came back home wounded.
He may be a badass Sensei with nerves of steel and all but he is still a father…"
…
Back in the warehouse, Raphael and Donatello carefully maneuvered an unconscious Leonardo into a stretcher they had recently found in one of their many trips to the junkyard; they still didn't understand who could have thrown away a nearly new stretcher but if they could use it to their benefit then they didn't have any reason to complain. After they locked the warehouse, the three turtles disappeared inside the elevator.
"Can't this shit go faster, genius? Leo's bleeding out!" Raph demanded impatiently.
"The elevator can't go faster than this. And Leo's not bleeding anymore, Raph. The stab wasn't that deep to pierce any organs or cut important arteries; he just passed out from exhaustion… but it's nice to see you're concerned. I'll make sure Leo knows that when he wakes up" Don said smiling lightly.
"Yeah, yeah"
The lack of a better comeback made the purple-clad ninja stare at his sai wielder brother; it was then when he saw Raph's gloomy expression as he looked at the unconscious turtle on the stretcher.
"It wasn't your fault and you know it" Don said reassuringly.
Raph snorted. "Like shit it wasn't! Should've seen those fuckers behind him"
"You were protecting Mikey, remember? You couldn't be in two places at the same time. If someone is to blame here, that should be me"
Raph eyed at Donnie in puzzlement."What makes you say that?"
"I should've listened to Leo when he said we had to regroup" The bo staff wielder confessed. "I thought I could take those ninjas if we followed my plan"
"Well, for once I wasn't the rebel. That's a good thing" Raph chuckled. "But seriously, now… it wasn't your fault"
"Just like it wasn't your fault either" Don replied.
"Whatever you say" Raph said curtly not wanting to continue the conversation; message that Donatello understood perfectly.
Meanwhile at the infirmary, not even a broken leg could stop the hyperactive orange masked turtle from giving his father and his human friend a hard time with his constant whining and complaining.
"Sit still, Michelangelo" Splinter ordered for the umpteenth time.
"But I'm bored!" Mikey whined.
Who arched a brow. "You just came back from a deadly fight and you're bored?"
"Uh… yes?"
"Wow. Unbelievable"
"If I bring you some of your comic books, will you settle down?" Splinter offered.
Mikey looked at him in awe and a big smile on his face. "Would you do that for me, Sensei?"
The ninja master narrowed eyes. "Do not make me ask twice"
"Yes! Yesyesyes, please!" Mikey said bouncing the best he could with his broken leg.
With that said Master Splinter abandoned the infirmary and headed to Michelangelo's room, never noticing someone was looking at him closely.
…
"… Oh, Sensei. Only Master Splinter could tolerate Mikey's childish behavior in a moment like this.
Always patient, calmed and silent.
Maybe way too silent…"
…
"This way, Raph"
"I know the way, Brainiac!"
Who heard the familiar voices from outside the infirmary and immediately went to meet them. There she saw Raph and Don pushing the stretcher with Leo on it; the blue-clad ninja's pale shade of green wasn't good news at all.
"He looks… horrible" The girl gasped.
"Nah, poor guy was born that way"
Don looked at his brother disapprovingly. "Seriously Raph, making fun of him now?"
"Oh don't start! I just wanted to make her laugh!" Raph countered.
Don sighed. "Just keep moving or this time he'll really bleed out"
Who moved aside to let the guys continue their way, never taking her eyes off the unconscious Leonardo. She sighed heavily and glanced at Michelangelo's room; Splinter was taking too long. Something was not right. The girl walked upstairs and made it to the orange-clad ninja's chambers, the door was slightly opened so she peeked in hoping Splinter didn't notice.
There he was. Sitting on his son's bed, comic books in hand while his grey eyes stared at the nothingness.
Who cleared her throat announcing herself as she went in. "Master Splinter?"
"Ah, Who-san… which one of these you think Michelangelo would like to read the most?" Splinter asked her acting as normal as possible.
"Knowing him? All of them" Who chuckled.
Splinter smiled. "Excellent. Perhaps now he will stay silent for some hours"
"I wouldn't say hours but… ok. Say, why don't I take them to him while you go drink some tea hmm? It looks like you need some" The girl suggested.
"Yes, I believe I do"
The ninja master handed the magazines to the girl. Before leaving, he turned to her.
"Who-san, did Raphael and Donatello return with Leonardo already?"
"I just talked to them but it'd be better if you wait until Donnie is done treating Leo's injuries; he's not exactly in a good condition right now. Not that he's dying or something… nonono! Scratch that! Leo's alive just not looking so alive… NO! That's not-"
Splinter's paw on the girl's shoulder made her stop her nervous blabbering.
"I understand. Thank you, young lady"
Who nodded and followed the ninja master until they parted ways once they made it downstairs. She had to stop herself from joining Splinter in the kitchen, Michelangelo was waiting for her. She would just have to wait until things settled down to have a talk with the Hamato brothers' father.
She walked inside the infirmary and surprisingly, Mikey was calmer than a few minutes earlier and his broken leg was protected with a cast.
"Wow, Donnie sure works fast huh"
"Actually, it was Raphie who fixed my leg" Mikey said. "Donnie is pretty busy with Leo right now"
"Is it that bad? The stab, I mean" Who asked handing over the comic books to Mikey.
"Well, you can never be so sure when it comes to stab wounds. Don is a bit paranoid so he runs tests, searches for poison, infections… all that nasty stuff"
Who hummed in understanding, then took a seat beside the orange-clad turtle. "Mikey, can you tell me what exactly happened?"
"We were just goofing around in the van, listening to some cool tunes and it was one of the rare times Leo wasn't being all Mr. Serious. We were just having fun, you know?" Mikey started.
"Right"
"We parked the BattleShell in an alley and then climbed to the roof of a building to enjoy the view. Then, out of nowhere, a bunch of ninjas jump in and surround us; they start throwing shurikens at us, blinding powder and such. They didn't leave us another option but fight" He continued.
"So the fight was unprovoked" Who said.
"Totally unprovoked, sis! So, we kicked their butts but they called more ninjas! We were starting to get tired and I think Leo said something about going back to the car; I really didn't pay attention cuz I was getting my shell kicked and this guy came with a pipe and hit my leg so the ninjas were now coming after me but epic Raphie saved me!"
Who blinked. "Epic Raphie… really"
"Well, he was being epic" Mikey grinned. "Then I heard Donnie saying we could still beat them if we followed his plan and I thought: isn't Raph always the one who goes against Leo? So if Don was Raph, then Raph was Leo… or was it me? No, Raph can't be me cuz I'm so adorable and he's way too ugly but-"
"Mikey, focus"
"Oh right. Sorry, I tend to ramble when I'm high on meds" The young turtle smiled sheepishly. "Anyway, Raphie saved me but I still couldn't get up on my own and it was then when Donnie decided to go with Leo's plan and get our shells out of there. We used the last smoke pellets we had left and started to go down but then…"
Michelangelo's story finished all of the sudden, his smile was gone and he looked haunted; for a moment, Who thought whatever meds Raph had used on his brother were working their magic.
"Then what?" Who demanded softly.
Mikey shook his head. "I… I don't think…"
"Please, Michelangelo. Continue"
Who and Mikey turned their attention to the ninja master standing outside the infirmary.
"Master Splinter? How long have you been here?" She asked.
"Long enough to request my son to tell the end of the story"
Who looked back at her ninja friend; it wasn't the meds, Mikey just didn't want to go back to that moment. And who could really blame him? Surprisingly, he continued talking.
"I didn't see exactly what happened but Raph did. Three ninjas we forgot about came behind Leo and held him back; he tried to escape but one of them stabbed him"
Mikey's voice started quivering and his blue eyes shone with unshed tears.
"When Donnie and Raph brought him back… I saw the blood and for a moment I thought…"
"That is enough my son" Splinter ordered in a calming voice, approaching Michelangelo to embrace him.
The young turtle leaned on his father's arms while he pulled himself together.
"Will he be alright, dad?" He asked in a tiny voice.
'Dad' was a term the guys barely used nowadays; they usually addressed Splinter as Sensei, Master or Father. However 'dad' was used mostly by Michelangelo when he was scared and needed fatherly comfort.
"You know your brother very well, my child. He will survive" Splinter assured his orange masked son. "Now, you should get some sleep. It is been a long night"
Mikey pulled away from the protective embrace. "But Sensei, I can't go to sleep! I need to know if Leo is-"
"-He's alright, Mikey" A new voice announced.
A very exhausted Donatello joined the scene followed by Raphael, who also looked like he could use a shower and some sleep.
"We managed to stabilize him; he'll be needing another transfusion tomorrow and plenty of rest for the next three weeks but he'll be fine. Eventually" Don informed.
"Can I see him?" Mikey asked.
"With your leg like that? I don't think so"
"But-"
"Trust Donnie on this one, k?" Raph interfered "You can see Leo tomorrow after he's rested"
Sighing in defeat, Mikey accepted the deal.
Don turned to his red-clad brother. "Now, your turn. I have to check those cuts of yours"
"But Don!" Raph rebutted.
"No buts, mister. You have some nasty gashes that need stitching"
"They ain't that nasty"
"Raphael! Listen to your brother" Splinter scolded him.
"Dammit, Don. You're worse than Leo!" Raph growled.
"Keep complaining and I'll use extra alcohol" Don threatened.
It was dawn when the lair finally went silent but there were two beings who hadn't been able to fall asleep. They sat by the table in the kitchen, silent.
Maybe too silent.
It was better that way, though. No words were needed to share the pain they both felt at the moment.
One more than the other.
The dark haired girl gave a last slurp to her tea and briefly glanced at Splinter. He looked aged, tired.
Hurt.
…
"… And even though he hadn't been there with his sons in battle, that night I knew Master Splinter had also been wounded.
Deep within.
That wound is worse than a cut, worse than a stab, worse than a kick or a punch in the gut.
That wound… the kind of wound that comes from witnessing the ones you love suffer…
That wound is always the hardest to heal"
End of Journal entry N°3