*Okay, so yeah, you all knew it was coming. It was pretty obvious, to us anyway. I only have a chance for a quick release today, because my power's been out since last night. I love responding to reviews, and I'll get on those as soon as our power is restored. Wish us luck. :)
The red-masked turtle woke to the feeling of pins and needles in his left leg, that had been preceding a painful episode. The sensation almost reminded him of the beginning of a bad muscle cramp, only multiplied a hundred times over. The irresistible urge to shift positions assaulted his mind, but he couldn't move, even if he hadn't been immobilized by Marc's brace. While limited feeling had returned, the motor paralysis had persisted.
He would have been grateful not to feel anything at all, but that would also suggest worse nerve damage, and the possibility of permanent injury. As it was, Marc had told him it would probably take weeks for the axons to regenerate.
What the shell is an axon anyway? Why does it all have to be so freakin' complicated? I bet most people don't have a clue about this nerve stuff either - I can't be the only one, he thought crossly.
His pillow was soaked in sweat, and Raphael was more uncomfortable than he could ever remember being. He was just about to stretch an arm to reach the cell phone on the table beside the bed when the door to the hall opened. The turtle raised his head a couple of inches and saw Karina.
"Hey. What time is it?" he asked.
"Early. Let me switch this for you, Raph."
He let her take the pillow so she could change the case out for him.
"Now you should lie back down. You've been so restless," she commented. "Do you feel like you've slept at all?"
"Not really." He exhaled softly as she positioned a cool rag over his forehead. "Where's Liv?" Raphael grunted as he started upright again.
"She woke up early too. Kat's giving her some strained pears. Lie down, Raph, I mean it."
"Why's Kat awake?"
"I think she's just worried about Bran. She feels guilty for leaving him."
Raphael peered at his wife from underneath the washcloth. "You feel guilty too," he asserted.
"It's hard not to, Raph, he is our brother."
"You could have stayed with him, Kari. Maybe you should have," he said faintly.
Karina shook her head. "I keep telling myself that he's not alone, and we'll see him again soon. If I allow myself to think about it too long, I'm liable to break down and start bawling. But I don't regret coming with you, Raph. This is where I need to be, and Olivia needs me too. I couldn't bear to think of her being exposed in the city much longer. That was one of the most stressful experiences I've ever had."
Raphael was trying to focus hard on her words to understand what she was saying, but the pain was becoming a distraction. His breathing altered unconsciously as he fought to subdue his reaction. The turtle briefly clenched his eyes shut, and when he opened them, Karina was staring on silently.
"I think it's time to get one of the docs," she said finally.
"Don't wake anyone up yet," he protested. "It's not even time for me to start the cycle over, is it?"
She acted like she didn't hear a word he said. "Sit tight, Raph. I'm going to fetch Marc."
Raphael released a shaky breath as Karina left. He hated being treated like an invalid, but he couldn't escape the fact that he was helpless to do anything for himself. When the turtle stopped to consider the months of recovery he had ahead of him, depression threatened to consume him.
But it could have been worse - it could have, he thought fiercely. Marc thinks I can get over this, and that's enough for me. I'm not losing my leg, it's just going to take a while to get it back. It sucks, but I'm glad I can probably be normal again. I'm getting ahead of myself, in any case. I ain't even had surgery yet.
Raphael shivered under the quilt at the thought. They know what they're doing, he reminded himself. Marc's an expert, Luke's incredible, and Donny's a genius. I wish we could get it over with already.
He turned his head as he heard footsteps in the hall, and nodded as Marcus came into the room. "What's up?" he asked innocently.
The man came over to him and crouched down to his level. "Karina says you aren't sleeping. Are you experiencing much feeling in that leg?"
"Some. It's kind of a win/lose situation, huh? I don't want the nerves to be dead, but I don't wanna feel this either."
Marcus nodded sympathetically. "I'm sorry we can't do more for you yet."
"You act like it's your fault, Marc. It's 'cause of you that I'm gonna walk again."
"You'd better believe it," he replied more strongly. "I'm planning the steps out, Raph. As soon as we get the equipment, we'll be ready to move forward."
The red-masked turtle took an anxious breath, and the man seemed to sense it.
"Are you nervous?" Marc asked.
"Yeah, but you guys are the best. What do I have to be worried about?"
Marcus smiled as he patted his shoulder. "Stay positive. I know it won't be easy, especially with the work that will come later, but being optimistic will do wonders for your prognosis."
"Marc, you're not planning on staying down here because of me, are you?"
The man snorted. "You're not trying to get rid of me already, are you, Raph?"
"You know what I'm getting at, Marc. You've got April back in New York, not to mention other patients that are waiting on you. I still feel bad that you had to break off other people's procedures."
Marcus shook his head. "I'm not the only orthopedic surgeon in the country, Raph...but I am the only one who's a member of this family. Now, how about I fix you up with a little more meds so you can get some real rest?"
"Twist my arm," Raphael replied, then gave the man a serious look. "I don't wanna get hooked on these things. I know that Donny's always avoided the painkillers as much as he could, because he thought it was a possibility. That's not going to happen to me, is it?"
"We're staggering the medicine properly, Raph," he reassured him. "It isn't good for you to try and endure these injuries without it. I know you're tough, but this kind of pain could level anyone."
The turtle broke eye contact, feeling somewhat dejected. "Whatever you think, man. You know what you're doing," he mumbled.
"Hey," Marcus said softly. "You're going to make it."
"I know. If you're not here to kick my shell into gear, there're plenty more people to do it."
The next time Raphael came fully awake, sunlight was beating into the room through a large set of windows. He yawned tiredly, shaking off the haze that usually accompanied the use of the painkillers. The turtle sat up slowly and felt his head spinning.
I keep forgetting what a pain in the shell these drugs are.
He rested his head on the pillow again and felt over on the night stand to retrieve his phone. Raphael hit one of the speed-dials, and waited for his brother to pick up.
"Hey, Don. Could you c'mere please?"
"Sure, Raph, I'll be right there."
Raphael snapped the phone shut and made another serious attempt to sit up. He had to settle for only turning his head in the direction of the door.
The purple-masked turtle bustled into the room. "Hi, bro. How's it going?"
"Peachy," he muttered. "I got some sleep at least, thanks to your magic juice."
"You make it sound like an illegal substance."
"The way they mess me up, that's kind of what it must be like," he joked weakly.
Don managed a real smile in return. "Everything is a tradeoff. I'm glad you got some rest. It's a good feeling for all of us to have a chance to breathe, until we start thinking of home again."
"Speaking of which, I'm still wondering about Brandon. Have you heard how he's doing, Donny?"
"He had some additional internal bleeding that contributed to the shock," Don admitted. "He's in the right place to get treated at least. If he was in one of those street clinics, they wouldn't have had the equipment to locate the source of the bleeding. He could have been a lot worse off."
"Are you trying to make me feel better?"
"I'm pointing out that it isn't as bad as it could have been."
Story of our lives, he thought silently. "Has he talked to Kat or Karina lately? They're both feeling guilty for 'abandoning' him."
Don shook his head. "I don't think there's anything Brandon could say to change that, Raph. Can you imagine if we'd had to leave one another? Is there something I could say that would have made you feel better about leaving me behind?"
"No, there isn't," Raphael said quickly. "They're just going to have to work through this, huh?"
His brother nodded. "Maybe in time, Brandon will make the trip down. No one knows how long we'll even be here yet. I don't see myself getting bored in the meantime. The Lab is a thing of beauty."
"You confident about doing surgery there?"
"It's a sterile environment, and that's the most important thing."
Raphael almost laughed. "No, the most important thing is that you brilliant ones keep your heads on straight. I don't know how you deal with this stuff."
"We're good actors, Raph. Sometimes that's all it comes down to. Do you think you could eat something?"
"Maybe. I'd kind of like to get out of bed and see everyone."
"Let's take it slow, okay? I want to make sure you can sit up all right before we try moving you. Food might help to combat some of the dizziness."
"How'd you know I was dizzy?"
"It's a common side effect, Raph. If I don't know how the drugs behave, I have no business using them."
"Did you find a source for the ingredients you need to make the anesthetic?"
"Oh yeah, that's easy. I'm using the same supplier I have before to obtain the components we need, I just had to change the shipping information. It's going to go smoothly. You believe that, don't you?"
"I ain't worried about being in your hands, Genius. You've never let me die before."
"We've got a much better handle on using the anesthetic now than we did that first time around."
Raphael shook his head tersely. "I think we'd all like to forget about the first time, Don."
"It was my own fault. Doc tried to tell me that the liquid base could be unstable-"
"I'm serious, Don. Don't go there."
The purple-masked turtle closed his mouth immediately.
Raphael shifted on his arms, exerting what energy he had to sit up. He still felt like the room was about to tip off its axis, but he chose not to mention it. "Tell me about the rest of this place, Don," he said more gently. "Just in case I never get to see it."
"The third floor is dedicated to the Lab, like Doc already told us. The second floor is more private rooms, though there's also a sitting room area that leads out to another part of the deck. It's nice, Raph. Growing up in a place like this...wow. There's a walk-out basement too, with a nice set of weights and a couple of good exercise machines. They were probably part of the rehabilitation program."
"In other words, you and Leo got a place to work out. I hope you don't get bored with each other."
"You'll be working out too, Raph."
"Yeah, in a couple of months. That's when the real fun starts. You ought to know, right?"
"My injury was different, Raph, but I know you. It won't be a picnic, but you'll do it."
The red-masked turtle let silence fall around them for a few seconds. "We're gonna be here through the winter, aren't we?"
"That's what it looks like," Donatello said apologetically, as if it was somehow his fault. "I've linked into the Geological Survey that's focused on New York, and I'm monitoring the seismic activity. If things settle down sooner, we'll try to get out of here. I'm sorry I can't do any better than that."
Raphael waved off the apology. "I just wish I wasn't, you know, a complete cripple. I could have had some real fun up here. Now you and Leo get to hog it all." He was trying to jerk his brother around a little bit, but he hated the pained expression Don gave him.
"We're not going to abandon you to this room, bro," Donatello said. "We'll stick together, and find a way for you to have some fun too. This is one of the greatest opportunities we've ever had, and I'm sorry you're in this shape. I really am."
"I hope you don't forget me back here," Raph said impishly. "Even Tiger's already moved on to greener pastures."
Donatello motioned for him to hold on, and looked out into the hall. Raphael heard his brother clicking his tongue softly, and Don returned with the cat a moment later.
"Your princess didn't forget about you, Raph. Cat's gotta eat sometime. No one else is going to forget about you either."