"Take your time, Raph. You don't need to rush if it doesn't feel like your leg is ready to support the weight," Marcus encouraged him.
It was a nerve-wracking moment for the red-masked turtle, more so than he would have readily admitted. Despite his eagerness to walk normally, the lingering doubt in the back of his mind had caused him to put off attempting the action for a couple of days longer than he probably needed to.
It was Marcus who'd suggested that he try out both legs today, and Raphael knew the man wouldn't have done so if he didn't think he could handle it. As the turtle hesitated, Marc came to sit on the edge of the bed beside Raphael.
"You don't have to do this today, Raph. It's okay – it really is. If you don't feel ready, then it isn't the right time."
Raphael exhaled sharply. "I want to, Marc, I'm just nervous. I don't want to mess up anything you've already fixed."
"The bones are united, Raph. You still have a lot of work to do on your muscles to get them up to speed. At the same time, you won't make much more progress if you don't walk at some point," he finished lightly.
Raphael studied the man's dark eyes, relieved by the understanding he found there. "You're a great doctor, Marc…and I'm ready to do this."
Marcus grinned as he got to his feet. "Good. I've got your back." The man stood to one side, prepared to offer hands-on assistance, but Raphael didn't feel crowded.
The turtle pushed his way upright from the mattress, supporting himself entirely on his right leg until he'd had a chance to shift his weight properly. Raphael gingerly tested his left leg, holding the pose cautiously to make sure nothing weird was going to happen.
"How's it feel, Raph?"
"I don't feel much of anything right now. It's pretty numb, like I haven't used it in about a year."
"It's going to be very stiff, and you'll be dealing with pain for quite a while. Try bearing a little more weight on it."
Raphael looked down and realized he was still unconsciously favoring his injured leg. He evened out his stance, sucking in air deeply as pain ricocheted through his ankle. The sensation wasn't unbearable, so he continued to push his way through it to find out how long he could stand the pain.
"How would you rate the pain factor?" Marcus asked.
"Maybe a seven. I think it'd feel better if I walked on it a bit. It's like my leg has been asleep for a long time."
"Start out slowly, but feel free to get moving." Marcus smiled reassuringly.
Raphael was incapable of forcing himself to bear full weight on his left leg, but he tried to limp as little as possible. It was a naked feeling to be without the safety of the crutches or the bars with which Marcus had been training him.
"Don't fight the limp completely, Raph," the man instructed. "Give your leg some time to work it out. I'm right behind you if you have a problem."
Raphael resisted the urge to use the wall to support himself, only briefly gripping the door frame as he crossed into the hall.
"Are you doing okay?" Marc asked.
"Yeah. I wanna keep going."
"Just keep taking it slow."
Raphael made a right turn out of the room he shared with Karina, and shuffled through a couple more tight steps before pausing to lean against the wall.
"Are you all right? Do you need to sit down?" Marcus pressed.
"No, I only need a second. I want to make it to the Great Room. I don't care if it takes me an hour."
"That's the spirit, Raph. Be aware of what your body is telling you though. If the pain gets any more severe, you need to stop."
Raphael was usually irritated by people hovering over him, but Marc's presence didn't bother him in the least. A deep-seated sense of gratitude had developed toward the man over the course of several months, as Marcus faithfully helped him avoid the formation of inappropriate scar tissue and rebuild the strength of his limbs.
The red-masked turtle continued toward the Great Room, encouraged to keep going by the sounds he could hear all the way from the hall, guiding him like a ship through fog.
"You can use the wall for some support if you need to, Raph. This is pretty far for your first jaunt."
Raphael grinned over his shoulder. "I'm doing it though."
"Yup, and you're doing great."
The turtle paused for another moment, and noticed a small shadow cross the hallway.
"Dada!" The little turtle giggled as she jumped up and down.
"Yeah, baby, Daddy sees you." Raphael chuckled. "You're looking good on those legs, Liv."
Olivia's next hop made her lose her balance, but she didn't miss a beat as she stumbled. She continued babbling nonsensically, and immediately tried to start bouncing again.
"Is she part rabbit or something?" Marcus wondered.
"She's part ninja, Marc. Liv's just trying to fulfill her calling." Raphael folded his arms as the baby lingered in front of them. "C'mon, let's go in the Great Room, Kouen. I don't wanna trip over you."
"Olivia?" Karina's voice preceded the woman as she walked around the corner. She was visibly startled to see Raphael on his feet unassisted, but she quickly recovered with a beam.
"You found your daddy, smart girl!" Karina swept Olivia off the floor, giving Raphael a clear path to get into the next room. "How are you feeling, Raph?"
"It's okay. It hurts, and I have to take my time, but I'm up. That's not too bad, huh?"
Karina backed into the Great Room as he crossed the threshold of his goal. The numbness that had persisted through his left calf was giving way to more pain, but he was so close that he wasn't about to quit.
Raphael's arm brushed the corner of the wall as his limp became more pronounced. He could hear his youngest brother laughing about something on the television screen, but Mike's noise died the moment the orange-masked turtle laid eyes on him.
"Whoa, awesome, Bro," Mike said. "No training wheels or anything."
Raphael steadied himself on the back of the couch. "They had to come off sometime. And now I'm ready to sit."
Marcus stayed near to make sure he got around the front of the couch safely, and Raphael cracked another smile.
"That's a few steps closer to freedom," he said ironically. Raphael grunted as he fought to get his left leg propped up correctly, and Marcus swiftly provided a pillow to go underneath his limb.
"You're going to start swelling again as you're using it more. You'll have to keep the icepacks handy," Marc mentioned.
"How long do you think it will be before I can run and jump?"
"That will take a few more weeks, Raph, a couple of months at least. One thing at a time, all right?"
"You're the boss," Raphael answered easily.
Michelangelo looked around the room. "Did anyone record that?"
"No, I mean it," Raphael insisted. "You've been the best, Marc. I still feel a little bad for hogging you to myself, but I wouldn't have made this kinda progress without you."
The man's smile in return was suddenly shy. "You've worked hard when you needed to, and rested on it otherwise. That's why you've come so far."
"Right. The fact that you're the best orthopedic surgeon in the country had nothing to do with it," the red-masked turtle scoffed.
"I'm not the best, Raph."
"You are to me," he said pointedly. "Seriously, man. Thank you."
Marcus looked overwhelmed, but maintained eye contact with him. "You're welcome. I'm glad I could be here."
Raphael felt Karina's hand on his shoulder, and glanced up at the woman. "Hey, Chica. What's up?"
"Calley and I need to work on a couple of things. Can I get you anything before I head downstairs?"
He shook his head. "Nah. Where's our kid?"
"With her cousin." Karina motioned to where Olivia had settled on the floor with Reina.
Raphael laughed at the sight of the two little girls banging pieces of Tupperware together. "Where do they keep getting the storage containers?"
"They're stealing them out of the kitchen. I swear one of them is playing lookout for the other." Karina shook her head. "It's only going to get worse, you realize."
"They're gonna miss being around each other 24/7," Raphael observed.
"Probably, but they'll still see a lot of each other in New York." Karina sighed softly. "It's amazing to think we'll be home in less than a month."
Raphael nodded. "I feel like it's time though. Don't you guys?" He glanced at Marcus to include the man.
"Yes," Marcus replied. "I'm afraid to see how much has changed, but the city is still standing, this we know."
"I bet you're ready to go back to your normal caseload," Raphael suggested.
"I've got no regrets from this trip, Raph. This was where I needed to be."
"We've been an even bigger and happier family than normal." Michelangelo chortled.
"Well, the bigger part definitely applies, but I'm not sure about the happier," Marcus said carefully to Mike. "At least, not until recently. We're certainly ending on a happy note for both you and Raphael."
Marcus' eyes traveled across the room, and Raphael followed his gaze to where April was standing with a laptop under one arm and a pleading expression on her face.
"What's wrong, Hon?" the man asked.
"I completely crashed my hard drive."
"Donny's up in the Lab, Ape," Mike encouraged her. "If he can't save it, no one can."
"What is Genius doing up there?" Raphael had to ask. "I mean, shell, hasn't he seen enough of those four walls?"
"He has to restock on everything, chemically speaking," Marc explained. "It's better for him and Luke to get the formulas set up here, so they can just take them home, and they'll be ready to go. That way Donny can focus on rebuilding the Lab on his end."
Raphael nodded as a wave of sympathy washed over him. I sure hope the guys help Don trick it out. He deserves it after losing his Lab the way he did.
"Maybe I shouldn't bother him with this…" April faltered.
"Nah, April, he'll welcome the variety," Raphael said knowingly. And he probably needs to take a break anyway, he added inwardly.
Marcus got to his feet. "I'll go with you, April."
When the two of them headed upstairs, Michelangelo rose from his chair.
"Wanna play a game with me, Raph?" He offered the red-masked turtle a controller to the Wii console. "I could use a companion for cooperative hunting."
"Is this that game Becky got you for Christmas?"
"Monster Hunt Tri." Mike grinned. "It's the coolest, and it's fun to play with more than one person. One guy can set the traps for the monsters, while the other one is distracting him. All the rewards are split evenly between both players."
Raphael took the remote from him. "I'll play, as long as you don't care that I don't know what I'm doing."
"When in doubt, push all the buttons at once." Mike snickered. "It's good for a laugh if nothing else, especially if you're playing with Leo."
The youngest turtle was notorious for pulling off incredibly complex moves by accident inside different fighting video games, which he could no sooner reproduce than he could explain how he performed them to begin with. Leonardo in particular had always been irritated with Mike's haphazard method for winning spars in the games, and often gave up on a match before it was officially over.
As Raphael followed his younger brother's lead through the new game, he couldn't help but smile at Michelangelo.
The orange-masked turtle glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "What, Raph?"
"I don't think I could feel much better right now, except if I could take off running," he replied. "But I'll get there too."
"You and I gotta brush up so we're ready to take on the monsters of New York City again," Mike commented, his gaze glued to the TV screen.
"Speak for yourself, pip-squeak. I don't need to brush up. I remember exactly how to beat the tar outta someone. If I really wanna practice, though, I'll start with you."
Mike shot him a cocky look. "I'll accept that challenge, whenever you're ready to deliver on it."