Donatello stirred when his cell phone rang, and rolled over to grab the device off the side of his mattress. He started to answer the phone, but the sound of someone sniffing made him jolt in surprise. He looked up to see Michelangelo sitting across the room on the rug, and his normally blue eyes were red as though he'd been crying.

The purple-masked turtle took a sharp breath before he answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, Donny. I'm sorry I couldn't call you this morning," Jenna greeted him. "The workshop took longer than I planned."

"Listen, uh…don't worry about it, Jen. I'm sort of in a bad spot right now. Can I call you back in a little while?"

"Yeah, it's okay. Is everything all right?"

Don sighed heavily. "Not completely, but it's a long story. I'll explain everything when I call you back."

"Okay – but don't forget. I love you."

"I love you too." Donatello hung up the phone and scooted to the edge of his bed. "Mike? What's wrong?"

The orange-masked turtle stared at him for several seconds without speaking, and Donny's brow creased with concern.

"Talk to me, Mike. Did something happen with Raph? Is he—"

His younger brother held up a hand to cut him off. "No. It's not Raph."

"Why are you just sitting there? How long have you been waiting like that? Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Don didn't mean to ask so many questions at once, but they spilled out of his mouth one after another.

"Are you hiding stuff from us?"

"What?"

"Are you hiding things about Sensei from the rest of us?"

Donny rubbed the remainder of the sleep from his eyes with confusion. "Why would I be hiding something, Mikey?"

"I don't know. For the same reason you hide anything. You tend to keep things from people sometimes."

"Bro, where in the world is this coming from?"

"You didn't answer my question. Are you keeping something from us about Sensei?"

"No! If I have any idea of what was wrong with Master Splinter, I wouldn't keep it to myself. Despite Raph's nickname for me, I honestly don't know everything, Mike. I have limitations and unknowns that I deal with all the time. I would appreciate it if you wouldn't accuse of me of trying to deceive everyone."

His brother stared at the floor. "Master Splinter knows something."

"Mike, will you stop talking in riddles and tell me straight out what you mean?"

"You really haven't seen it?"

The purple-masked turtle massaged his temples, attempting to contain his irritation. "It would help if you could be a little more specific."

Mike shook his head as he climbed to his feet. "You guys are the experts. You're supposed to know these things."

The younger turtle stalked out of the room, and Don lunged off the bed to pursue him. Mike was halfway down the stairs by the time he got to the hall.

"Mike! Why the shell won't you talk to me? Where are you going?"

The orange-masked turtle paused at the bottom of the steps. "Don't follow me."

"Would you wait a minute? Mike!" He hurried down the stairs after him.

His brother didn't hesitate from striding out the door, leaving Donny standing stunned in the hallway. Donatello was considering following him despite Mike's instructions, when the door to the dojo swung open.

"Did Mike just leave?" his oldest brother asked.

"Leo, what is going ON with him? How long was I asleep?"

"Don't feel bad, Don. He's been like that since this morning, and he wouldn't talk to me about it either."

Donny's shoulders slumped. "He always talks to me."

"Whatever this is, it's not personal," Leo said quickly. "Don't take it to heart. Mike will come around."

Don looked down at the cell phone he was clutching in his hand, and then back at the door. He was still fighting the urge to charge after his younger brother.

"It'll be okay, Don." Leo rested an arm around his shoulder. "In the meantime, I promise not to run out on you."

Donatello gave the door one more longing glance, and then allowed Leonardo to direct him away from the exit.

"You want something to drink? Coffee maybe?"

"I want to check on Raph."

"That's a good idea, but the docs won't let you in unless you eat something first."

"Doc didn't tell me that rule."

"No, but he made sure I knew. You'd better get to the kitchen, in any case. You already got me into trouble for not calling Doc myself last night."

"I got you in trouble?"

"Yup. So come with me, and let's see what kind of leftovers we're dealing with."

"That sounds a lot safer than letting you try to make something from scratch, Leo."

"It wasn't funny the first 2,000 times, and it still isn't, Don."

"How many people can actually say they blew up a microwave, Bro?"

"I didn't make it…" Leonardo trailed off when another door swung open down the hall.

Both turtles waited as a small shadow was cast across the floor, and Splinter shuffled out of his room.

"Sensei? Are you all right?" Don asked.

"Yes," he said quietly. "But I fear that I am at fault for your brother's behavior."

The rat swayed on his feet, and Leonardo moved rapidly to support him.

"What do you mean, Sensei?" the blue-masked ventured. "Will you sit down and talk to us?"

"I can see no way around it," he replied.

Donatello noticed that Splinter didn't refuse Leo's help in making it across the room. He was grateful that his Master wasn't trying to push him away, but the rat still sounded winded by the time he got to the couch.

"Michelangelo visited with me this morning. I did not mean to upset him—"

"Master," Don interrupted apologetically. "Rest for a minute and catch your breath. We're not in a hurry."

Splinter looked annoyed, but concentrated on drawing a few shallow breaths before continuing. "Your youngest brother needed some assurance from me today, and I did not give it to him. He seeks certainty where it does not exist. I am sure that Michelangelo expected me to comfort him, to tell him that I will recover, and things will be as they were before. But I do not know if that is true."

Donatello snuck a look at Leonardo, and saw his brother swallow.

"I do know that the time for lying in my bed and hoping for a recovery that may not come on its own is over," Splinter went on. "I have reconsidered, Donatello. Once the crisis with Raphael is past, I will allow the biopsy to proceed as you and our doctors wish."

"Biopsy?" Leo repeated.

"Doc suggested it," Don supplied. "It came up a couple of days ago, but we haven't done anything with the idea yet."

"Because I would not relent at the time," the rat said. "But whether or not I like the results will not change the reality of what is. You would all like to know the truth, and so would I."

Donny nodded nervously."Then we'll make the plans, Sensei…once everything settles back down."

The purple-masked turtle felt like his stomach was in knots when he walked into the lab. He discovered the blond doctor alone, sitting a couple of feet away from his sick brother.

"Hey." Luke gave him an appraising glance. "You get enough sleep?"

"Yeah…but I woke up to craziness. Mike walked out on me. He's upset about Sensei and kind of went off."

"What did he say, Donny?"

"He kept asking if we were hiding something, and I didn't know what he was talking about. It felt like he was angry with me."

"He's not," Luke said. "It's probably a defense mechanism. Mike doesn't know how to deal with what he's feeling, so he lashed out. It's not unusual behavior when dealing with this kind of circumstance."

"It's unusual for him. Mike's been the most positive voice throughout these last few months."

"No one is strong all the time, Donny."

"No, I…guess not. But it got Sensei to agree to the biopsy."

"Did he?"

"Just now, in front of Leo no less."

Luke exhaled. "Good. Then we can start planning that while we're working on getting Raph back on his feet."

Donny came closer to the bed. "How is he doing? His breathing sounds better."

"It is better. You should have seen what he coughed up. It was pretty intense."

The purple-masked turtle grimaced. "Sorry I had to miss it."

"His temperature topped out around 106 degrees by noon. We employed a vinegar tincture per your Sensei's directions."

Don cocked his head. "And it was effective?"

"It brought his temperature down four degrees over the course of two hours. I hated to apply heat to him, but we needed it for the poultice. His temp is back up to 104."

Donatello sighed. "I feel bad for him. I wish it didn't have to hit Raph this hard."

A deep cough wracked his brother's chest, and Raphael shifted ever so slightly against the back of the raised bed.

"Raph?" Donny took the rag that Luke had just finished soaking, and applied it to his brother's forehead.

Raphael coughed again, and his breathing faltered for a moment before settling into rhythm. "Genius?" he murmured.

"I'm here."

Amber eyes opened and searched left and right to fix on him.

Donny grasped his arm to reassure him. "Hey. I'm right here."

"'bout time. Ain't seen you in…days."

He considered correcting him, but thought better of it. "Would you like to try drinking something?"

"Yeah."

Luke handed him a bottle and Donatello inserted the straw in Raph's mouth. His older brother grimaced while he took a couple of sips, but swallowed without serious difficulty.

"Do you want any more?"

"Nah, 'm tired." His eyes closed as another cough rattled his chest. "Don't disappear on me."

"I won't, Raph; I'm not going anywhere." Whether you realize it or not.

Don was relieved to find Raphael's condition semi-under control, but the relief was short-lived. The condition his Sensei had been dealing with for months was about to be truly tested, and like Splinter, he wasn't sure he'd like what they found.

But we can't bury our heads in the sand and ignore this. The truth is there, and we have to get to the bottom of it.