Thanks for all the feedback and support for my new short story. Hope you like this one, warning though its long. XD
Mikey jumped down a building and saw Raph cursing up a storm. It took like 10 minutes to chase the turtle down and Mikey was annoyed. Yet after their fight Mikey was scared to anger Raph more.
Mikey jumped down close, but not too close, to Raph. Raph jumped and then glared at Mikey. "What?!"
"What do you mean 'what'?" Mikey cocked his head, looking annoyed again. "You hurt Leo, Raph."
Raph felt briefly guilty but was still glaring and shaking his head. "It's always my fault right? I'm the bad one, the horrible one with an attitude."
"I never said that did I?" Mikey demanded, feeling angry now. "No one said or says that about you Raph!"
Raph looked up surprised. Mikey was angry? He rubbed his face and sighed. "Mikey...you wouldn't understand..."
"I never do, right? I never understand? I might not Raph, but I know that Leo didn't deserve what you said. No one does..." Mikey looked sad now and Raph's heart clenched. He tightened his grip on his crossed arms.
"Ya...well..." Raph muttered. A beep from a phone was heard and Mikey muttered too. Raph glanced up when Mikey gasped in a horrified manner. He stood close to Mikey. "Mikey?"
He showed the phone, tears in his eyes. 'Mikey, I found Leo but he's hurt! Like very hurt, something's wrong and its bad! Call April and Casey I'll need every help I can get! Make sure Raph knows...'
Raph gasped and it clogged his throat. Mikey choked on a sob and sent a reply. They both looked at each other. Leo needs them.
"Hurry we gotta call April and Casey! I got April, you call Casey!" Mikey yelled with wide eyes. Raph nodded numbly and reached for his T-Phone. He heard Mikey already talking to April, Raph called Casey with shaky hands.
"Man, dude...do you know what time it is...?" Casey greeted with a lazy voice. Raph felt his whole body tremble and for a moment he thought he couldn't talk.
"C-Casey get to the lair! L-Leo's hurt! Don...needs your help!" Raph tried to yell but it was like a broken record. A pause and fast shifting was heard on the other side. Casey knew it was no joke.
"On my way." With that the connection was broken. Raph looked at Mikey, who was sobbing already. Raph grabbed Mikey's head and pulled it to his plastron.
'I wish you were gone...'
'No...No..I never wanted that! That's not what I meant!' Raph screamed in his mind.
Mikey and Raph rushed clumsily down the next manhole, praying for their blue branded older brother the whole way down.
Splinter stood at the entrance, his chest constricted. He felt something was...off. He didn't have to wait long because Donatello came out with Metalhead, carrying a much wounded Leonardo. "My son!"
Donatello was not sobbing, but you could tell he had. His mask was damp and his body was shaking even now. Splinter rushed to them and put a paw on Leo's head. Splinter looked more worried than ever, seeing the large head wound.
"Hurry Sensei, can you take him to the lab? Place him on the cot?" Donnie asked in almost a whisper. Splinter nodded and grabbed Leo in his arms, careful of his limbs and most importantly his head.
As he rushed to the lab Splinter began to panic, Leo was hardly breathing and he sure wasn't awake. "Leonardo...my poor son.."
Grabbing materials out of the cabinet, Donatello rushed over to the cot and started his work of hooking Leo to machines. One monitored his heart and the other helped him breath.
"Can you get me some bandages, alcohol and towels?" Donnie asked in a rushed tone. Splinter rushed to the cabinets and grabbed exactly what he needed before rushing back.
Donatello was rushing to finish with the machines. He grabbed the towels and pressed one carefully over Leo's right side, where his head was hit. It already began to soak up more blood.
"LEO!" Mikey and Raph yelled anxiously. They rushed in the lab. Mikey had stopped at the door and Raph ran to the cot. He looked at the damage and gasped, Splinter had to grab his arms so he wouldn't crush the cot with his bare hands. "No...no Leo! NO!"
"Guys, I need to concentrate!" Donnie complained, body still shaking as he was working on examining his limbs.
"Do what you need, Raphael, you and Michelangelo go and wait outside" Splinter ordered.
Raphael wanted to complain, wanted to fight against the idea, but his mind was so numb and his body was so sick at the sight of his dying brother. He had turned when Splinter gently pushed him towards Michelangelo, who was staring in horror, tears running down his face.
Raph finally got out of his funk, somewhat and grabbed Mikey's hand to pull him out with Raph. Hearing the faint dying sound of the heart monitor was too much.
Splinter frowned and went to close the lab doors. Raph looked at Mikey and he looked back, both hoping that wasn't the last time they seen Leo. Mikey began to sob into Raph.
It was only 12 minutes later when April arrived with Casey, both had paper sacks in their hands. Casey handed them over to April when they entered the lair because he knew he could not go in and see Leo.
April rushed inside and they heard yelling and pleading, along with an erratic heart monitor.
Mikey sobbed again, it coming out in shaky breaths. His head was on Raph's leg, since he was sitting on the couch, and Raph's arm was resting on the side of his shell. Raph, himself just glanced up at Casey.
"Dude, it's going to be okay. Raph? You hear me?" Casey frowned while walking up to the two turtles. Raph nodded and was frowning downwards.
"I told him to go...I did...but this isn't what I-" Raph choked on his next words. Mikey sobbed again and Raph put a hand over his eyes. Casey frowned sadly and sat next to them, not sure how to comfort.
"Leo is strong, he will pull through." Casey tried but the two turtles just continued to be silent with their cries.
Meanwhile Donnie wiped the sweat from his forehead. He had successfully handled Leo's broken right shoulder, it was set right again and wrapped up tight. His right hip, he didn't know what to do really.
Right now he was waiting for the x-ray results, while trying to keep Leo alive. He couldn't breathe on his own anymore, April was monitoring it though. Splinter was on the sidelines watching and waiting for any orders. His heart was still too weak for Don's liking.
Don carefully replaced the bloody towel with another one, but was slightly pleased that the blood wasn't coming out as much. It had only dampened one and most of the second. "Donnie?"
"Yea April?" Donnie turned and gasped when April showed him that the x-rays were complete. Donnie rushed to the computer and stared at the damage. "Oh no..."
Three of his ribs were cracked on the right side, which obviously the side he fell on, but at least they hadn't broken off or punctured anything. "What is it my son?"
Donnie began to tear up and his shoulders shook. "He...He has a depressed skull fracture..not too depressed since his shoulder too some of the impact as well..."
"W-What does that mean?" April asked fearfully.
"I have to do surgery on Leo, to fix his skull so it can heal properly. And that's just his skull...his hip is fracture too but lucky for him the femur wasn't dislocated and won't require surgery. His shoulder was fracture along with being dislocated. Both the hip and shoulder have to take time to heal. About his ribs...they will cause him pain for awhile but there's nothing to do but let them heal. His worse injury is his skull...I..."
Splinter put a finger to Donnie's lips to get him to stop talking, but his ears were downcast. "We will do what we can. What do you need for the surgery, my son?"
Donnie took a big shaky breath and turned to April. She smiled slightly and he went to his computer, writing on his notepad. He walked up to her after, watching Leo.
"I-I need antibiotics, like Amoxicillin or Ampicillin. I need a few IV bags and clean needles, he's going to need a blood transfusion."
April nodded with a worried frown. She studied the list and decided she'd take Casey. "I'll call if you need anything else or if I get confused."
He nodded and she immediately rushed out. Donnie made eye contact with his siblings. Mikey was sleeping with his head on Raph's thigh, Raph was also sleeping.
"My son, how are you going to do the blood transfusion?" Splinter asked, watching the rise and fall of Leo, connected to a breathing tube, because he couldn't breathe himself. It was like a robot.
"Raphael and I share the same blood type." Donnie said out loud, his voice low but his gazed fixed of Michelangelo. "But Mikey is the only one that shares Leo's blood type."
Splinter looked down. Michelangelo hates needles, and he was a wreck from seeing Leonardo just once. But hopefully he can pull himself together.
Donnie went to Leo and sighed. Leo was gonna be in so much pain. He placed a hand on Leo's leg, carefully, and began to bandage his thigh and hip best he could. He heard a weird hiss come from the tube and shot up. But then suddenly, Leo flat lined.
"LEO!"
It was a blur before Splinter's own eyes. Donatello was working anxiously, trying to revive Leonardo. Yelling in the distant alerted him that Raphael and Michelangelo were in the lab now, both shouting for Leo to stay strong for them.
He was also aware when Michelangelo had grabbed his robe. Splinter finally looked down and blinked. Mikey was crying heavily and rubbing his head in his rob trying to say something. Splinter rubbed his head, face still stunned.
"CLEAR!" Donatello shouted, pushing Raph away as he shocked Leo. Raph was crying up a storm, surprisingly, and gripping Leo's right hand. "No, no Leo don't do this to us!"
"Leo, you can beat this!" Raph cried alongside Donnie. Mikey clenched Splinter's robes and was still sobbing his little heart out.
"C-CLEAR!" Donnie shocked him again but nothing. Splinter felt himself being held up by Mikey, who gasped. It was like a physical bow. "LEO COME ON!" Donnie screamed. He ran to the cabinet and jabbed Leo in the heart with adrenaline.
Silence...
Nothing...
Who knew silence was so painful? So suffocating. Donnie stared with wide eyes. Raph was squeezing Leo's hand. Mikey was still holding their Father up, but was gasping. Donnie sobbed, placing his head on Leo's plastron, beating on it, willing him to wake up.
"Leo, Leo please. We need you Bro, please, no, get up!" Raph cried. "I didn't mean what I said. I wish you were here, I wish you would get better! Please!" Raph choked on some sobs desperately trying to find ways to make it better.
...
….
…
..
.
.
Beep
Donatello looked up so fast it hurt. Beep. Their eyes widened as the heart monitor slowly went up, his pulse was back but weak. The adrenaline worked, but in Raph's mind, so did his wish.
"Leo, don't eva do it again..." Raph sobbed while laying his head on the cot.
It wasn't too long after that scare that April came back with Casey. Both were horrified when they were told what happened.
"How long..?" April choked out as Donatello was hooking Leo up to an IV that held the antibiotics and was getting the anesthesia ready for surgery.
"Two minutes..." Donnie whispered. Raph hadn't moved and Mikey was finally able to help Splinter stand straight. "He was gone for two minutes..."
April and Casey looked at each other worriedly. April helped Donnie with another IV and a blood bag, so it would be ready when they need it.
"Mikey," Donnie said out loud so he could hear, he was still prepping the surgical equipment. Mikey looked up, feeling lost and tired. "I'm going to need you after the surgery, you gotta give Leo some blood."
Mikey's eyes widened and he stared at the blood bag. He hated needles. Looking to Leo, sudden determination and will made the fear fly away. But Mikey only nodded at Donnie, who gave a small smile.
Casey had to grab Raph and physically pull him away from Leo. He also grabbed Mikey and the three left the other three to tend to Leonardo. Casey tried to distract his friends with an uplifting movie.
"Hey Mike, can you get us some sodas?" Casey grinned slightly. Mikey nodded, getting up to do just that. Casey looked at Raph, who had his head buried in his hands. "Raph, man, you okay?"
Raph shook his head and his shoulders shook. "I've never seen you this shook up." Casey tried to smile but he was worried.
"M-My fault...its m-my fault..." Raph whispered, still hiding his head. Casey frowned. "T-The coin...t-the w-wish..."
"Listen, I have no idea what you mean, but it's not your fault Raph, I definitely know that and so does Leo. You'll see." Casey growled putting a hand on his shell. Raph looked up slightly, his eyes bloodshot. "Sorry, I'm no good at touchy feely stuff."
For once Raph laughed softly. "Same here, thanks man..." He socked him in the arm but he was sloppy and Casey laughed.
"Sure man...anything for a friend." Casey grinned. Raph smiled but looked towards the floor. "You know...this one time I got in a huge fight with my little sister, then her and my dad got in a car crash. Scared the life outta me, ya know?"
Raph turned to him, surprised. "What did you do?"
Casey blushed and he pouted, crossing his arms. "I...well I actually cried..."
Raph grinned. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, man, I thought I lost them. I didn't want them to go with that being the last thing I said to them." Casey frowned while looking down. Raph felt his chest tighten and he looked down too.
"I completely understand what you mean." Raph sighed and grabbed his head. Casey patted his shell and smirked. "Seriously, thanks Case."
"No problem dude." Casey laughed.
"I got sodas..." Mikey came into view, his baby blue eyes dull, his face twisted into a quiet frown. Both Casey and Raph looked at each other and nodded. When Mikey sat down next to Raph they both grinned. "What's wrong with you two?"
"I just finished confronting Raph over here. It's time to get out of this funk!" Casey yelled, standing straight. Mikey looked surprised and even Raph looked up. "We just got to stop whining and crying cause Leo needs us! Let's do what we need to do to help!"
Then all of a sudden Mikey and Raph laughed at him. Casey blushed and brought his arm down that he had been pointing towards the lab's closed doors. "What?!"
"N-Nothing! It's just...nothing!" Mikey cried with happy tears. "Thanks Casey!" Raph laughed harder and grabbed Mikey's shoulder. Casey blinked but then smiled.
It took Donatello nearly 4 fours to fix Leo's skull, guiding through as slowly as possible so he didn't mess anything up. Donnie just wished someone else could do it. He hated working on his older brother like this.
His hip and shoulder were bandaged, not to mention his shell and middle plastron was wrapped in bandages. One IV was hooked up, keeping Leo hydrated, courtesy of April. The other was keep antibiotics in his system.
"Donatello, you need to rest. You have been working non-stop all night." Splinter said resting a paw on his head. Donnie pressed on however. April was asleep in Donnie's desk chair, a blanket loosely hung on her.
In the lair, Casey was asleep half dangled on the couch, Mikey was asleep on Raph, both somehow on the ground.
"He...he needs...blood...now.." Donnie whispered to him. "W-Wake...Mikey?" Splinter sighed, but nodded and stood up nonetheless.
Donnie could feel his eyes closing, the steady heartbeat coming from Leo's heart monitor was comforting. He had almost flat lined again during surgery, but they kept that from Raph, Mikey, and Casey.
"Donnie...?" He opened his eyes to see Mikey hovering over him, looking at Leo with semi-tired eyes. Donnie rubbed his eyes. "How is Leo?"
"Stable, for now. The surgery was a success and-" Donnie was hugged hard by Mikey all of a sudden. Mikey was full on awake now and crying happily.
"You did good Donnie, you did. You saved Leo." Mikey praised. Donnie hugged Mikey back and cried too. He knew that, but hearing it was different. Donnie smiled slightly.
"H-He's not totally out of the dark Mikey, he needs blood and you're the only one here with his type." Donnie whispered. Mikey nodded but held him closer.
After a couple of minutes Splinter smiled and readied Michelangelo for the needle, but he hardly felt it. Donnie pulled a chair right next to Leo, because Mikey would like that.
So Mikey sat beside Leo as the blood began to slowly pool in the bag. Splinter was right beside Leo, laying a supportive hand on his bandaged head. Donnie smiled.
"Leo...?" They turned to see Raph stumbling into the room, eyes half open. "'S Leo?" He slurred. Donnie and Mikey smirked.
"He's fine, for right now. The surgery was okay, he will be bedridden for a long time though." Donnie explained. Splinter nodded and Mikey looked up at him, surprised.
"How long?" Raph asked, more awake with wide eyes. Donnie sighed, pausing only when they heard a creak of the chair Mikey was sitting in. He was trying to shift to get more comfortable, trying not to look at the blood coming into the blood bag.
"Well he fractured his skull, shoulder, ribs, and hip..." Donnie trailed off, frowning. I'd say at least a couple of months...maybe more depending how corporative he is."
"Leo is gonna hateeee that." Mikey slightly grinned at the mental image of Leo trying to get out of bed. Raph and Donnie nodded in agreement while Splinter gave a small chuckle.
"He won't let us go out without him either." Raph said with a scowl, downplaying the worried atmosphere. "Gonna be trouble."
"He's going to be itching to see what we're doin all the time!" Mikey giggled slightly, watching Leo instead of the needle or the bag. Leo looked peaceful, not happy of course, but the antibiotics and medicine reduced his pain a lot.
Donatello and Raphael surrounded Leo while smiling, continuing their talk of Leo's recovery, hoping that he could somehow hear them and stay strong throughout the process.
It was soon after their talks began that they started to feel better, they even began to laugh. Splinter left to sleep since it was now 3:43 in the morning. None of the turtle brothers' believed they could sleep the first night anyways.
Shortly before Splinter left Mikey was done giving the first blood bag for Leo's blood transfusion, which Donatello started right away. Raph was staying close to Mikey because it was the first time he had to give blood and Donnie said he could get dizzy, since he was so small.
"I'm not so small..." Mikey protested while Donnie worked at Leo's side. Raph smirked down at their baby bro. He sounded a bit tired and his skin was paler.
"You're the smallest of us, Mikey. Just let your body readjust, if you get up you could have a dizzy spell." Donnie rolled his eyes but glanced up slightly, meeting Raph's gaze. They had a silent communication, Don practically telling Raph to watch out for Mikey. After all, Don couldn't watch both.
"Yes, Dr. D." Mikey said with a silent slurring laugh. Raph chuckled slightly, but seemed a bit worried. Donnie noticed this as well.
"Why don't you get some orange juice?" Donnie offered. Mikey smiled wide and went to get up but Raph pushed him down.
"Not you, baby brat. I'll get the OJ." Raph grinned, trying not to freak Mikey out. Mikey nodded while smiling at Raph.
After Raph came back everything was quiet and they tried not to let the silence bother them, but they weren't used to it. Mikey was silently sipping at the orange juice, which they were forcing him to do.
"All done..." Donnie wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled slightly. Mikey and Raph looked up lazily. "Now, I'll just have to keep monitoring him, make sure his body works right with the antibiotics."
"So, he's gonna be okay?" Raph asked crossing his arms. He was sitting on the end of Leo's bed.
"So far, yes. There's still no clear right now, things can go bad after surgery, which is why I have to monitor him." Donnie sighed rubbing between his mask.
"But, ya will get tired doin that Don." Raph pointed out with a scowl. Donnie frowned and went to protest. "Can it Don, we'll take turns, ya got ta sleep sometime."
"Fine..." Donnie said, absentmindly rubbing his chest. Almost instantly both him and Raph looked over to see Mikey asleep, arms crossed on the cot, close to Leo's face. They both smiled. "He seems to have had no problems from giving blood."
"That's good." Raph sighed while laying down next to Leo's feet. He closed his eyes but was still listening to Donnie. But Donnie didn't say anything and soon Raph felt himself falling asleep too.
He was surprised when he felt a cover fall over him to his shoulders and he could hear the way his younger brother's voice warmed when he said, "Goodnight Raph, love you..."
And somehow Raph just wanted to cry.
A few hours later, April and Casey woke up. Both decided to skip school if only for that day, even though they tried to convince Casey to go to school cause he needed it.
Leo was pretty much the same throughout the next couple of days. He was motionless, even with his face. It was a bit scary because they only thing that moved was the rise and fall of his chest, only thanks to the breathing machine.
As promised they all took turns watching Leo, so someone was always in the lab with him. That way he wouldn't have to go through recovery alone. They all did certain things to pass time when alone with Leo.
April was first to watch Leo and she had covered him with a comforter, since he seemed to be having chills and a fever, thanks to the antibiotics working his body. She would rub his face affectionately and tell him stories about high school. She figured he'd appreciate something different.
Then Splinter would take over after morning training. He would tell Leonardo how proud of him he was, every time, and then recall memories of the brothers' childhood.
Donnie would distract himself by telling Leo about his experiments and telling him how good he was doing, or what he should stay strong with. He had hoped that Leo would still be able to walk again since the hip wasn't too bad.
Casey brought him news about Space Heroes every now and then, which surprised everyone at first, but then he would tell horror stories of his hockey games.
Raph basically was the quietest one. He's apologized most of the time for what he said and the arguments they ever had. He would compliment Leo, which he knew he would get a kick out of.
Mikey was surprisingly shy with Leo, cause he didn't know what to say, or if Leo could even hear. But he was still optimistic and read Leo all his favorite comics and colored him pictures as gifts for when he woke up.
It was now the third day since Leo's attack. Raph fell asleep in his room because Donnie forced him too. Don and April were with Casey in the pit, while drinking hot chocolate and Splinter was meditating for Leo's recovery.
Mikey was currently on his 'shift', reading one of his comics and currently hooked up, giving some more blood. It was the final one, Don had said, and it was only nessicary because Don wanted to see how Leo fared with the first blood transfusion.
"And then they went back to the lab, where the aliens cut the poor dude open and looked at his stomach..." Mikey was paling as he read the comic, shaking. But he was careful with the needle in his arm.
He stopped and looked at Leo. He would twitch every now and again, by that it was usually his mouth or fingers, sometimes toes. "They studied him and all his organs...jeez dude, I don't know if I can read this!"
Mikey giggled slightly to himself, shielding the comic from his view as he looked at Leo again. Mikey stared. The blood was almost above halfway then Donnie would make him drink orange juice and force him not to move.
Mikey shook his head and picked up the comic with new determination to help his brother, picking up where he left off.
What did you think? :) Poor Leo...