Chapter 07: Make-Over

Raphael had come back to his room two hours ago. His brothers had another training session after lunch. He was lying on his bed, and he really, really needed to go to the bathroom now. But instead of getting up, he just turned his head and glared at the crutches leaning at the wall next to his bed.

He was so not going to use them!

It had been humiliating enough when he had to go back to his room earlier today after the loss of his office chair and Splinter insisting that he had to use crutches or a walking stick due to safety reasons.

Not wanting to annoy his sensei any more than he had already done with his infelicitous comment on walking sticks and old people, he had decided against a walking stick. Another reason for this decision had been that his brother probably would have called him an old man as long as he would have to use a walking stick.

So, only crutches had been left for him. But he still hated them. They were so boring and ugly and uncool. And he was going to use them as little as possible, that was for sure.

But still, he really needed to go to the bathroom now.

Okay, just stop thinking about it, maybe you'll forget it then. Think of something else.

He rolled on his side and looked at the bouquet of roses Casey had brought him the other day and which Raph had hidden in a vase behind a bunch of his stuff, so no one who entered his room would see it.

The roses already went limp, he realized now. Maybe he should get them some fresh water.

He could get a plastic bottle from the kitchen and fill it with some water, some fresh water from the faucet. He just needed to sneak in there and turn on the water, let it run until it was all cold and…

Damnit!

Now he needed to go to the bathroom more urgently than before.

He glared back at the crutches.

Just no! Stop thinking about water and you are going to be okay! No running water, no…Argh!

Maybe he could jump to the bathroom on one leg, maybe Splinter wouldn't realize.

But when he still was thinking about this possibility there was a knock on the door.

"Yes?" Raph asked.

The door opened a little and a lanky human hand was popped inside, pivoting a white handkerchief.

"I…I come in peace!" said Casey's voice from the other side of the door.

Raph just rolled his eyes as he sat up. "It's okay, Casey, you can come in."

The door was opened a little wider and Casey looked inside. "Really?"

"Really," Raph confirmed.

"Okay," said Casey a little insecurely and stuffed the handkerchief into the pocked of his pants.

Raph looked at the crutches once more. There still was this bathroom-problem, but he really didn't want to use the crutches. He looked back at Casey.

Maybe this would work.

"Hey, man, could you give me a hand?" Raph asked.

"With what?"

"I need to go to the bathroom. Can I lean on you?"

"Suuuuure," Casey replied, a little unsure about this plan. Raph was smaller and heavier than he was, so this sure would be a challenge. He set eyes on the crutches.

"Why don't you use these cr…?"

"No crutches!" Raph yelled.

"O-okay." Casey stepped back a little, but then he took a deep breath and walked over to Raph to help him up.

"Can't you walk any slower, Casey?" Raph asked in a low voice. "I think we're still going faster than a snail."

"Very…funny," Casey panted. "Why are we…whispering?"

"I don't want the others to hear us," Raph replied.

And that was the truth. He was afraid what Master Splinter would say to this – and that his brothers could make fun of them. And a funny sight, they sure were. Casey was walking with a stoop to be the same height as Raph and had one arm wrapped around Raph's shell and using the other hand to keep Raph's arm that was wrapped around his shoulders, in place.

Casey had to admit, he hadn't thought that it would be easy, but he had sort of forgotten how heavy exactly Raph was. And thanks to his broken ankle he had to keep off of his one leg as much as possible which meant that with every second step, Casey had to carry nearly all of Raph's weight.

But they arrived at the bathroom somehow – and without getting spotted on by the others which really was a plus.

Raph reached for the door knob and opened the door, finally lifting his weight from Casey shoulders as he balanced on one leg.

"Okay, I can take it from here," he said.

Casey tried not to show how relieved he was to get a little break.

But when Raph tried to jump through the open door, he somehow managed to bump against the doorframe with one shoulder. The impact – as small as it was – unbalanced him and he flailed about. Casey tried to catch him, as Raph fell backwards, and although Casey tried his best to make a stand against the falling turtle, Raph's weight was too much for him, and they soon hit the floor, Raph landing on Casey, pinning him on the ground with his carapace.

"Oof," Casey made as all the air was pressed out of his lungs.

There was a moment of silence before Raph spoke.

"You okay, Casey?"

"Y-yes," Casey hissed, and Raph rolled of him as quickly as he could.

"Well, okay then," he replied. "As I said I can take it from here."

And with that he crawled into the bathroom on all fours, pushing the door shut.

"Yeah, okay," Casey said, still lying on the ground. "T-take your time."

Casey had no idea how long he had been lying there. He felt totally exhausted, his body hurt, and he sure was going to have some bruises later.

"Casey, I don't think that's the best place to take a nap," a familiar voice said, and Casey cracked his eyes open to look at Leo.

"I'm not taking a nap!" he responded, making no move. "I'm taking a little rest."

"A little rest? From what? Having to walk all the way from Raph's room to the bathroom?"

"Having to walk all the way from Raph's room to the bathroom with Raph leaning on me," Casey clarified.

"What? Why didn't he use his crutches?"

Casey shrugged. "Dunno."

Leo walked over to the bathroom door, and Casey finally felt strong enough to sit up.

Leo knocked on the door. "Raph, you in there?"

"No, it's my evil twin," came the reply from inside. "Of course it's me!"

"Why don't you have your crutches with you?"

"I…uhm…forgot about them."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Sure. I'll get them for you."

"Ooooookay."

When Leo arrived at Raph's room he found Mikey sitting on Raph's bed, pottering around with the crutches. Only when he came closer, he realized Mikey was wrapping them with red tape.

"Mikey?"

Mikey jumped a little, having been too caught up in his work to recognize his brother earlier.

"Oh…uhm…hey, Leo!"

"What are you doing?"

Mikey looked down on the crutches.

"I walked past Raph's room and saw that his crutches were still here, but he was gone. And we all know how much he hates the crutches because they're uncool, so I thought I make them a little cooler for him," he explained and wrapped the last bit of the one crutch he was working on with red tape. The other was already finished.

"Aw, Mikey," Leo said, giving his brother a warm smile. "That's a nice idea. But don't be sad if it doesn't work. You know Raph."

Mikey nodded. "Most certainly do. But it's worth a try."

"It sure is," Leo replied. "Let's bring them to him."

Mikey nodded and handed Leo the crutches and got up to join his brother on their way back to Raph.

"You know, Raph would have gotten really mad if he had found you in his room," Leo said.

"No worries!" Mikey replied with a calming gesture. "Raph isn't quite the stealthiest at the moment."

Leo thought about that for a moment. "Agreed."

When they came back to the bathroom, Raph was already waiting for them, standing in the doorway on his good leg and giving himself support by hanging on to the doorframe. Casey was leaning on the wall next to him, still looking a bit exhausted.

Raph looked at the crutches for a moment as Leo handed them to him. They looked different with the red tape-wrapping, a little bit more bearable.

"Who gave them a make-over?" he asked.

"I did!" Mikey called out. "Do you like it? They're red now. That's your color."

"I'm not colorblind," Raph replied with a shrug, took the crutches and started walking down the corridor.

Something was definitely different, Leo realized. Raph hadn't yelled because of the crutches, and he now wasn't cursing on his way down the corridor.

He turned to look at Mikey and the youngest turtle gave him a big, confident grin.

Leo just chuckled and patted Mikey's shoulder approvingly.