A/n: I'm surprised that nobody figured out about the sword Mikey was holding in the epilogue of previous oneshot. Anyway, this is a Follow-up / Sequal of 'Painkiller'.
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
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Medicine
"Haha! Take that Nightwatcher07!" Mikey yelled as he pushed the buttons on his controller with lightning speed.
Raphael sat beside him, holding his own controller as he focused on the screen. "Give it a rest, Mike. I ain't done with you yet." As soon as he said this, his character launched a special attack on PizzaTurflytle12, defeating the annoying little furball in seconds.
"Nooooo! My poor monkey! You can't die!"
Raph threw his controller to the side with smug satisfaction and leaned back, hooking his hands behind his head. "And that is how you beat The Gaming King."
Mikey was staring pitifully at the screen, his lips trembling and eyes full of crocodile tears. Raph smirked, about to point out to his little brother that he was more of a Drama King than The Gaming King when Leonardo trudged in, his expression grim.
That immediately drew the hothead's attention, "Hey, what's wrong?"
Cobalt eyes glanced at the hallway leading to their rooms before turning to the sitting duo, emotions of worry and concern clear in them.
"Donnie is sick." He said it like it was a grave news, and judging by the looks Raph and Mikey shared, it probably was.
They didn't give Leo a chance to say another word and rushed past him towards Donatello's room. The blue-masked turtle sighed before following them at a slower pace.
When they reached the door and pushed it open, they were greeted by the sight of their sick brother who was coughing nonstop and his sleep appeared to be anything but restful. Tears leaked from under Donnie's eyelids as he tried to breathe through his immense coughing.
Raph hurried beside him and kneeled on the bed, patting Donnie's chest while he carefully pulled him up and leaned him against his plastron. Don's coughing fit eventually stopped and he sagged against his hotheaded brother.
Raphael let him stay that way for a minute, rubbing his plastron as Mikey and Leo morosely stared on. Then he gently laid the sleeping turtle down, covering him with a blanket.
Mikey pulled out a chair from under the study table and placed it by the bed so Raph could sit on it instead of kneeling uncomfortably on the mattress.
The red-clad turtle seated himself on the chair his younger brother had brought for him and took a hold of Donnie's hand.
"When?"
It was a vague and unclear question that didn't make much sense but apparently, Leo had caught the meaning behind it as he begin to answer in an emotionless voice.
"I went to ask him why he didn't come to eat pizza and noticed that he looked more exhausted than usual. That's when I took note of his unfocused eyes and high temperature so I brought him to his room. He was swaying on the way here."
After Leo finished, Raph let out a long sigh as he kept watching Don, not taking his eyes off of him. Leo stared at the hothead sadly before he quietly left the room, leaving his younger brothers to watch over Donnie.
It had only been a minute after the eldest had gone out when the young genius began to moan, shaking his head from side to side. Mikey hurried beside him and stroked his forehead, "It's okay, Donnie. You're alright."
That seemed to calm him down and he slowly blinked his eyes open, half-lidded and dazed. They moved around the room before snapping wide, followed by their owner bolting up.
"The upgrades! I have to get to the lab!"
Two pairs of hands stopped him from getting out and pushed him back.
"Woah! Easy there, Donnie! The experiments can wait but right now, you need to rest."
He resisted against his brothers as he tried to bolt out again, only to be stopped by Raphael's hand on his plastron which prevented him from sitting up. He didn't stop struggling though.
"Quit squirming! Dammit!"
That's when Leo came in, holding a bowl filled with water and a piece of cloth. He paused for a moment as he took in the scene before him and frowned. In his most effective big brother voice, with a hint of warning lining his tone, he called out, drawing his brothers' attention on himself.
"Donatello, settle down at once!"
That put a sudden halt to Donnie's struggles and the sick turtle lay1 back with a pitiful whine. Mikey and Raph slowly released their hold on him and backed away, allowing Leo to sit beside him.
Leo's frown deepened when he checked Donnie's temperature and felt heat radiating off the olive green skin. He soaked the cloth in the bowl before wringing it and wiping it across his brother's head, face and neck. That seemed to bring the genius some comfort since he relaxed, closing his eyes with a sigh. Leonardo wet the cloth once again and placed the dripping fabric on Donnie's forehead, letting it stay there.
"The fever's getting worse." Leo stated with concerned eyes as he swiped a thumb across his gap-toothed brother's cheek.
"What do we do?"
"We need to inform Master Splinter about this. He has those medicinal herbs somewhere in his room. Raph, think you could-"
"On it." Raph cut his brother off and strode out. He felt useless just standing there and was glad to be of some help.
While their attention was on the door Raph had exited through, the purple-masked ninja slowly sat up and swung his legs to the side. He pushed himself up and with silent steps, walked next to his study table and pulled out a screw-diver and a weird looking visor out of his drawer.
Their trained sense of hearing picked up the small sound of squeaky screws and their eyes left the door, snapping towards the source of the noise.
"Donnie! What are you doing?!"
The objects fell out of Donnie's startled fingers as he winced before slowly turning to face his brothers.
"I'm... fixing it?"
"While you have a very high fever?"
"Uhh... m-maybeee..."
Leo grabbed the bridge of his nose with a sigh, "Donnie, just... get in bed. Now."
The olive skinned turtle dragged his heavy feet in the direction of his bed, his expression that of a kicked puppy and his head lowered. It was all Leo could do to hold himself back from comforting his brother. Why did little brothers have to act so cute?
Donnie's stomach growled before he could sit down which reminded his elder brother that he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.
"Oh right, you're still hungry."
"Hungry? Dude, he must be starving! I'll heat up the leftover pizza. Be right back!"
Michelangelo rushed out of the room and zoomed past a startled Raphael who quickly steadied the cup of tea. A few drops had spilled out on the tray and Raph contemplated about yelling at his inconsiderate brother but decided against it, not wanting to spill anymore tea.
He marched towards Donnie's bedroom and before he could step inside, Mikey zoomed past him again, forcing him to grab the edge of the cup as curses flew out of his mouth. He shook his head and entered, handing the cup to Leo and taking seat at the foot of the bed.
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"Donnie, please. You have to drink this in order to heal." Leo pleaded as he brought the cup to Donnie's lips for the eighteenth time.
"Don' wannaaaa." The second youngest whined, turning his head away once again.
"You won't get better if you don't drink it." Leo insisted as he continued to chase his brother's mouth with the cup, who kept moving away from it.
"But it tastes so bad."
"I'll call Master Splinter and tell him." Mikey threatened in a convincingly threatening tone.
Donnie's eyes widened and he snatched the cup from Leo's hands, emptying the whole mug in one single gulp. He couldn't hold back a grimace after it though, as the unpleasantly bitter taste was registered by his tongue. He shuddered and pushed the cup towards Mikey as if it burned.
"Yuck!"
"I know, bro." Mikey said sympathetically as he rubbed Donnie's shell, "Sensei's medicinal teas definitely taste terrible. Even Leo doesn't like them and he's a tea-lover."
"Try eating some pizza. It might help with getting rid of the aftertaste." Leo placed the plate in Donnie's hands as he suggested this.
The gap-toothed turtle reluctantly took a single bite from the slice, chewed it and swallowed it down with some difficulty. He seemed to be having a hard time while doing so and pushed his plate back, deciding that he didn't want to eat it.
"Would you eat something else, then?"
"No." Donnie said in a small voice as he coughed.
Leo leaned forward and stroked his forehead, not being able to ignore his big brother instincts any longer. After he was reassured, he turned to Raph and Mikey and they all huddled up to discuss on how to take care of their sick brother.
As they exchanged views and ideas, Raph fell silent for a moment and turned around to check on Donnie, only to see his brother crawling away under the bed.
"Oh no you don't!"
He grabbed his ankle before he could disappear under the wooden frame and pulled him out, raising an eye ridge at the indignant pout and the dust bunnies sticking to Donnie's arms and face.
Raph's sudden exclamation had caused Leo and Mikey to twist around as well and they rushed next to him, brushing off the grey clumps from their still pouting brother.
After the dust bunnies were removed, they hefted their brother up and put him on his bed. The eldest walked in front of Donnie and stood there with crossed arms and narrowed eyes, recalling that this innocent looking culprit had tried to sneak away before.
"If you don't stay in bed, we are gonna have to take serious action. Understood?"
There was no sort of response to Leo's inquiry.
"Donatello, do you understand?" He asked more sternly this time, calling upon the power of full names. It worked and the pale turtle begrudgingly nodded as he grumbled something incoherent.
"Good. Raph, keep an eye on him. And Mikey, cook something which he will be able to eat easily." After giving out the orders, he turned around and left, but not before giving his little brother's forehead another gentle stroke.
Leonardo headed to the dojo for some meditation. He needed to settle his thoughts so he wouldn't go into motherhen mode. He was already having a hard enough time to keep up the strict persona what with Donnie's tearful puppy eyes, reinforced by the effect of his fever reddened muzzle and- No! Stop thinking about that. Donnie will be fine. Raph is taking care of him.
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Sitting by the bed in a half-lit room, watching his sick brother suffering and not being able to do anything about about it was making the hothead agitated. He kept shifting on his seat, thinking hard on anything that he could do to help when his eyes caught sight of a thin book wedged under all the notes and pages heaped on the study table.
Donnie had hidden his Beauty and the Beast book well, but Raph was a ninja too and he had noticed the golden patterned corner sticking out of the mountain of papers.
For the next half hour, Raphael read the storybook to his brother and Donnie didn't complain, content on hearing his hotheaded and usually tough brother read the fairytale to him. He dozed off while hearing the second last chapter and began whistling through his tooth gap as he fell into a light slumber.
Figuring that he can go to the bathroom now that his brother was settled, Raph covered him with the bunched up blanket and, tiptoing as silently as he could, headed out. As soon as he was outside the door, he all but ran towards the restroom, indicating that he might've been holding it in for a while.
After about five minutes, the door of Donnie's room was kicked open from the outside and the silhouette of the youngest turtle appeared in the doorway.
"Here is tonight's Mikester Special!" Mikey announced with a dramatic entrance, holding out a tray with garnished soup and a glass of water on it as he showed off his signature smile.
The smile fell, however, as the freckled turtle took in the sight of an empty bed and no sign of the sick genius.
"Oh, C'mon. Not again!"
He settled the food tray on Donnie's nightstand before running out of the room.
"Leo! Raph!" His loud voice floated down the hallway and echoed throughout the lair. "We have a problem!"
The eldest two instantly recognized what the problem might be by the tone of Mikey's voice. Leonardo sighed and left the dojo, his meditation ruined, while Raphael grumpily walked out of the bathroom, muttering words like, "That stubborn little nerd." and "I left him alone for five minutes and this happens."
The three brothers met up in the pit, an annoyed expression showing on each face.
"We seriously need to tie him to the bed this time! He keeps escaping whenever one of us either gets distracted or goes outside for something."
"Yeah! He is getting even harder to keep a vigil over!"
"You guys are right." Leo sighed, "Donnie's getting out of hand."
"Permission to tie him up, Chief?"
"Permission granted." As if he had a second thought, the blue eyed leader quickly spoke again, before his brothers could enact the plan.
"And no ropes."
Mikey opened his mouth to say something but before he could get a word out, his eldest brother glared pointedly at him.
"Or chains."
He closed his mouth with a dejected look.
"Chains would have been fun to use, though."
"And uncomfortable for Donnie. He would feel like a prisoner."
"But if we can't use these things, what do we tie him up with?"
"The bedsheets, ya numbskull."
"Oh!"
"C'mon guys. Let's look for Donnie."
They checked the lab first, figuring that their brother would have went there and sure enough, Donatello was found in his lab, trying to tinker with one of his unfinished inventions as he held a wrench with shaking hands.
Leo shared a look with Mikey and nodded. The orange-clad ninja slipped out of the lab, catching the leader's silent order.
Raph cleared his throat, alerting Donnie of their presence and the genius jumped at the sound as he twisted about to see who had startled him.
"Leo? Raph? Ummm... this isn't what it looks like!"
"I'm pretty sure it is, Donnie. You sneaked out again when I left to go to the bathroom."
"B-But-"
"You were supposed to stay in bed." Leo stated with crossed arms and his voice deathly calm - it sent shivers down Donatello's spine. "And since you don't heed our warnings, we'll make sure you won't leave your bed this time."
Donnie started backing away a little, his eyes holding terror as he stammered out in a high-pitched voice, "W-What are you g-gonna do?"
"Raph, bring him to his room while I go grab some extra pillows. Make sure he's in bed by the time Mikey is done."
The red-masked ninja cracked his knuckles with a wolfish grin.
"With pleasure."
Reddish-brown eyes widened even more as their owner backed away, "W-Wait! No!"
He even tried to turn around and run but that was all for nought though, since he was much slower and sloppier than usual and was soon caught by his strong big brother.
"NO NO NO! LET ME GO! NO PLEASE! NO!"
Raphael rolled his eyes as he maintained a hold on his brother's arm who was struggling and screaming like a 4 year old kid who doesn't want to go home from a park.
"You're being over-dramatic. Now c'mon."
Donnie began digging his heels into the floor as the other turtle pulled him along, making things much harder for both of them.
Raph paused, glaring over his shoulder, "Donnie, if you don't come willingly, I'll carry you inside. In a way that you'll hate very, very much."
The fever must've made him quite loopy because Donatello ignored the threat and kept trying to back away.
Raph picked him up and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He carried his brother to the room, ignoring Donnie as the gap-toothed turtle kept punching his shell and screaming at him at the top of his lungs to put him down.
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Mikey was attaching the twisted bedsheets to the frame as Leo set up the various pillows in a strategic position so they would make a comfy nest. Raph entered and unceremoniously dropped his brother on the bed, having no regard of putting him down gently after all those pointless struggles he had to endure.
It looked like Leo approved of it too, since he didn't reprimand him and just gave a grateful smile before grabbing Donnie's arm to tie him up, though making an effort so he was in a comfortable position. Michelangelo did the same on the other side as Raphael held their sick brother down.
In just a couple of minutes, Donatello was tied to the bed nice and secure, with no way of getting out. Not to mention that he was positioned in such a way over the nest of pillows that he wouldn't feel the slightest of unease and the sheets bound around his limbs were not tight enough to cut off the circulation.
Mikey began to feed him the soup and frankly, Donnie loved it! So much so that he ate it quickly without any fuss. Soon, the bowl was finished and Mikey took it to the kitchen while the eldest two tightened the various knots under and around the bed frame, making sure that they haven't missed something.
"That should hold him!" Raph stood up with a smirk, making an act of dusting his hands off while he felt a sense of great accomplishment.
"Yeah." Leo agreed with his younger brother as he secured one last last knot before standing up as well. "He won't be able to get out of these."
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Fifteen minutes later, a red-masked and a blue-masked turtle could be seen dragging away a purple-masked one as he slouched limply from their hold on either side, while an orange-masked one followed after the trio.
They took him to his room and forced him to lie down on his bed, which turned out to be quite difficult.
"Alright Donnie, this has to stop." Raph grumbled strictly, his voice holding a hint of annoyance. "Do you want us to use ropes instead?"
Donnie just crossed his arms with a pout as he avoided eye contact with his mean and bossy brothers(mean and bossy in his current opinion, that is).
Mikey stared at him sadly before an idea struck him, making him grin. It was high time that The Incredible Michelangelo came to the rescue.
"Dudes, I have the perfect plan to keep him from getting out again!"
"Michelangelo, we talked about this. We won't be using any chains since they will make him feel even worse and..."
Leo trailed of as the youngest skipped towards the bed and lay down beside their sick brother, hugging him tight and making himself comfortable.
"Or that could work too. Nice thinking, Mikey!"
"Bros," Mikey's eyes twinkled as he looked towards the eldest two, "never underestimate the power of cuddles."
Raph grinned and turned to Donnie who was still pouting, "Will you try to escape now, Genius?"
Donatello sent him a glare and moved to get up. As soon as he sat up a little, a whimper escaped the freckled turtle and he tightened his hold on Donnie.
He stilled, looking down at his baby brother with hesitation. He didn't want to upset Mikey since the turtle had taken care of him and made him delicious soup when he was hungry and couldn't eat anything. Donnie sighed before lying back, letting Mikey happily cuddle against him.
Raph and Leo shared an amused look before the latter headed towards the door. "Just tell Mikey if you need anything and he'll text us, okay? Goodnight, Donnie."
Saying that, the eldest left the room, leaving the door ajar. Raph stayed for a minute longer, gazing at his younger brothers with an unreadable emotion.
Laying a hand on Donnie's shoulder, he spoke, his voice uncharacteristically soft, "You know we care about you, right?"
Donnie could only blink at him with confused and feverish eyes, making him sigh.
"Go to sleep, little brother." Raph patted his shoulder and stood up to leave. As he reached the door he took a look at the bed and saw that Donnie had finally nodded off, with the youngest cuddled next to him like a teddy bear. He smiled, turning back to the door and leaving the room.
Leonardo was standing outside, leaning against a wall. "Is he asleep?"
"Yeah... completely knocked out."
He let out a relieved sigh. "Thank God! I thought he'd never rest."
"Me too. Think Mikey'll keep him in bed till the stubborn genious is well rested?"
The eldest gave him a knowing smile, "I know he will. If anyone can do it, it's Mikey."
Raph chuckled, "Of course he could. That kid's got some damn good manipulative skills."
Leo grinned and pointed his thumb back, towards the entance of the hallway, "Let's head to the pit and play some video games while we keep an ear out for those two."
Raphael threw an arm across his brother's shoulders as they both began to walk in the direction which lead to their living room.
"Couldn't have agreed more."
Fortunately enough, there hadn't been any incident for the rest of the night which involved a certain sick turtle trying to get out of bed. Apparently, Mikey's snuggles had made him comfortable and drowsy enough that he slept soundly without his rest getting interrupted by coughs or his thoughts drifting to the upgrades.
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When Donatello blinked his eyes open the next day, he still felt a bit disorientated and drowsy but his fever was gone and so was the itchy tingling in his throat. His mind tried to catch up to what had occured when all of a sudden, the memories of the previous day returned with a rush, forcing him to grab his head with a groan.
A soft click was heard and someone entered his room. After a moment, he felt his bed dip a little by the weight of one of his brothers sitting on it and a hand gently grabbed his shoulder.
"How are you feeling, bro?"
"Bit dizzy... and tired. The itch is gone and my chest doesn't hurt anymore."
As Donnie spoke in a hoarse voice, Leo propped up a few pillows so his younger brother could comfortably lean back against them without having to tire himself out just for sitting up.
"Other than a very small headache, I'm feeling much better."
"That's good. But you're still on bedrest till Sensei gives the OK."
Donnie's face fell, "I know... "
"Hey, don't get sad. We'll make sure that you get better soon and Mikey can keep you entertained."
The genius was pushed back so that he leaned his shell against all the pillows his brother had set up for helping him stay upright.
"Speaking of Mikey, where is he?"
"He's cooking some more of that 'Mikester special' for you."
Donnie smiled at hearing the name of the delicious noodle soup he had last night and tried to ignore the memories of all the silly things he did. "What about Raph?"
"Raph is helping Mikey with the soup."
He stared at the eldest with a confused expression, "And why aren't you with them?"
Leo's cheeks turned bright red and he mumbled something in a very low voice, avoiding eye contact.
"Huh?"
"They kicked me out of the kitchen."
"Let me guess. You tried to make breakfast and they couldn't allow it?"
"Lunch actually. You slept through the morning."
The genius fell silent at this new information before he suddenly moaned, feeling a slight ache flare up behind his eyes. He closed them and waited for the feeling to pass, which quickly did as something touched his forehead and closed eyes before slowly moving down.
Donnie sighed in content as a hand caressed the side of his face and he leaned into the caring touch.
"Ani, need... hug."
"You need a hug?" A small nod was given in response.
"Alright, come 'ere."
Strong arms enveloped his frame, pulling him close and he snuggled against his big brother's plastron, reveling in the warm embrace and deciding that nothing could ruin this moment for him...
"Mornin', Sleeping Beauty. About time you woke up."
...till now.
"Awww! This is so adorable! Hold the tray, Raph. I need to take a picture of this."
There was a loud flash and then he could hear the rest of his brothers walk towards him. He ignored them and remained snuggled in Leo's arms.
Raph sat the tray down on the nightstand before he plopped down on Donnie's other side, his expression becoming soft as he took in the content look his immediately younger brother was wearing.
He put a hand on Donatello's forehead to check the temperature and smiled, "His fever is gone."
"Really?!" Mikey exclaimed with relief and excitement, "Does this mean he's getting better?"
" 'm fine, Mikey."
The three brothers good-naturedly rolled their eyes at hearing this before Leo gently pushed his clingy brother off of him and leaned him against the set up pillows.
Raph grabbed the spoon and stirred the soup with it as Mikey pulled a blanket over the genius. Filling up the spoon with the steaming liquid, he brought it to Donnie's lips with a teasing grin. "Choo Choo! The train is coming! Open up!"
"I can eat by myself, you know." Donnie grumbled as he sent the red-clad turtle an irritated glare.
"Of course we know. But that ain't mean we're gonna allow you to do so right now."
"Just... humor us. Okay Don?" Leo said softly as he patted his arm, "We'll let you eat by yourself when you'll get better."
Figuring he had no other choice but to do as told, the young genius sighed and opened his mouth, allowing Raph to spoonfeed him with some occasional teasing.
As he sat there flanked by his brothers - with Raph feeding him, Leo making sure that he was comfortable and Mikey telling him some funny stories to keep him entertained, Donnie thought back to the events of the previous night and how fast he was recovering from a fever which usually takes a whole week to break.
At that moment he realized that his brothers weren't just his Painkillers.
They were also his Medicine.