Chapter 5-Hanging By A Thread

Donnie and the others were able to return to the farmhouse without any problems, and they had just got inside when the rain started to pour heavily and the thunder started booming in the sky.

"Whew…Dat was close…" Raph said whilst panting.

"Yeah, another few minutes and Mikey would've have been soaked…and that might've made his condition worse…" Donnie pointed out in agreement whilst he caught his breath.

"No…My son!" Master Splinter cried out in horror as he hurried to his wounded son's side.

"Calm down, father, he's still with us…" Donnie reassured his sensei calmly, placing his hands on his father's shoulders.

"What's going-" Leo was about to demand an explanation as to what all the fuss was about after it had interrupted his meditation, but he cut himself off when he saw a now unconscious Mikey on the stretcher. "What the shell!?"

"I'll explain everything later, Leo! We need to get Mikey onto one of the beds upstairs!" Donnie immediately said firmly.

"R-Right! This way…" Leo replied after regaining his composure before he guided the others back up the stairs to the shared bedroom.

Everyone followed Leo, and once they reached the shared bedroom, they carefully transferred Mikey from the stretcher to his bed.

"What happened to him, Donnie?" Leo questioned with his leader voice.

"Bear attack, Leo…! He pushed me and April out of the way just before the bear could strike us down! In other words, he risked his life to protect and save us!" Donnie snapped his answer since he was still a bit cross with Leo's attitude towards Mikey.

"Can we talk about what happened later? Mikey needs treatment now!" April pointed out firmly as she put pressure on one of Mikey's bleeding wounds.

"You're right, April…Master Splinter, I would like you and the others to go and wait in the living room downstairs…We'll give you an update on Mikey's condition once we're done treating him …" Donnie instructed Master Splinter, who nodded in understanding before guiding Leo, Raph, and Casey downstairs with him despite the trio's reluctance.

"April, get a bowl of warm soapy water ready! We're gonna need it to flush out and clean his wounds!" Donnie demanded urgently whilst preparing the First Aid kit.

"On it!" April replied before she rushed off towards the bathroom to prepare and get the much needed bowl of water.

Donnie watched her go before he looked back at his weakened baby brother with sad and guilt-filled eyes; the poor turtle was now suffering both emotionally and physically, because he had been forced to accept that he was not an important part of the family after being given the full blame for Master Splinter's attempted sacrifice for him as well as telling him how useless he was as a ninja.

He placed a hand on Mikey's head and stroked it to give the young turtle some form of comfort before he spoke.

"Hang in there, little brother, you're going to be ok…I'm right here…"

/

Two hours later…

Donnie and April had just finished stitching and bandaging the last of Mikey's wounds.

They washed their hands and April started packing away the medical equipment whilst Donnie checked Mikey's vitals by feeling his pulse, checking his temperature and blood pressure, and listening to his heartbeat.

"Shell…" Donnie hissed in frustration and worry.

"What's wrong, Donnie?" April asked when she heard Donnie's tone.

"Mikey's blood pressure is really low, and it's causing his heart rate to slow down…He needs a blood transfusion, now!" Donnie answered in an urgent manner.

"Well, who has the same blood type as him?" April asked.

"…Raph does…but I doubt that he would offer his help to Mikey, not after what happened yesterday…" Donnie answered bitterly, still upset with his red-banded brother's attitude towards Mikey.

"We won't know unless we try, Donnie; Mikey's life depends on this transfusion!" April pointed out firmly but encouragingly.

"You're right; we can't lose hope now…let's go and update the others…" Donnie said in agreement before he left Mikey's bedside and headed towards the stairs, with April following him shortly after.

Meanwhile, the others were waiting for news downstairs in the living room; Raph was pacing back and forth whilst wearing an impatient look on his face, Master Splinter was on the single sofa chair meditating to try and ease his anxiety for his youngest son, and Casey was on the long sofa fiddling with his thumbs whilst trying to keep his cool. Leo was sat next to him and was pondering in his own thoughts whilst wearing a expression that was hard for the others to read.

Just then, they heard footsteps coming from the stairs and they all stood up to see Donnie and April appearing at the bottom step wearing tired and worried looks on their faces.

"What is Michelangelo's condition, Donatello?" Master Splinter asked anxiously as he approached the duo.

"We were able to stop the arterial bleeding in the large gash between his neck and shoulder, and we've closed it up after cleaning it out, thanks to April's small fingers. We've also cleaned and closed up his slash wounds on his right arm and plastron without any problems…" Donnie answered in his 'Doctor Don' voice before he saddened and looked down as he said, "…However…"

"What's up?" Casey questioned nervously when he saw the change in Donnie's demeanour.

"He's lost so much blood, that his body is slowly on the verge of going into shock…" Donnie answered grimly, shocking the others.

"How do we save him, then?" Raph asked anxiously.

"The only way to save him is to perform a blood transfusion…" Donnie answered Raph before he scowled at him. "You are the only one with his matching blood type, Raph, but I doubt that you really want to save him…"

"Wha-? What makes ya think dat I don't wanna save my lil' bro!?" Raph questioned heatedly.

"You told him that you didn't want anything to do with him anymore after Leo yelled at him during training yesterday, remember?" Donnie bitterly reminded him.

"W-Well, yeah, but-"

"That's what I thought!" Donnie cut his red-banded brother off bitterly before he took a deep breath and spoke again.

"You need to make a choice now, Raph; either you help save Mikey like a true big brother, or let him die and live with the biggest regret of not saving him for the rest of your life!"

Raph looked down in thought for a moment. He was still feeling ticked off with Mikey, but the last thing he wanted was to be at fault for causing his youngest brother's death if he didn't do something now.

"Hook me up…" He mumbled.

"What?" Donnie said, leaning closer to Raph's face since he didn't hear him properly.

"I said…Hook. Me. Up!" Raph said in a louder tone as he held his arm out, signalling to Donnie that he was ready to donate his blood for Mikey.

"Alright, but we'll do it straight from your vein and into Mikey's as there's not enough time to fill a blood bag up!" Donnie said before he, April, and Raph made their way towards the stairs, but the purple-banded turtle stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked back at the others with a firm expression on his face as he spoke.

"Oh, and one more thing; after we've done the procedure, we're all going to have a little talk about what happened yesterday…Understood?"

The others looked at each other before they all nodded at Donnie to say that they understood, except for Leo, who had his arms folded and was avoiding eye contact with Donnie.

"Leonardo…?" Master Splinter called his oldest son's name firmly.

"Fine…" Leo answered flatly as he turned his face away from the others, reluctant to get more involved with both the discussion and Mikey's medical treatment.

"Good…Now, let's get to it!" Donnie said before he, April, and Raph hurried up the stairs to start the blood transfusion that would save Mikey's life.