Chapter 6-A Family In Turmoil
1 hour later…
Donnie was sat on a chair next to Mikey's bed as he observed the young turtle's breathing whilst his body rested from his earlier fight with the black bear.
Fortunately, the blood transfusion that was performed earlier was a success; Raph was able to donate half of his blood to Mikey before the procedure was stopped by Donnie, who then guided the red-banded turtle to a bed nearby to let him rest and regain his strength. Sometime later, Raph was well enough to get up from the bed and head back downstairs to be with the others and leave Donnie to watch over Mikey in peace.
During his observation on Mikey, the purple-banded turtle's heart had filled up with so much guilt, anger, and regret; he felt that he should've done more to prevent yesterday's events from getting worse, but he took the coward's way of being involved by staying quiet and only answering Leo's question about Master Splinter's near-death experience. As a result of this, Mikey had left the family with a broken heart and had gotten seriously injured by a black bear after saving April and his purple-banded brother, both of whom were just trying to find him and bring him back home.
Thinking back on those memories had caused Donnie to look at Mikey in sadness and with tears developing in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Mikey…We'll make things right again, I promise…you just focus on getting better, ok?" Donnie whispered soothingly as he gently squeezed Mikey's hand before allowing his tears to fall down his face.
Mikey did not respond due to his weakened state, and instead just groaned softly and moved his head a tiny bit to the right and facing Donnie. That kind of response from his immediate younger brother was just enough to convince Donnie that he had heard him, making the purple-banded turtle let out a sigh of relief.
After another few minutes of observation with no further signs of change, Donnie wiped his tears away, got up from his seat, and gave Mikey a kiss on his head whilst telling him that he would be back soon. He then quietly made his way over to the staircase and started walking down the stairs to head for the living room.
As soon as he reached the bottom, he saw Master Splinter waiting for him next to the last step whilst wearing a concerned look on his face.
"Donatello, how is Michelangelo?" The old sensei asked quietly to prevent the others from hearing him.
"He's stable, but he's not in the clear yet; he's at risk of falling ill from infection due to how deep his wounds were, so we'll need to watch them and keep them clean during his recovery…" Donnie explained in a calm tone despite worrying on the inside.
Master Splinter nodded in understanding and breathed a small sigh of relief after hearing that his youngest son was stable for now, even though his condition might change again at any time. He then followed Donnie as he walked towards the living room where the others were waiting for them.
Once they had reached the living room, Donnie sat on the sofa, with Master Splinter sitting next to him, and he spoke to start the meeting.
"Alright, we all know why I have asked you all to gather here…"
"It's about da fight between us and Mikey yesterday, right…?" Raph said glumly.
"Yes…" Donnie replied with a sigh.
"Can I say something first, Donnie? As a witness?" April asked with a hand raised up.
"Of course…" Donnie answered with a nod.
"Well, me and Casey were inside the farmhouse when it all happened, so even though we heard loud voices, we didn't exactly hear what you guys said to Mikey… What happened between you all?" April questioned.
Before anyone could calmly explain an answer for her, Leo suddenly jumped in and gave her an answer in an angry manner.
"Mikey was not taking things as a ninja seriously again! All he did since arriving here was slack off and fool around like everything is just a big joke and a game to him!"
"It wasn't like that at all, Leo…! Mikey was only trying to stop you from pushing yourself too hard in training when you've only just recovered from your wounds!" Donnie countered defensively.
"Well, it didn't work! All it did was make me feel even more frustrated and annoyed at him!" Leo said in frustration.
"Yeah, and he was gratin' on my nerves, too! Does he not care dat we almost died whilst fightin' da Shredder!?" Raph said angrily in agreement.
"Of course he does! He also accepted the fact that we almost had to sacrifice ourselves in order to stop the Shredder in that rocket ship!" Donnie pointed out in his little brother's defence.
"Need I remind you that he hardly made any effort in that fight against the Shredder!? It got to a point during the fight where Master Splinter had to once again almost sacrifice himself to save his pathetic shell!" Leo said accusingly behind Mikey's back.
"That's not true! Master Splinter jumped in front of Mikey because he wanted to protect his son, who had two broken legs like I told you before! That could have happened to anyone of us and you know it!" Donnie countered, now even more furious at Leo for trying to make Mikey look like a murderer.
"No, it wouldn't! Unlike Mikey, us three are able to defend ourselves without having to depend on others to protect us during a fight!" Leo shouted in denial.
"Oh really? Have you forgotten about the oath that we made as older brothers to protect our youngest brother from harm? Because, by the sounds of it, you have!" Donnie countered accusingly.
"You're talking about an oath that we made as kids, Donnie! We're not children anymore, so that oath is no longer valid!" Leo scolded bitterly.
"We might not be little kids anymore, Leo, but we're not adults yet either! Besides, we promised that we would protect Mikey until the end of time, so our oath still stands!" Donnie firmly corrected his oldest brother.
"Why should we keep protectin' him when he doesn't protect himself or any of us!? Fer all we know, he would rather have us take da fall than do anythin' himself!" Raph questioned bitterly.
"Raph's right; if he keeps this up, we're all gonna end up dead!" Leo said in agreement, shocking Master Splinter after hearing those words come out of his oldest son's mouth.
Before Donnie could counter his brothers' words, April suddenly stepped forward and spoke with an angry look on her face.
"Hey! Mikey is the most kindest and sweetest person I have ever known! He would never put any of us in harm's way!"
"That's what you think, April! You don't know Mikey as long as we do! Also, I still can't believe that you deliberately disobeyed me yesterday when I told you NOT to talk to him!" Leo scolded his female human friend, still angry at her disobedience to his orders from yesterday.
"You darn right I did! Mikey is my friend! And like you guys, he's been through too much already! The last thing he needs right now is to have his whole family gang up on him and blame him for something that the Shredder did!" April countered defensively.
"How can you call him a friend? Your actions earlier is just encouraging him to continue the way he is now, which is a useless screw-up! You're just as stupid as him to do that!" Leo bit back in an insulting tone.
Those words angered Casey. Nobody was allowed to insult his love interest, not even one of his own turtle friends.
"Hey! Back off, Leo! Da only one dat's actin' stupid around here is you! Yer attitude right now stinks, and yer just treatin' Mikey like trash!" Casey scolded heatedly as he stood protectively in front of April.
"Casey, don't! It's fine…!" April pleaded whilst placing a hand on Casey's chest to keep him from moving towards Leo.
"What did you just say to me!?" Leo questioned angrily as he tried to go for Casey for insulting him.
"Whoa, Leo! Calm down!" Raph said firmly as he held his immediate older brother back to prevent a physical fight from breaking out.
"Stop, stop, STOP!"
Everyone froze after hearing Donnie's shouting, and they all looked at him to see his angry but tearful face just as he spoke again.
"Don't you see what's happening here!? We're taking everything that the Shredder caused out on each other as well as on Mikey! Also, April's right; we've been through enough already as a family! Do you really think that fighting each other or blaming everything on Mikey is gonna help us move on and recover from this!?"
The others looked at each other after hearing this, and then they looked down with uncertain looks on their faces. No-one said anything to anyone at this point because their hearts and minds were so full of mixed emotions that they just didn't know what to say to each other about all of this.
Having heard and seen enough for himself, Master Splinter slowly got out of his seat and made his way towards the stairs.
"Master Splinter, are you ok…?" April called out the old sensei's name in concern.
"I wish to be with Michelangelo…Alone…" He then said firmly, lifting a furry hand in the air to stop Donnie from following him when he got up to do so.
"A-Are you sure you don't need me with you whilst you're with him, Master? He may be stable now, but he's still unwell…" Donnie questioned carefully since the old sensei was close to snapping.
"I am very capable of looking after my youngest son, Donatello…I will let you know if I need your assistance…" Master Splinter answered calmly despite the anger building up slowly from within him.
"Master Splinter, you shouldn't be wasting any more of your time with him! Even if he doesrecover, what good is he to us in a real battle? I'm surprised that you haven't kicked him out of this family, yet!" Leo protested cruelly, shocking the others even more.
"Are you hearing yourself right now, Leo!? You're starting to sound like the Shredder!" Donnie scolded.
"Yeah, yer even scarin' me now…!" Raph said in agreement with an uneasy look on his face.
"Don't you DARE compare me to that monster! As the leader of this clan, I have to do what needs to be done to protect this family, even if it means having to make a few sacrifices in order to do that!" Leo shouted, furious at being compared to his family's most hated enemy.
"Sacrifices!?" April questioned, horrified at the idea of shunning her friend out of the group in order for everyone to be happy.
"Mikey will never be one of your sacrifices! We will never allow that!" Donnie argued angrily.
"Yeah! Besides, yer not just our leader, Leo, but yer our brother too!" Raph reminded his older brother.
"Enough!"
Everyone froze and stopped yelling after hearing Master Splinter shout at the top of his voice.
"Do you not see what the Shredder has done!? It is just like what Donatello has said; despite his banishment, the Shredder's actions have caused us all to turn on one of our own, but I will NOT allow him to claim victory over this! We are stronger than him, because we are a family!" The old sensei said sternly.
A stunned silence surrounded the group after hearing those words from Master Splinter before they watched as the old sensei made his way up the stairs to be alone with Mikey.
A moment later, Leo released a frustrated sigh before he shrugged out of Raph's hold and stormed out of the front door. Raph said nothing to anyone and just released a sigh of his own before walking towards the kitchen to be alone and grab a drink.
Donnie just stood in a stunned silence for another moment before he covered his face with his hands as he released a sob that he couldn't hold back anymore.
"It's ok, Donnie…" April said comfortingly as she hurried over to him and gave him a hug.
"Yeah, m'sorry dat I blew up at Leo back there, man…I just lost it when he threatened April like dat…" Casey said guiltily, placing a hand on Donnie's shoulder.
"S'fine, Casey…I-I was close to losing it myself…" Donnie replied shakily before he nuzzled April's shoulder and allowed a couple more tears to fall.
"Come on, sit down and rest on the sofa for a bit while I fix us up some hot cocoa…" April said kindly as she guided her purple-banded turtle friend towards the long sofa and sat him down before heading towards the kitchen
"I'll go sit with Raph ta make sure he's ok, too…See ya in a bit, Donnie…" Casey said before he gave Donnie a pat on the shoulder and leave him to be with Raph.
Donnie smiled at his friends' help and kindness before he did what April said and sat down on the sofa to take a moment to settle down, whilst the human female went to the kitchen to make the much-needed hot cocoa for him.
/
Upstairs…
Master Splinter had reached the top of the stairs and he immediately walked over to Mikey's bedside. It was then that he noticed Mikey's face showing expressions of pain and sadness with tears in his eyes, even though he was still asleep.
"Michelangelo…" He called his son's name softly as he placed a furry paw on his head. Sensing his father nearby, Mikey begun to relax and leaned more against Master Splinter's paw with a small sigh.
"Do not worry, my son; I am here…You will be alright…" Master Splinter then said reassuringly whilst stroking his son's head soothingly to help calm his spirit.
However, the old sensei couldn't help but feel awful for his youngest son; not only was he still recovering from his battle wounds from the final battle with the Shredder, but he was also now fighting for his rights to remain with his family because his oldest brother's accusations were pushing him away from those he loved and cared about.
"You will not be left alone, Michelangelo…I promise you that everything will be well again with time…" Master Splinter soothed with a hint of determination in his voice.
Whatever the next few days may bring, there was no way that Master Splinter and the others would let Mikey slip away from them both physically and spiritually, and no-one would stand in their way, not even Leo.