Donatello scooped Aria into his arms and dashed for the door. He rammed his shoulder against the entrance to shove it open and sprinted down the hall. He couldn't think of anything other than getting Aria some help. He frantically rushed Aria to his lab and placed her down on the hospital bed that had been left untouched so far.
He hated to leave her side, but he couldn't just leave her in pain. She could hardly breathe and she seemed to be convulsing slightly on the bed. Donatello felt like his chest was about to explode, but Aria was counting on him. "C-calm down…" he whispered to himself urgently. Trying to shut out Arias desperate attempts for air, he hurried to the supply cabinet. He grabbed a sedative and administered it as steadily as he could. Her breathing was still a bit haggard, but at least she didn't seem in pain as her eyes closed.
Taking a few deep breaths, Donatello wiped his eyes of the tears that threatened to escape. Though she may have been asleep, there was still much to do. He swallowed back his panicked tears and gathered what he needed while activating the call for Lawrence on the wall.
The doors to the lab slid open as Donatello was getting things ready and Lawrence hurried inside. "Why is she sleeping?" Lawrence asked as he examined Aria.
"S-she was in pain," Donatello explained, readying the EKG machine. "Her medicine didn't work, it only made things worse. I need—I think she—"
"Try to stay calm. Tell me what you need." Lawrence simply.
"Go and get April," replied Donatello, working hard to internally calm himself. This wasn't easy. Aria may have been asleep, but she still had trouble breathing and the veins were getting bigger.
Lawrence left the room without another word and Donatello set to work once again. He had to pull down Arias dress a bit in order to attach the pads. He was so focused on putting them in place, he only noticed her scar once he was finished. "I'm so sorry…" he whispered, leaning down and kissing over the scar lightly. "I'm going to fix all this."
Once April and the others heard what was going on, they all rushed to follow Lawrence to the lab.
"What happened?!" Leonardo asked in concern.
"Can you relieve her pain?" Donatello asked his brother, disregarding his question.
"Uh—I'll do what I can." Agreed Leonardo as he hurried to Arias bedside and proceeded to concentrate in order to do as his brother asked.
"April, I know this isn't the best time, but I need to ask for some of your blood," Donatello started, "I think it may be key in helping Aria get better. We were going to ask later, but now I'm out of time."
"U-um, of course! Whatever you need," April answered in a panic. Everything was happening so quickly, she wasn't sure what to do except comply with Donatello's wishes.
Lawrence was monitoring the EKG as Leonardo held his healing hands over Arias heart. The spikes were slowing, but Leo found it difficult to maintain. While he tried his best to help her, Donatello had quickly brought April to the other room in order to take some blood samples.
April sat silently as the turtle hurriedly took a few samples in an urgent panic. "…Donnie… it's going to be okay…" April said finally.
"You don't know that," he replied, his voice shaking a bit as he did his best to remain calm.
"…Aria is strong. She's not going to give up without a fight."
"And you know her so well?" Donatello snapped as he stood up with the samples in hand. "She's been fighting this for years already! And it's my fault she's suffering right now! If I can't cure her…if she dies…I—" he stopped himself as tears welled up in his eyes.
"I do know her," April insisted as she stood as well. "Because you're important to both of us! She's not going to leave you like this and she's not going to let you blame yourself. … because I wouldn't. You have to push aside this guilt you feel and think clearly."
Donatello placed the samples in a small machine and rested his hands on the table as he hung his head. He honestly thought there would be more time to work on a cure. More time with Aria. Now everything was being rushed and he had no idea what to do. It was all coming down on him so quickly.
"I…was just with her. She was fine…" his voice cracked, but he swallowed back his tears. "I promised her that everything would be okay. …even back when we were little I promised her that I would take care of her…and I haven't been able to keep a single one. What will do if she…"
"…you'll do exactly what Miss Aria expects of you." Lawrence answered simply as he entered the room.
Donatello turned to face him at once and wiped his eyes, "wh-what do you mean?"
"Keep in mind, I fully expect you to do everything in your power to cure Miss Aria, but if the worst is to happen, Miss Aria has made arrangements."
"Like a will?" April asked, rubbing the mark where Donatello had stuck her with the needle.
Lawrence nodded, "things have been set up for Master Donatello to inherit everything. We have prepared false birth certificates for you and your brothers, officially naming you as the adopted children of Hamato Yoshi. You have been given social security numbers and anything else you need for the human government to recognize you and your brothers as regular citizens. I have been instructed to hire human proxies for you all if they are required and I've also been instructed to make sure your every need is taken care of while you adjust to this."
Donatello stared at Lawrence blankly for a moment before he finally exhaled, "she…she didn't tell me any of this. Why would she—"
"—the young Miss trusts that you will continue the Mutant city project she has started and Miss Aria could think of no one else more deserving."
"I….I don't want anything…" Donatello insisted, "she…this is all hers. When she's better
—"
"—it's only a precaution that was set in place." Lawrence interrupted. "I don't expect this will hinder you in curing her at all, will it?"
"Of course not," Donatello answered, clearly offended by the question. "Once this machine is finished mixing my blood with Aprils, we can see how it reacts and maybe—maybe I can get a little closer…"
"How much time do you think we have? Shall I prepare a more comfortable bed for the young Miss?"
Donatello felt an uncomfortable pit in his stomach. Aria was unconscious and so Lawrence was treating him like the Master of this place as she wanted. He didn't like it. Aria wasn't gone. He wasn't going to let that happen. "…I-I don't know anything for sure yet. …but…I want to prepare for an induced coma. I don't want the poison to reach her heart…and make things worse. Prepare for a heart transplant and contact a surgeon just in case…"
Lawrence nodded and silently left the room, allowing Donatello to turn back to the machine, watching the blood samples closely.
"…it seems…that Aria thought of everything…" April commented quietly, trying to fill the tense silence.
"She keeps doing that…" muttered Donatello. "…but it wasn't necessary. She'll be fine…"
"Yeah," April agreed, trying to keep her friend optimistic. "After that slap she gave me, I could tell she was stronger than she looked."
Donatello sighed, tapping his foot as he waited anxiously for the machine to finish. April sat herself down in the chair and looked towards the door.
"You don't have to wait in here with me," stated Donatello without turning around.
"I know," April replied simply, "but I will."
"So now you choose to be supportive? When Arias life is on the line?" He snapped a bit. His frustration, his worry, it needed somewhere to go. He didn't want to take it out on April, but if he kept it in, Donatello was sure he'd go crazy. "All this time you've been eager to see her go away and now you're here to help?!"
April nodded her head calmly, "yes. …I'm here to help. You can take all the blood you need…and you can yell at me all you want."
Donatello flinched and turned to face her, "like you're doing me a favor?! You deserve to be yelled at! After everything you did…you—" he stopped himself again and took in a deep breath, "…you never liked her…"
April frowned, lowering her head slightly as she leaned forward in her chair, resting her elbows on her knees and looking down at the floor. "You're right. From the moment she showed up I…didn't like her being around. And I know…I did something awful things. I said some awful things. …I'm sorry that I made all this so difficult for you."
Of all times for April to see reason and stop arguing. Donatello wanted her to fight back, to defend herself so he could shout back at her. He needed to take this out on something, but he didn't have the resolve to beat her while she was down. "…I only wanted us to be friends again…" he mumbled sadly.
"We will always be friends," April stated with conviction. "I haven't been a very good one for a while…but I won't let you down anymore. We are going to fix this. We have your brothers, Master Splinter, and a psychopathic butler, all willing to do what it takes in order to keep Aria alive."
"Psychopathic?" Donatello repeated.
"That's not important right now," April insisted, "just tell me what you need and I'll do what I can to help you. We all will."
Donatello half smiled and quickly wiped his eyes again with a sniffle. He didn't say anything more as he left the room, stopping at the doorway, staring at Arias bed. He slowly made his way over to his brother, who was still holding his hands over Aria, "it's okay," he said quietly. "You can take a break…"
Leonardo nodded and stepped back. Once he did, Aria began to open her eyes and Donatello immediately took her hand.
"Hey Ari…" he started with a strained smile, trying to keep the tears at bay.
"What happened…?" Aria asked weakly. "…you look…so sad…"
Donatello swallowed the lump in his throat, "Ari…your heart…the readings aren't good. I don't know how much time I'll have to make your medicine…"
Aria looked as if she was processing the information and after a moment, she seemed to understand. "Oh…"
Donatello gripped her hand tight, "so-so I need to do something…a little risky. If I put you in an induced coma…you won't feel any pain and…I might be able to slow the spread to your heart…"
"…how long…?"
"N-not long…" Donatello breathed out, the lump in his throat growing by the second. "A-a week at best…but these things are always risky. I don't want to do this…but—"
Aria gripped his hand, "…will you be the first thing I see when I wake up?"
"Of course," he replied quickly. "I'll be here the whole time. …and when you wake up…your heart and everything will be okay again…"
Aria felt a shock through her chest, but she grit her teeth and held tight to Donatello's hand in order to work through the pain. "…a-and…if it's not?"
"That's not going to happen!" Donatello insisted, doing his best not to panic when he saw her in pain. "I wont let you lose another heart! I wont let you die!"
"…if-if something happens…L-Lawrence will g-give you—"
"—I don't want anything…!" Donatello choked out, bringing the back of her hand to his cheek. "B-besides, you'll be fine, so it wont matter…"
"I…thought…I would be okay with dying…" Aria started, tears slipping down the side of her cheeks. "…as long as I got to see you again…I thought I could…die without regret…"
Donatello shook his head, "don't—don't say that!"
"I don't think that anymore…" she breathed, gasping lightly as another rush of pain shocked through her heart. "—I-I want a family of my own…" sobbed Aria as she struggled to meet Donatello's eyes. The pain was blurring her vision and making it difficult to breathe as she spoke. "I—I want more time with you…!"
Donatello couldn't hold back his tears anymore. Seeing Aria cry was too much for him. He couldn't stand to see her in pain and what she said only weighed heavily on his heart. She had prepared everything and was ready to die, probably from the moment she got back to the city. "Ari…it-its going to be okay. You can—we can—"
"—c-could you promise me…o-one last thing?"
"I'll promise you anything, but it won't be the last…" insisted Donatello. He could feel her grip on his hand growing weak.
Aria smiled up at him through her tears, "no matter what happens…don't blame yourself. … and remember…th-that I love you…"
"…A-Aria…I—" he didn't want to tell her how much guilt he felt for all this. "I-I promise…"
Lawrence had stood by while they had their exchange, but the pain Aria was feeling seemed to be getting worse no matter how much she powered through it. The black and green colored veins were growing closer to her heart and though he hadn't been instructed to, Lawrence plunged a syringe into a line of Arias IV. Donatello noticed this all too late and slightly panicked as he reached over to stop the butler.
"W-wait! I'm not ready!" He pleaded in tears.
"The spikes are coming too frequently and her pain is getting worse." Lawrence replied. "I can't allow her to remain like this."
Donatello turned his gaze back down to Aria, who was now drifting to sleep rather quickly. "Everything is going to be okay!" He shouted desperately as she closed her eyes. Though he waited anxiously for a response, it was clear that Aria was lost in her deep sleep now. The turtle made a painful grunt and released Arias hand, dropping to his knees beside her bed.