No Escape

Part 28

Raphael paused with his hand mere inches away from the worn, wooden surface of Leo's door. The food tray in his hand felt heavier than it actually was. He dreaded when it was his turn to try to get Leo to eat the food that had been prepared for him by Mikey.

Unfortunately, it was his turn and he knew he had no choice but to brave his older brother's dark bedroom, and try to get him to eat something.

It had been almost a month since Mikey had been able to reach Leo, and pull him back from whatever hellish nightmare he had been re-living, but this did not mean that Leo was better. In fact, over the past month, Leo seemed to be getting worse.

Raph carefully balanced the tray, shifting it slightly to knock on his brother's closed door. He didn't wait for a reply, because he knew he would not get one. He opened the door very slowly, announcing his presence before stepping into the room and turning on the light.

"Hey, Leo, lunch time." He announced, putting on his biggest, brightest smile, even though he was cringing inside.

Leo's recovery had been a slow and tedious one. Don started him off on food that was basically baby food.

'Donatello looked at all of them, as Leo slept fitfully in his cot nearby. Don's voice was low and even, trying to explain to them what to expect from Leo in regards to his recovery.

"Leo's stomach has shrunk, and he hasn't eaten in so long, he needs to eat slowly." Don explained to them. "Basically for the next two weeks, he will eat pureed food, the consistency of baby food. Then we can start making his meals larger and more solid, so things like oatmeal and chunky soups. After that, he will be able to eat regular meals, but his portion sizes will be relatively small for several more weeks."

"But, Donnie, Leo looks like a living skeleton." Raph protested. "We need to pack the weight on him. Otherwise, it looks like a strong wind's gonna blow him away." Raph insisted.

"I know, Raph." Donnie soothed. "But if we feed him too much too quickly, he's going to get violently sick, which will just make his condition worse."

Raph bit down his angry retort and gave a curt nod of understanding. The problem was he wanted Leo to be better, right now... not four months from now. He wanted to see his big brother open his eyes and have the steely eyed look of determination, spirit, and leadership he was used to seeing. It was too hard seeing his older brother -someone he secretly looked up to and admired- frightened, weak, and incredibly vulnerable.'

Leo had initially been compliant when eating. He really didn't seem to know what was going on, just opening his mouth and letting them feed him like he was a baby. It wasn't until Leo became more aware of what was going on around him that he had suddenly freaked out.

Mikey had been bringing in a tray of oatmeal with dry toast, placing it on the table beside Leo's cot in the infirmary.

Mikey had smiled brightly at their older brother. Their father was in his room, and Raph was just walking in from the garage with Donnie, having been working on fixing their van, which had begun to leak oil. "Hey, Leo, time for breakfast." Mikey sang with a grin, as he was about to position the tray over Leo's legs.

It was then that Leo's dull, blank, brown eyes had suddenly snapped into focus. He tipped the tray away and launched himself backwards, sliding onto the floor in an ungainly heap.

Leo was still very much weakened by his time spent as a prisoner of the Shredder, and his recovery from falling to the floor was slow, yet vicious. Leo scrambled away, his hand raised up, as if warding off an expected blow. His face was full of raw, animalistic terror.

"Leo... I..." Mikey was so shocked by his brother's terror, stricken reaction that he hadn't known what to do, or say. He moved forward about to help Leo up off the floor, but his brother's eyes were trained on the food, as if it were a venomous snake about to strike.