Family is Forever

Down with the Sickness: Part 1

Aria's POV:

The turtles & I are currently in the lair's arcade. Leo, Donnie, & I are watching in excited silence as Raph follows the patterns of the dancing game. He's about to break the previous record and set a new high score! Leo doesn't think he has the energy left to pull it off. But, with his competitive mindset, I believe he can pull it off.

Leo: "I don't think he's got this."

Mikey: "Hey! Leave him alone."

Leo: "What? I'm just saying he doesn't have this."

Raph: "You're just trying to get in my head."

Me: "You tell him, Raph."

We all look to the game screen, Donnie bearing an excited grin.

Donnie: "Oh, my peaches and cream, he just doubled."

Raph: "Rag! Now!"

Mikey leaps to Raph's side with a rag to cool him off and chop up his sweat. Mikey looks at him with a sweet smile.

Mikey: "Have I ever told you how big & beautiful you are?"

Raph turns to him with a small smile.

Raph: "No, but thank you."

Donnie: "Uh, he is about to set a new high score. I can't watch, but I can't not watch!"

I leap to Donnie's right side with an arm around his shoulder.

Me: "Woohoo! Go Raph!"

Leo shoves Donnie over to the side, letting me catch him before he can fall. Donnie turns to me with a grateful smile before we both turn to Raph. Leo turns to Raph with a cocky grin.

Leo: "You know what they say about big-time moments?"

Raph: "Yes, I do. They say in big-time moments, leaders make-"

Raph is interrupted by a loud groan from behind. We turn as Raph stops dancing to see a sickly Splinter clutching his head in pain.

Splinter: "Ow, my brain!"

The guys all shriek at the sight of him while I send him a sympathetic look.

Donnie: "No! Why?"

Splinter lets out a small sneeze.

Leo & I: "Gesundheit."

Mikey turns to us with a freaked-out look.

Mikey: "Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh, Splinter's a zombie!"

Donnie: "Mikey, zombies are only interested in other people's brains."

Raph & I: "Rat flu!"

Raph: "This is not a drill."

Me: "I repeat, this is not a drill, boys."

We all lead Splinter to his room, me placing him carefully into bed and tucking him in. Leo fans him with a handkerchief while Don peers at him through his goggles.

Splinter: "I feel terrible. Do I look terrible? Be honest."

The guys get a closer look of his face before recoiling and screaming again.

Raph: "Whoa!"

Donnie: "Ok."

Me: "You look great, Dad. Not horribly sick at all. Rest up, and I'll be back with some ice-cold beverages and dairy-free ice cream for stage one. Deal?"

Splinter: "Thank you, my daughter."

I nod with a warm smile as I lead the guys out of the room.

Raph: "He's horribly sick."

Donnie walks to stand before all of us with a serious look.

Donnie: "Look, a flu this intense is going to affect all areas of his brain.  I'm talking the full seven stages, before his body naturally heals itself."

Raph pulls us all into a huddle with a somber look.

Raph: "You guys know what the full seven stages mean?"

Turtles: "Mm-hmm."

Raph: "Another chance to get whatever we want!"

Mikey: "But poor Dad, he must feel terrible. But lucky us, he'll say yes to whatever we ask for. Woohoo!"

Donnie: "Only if we make it all the way to the end of the flu, the elusive stage seven. And we never get there."

Raph: "This year's gonna be different. Nobody's getting bit. Nobody's getting infected."

Leo: "When we do make it to the end, which I'm now calling the Must Say Yes stage, what are we gonna ask for?"

All: "Hmm."

I know what I want, but assuming we make it to stage seven, we'd be lucky to get one thing from Dad collectively, let alone one thing for each of us. So, the boys turn to Raph expectantly.

Raph: "Well, this year, I was thinking we could ask for, uh, um--Er, um--"

Leo: *groans* "He's got nothing. We're dead."

Raph: "Hey, I got something, all right? Like a, uh--"

Donnie leaps to stand before us with a maniacal expression.

Donnie: "Uranium! Oh, we should absolutely ask for uranium. I mean, if I could finally get my hands on a little of that, we would be virtually unstoppa--"

Mikey leaps to stand in front of Donnie.

Mikey: "What about a brick oven for pizza?"

Leo steps between Mikey & Donnie, shoving them aside.

Leo: "Who's gonna clean that? What we should ask for is matching unicorn onesies. Those are sick! Pun intended. And I nailed it."

Me: "True, on both counts."

Leo & I fist-bump with identical grins.

Raph: "Enough. I got this, all right? I'm gonna ask Splinter for something that benefits all of us."

Mikey: "This is so exciting! But terrible for Dad."

Suddenly, there's a chill in the air, and our breath turns to fog, meaning stage one has begun.

Me: "Buckle up, boys. It's about to get weird."

TO BE CONTINUED