Risen from Ashes

Act one, Part Twenty-Three: With Trauma, Comes Fear

Three days later

Donnie looked at Primrose's heart monitor, nodding as he wrote the results down. Her heart is still beating well; her breathing looks smooth, too. She is still healthy, but as always, there are no signs of an awakened consciousness. He let out a sigh. The past three days were stressful, and the team tried to look for any trances on the EDF. Yet they failed to spot any in New York City; April was right. They never publicly release themselves unless there's a global threat; he will not create a global threat to draw them out. They must do this while trying to avoid being spotted by the EDF.

His hearing picked up what sounded like footsteps and scratching. He lifted his head from the monitor screen to the entrance of the medbay. He spots Nina walking past the medbay, but she is doing something to her arms.

Nina scratched her arms, almost like she got an itch on them. She looks struggling, her teeth showing, and her eyes tightly closed. She scratches, but very hard. Hard enough to cut and cause bleeding. She was hurting herself.

"Nina, no!!!" Donnie shouted, standing up fast and rushing to her.

His shouting caused Nina to flinch and stop scratching. Her face morphs into a fearful expression and childlike manner as if she is getting scolded.

Donnie grabbed her arms, looking at her arms. They have cuts that are bleeding and look infected, too. He frowned. "Don't do that, Nina. You are damaging yourself." He led her to a chair and had her sit down as he grabbed alcohol and the bandage rolls.

Nina watched him dab a little alcohol on her cuts, then wrapping them around with bandages. She sighed. "I'm sorry. I just got this urge to cut my skin." She apologized. "It's tough to let this feeling of pain go away.."

"It's okay," Donnie assured her, setting the bandage roll down on a table. "It just takes a lot of time to heal after a traumatizing situation." He stated. "There we go." He finished securing the bandage tightly on.

Nina looks down at her bandaged arms. This is the fourth time she had to wear a bandage for her arms due to her injuries. "Thank you." She thanked him with a quiet voice.

Donnie noticed it. And it's starting to worry him, as well as everyone else. He is proud that she is getting along with his brothers, Splinter, April, and the others. She is being open with herself and doing things her parents never allowed. But as a victim of child abuse, it leaves a considerable cut that not even a bandage or alcohol can help. It has to take time and care to close its wounds.

"Nina, how are you feeling?" He asked her. "really?"

Nina gripped both her biceps tightly. "Anxious, a skin touch startled me, and I felt like I'm gonna panic." She answered.

"If you like, I can have April bring you some medication for your anxiety," Donnie suggested, putting the alcohol bottle and the bandage roll back in the cabinet. "Sounds good?" He faced her.

Nina nodded. "Y-Yeah."

Donnie sat back on his chair, facing Nina. "Don't worry." He comforted her. "You will get better, you trust me?"

Nina nodded again. "Yeah.." she trusted him more than herself.

"Good. You are free to go." Donnie gave her permission to leave the med-bay. Nina stood up from her chair and left the med-bay.

Donnie grabbed his phone from the table, dialed a number, and waited for an answer. He heard the other side of the phone pick up. "Hey, April, I need you to pick up some anxiety pills." He told her.

"Uh, sure thing." April understands. "Everything alright?" She sounds concerned.

Donnie sat in a chair next to Primrose's bed. "Nina is reaching the stage of trauma; she cut her arms by scratching and feeling anxious, too." He informed her.