I Can't Lose You Again

1

The hours after they saved the world were a blur. There was lots of crying, mostly happy tears, and plenty of reunions when they were able to tell everyone that Leo survived but other than that Mikey didn't remember much of it. His hands ached and his head felt like it was full of cotton. When he finally felt even remotely grounded in reality again, everyone was curled up in the living room. Mikey was sitting next to Raph, who had fallen asleep, on the couch. Donnie and April were napping on the floor while Splinter patched Casey up nearby.

Instantly, Mikey stood up. Where was Leo. Frantically looking around to no avail, he ran over to Leo's subway car and opened the door. He was in bed, chest slowly rising and falling. Mikey took a deep breath and held tightly onto the doorframe, steadying himself. It was okay, everything was okay. Leo was safe, Raph was safe, Donnie was safe, everyone was safe and they were here. His eyes slid closed and he slumped to the ground.

Waking up in his hammock, Mikey tried rolling onto his side before realizing he couldn't. He couldn't move his body. Opening his eyes, he frantically looked around the room. Donnie was sitting next to him reading a book, but no one else was in sight.

"Donnie?" Mikey said, but it took way too much effort to be normal, talking shouldn't be this hard.

Looking up from his book, Donnie smiled. "You're up, that's good."

"Where is everyone?"

"Leo's passed out in his room, April's in there too. Pops is talking with Casey, and Raph was cooking last time I was in the kitchen."

"Mmmkay." Mikey could already feel himself slipping back into sleep.

The next time he woke up, Donnie was gone. Raph was sitting in the chair this time pretending to read a book. He was staring at one page though, lost in thought. Mikey went to pull himself to a sitting position but stopped short. His hands and arms were covered with bandages. The sight brought the reality of what had happened flooding back.

The portal, how much it had hurt, seeing specks of himself flying away, desperately begging any higher being that Leo would make it through the portal—

"Holy cannoli..." he said softly, barely above a whisper. It was enough of a disturbance to alert his biggest brother though, whose head spun around almost immediately.

"Mikey!" Raph exclaimed, smile lighting up the room. "You're up!"

"Yep." Mikey tried to muster up more enthusiasm, but it fell flat. He was too focused on the tight pain in his stomach and his sandpaper tongue. "Can I have some water? It feels like I haven't had anything to drink in forever."

"I mean you were out for three days..." Raph trailed off, rubbing the back of his head. A chill ran down Mikey's spine.

"Three days?!"

"Off and on, yeah. You passed out for two days and woke up once when Donnie was watching you, around," Raph pulled out his phone and checked the time, "Fourteen hours ago? That portal took a lot out of you." That made sense, even now phantom electricity tingled around his hands, which felt thick and numb, but Mikey's head was still spinning. Three days?

"I'll get you some food. Do you want to eat it here or try going to the kitchen?" Raph said, pulling Mikey out of his head.

"The kitchen." He wanted to see everyone, and getting out of bed was probably the healthiest option. Being around loved ones helped speed up the healing process! (At least that's what his psychology books had said.)

"Alright, hold on." Raph scooped Mikey up in his arms, carrying him like he was a baby. It was comforting, familiar. He curled up, snuggling closer to Raph's chest.