No Escape

Chapter 25

Mikey held onto Raph, as he continued to thrash violently in his grip; white, sticky foam bubbling from his brother's mouth.

"Donnie!" Mikey screamed at the top of his lungs, as the pounding of feet on stone entered Raph's bedroom.

Donnie knelt down quickly at Raph's side.

"He's having a seizure." Donnie said, his voice shaking with panic, as he attempted to help Mikey hold Raph's violently shaking body still until finally Raph stopped seizing.

"Donnie?" Mikey asked in a frightened voice that trembled. Raph lay on the ground completely motionless, save for Raph's desperate gasping for air.

Donnie shook his head back and forth. "I don't know." He said helplessly, as he quickly checked Raph's vitals. "He's going into respiratory distress." Donnie said with fear, as he looked at Mikey, whose eyes were wide with terror. "Mikey, I need you to listen carefully. I need you to run to my lab and grab the Bag Valve Mask." Donnie said in a calm even tone.

Mikey felt his body begin to tremble, as his heart beat too fast and hard in his chest, and the blood rushed so fiercely through his ears, that he was unable to even hear, let alone understand his brother's words.

"Mikey!" Donnie shouted, which seemed to snap Mikey out of his horror induced trance.

"Bag Valve Mask." He repeated numbly, and nodded his head up and down. "It's in the top drawer of the large metal cabinet. It's the thing you put over the face with a bag to pump air into the lungs, like you see on those medical TV shows." Donnie told him in a gentler tone.

Mikey felt himself stand, but his entire body had gone numb. He knew he had gone to Donnie's lab, mumbled a few words to Master Splinter, who sat vigil at Leo's bedside, found the thing that Donnie had asked him to bring back to him, and brought it back to Donnie, who remained seated at Raph's side; but it was all a blur. There were too many emotions that rolled tumultuously through his mind, as tears flowed unabated, wetting his mask and streaking, hot, salty trails down his icy cold cheeks.

Donnie looked at Mikey gratefully. "He's unconscious." Donnie told him grimly."Now listen, Mikey. I need you to breathe for him. Every breath you take, you pump this balloon, do you understand? In and out, breathe normally, calmly, do you think you can do that for me?" Donnie asked him, as Mikey nodded up and down, wiping the tears from his eyes and cheeks with the back of his hand.

Donnie placed the mouth piece over Raphael's mouth and nostrils. "In and out, Mikey. Nice and Easy." Donnie prompted evenly, as Mikey focused all of his attention on taking the plastic balloon-like bag in his hand, and squeezing it every time he took a shaky, uneven breath.

"Mikey, calm down, you're squeezing too fast, if you keep pumping air into Raph's lungs like that, you could over inflate his lungs, which could lead to pressure damage, or you could cause gastric distension by pumping air into his stomach, which will make it harder for you to pump the oxygen into his lungs. Or you could cause Raph to vomit, and in his present condition, that could be bad. He could choke on his own vomit and die." Donnie pointed out grimly and succinctly, as Mikey found his eyes widening with absolute horror.

"You do it." Mikey said, shaking his head violently from side to side with absolute terror. The thought of injuring or even accidentally killing his brother filled him with an icy terror, that all but consumed him.

"I can't Mikey." Donnie answered patiently, but with a hint of frustration in his voice that showed how frayed Donnie's nerves were. "I need to go set up the other ventilator and clean out the lines." He said with an impatient huff, but said more gently. "You can do this Mikey, okay?" Donnie said, as he placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder and squeezed, before standing and running from Raph's bedroom.