Dear Diary

Chapter 4

The entire world froze as Raph watched the scene unfold. Where the eldest had once been, there was nothing but space and broken glass. The howl of the gusty wet wind was the only sound echoing through his head as his body began to shake. His leader, his brother was dead. A rage and grief like he had never known before consumed him and he let out a strangled cry, suddenly lashing out at the men holding him down, who were caught off guard, distracted by the recent event that had just unfolded. Raph charged at them with rage, one after another fell to his blades.
The rest of the gang, now disorganized from the loss of their boss, and terrified of this new fury they unleashed began to retreat, scrambling back to whatever hole they crawled from. The fight was over as quickly and suddenly as it had started. Raph looked around him for the next person to fight, his anger blazing in him like a hot, inextinguishable fire. No one was left. The cowards had run.

Raph, left with no one but himself, went numb, taking deep shuddering breaths, his sais dropping limply to his sides. He didn't even hear his two exhausted brothers come up on either side of him, asking if he was ok. His world was spinning, he couldn't remember where he was, all he could remember was red hot rage. Then it hit him with a sickening blow.

"Leo..." he managed numbly, stumbling to the broken window.

"What is he talking about?" Mikey asked, looking at Don with confusion. Leo hadn't been here. They still needed to find him. But Don wasn't paying attention. He was staring at the ground, at the discarded, blood soaked katana lying only a few short feet away. He then let his eyes wander to the shattered window Raph was stumbling to.

"No..." he whispered. He then ran to the window along with Raph and looked out, but saw nothing through the black rainy night. Mikey wasn't far behind, the events that had transpired finally sinking in with him too. "Come on, we have to get down there!" Don shouted, snapping Raph out of his horror filled trance. The three rushed down the stairs of the building with speed they didn't know they were still capable of. As they exited the building and ran down the dark ally, they all were holding their breaths in fear.

The brothers reached the spot where the bodies had fallen and gasped. In front of them was the dead body of Snake, his eyes staring without seeing up at the sky, his neck turned at a funny angle. But that wasn't what they were concerned about. Behind him, in a pile of trash, laid their brother, who was unmoving.

Don was the first to act, rushing to their brother's side. He pulled Leo's body toward him and cradling his brother to his chest, he quickly and fearfully felt for a pulse. Raph and Mike stood behind him in disbelief, able to do nothing but stare at their purple clad brother's attempts to find life.

"I feel a pulse..." Donny whispered, relief welling in his heart. "I feel a pulse!" He then noticed the small pained breaths that Leo's body was working hard to produce. "He's alive. Oh thank God, he's alive!"

At hearing this Raph and Mikey rushed over to Don's side. Raph laid his hand on his oldest brother's forehead, trying to convince himself that the still and broken form was actually still alive. His skin was cold and seemed to be turning paler by the moment. He looked wide eyed at Don, who he saw trying to apply pressure to the gaping stab wound in their brother's shoulder. "We have to get him back to the lair." Raph said quickly. "We have to get him help."

Don didn't say anything, but Raph saw his eyes quickly scanning his brother's body, adding up the injuries that he had sustained. The stricken face of his smartest brother caused Raph's stomach to lurch. This wasn't going to be good.

"He's losing blood too fast. He has a bad head injury, he has broken bones, his shell...I don't know if I have the supplies at home to take care of his injuries. He needs serious help guys." Don said quietly. "And he needs it fast."

Raph swallowed the lump in his throat as cold fear began to wind its way around his heart. "We have to do something!" he yelled, panic starting to set in. "He's dying!" He heard Mikey draw in a sharp breath at these words, but he didn't care. Why wasn't Don doing something!?

Don's face suddenly became resolute. "Mikey, keep pressure on his wound. Do not let up. We have to keep the bleeding to a minimum. Raph, try to keep him warm and try to stay calm." Once Mike took over, Don got up and pulled out his shell cell. Raph watched as his brother paced back and forth across the alley with the cell to his ear. "April?" He said, trying to keep panic out of his voice, but failing miserably. "April it's Don. We need help...we need help badly. I don't have time to explain, but you said you knew a vet once, a friend of yours?"

Raph looked up in alarm. "We can't take him to..." But Don held up his hand sternly, trying to silence his brother.

"Yeah, yeah we need a doctor quickly, one that is explicitly trustworthy." Raph watched as Don talked to April, his mouth hanging open. He looked at Mikey who seemed lost, staring at their injured brother's face as if willing him to suddenly heal.

"Great, thank you April. Thank you." Don heaved into the phone. He quickly sheathed his phone and turned. "We have to get Leo to Central Park, quickly."

"Central Park!?" Raph yelled, incredulous. "What is going on Don? What is this about a doctor?"

Don put his hand up between his closed eyes as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. He took a deep breath trying to will his fears away so he could stay calm. "Leo is hurt really badly guys." Don said softly. "Badly enough that I don't think I have the equipment or the full skill to heal him. If he has a chance of surviving we need to get him help, professional help. April told me once that she was good friends with a vet that worked at the Central Park Zoo. She said that she was sure her friend would meet us at the zoo clinic to help."

"But...how can we know we can trust this doctor?" Raph asked, his voice growing more panicked. "We are large talking turtles, how can we be sure this lady isn't going to harm Leo further, or rat us out?"

"I can't be sure." Said Don, his voice growing softer. "But if April trusts her, then I trust her, and she may be Leo's only shot. Now are we going to sit around here and waste more of his precious time, or are we going to move?"

That seemed to silence Raph. Don moved quickly back to Leo's side and breathed in sharply as he saw how much paler Leo had grown in those few short moments. He was losing blood fast, despite Mike's attempts to staunch it. He quickly took the cloth from Mikey's hands and began to tightly wrap it around Leo's shoulder to keep pressure on it while they moved him. Mikey numbly moved away as Don once again took over, still silent, his hands shaking slightly, sticky with his brother's blood. Don knew Mikey was terrified, he never did well when one of his brothers got hurt, but Don had no time for reassuring words, as he couldn't even find any for himself.

Don leaned back over Leo, trying to control the panicked tears that were threating to spill over his eyes. "Hang on bro," he whispered shakily, "please hang on."