Shadow Mutation (Book Seven)

Chapter 35: Decisions to be Made

"Look, Tay, I'm not saying come out here," Raphael says into his t-phone as he paces in the hospital waiting room. "You've got school. Don't—"

"Hell no. If Casey is hurt this badly, I'm coming," Taylor interrupts. "You already made me stay put when it was you. I'll drive out as soon as I can."

"Seriously? That's almost a five-hour drive—"

"I've got coffee and also, I don't give a shit." He hears her make a kiss sound over the phone. "Te amo, Raphael! See you soon."

She hangs up and Raphael sighs, pocketing his phone. The ER waiting room is crowded with more humans than Raphael is used to comfortably being around and his family, even disguised, stick out like a fistful of sore thumbs. Destiny and Sarina take up two chairs, holding each other's hands—Destiny fidgets, agitated, while Sarina stares at the floor. Raphael's brothers stand close by, shoulder to shoulder. Raphael tucks his hands in the pockets of his bomber jacket and joins them, clearing his throat.

"So, Tay's making the drive down here," he says.

"So is Andy," Michelangelo says. He rubs the back of his neck. "You know, that was my first time talking to her...but since I was using Casey's phone, I think she believed me."

"Good," Leonardo says. "What's the status on April?"

"Her phone went straight to voicemail. She might be in class," Donatello says. "I don't want to disturb her study."

"It's alright. We've got a bit of time," Leonardo says. "Casey's already been brought in."

"Can we see him?" Raphael asks.

"Not yet. They said they'll let us know."

Raphael mutters a curse and scuffs his shoe on the linoleum tile. "What do we do, then? Pretty sure the nurses don't want us loitering around."

"We still need to locate Zilla," Donatello says. "With it being so bright out, it won't be easy to find her."

"I can start looking," Michelangelo offers. "Lise is in class for a bit still and I need to let out some nervous energy." He makes his eyes as big as possible. "Please?"

Leonardo lets out a breath of a laugh and ruffles Michelangelo's blond curls. "You don't need to beg, Mikey. That'd be great if you handled that. We'll be here."

"We'll call if anything comes up, especially regarding Casey," Donatello says.

Michelangelo salutes. "I'm off, then! You can count on me!" He turns, stops, and pivots back. "Can I get the keys to the Party Wagon, Leo?"

Leonardo tosses him the keys. "Not a scratch, Mikey."

"Trust me, bro. I've got this."

----------

Michelangelo drives back to his usual end of town, a ten-minute drive from the hospital. He figures that the chances of finding Zilla in the hospital's end of town are basically none and he needs to move fast.

Every second he wastes is another second that Casey doesn't have.

"Shadow? Zilla? Helloooooo?" he calls, searching the alleyways for especially dark patches where she could be hiding.

The more he searches, the more lucky he thinks Casey is to have always found her as easily as he does. She's a hard girl to get a hold of. Alley after alley, shadow after shadow, and there's no sign of her as the sun crawls across the sky.

"Zilla?!" he shouts, caring less and less about being stared at anymore. "Please! It's about Casey!"

"Mikey? Is that you?"