Lost in the Fight

Chapter 22 - Losing Hope

*Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

*Author's Notes: Here's chapter 22 of 'Lost in the Fight.' It's a bit shorter than the previous chapters, but it's a significant one.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read, vote on, and/or comment on 'Lost in the Fight' as well as my other stories.  As always, if you are enjoying this story, please vote on and/or comment on it. I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks so much for reading. ;) CJ

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Chapter 22 - Losing Hope

It had been ten grueling days since the incident at the warehouse, and yet, Donatello remained completely unresponsive, seemingly oblivious to anyone's presence or their pleas for him to open his eyes. The genius turtle continued to show no signs of waking and his family was left to wait in agony, desperately clinging to whatever hope they were still able to summon.

With each passing day, their hearts sank a little lower as the grim reality that Donatello might not pull through began to set in. The thought of losing him was slowly tearing the family apart, piece by piece.

The lair had never been so unnervingly quiet. For the most part, conversations were being kept to a bare minimum as they all tried to avoid an impending emotional breakdown. Most verbal exchanges still taking place between them occurred whenever there was a shift change. As the next family member would enter the infirmary to take over watching Donatello while he slept, the family member ending their shift would provide a detailed update on what they had done and observed during their watch, as well as what would need to be done on the next shift. Not that there was ever much to update on when they got to the 'what they had observed' part of the conversation. That's because Donnie hadn't 'done' anything noteworthy for days now.

While Donatello quietly seemed to be slipping away from them, his family was also slipping away. The overwhelming angst was gradually killing them inside. If they were to lose Donnie, they would never be able to recover. How could they possibly go on without him?

All would be lost.

Maybe it already was . . .

That was what Leonardo had been stressing out about for ten days straight now.

Were they lost beyond the point of return? Was all hope gone?

The oldest turtle swallowed thickly through his ever-tightening throat.

Presently, he was a little over an hour into his morning shift and it had already been a nerve-racking one.

Perhaps more than anyone, Leo was struggling to keep it together and put on the brave face that they all expected from him. Every day he waged a war against his inner demons, constantly fighting to keep his emotions at bay for his family's sake. It felt as though everything was going to collapse around him and he was at a total loss as to how to fix it. Fixing things had always been Donnie's department. Without him, everything was broken . . .

Leo pressed his lips into a thin line to silence his agony. He was supposed to be the 'fearless' leader. He was supposed to be the one to step up and guide his brothers through even the worst of hardships. The one who provided them with direction when there appeared to be none. The problem was, his own faith had been shaken to the very core and he was finding it incredibly difficult to convince himself to move forward, let alone his family.

A shudder ran through Leonardo's entire body as he thought about just how bad things had gotten. In an effort to comfort himself, Leo pulled Donnie closer to him and rested his chin atop his genius brother's head.