Lost in the Fight

Chapter 26 - Broken

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

*Author's Notes: I'm back with chapter 26 of 'Lost in the Fight.'

I want to thank everyone for reading, voting on and commenting on this story as well as my other stories. Thank you! Please continue to do these things if you are enjoying what I have written. I really appreciate the feedback and the support.

I really hope you like the chapter . . . ;) CJ

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Chapter 26 - Broken

A low moan escaped Donatello's lips as he started to come out of his slumber.

Funny, I don't remember the lights in the lab being so obnoxiously bright before . . .

"Hey! Look who's awake," came the comforting sound of his oldest brother's voice and hearing it somehow lessened the pain circulating throughout Donnie's entire body, but not by much. He still felt absolutely horrible.

Upon seeing his genius brother's eyes flitter open, Leonardo had carelessly tossed aside the outdated magazine that he had been skimming through so that he could roll his chair closer to Donnie's cot.

"Good morning, little brother. How are you feeling?"

There was a significant pause before the answer was given.

"Much better."

Yes, that had been a bald-faced lie, but if Donnie would have told Leonardo the honest truth about how he really felt, he was afraid that his sometimes overbearing brother would simply order him to go right back to sleep.

Peering over at Leonardo, Donnie watched his big brother skeptically raise one side of his eye ridge and pucker his mouth into a stern scowl.

Busted . . .

The brainy turtle instantly started to gnaw on the inside of his lower lip while he turned his gaze away from his older brother, two gestures that further verified that he had been lying through his teeth.

"Okay, let's try this again, Donnie. I say, 'How are you feeling?' And this time, you tell me the truth. How are you feeling, Donnie?"

The no-nonsense expression on Leonardo's face told the injured turtle that he wasn't going to be able to talk his way out of this one.

A sickly-sounding wheeze deflated out of Donnie's chest before he groaned his response.

"All right. If you must know . . . I feel like I got hit . . . by a Kraang Stealth Ship."

Curling his mouth into a sort of half grimace/half frown, Donnie pressed his hand against his aching plastron. Of all the things wrong with him, he wasn't even quite sure what hurt the most – the surplus of contusions and wounds, the throbbing head, the broken bones, or the pneumonia. Not that it really mattered which one was the worst. All of them combined were pretty much making him miserable.

"Well, your voice sounds a little better." As soon as Leonardo had said those words, he regretted them. His corny 'look at the bright side' comment had been nothing more than a selfish means for him to try to ease his guilty conscience. There was no doubt in his mind that his overly perceptive brother would see right through such a trite statement and recognize that the watery attempt to seek out something positive amidst all the negatives was just Leo's way of trying to make himself feel slightly better about what he had done.

The sound of Donnie groaning again pulled Leo out of his disparaging thoughts and his mood soon lightened when he saw his little brother staring at him with his puppy dog eyes.