Lost in the Fight

Chapter 27 - Turtle Tales

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

*Author's Notes: Here's chapter 27 of 'Lost in the Fight' and it's a rather long one.

Thank you very, very much to everyone who has read, voted on and commented on 'LITF.' That's so incredibly nice of you and I appreciate it more than words can say. Please continue to leave feedback if you are enjoying this story. 

Thanks, again, for reading. ;) CJ 

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Chapter 27 - Turtle Tales

A hush fell over the infirmary like a heavy blanket of snow, threatening to suffocate them under its weight.

The two oldest brothers gazed down at Donatello while he just continued to vacantly stare at his bandaged shoulder. His face still betrayed no emotion.

Unable to take the awkward silence between them, Leonardo decided the best course of action would be to resume the retelling of events from the night that Donnie had been captured, hoping that it might elicit some kind of a reaction from his second youngest brother.

"After we discovered your duffle bag, we followed the GPS coordinates sent from your phone and they led us to an abandoned warehouse. When we went inside, we found you unconscious and chained from the rafters. We thought there was no one else inside the warehouse, but right after we got you unchained, this mutated grizzly bear came after us." Leo stopped the story when he noticed that Donnie was now visibly trembling.

The mere thought of Grizzgore made the genius turtle shudder in his shell. He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to draw in a calming breath, but all that did was spark yet another coughing fit. Luckily for Donnie, this one was much shorter-lived than his previous coughing spell.

Before Donatello had even realized that Leonardo had moved, the oldest turtle was back once more with the glass of water, holding it up in front of him.

Again with the water? What? Is he going to shove a glass of water in my face every time I cough? Donnie mentally groaned, glaring at the beverage as though it had been poisoned. He knew that Leo was only trying to help, but he felt as if he was being treated like a three-year-old.

The injured turtle let out a raspy breath.

Being the patient was not something that Donnie was good at. Not at all. He was supposed to be the medical practitioner of the family, not the one being treated for health problems.

Now he knew how his brothers felt all those times that he had taken care of them and adamantly insisted that they follow doctor's orders . . .

This was his payback.

Looking at the tall glass of water before him, Donnie assured himself that he would have done the same exact thing if it had been one of his siblings lying there coughing. Bearing that in mind, the brainy turtle politely agreed to take Leo up on his offer, only this time, Donnie wanted to be more self-sufficient about it and maybe keep a shred of his pride intact. He attempted to push himself up into a half-sitting position, but it wound up a miserable fail at best. His one arm wasn't strong enough to push himself up off the cot more than a few inches. His brothers, of course, saw this and immediately came to his aid.

Much to his embarrassment, Donatello was forced to rely on his siblings, yet again, to help him take a couple measly sips of water. And, yet again, he felt like a helpless child.

Maybe I should just ask them for a sippy cup, Donnie thought petulantly. Then, he heard his older brothers' merciless voices taunting him in his mind . . .