Lost in the Fight

Chapter 28 - Stubborn as Shell

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

*Author's Notes: Chapter 28 of 'Lost in the Fight' is here and it's a bit shorter than the previous chapter, but this one is guaranteed to make you smile. Especially if you're a B Team fan. C=

As always, I want to thank all of you for reading, voting on, and/or commenting on my stories. I am so grateful to all of you for the support you have given me. Please continue to let me know if you're enjoying 'Lost in the Fight' or any of my other stories.

I really hope you like the chapter! ;) CJ

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Chapter 28 - Stubborn as Shell

Though not normally gullible by nature, there was this naïve side of Raphael that had been suckered into believing that once his brainiac brother woke up, their lives would go back to normal, but that had been just wishful thinking on the hothead's part.

A harsh dose of reality was always there to knock him flat on his shell.

Things were most definitely not going back to normal.

Not now . . .

Maybe not ever . . .

Yes, there were undeniable blessings to be counted. First and foremost, Donatello had survived against seemingly impossible odds. Granted, his condition was still not ideal by any means, but it had stabilized enough that he appeared to be out of any immediate life-threatening danger.

Little by little, Donatello was getting better, but it was obvious that his recovery was going to be painfully slow. Much slower than they had all hoped for. Donatello's illness and grave injuries had left him in such a weakened state, he could only manage to stay awake for short increments at a time before tiring and conking out for hours. The more he slept, the more difficult it was to build up his strength. And without his strength, his immune system was struggling to battle off the pneumonia that continued to plague his lungs.

The whole situation was a bit of a catch-twenty-two.

Still, Donatello was making modest progress, even if it wasn't as rapid as the family would have liked. This was something they all needed to be grateful for.

As the days crawled by, the genius turtle's wounds were visibly healing and his periods of consciousness were gradually growing into longer stretches. When he would wake, his family tried to keep him in a sitting position for as long as his debilitated body would allow. They were keeping their fingers crossed that this would help to clear out Donatello's clogged up chest, as well as prevent other health risks that the internet had informed them were common with bedridden patients, such as blood clots and pressure ulcers.

Raph was really starting to hate surfing. The web that is . . .

Their lack of medical knowledge had forced them to rely heavily on internet research. While the internet had proved to be an extraordinarily valuable resource in helping them treat Donatello, it had also done a fine job of scaring the heck out of them, providing them with way more information than they cared to know. The horrifying worst case scenarios they had come across had made Mikey break down crying multiple times. It was no wonder Donnie could be so overly paranoid at times, knowing all that he did.

After spending so much time reading up on how-tos and potential complications of everything from stab wounds to bedsores, Raphael now looked at his brainiac little brother with brand-new appreciation. Up until Donatello had gotten critically injured, the temperamental turtle had never realized what a tremendous burden came with the price of knowledge. Some of that stuff they had read about was downright terrifying, not to mention gross.