Little Miracle

Twenty-one

\Explaining/

Mikey's POV
===========

I woke up sweating, pain screaming out from my hands.

I looked around, expecting to see my bedroom. But no, I was in the lab. I guess one of my bros brought me in here while I was asleep.

"Come on, come on," I urged myself, slowly getting off the cot. "We gotta get up. I bet Leo and Raph and Donnie are already up."

I hummed as I stumbled to the kitchen, not letting any thoughts fill my mind.

But I could still picture when Shredder had whipped me, then poured the saltwater on those cuts.

I remembered when he had chained my broken hands up and beat me with the bat.

I still remembered when he had brought Donnie in. That had hurt the most. More than any pain he had dealt me before and after that. Yeah, a part of me was glad not to be alone, but that didn't even make a dent in the horror I had experienced. Shredder had my brother. I thought he was going to torture him, too, or maybe even kill him. He did torture Don, but only at the very end.

I bumped into something and fell down, inhaling sharply. I looked up at what I ran into and found three pairs of eyes on mine.

"Oh, um, hey guys?" I said, trying to get up. I used my elbows to hoist myself up, but was grabbed from behind.

"I got you," Raph said, hoisting me onto my feet. "Thanks," I said, then stared at the table. "Did you guys like the eggs?"

I saw my brothers exchange glances, a weird expression on their faces. "Y- y- yeah, Mikey. They were good," Donnie said, giving me a smile. I grinned back, sitting down on a chair next to them.

"Would you like something to eat?" Leo asked me, scooting closer. I shrugged and said, "Why not?"

I watched as Raph went to make something, curious as to what exactly he was making. "Hey, Mikey?" Leo asked, drawing my attention with the tone he was using.

"Yeah?" I asked, knowing he was going to ask about what had happened at Shredder's lair. But I don't want to talk about that. I just... I want to put it all behind me. I don't- I can't think about it.

Before Leo could ask, Raph handed me a bowl of food. I stared down at it, heart hammering in my chest. It was the same stuff I had in Shredder's lair. I could feel my eyes widen and my breathing quicken. I looked up, but I wasn't in the kitchen anymore.

I was in Shredder's lair. I saw the old, rusty, iron bars blocking me from freedom. I saw the wall behind me, with chains connecting from it to my arms. I saw the dimly lit candles just outside my cell, flickering shadows across the room. I saw the smooth and cracked stones, sound proof so that no one heard my screams.

I shakily looked down, the single bowl of brown mush sitting before me.

Drip.

I heard a dripping sound, then watched as a red raindrop fell into the bowl. My breath hitched, and I could feel my heart stop for a minute. That wasn't a raindrop.

It was blood.

I saw another drop fall and put a hand to my head. When I took it back, my hand was soaked with red. I tried to scream, but no sound came out. I looked down at the rest of my body, and froze.

It was just like the nightmare I had at Shredder's lair. I had no skin. I gaped at the pink muscle and gushing blood, unable to make a sound. This wasn't a dream, but I know it isn't real. Right?

I was back at home. I was with Donnie. I was with Leo. I was with Raphie. I was safe.

But... but...

I felt myself start shaking like I never had before, then black out.
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Raph's POV
==========

I snatched Mikey up from the chair, hugging his convulsing body as tears streamed down my face.

I had no idea what happened. I gave him a bowl of oatmeal, then he starts shaking like crazy.

"Get him to the lab! Get him to the lab!" Donnie was yelling, running ahead to throw open the lab doors. I ran inside and placed Mikey on the cot, still hugging him.

"Its okay Mikey. Stay with me, okay? Stay with me. Raphie's here with you. You're safe. No one's going to hurt ya. Just-" I stopped when I heard the heart monitor go flat.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

I jerked my head around, seeing a frozen Donnie stare at the screen. "His heart stopped!" Donnie said suddenly, running over to a cabinet and pulling down a weird machine.

"We need to use the defibrillator on him!" Donnie said quickly, hooking up all these crazy wires to Mikey. I stood there, right next to a shaking Leo, doing the same thing he was.

Freaking out.

"Clear!" Donnie yelled, zapping something. I watched as an electric charge filtered through my little brother, arching his back up.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

"340 joules! Clear!" Donnie said again, clicking the same button. Another charge went through Mikey, this one longer.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

Donnie blinked, tears cascading down his cheeks. "H- h- h- h- he- he- he- he's g- g-" Donnie began, but I knew what he was going to say.

"NO!" I shouted, rushing up to Mikey. "NO! He's not dead! He can't be!" I felt a hand on my shoulder and I pushed it off. Bringing my own hands together into a fist, I brought it down right where Mikey's heart was.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

Tears fell down my face and I yelled out in fury. I brought my fist down onto Mikey's chest again as hard as I could, ignoring Leo and Donnie.

Beeeeeep Beeeeeep Beeeep Beeeep Beep Beep Beep Beep

I stopped when I heard that sound, the most freaking amazing sound I have ever heard. I collapsed back onto the wall, chuckling as I continued to cry.

"H- he's alive!" Donnie exclaimed, checking the screen. "He's alive, guys. He's alive!"

Donnie and Leo started laughing, even as tears continued to fall, and I joined them. We laughed until Donnie went back to the screen, still chuckling.

"What does it say?" I asked him, stepping up to his side. "Will he be okay now?"

Donnie studied the screen for another second before nodding. "Yeah, he'll be fine."

"What was that about?" Leo asked Donnie, right before I could ask him the same question. Donnie sighed and turned back to us, one hand on Mikey's arm.

"When we were there, Shredder had this food- if you could call it that- he gave us. It was like a weird, brown mush that tasted horrible. I guess it sorta looked like oatmeal," Donnie said, eyes locking onto mine.

I groaned and put my head in my hands, feeling horrible.

"Its okay, Raph," Leo said, placing one hand cautiously on my back. "You didn't know. Its okay."

"Its not okay, Leo!" I protested, meeting his dark blue eyes.  "He just died because of my oatmeal!"

I looked over at Mikey, one hand on his chest as I listened to his heartbeat, thinking of the fact that he had been dead just moments before.

"Donnie, I think its time you told us what happened there," Leo said. I watched as Donnie sat down, motioning for us to do the same. "I don't know what all happened, but I could tell you what I think and know happened," he said.

"When I first got into that cell..."