Poisons Of Fear

Chapter 15

The next morning, Haley struggled to put a sweatshirt on over the bandages on her arms, not only because of the pain but because of the fact they would have fallen off if the sleeves pulled on them.  

She quietly opened her door and stepped out into the hallway.  The cold stone floor sent chills through her body as she walked into the open space of the lair.  She could hear the boys still in the dojo training with Master Splinter.  Haley let out a sigh as she quietly walked into Donnie's lab.  

After a few minutes of searching throughout the entire room, Haley found the first aid kit at the bottom of the drawer in his desk.  She set the tin box on Donnie's cluttered table and started digging for the bandages.  There was everything from antibacterial wipes, burn cream, regular bandaids, and more, but she couldn't find the bandages she needed.  

"Damnit.  Where are they?" Haley asked herself.  She was hoping to get out of Donnie's lab and her arms wrapped up properly before the boys were finished with their training.  

"Where is what?"  A voice said suddenly from behind her.  Haley jumped before turning around to see Donnie standing behind her.  

Haley let out an annoyed sigh as she relaxed a bit.  "Donnie!  You scared the crap out of me," She said quietly.  

Donnie let out a small laugh.  "Sorry.  I forget I don't have to be as quiet as possible all the time," He started walking towards her.  "What were you looking for?  More bandages?"  

"Yeah..." Haley said.  She was trying to act innocently like her arms were not a dried, bloody mess under her sleeves.  "They feel like they're about to fall off.  I think I was just moving around too much last night.  I was just going to change them before breakfast."  

Donnie shrugged.  "I mean, okay.  But usually, I help you with that.  It's kinda hard to do on your own.  You'd be lucky if the bandages didn't fall off again within the next hour."  

Haley sighed.  He didn't know how right he was at that moment.  "I know, but I thought I might as well try.  Plus, you guys were in training."

"Well, I'm out of training now," He walked over to his shelves and pulled out a big cardboard box.  He set it down and opened it, pulling out a brand new roll of bandages.  "We used the rest of the other roll yesterday," He explained before walking up to Haley.  "C'mon, roll up your sleeves.  I'll be done before breakfast is ready." 

Haley knew Donnie would not let her do this herself, especially since he was here with the bandages.  Even if she pushed to do them herself, Donnie would suspect something was up with her.  She let out a sigh as she started pulling up her sleeves.   She could visibly see Donnie's eyes change into a shocked expression.  

Donnie set down the bandage and immediately went back to his shelves.  "It looks like you're still bleeding.  We need to stop the bleeding and clean it.  If you get an infection, it could get into your bloodstream," He set down another cardboard box full of different creams, cotton balls, and other various medical items.  "Your burns should not be opening up like this, at least not at this stage in healing.  Usually, this happens after the burns when you're still in the hospital."  

Haley winced slightly as Donnie started to peel off the dried, bloody bandages from her arms.  He had to put some pressure behind the pulls because of the amount of time the bandages had been on.  Donnie didn't look up from what he was doing but asked Haley a question.  "How did you do this?"  

She felt her breath catch in her throat.  "I... I told you, it was probably from moving around last night."  

Donnie grabbed a tube of antibiotics.  He squeezed some onto his hands.  "Haley, there are perfect scratch marks on your arms where they aren't burned," He paused.  "I'm going to put this on your burns.  It's cold so it will probably sting a little."  

That was an understatement in Haley's mind.  She felt like her burns were being poked with a thousand needles.  She gritted her teeth as she clenched her hands into fists.  

Donnie pulled back a little, giving her some time to adjust to the pain before he started wrapping her bandages.  He sighed.  "Look, you don't have to tell me you're going through a rough time for me to notice it.  You lost your entire family and never even got a chance to say goodbye to them.  I'd be more worried if I thought you were fine.  But, you cannot resort to hurting yourself every time you start to get overwhelmed.  We're here to help you.  You just have to let us." 

Haley felt tears start to come to her eyes.  She knew it was from the physical pain as well as the emotional pain she was trying to desperately ignore.  She didn't say anything, but she did nod.  

Donnie nodded.  "Okay.  Let's wrap this up before breakfast," He said gently.  "I know that you and Leo aren't... a couple or anything," He said awkwardly.  "But, I know you guys are closer.  I think you should talk to him.  He may not tell you, but he is very worried about you right now," Haley just nodded again.  

A few minutes later, Donnie had wrapped Haley's arms in new, pristine bandages.  You would have never guessed how bad the mess was underneath them.  They had finished just in time too, because Mikey was screaming to everyone that breakfast was ready.

Donnie pulled the door back for Haley and the both of them walked out.  Leonardo was sitting in the tv area, but when he saw Haley he stood up immediately and started making his way over to her.  "Good morning, Haley.  Are you okay?"  

Haley gulped as she tried to act normal.  "Good morning, and yeah, I am.  Why?"  

"I went to your room but you weren't there.  Usually, you're not up this early."

Haley shrugged.  "Oh, I just woke up early for no reason and couldn't go back to sleep.  I figured I might as well change the bandages and save some time after breakfast." 

Leo glanced at Donnie who just nodded as he walked over to the kitchen.  He then looked at Haley.  "Okay.  Well, as long as you're okay," There was another pause.  "Let's get some breakfast.  I don't know about you, but I'm starving."