Hurt But Not Broken

Chp 17 ~ Kodak Moment

Raphael's P.O.V

"How could something like this have happened?!" Leatherhead demanded in an uproar. His friends, with the exception of Dr Rockwell, were keeping him from thrashing around too much. After LH laid our baby brother on the table he had to move away. Leatherhead was worried and at the same time livid.

I can understand that. I watched helplessly as Donnie tried to help Dr Rockwell and Mr Kurtsman with our baby brother. Mikey looked pale and was sweaty on his forehead. I had no idea how bad internal bleeding could get but why did it have to be Mikey that suffered?

Leo doesn't look any better than Mikey. He hasn't said a move, hell has hardly moved since we discovered something was wrong. And then Donnie hit the nail on the head with his "internal bleeding" statement. I, on the other hand, knew what was going on...my shock had ended. But I didn't know whether to stay quiet or to blow up. I wanted to do both and I was just...angry.

"Easy, Leatherhead..." Pete warned, practically flying in his face. I watched as Slash coaxed Leatherhead and Pete away from us to calm LH down. I looked back to see Sensei, who was out of the way, come up to Leo and me to put his hand on our shoulders supportively. I wanted to shrug it off and mope in a corner, but I let it go because Sensei looked so broken, like we were supporting him instead of the other way around.

"Here, I found the source!" D. Rockwell beamed in accomplishment. Donnie and Mr Kurtsman looked at Mikey's abdomen. Rockwell had unwrapped it to find that it was, in fact, bleeding again, "How could I have missed this before?!"

"Missed what?" Donnie asked nervously as we shifted as close as we could without getting in the way. I flinched when Leo reached over and gripped my hand really hard, or basically my fingers. I looked and was even more blown away to see his face scrunched up in pain and sadness. He was taking this even harder than I expected. I could see the self-hate on his face and scowl. I gripped his hand back as hard as I could and was rewarded with Fearless shifting his gaze to me. He looked so fragile at the moment.

"This... Mr. Kurtsman I need that cauterize utensil that I had used on Casey, then get me some fresh bandages," Dr Rockwell ordered while Sensei's hand on my shoulder tightened. I looked at him as Mr Kurtsman darted off, "Donatello, I need some needle and thread and some alcohol to re-clean the wound."

Donnie rushed off immediately, his body shivering and shaking constantly. I looked at Mikey's body and shuddered slightly myself. Mikey's skin was a light green now and was concerning. He was breathing slightly off pitch.

"What's wrong with him?" I demanded, moving forward slightly. I didn't fail to notice Leo shifting closer to me and Sensei following us.

"I originally thought these puncture marks were not so deep that they would need stitches..." Dr Rockwell looked slightly nervous and I glared.

"But?" Leo spoke up with a soft guilt-ridden voice. I wanted to facepalm and then slap him in the face. How the hell is any of this his fault!? Is he stupid?! Mr Kurtsman and Donnie came back then handed their tools over to Rockwell, who placed them on the table.

"But this one in the middle penetrated a little deeper," He tried to explain and I growled angrily. Leo clenched my hand again which I returned somewhat annoyingly, "The penetration from that "Squirlanoid" has torn a hole in one of your brother's blood vessels. Most likely it healed after we looked at it when he was first bandaged but this moving around tore it open again."

"What?!" Donnie and Leo cried and I clenched my teeth together. I knew that Mikey hurt every time he moved but I thought that was normal for his wounds. Apparently not as much as we thought. I clenched my other hand best I could with these stupid casts.