TMNT Shell Shots

Under the Skin

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

*'Under the Skin' Summary: This story takes place shortly after the episode 'The Deadly Venom.' After their near-fatal encounter with Karai, the family goes to bed thinking that the Healing Hands technique has successfully cured everyone, but they are wrong.

*Author's Notes: I've finally returned with another 'TMNT Shell Shot.'  It's so good to back. I've missed all of you very much. 😊 

First things first! A huge thank to everyone who nominated my stories for the 2017 TMNT Universal Reader's Choice Awards. Holy chalupa! I was totally blown away by the nominations I received. I'm so grateful to all of you. 

This story was one of several 'TMNT Shell Shots' nominated for the Reader's Choice Awards, so I really wanted to share it with all of you.

Thank you so much to my friend, @HyunaLeo96, for the story suggestion and thanks to all of you who have taken the time to read any of my 'TMNT Shell Shots.' I truly appreciate your kindness and support. ;) CJ

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Under the Skin

The shrill sound of the flatline ringing in his ear slits made it nearly impossible for him to think straight.

For ten minutes it had been going off.

Ten minutes had passed and still no response.

His brain kept telling him it had been too long, yet still, he continued to heave his hands up and down. His breath came out in time with his compressions. Her breath didn't come out at all. Even after ten minutes of CPR.

Ten minutes turned into eleven, then twelve . . . Still, he kept thrusting his hands down into her lifeless chest.

"Donnie."

He heard the sound of his oldest brother's dejected voice, but it did not slow his momentum. He blew two more deep breaths of air into her lungs and went right back to chest compressions.

"Donnie, please."

He felt the surprisingly gentle tug on his shoulder from his immediate older brother, but again, he did not allow it to slow his momentum.

"Donnie, stop! Please!"

He couldn't see the tears brewing in his younger sibling's eyes, but he knew they were there. He could hear the hurt in his baby brother's pleas for him to stop, but he just kept right on pushing.

"Donatello."

He recognized the firm yet soothing tone in his sensei's voice. He knew that his father would not be as easily dissuaded as his brothers.

But he wasn't about to quit. Even if his father wanted him to.

He would not give up on her.

Not ever.

"She is gone, my son. It is time to let her go."

No. No! NO!

He felt two strong pairs of hands forcefully and somehow compassionately pull him away from the body. Despite his best efforts to fight them off, he could not overpower his older brothers. The adrenalin that had been coursing through his veins was starting to wear off, leaving him defenseless in their grasp. He let out a pitiful sob of anguish when reality settled over him like a two-ton slab of concrete.