Dancing with Fire

Chapter Twenty

"Racheal? Can you hear me?" A faint voice cuts into my murky view. I groan, and try to open my eyes. No luck.
"It's ging to be ok Raph. She's responding to voices." I heard Donnie say. Raph! He came back for me! Shredder doesn't have us anymore! I force my eyes open.
"She's awake!" Raph cried.
"I'm right here Raph. You don't have to yell." I say. My voice sounds rusty, even to me.
"Yeah, well you've been out for two days. I've been worried." Raph said. Donnie comes into my vision.
"How am I, doc?" I joked. Raph scowled at me.
"You're completely fine Racheal. The muta-"
"What Donnie is trying to say is that you're fine. You don't have the cancer anymore." Raph interrupted. Then he laughed nervously.
"Raph. What's going on?" I asked sternly.
"Donnie, give us a sec please." Raph said. Donnie left the room, closing the door behind him. I turned my gaze on Raph.
"I want answers now." I demanded.
"Well, we rescued you from Shredder two days ago. He had you and two other girls for a month. I'm surprised that you're still alive." Raph said.
"What's that supossed to mean?" I asked, frustrated.
"It means that you were human, and Shredder came within an inch of killing you." Raph said.
"Was human?" I asked, confused.
"You fell into a container of mutagen while we were getting you out. I tried to grab your hand, but I missed." Raph said guiltily, looking down.
"WHAT?! What the heck am I now?" I shrieked. Raph handed me a mirror.
I studied my reflection; I had my green eyes still, and my hair cascaded down my back. But now I looked like a turtle. I wasn't wearing any gear, or a mask. Holding the mirror out further from me, I was able to see just how much damage Shredder had done to me: I had cuts all down my arms and legs, along with several on my face. One of my arms was in a cast, and I was on crutches; I had a bandage on the left side of my face. I gave the mirror back to Raph.
"What took you guys so long?" I asked quietly.
"What?" Raph asked. He was so unhelpful sometimes.
"What took you so long to rescue me?" I asked, my voice rising a little bit.
"Oh, you know. Leo wanted a plan, and Shredder kept us on our toes with increased activity from the Foot. And you dropped your phone in the woods, so we couldn't track you." Raph said.
"Really? It took you a month to rescue me, my sister, and my best friend from the one building that Shredder is in the whole time?" I asked, doubtful. Raph didn't say anything.
"That doesn't sound like the Raph that I know. The Raph I know would've rescued me in a few days." I said.
"What was I supossed to do?! Splinter had us on lockdown in the lair, Leo wasted my time with a plan that didn't even work, and we didn't even know that Shredder was the one that had you!" Raph exploded.
"You could've at least snuck out and looked for us! It's not like Shredder has a million buildings-he only has two! The Kraang aren't even interested in me! Why in the world would they want me?!" I retorted angrily.
"Well, you said that you were going to be home, but you didn't even give me a time! And you went into the freaking woods! Who does that?! You should've known that spelled trouble! The Purple Dragons will get anybody they see!" Raph raged.
"Oh, because cancer wasn't a good enough reason to leave the sewers for a couple of hours to tell my family and closest friend! Sometimes you act like I don't have a brain Rapheal." I exclaimed.
"You don't have a brain! You were stupid enough to go out in the woods, in the middle of the night, in New Yok City!" Raph bellowed. I blinked, fighting back tears. We had argued before, but this was awful. Raph never called me stupid, or anyhing mean for that matter.
"Get out." I said.
"What?" Raph asked, calming down.
"I said: get. out. I don't want you in here." I snarled. Raph's face softened, and his anger disaperred.
"Rach, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"GET OUT!" I screamed. Raph stood up, and walked towards the door.
"I love you." He said, and walked out. I stood up, and started pacing. I can't deal with a mean Raph, I already have too much anger myself.
"Donnie?" I called out. I heard some footsteps, and Donnie poked his head in.
"Ready for your diagnosis?" He asked.
"Yeah." I said, greatful that Donnie understood. He sat down on a chair in front of me, and folded his fingers up in front of him. He looked like a college professor.
"Alright. You have a broken arm, a cut muscle in your hamstring, tons of cuts, and a nasty scratch on your face." Donnie said.
"What about Amy and Char?" I asked, nervous to hear about them.
"Who?" Donnie asked, confused.
"The two girls that you guys rescued." I said. Donnie's face reflected understanding now.
"Oh, um, both of them have a ton of cuts, Amy has a collasped lung, and Charlotte has a broken leg. But both of them are healing fine, and they got up yesterday." Donnie said. I chuckled, imaging their reactions.
"Oh, they were fine. Neither one screamed or anything. You told them about us while you were captured right? That's why they knew us so well." Donnie said, also amused.
"Can I see them now?" I asked eagerly. Donnie gestured for me to leave. I bolted-well not bolted, more like heavily limped- out the door.
"Amy? Char?" I called out.
"Amy is in Leo's room, and Mikey is teaching Charlotte how to play the PlayStation." Donnie called out to me. I walked into the living room, and was mildly surprised to see Char creaming Mikey at MarioKart.
"No!" Mikey wailed.
"You beat me again! How?" Mikey howled.
"Hm...I'll never tell." Char said mysteriously. I laughed, and they both turned around.
"Rach! You're up!" They both cried out. Mikey helped Char over, and she gave me a big hug.
"How come you never told me that all of them were so hot?" She whispered in my ear. I payfully shoved her backwards, grinning.
"Ah, I see. This is the start of a beautiful relationship." I said dramatically, pointing to the both of them. Char shrieked, and Mikey blushed.
"No!" Mikey protested.
"That's what I said with Rap-" I stopped abruptly.
"So have you seen Amy yet?" Char said, changing the subject.
"No. Donnie said she's in Leo's room?"I asked.
"Yeah. They meditate all the time together." Char said, giving me a subtle wink.
"Love is in the air." I muttered. I limped upstairs, leaning on the banister heavily. I finally got to Leo's room, only to see the door closed. Hmm....
"Leo? Amy?" I called, knocking on the door. Amy poked her head out, grumbling.
"Hey." I said. Amy grinned, and opened the door up the whole way. She pulled me into a giant hug. Finally, she let go.
"Glad to see me, huh?" I joked.
"Well, yeah! I mean, they all thought you were dead." Amy said seriously.
"Well if they would've rescued us sooner..." I muttered.
"Hey, I heard your fight with Raph. You ok?" Amy asked me softly.
"Oh, I'm fine." I said nonchantly. I was hurting on the inside though. I wasn't fine. Amy gave me a you're-being-stupid look.
"Ok." She said finally.
"So, Char and Mikey?" I said, changing the subject. Amy smirked.
"Never would've thought that." She said.
"And you and Leo?" I said slyly.
"Nope." Amy said confidently.
"Ah, Amy you're being so strong. I can tell that Leo likes you." I said offhandedly.
"Leo likes me? Did he tell you?" Amy whispered excitedly. I raised my eyebrows. Amy blushed.
"Alright, maybe I do have a small crush on Leo." She admitted.
"I'm starving. I'm going downstairs for a snack." I announced. Turning, I limped back down the stairs. Everybody was in a relationship, and Raph and I were falling apart. Somebody save me...