I See Through You

Chapter. 10

When we got to her house, her mother seemed like she would have a heart attack.

"Valentina!" She exclaimed when she saw her daughter. "Minha filha... (My daughter...)" She said, but I didn't understand. That was when I realized she spoke in Portuguese - I usually don't even remember Val and her parents are Brazilian since her and her parents' English is completely natural.

Still, her father came and pulled his wife in a hug as he was saying - what I suppose it was - soothing words to calm her down.

"We'll take her to her room." I said as I started to head there.

When we got there, I slowly and gently put her on her bed. And when I stepped back, Donnie got in front of me.

"I need a first aid kit." He said. I nodded.

After getting it and handing him the kit, he told me to wait outside, but I refused.

"Leo, I need to work." He said.

"Then do it. I won't get in your way." I said as I stepped back and crossed my arms.

He let out a sigh, but soon enough started working on her. He took off her cardigan and my heart sank with what I saw.

Her arms had cuts all over them. Some were big and were still bleeding, while others were small and already started to get inflamated.

Donnie started with the small ones as he also cleaned the big ones. It took him a while, but he managed to clean them all. Then, he started stitching the bigger ones. I flinched a bit each time he got a needle through her skin.

When he was done, he moved to her torso. He lifted her tank top up and what I saw made me clench my teeth and fist so hard I thought my teeth would break and my hands would start bleeding.

She was bruised there too. Badly. Black marks and even ones that were so bad they were getting green on her stomach and waist. Not to mention some cuts that were open on the same places too.

Donnie didn't waste a single second. He started to take care of them.

When he was done, he wrapped her torso and went to her head.

He analyzed it and scanned it. I let out a sigh of relief when he said there were no serious concussions. Just those hits she got from that bastard.

After he was done, we went to talk to her parents. They were so relieved to hear she was hurt but was alive and now only needed some rest.

Then, Chief Vincent walked up to me, but spoke to everyone. "The criminals know about the turtles, and they knew when and where to attack Valentina."

I clenched my teeth. "They know we watch over Val, but they know we only do it at night. That's why they attacked her in the afternoon." I said.

"Daniel, o que a gente vai fazer com esses monstros atrás da nossa filha? (Daniel, what will we do with those monsters after our daughter?)" Her mother said as she got more tears flowing from her eyes.

"Shh. A gente vai dar um jeito, Le. (Shh. We'll think of something, Le.)" Val's father said as he hugged his wife.

Then, he turned to us. "Any ideas of how we can protect her?" He asked.

"We can keep an eye on her at night, but during the day..." Donnie trailed off.

"Why not ask her friends from school?" Mrs. Lopes said.

"Honey, they wouldn't know how to protect themselves, much less her. Besides, you know she doesn't trust them." Her husband replied.

"We could ask Jones." Raph suggested. After all this time, I know he sees Val as his little sister.

"Who is that?" Mr. Lopes asked.

"He's a police officer and a friend of the turtles. He could keep an eye on your daughter while they can't." Chief Vincent said.

"Can we meet him? I want Valentina to know him." Mrs. Lopes said.

And after the Chief nodded, she turned to us.

"Come on, boys. You need to get back to your lair." She said.

But...

"No." I said, making everyone else turn to me. "You guys go. I'll stay."

"What?" Raph asked.

"But why, bro?" Mikey asked.

"To keep an eye on Val and her parents. We don't know if those guys we beated up were everyone inside this Purple Dragon group. There can be others. I'll stay and make sure they won't lay a finger on this family."

Then, I turned to Val's parents. "That is if you are willing to let me stay."

They nodded. "You saved our daughter twice. She trusts you. And we trust you too, Leonardo. Thank you." Her father said.

I nodded.

After saying goodbye to everyone, I went up to Val's room - after her mother managed to get her into more comfortable clothes and tucked her under the bed, that is - and closed the door. I grabbed a chair and sat by her bed's side.

Then, without thinking I held her hand.

"Please, wake up soon, Val. Please..."