Emotionless Mutation (Book Three)

Chapter 23: Lessons in Planning

Destiny and Sarina's shared room isn't nearly big enough to hold the amount of mutants wanting to fit into it, prompting Splinter to direct everyone except Leonardo, Donatello, Sarina, and himself out into the hallway.

"Just because we're stuck out here doesn't mean we don't want to know what's happening!" Raphael calls into the room, arms crossed tightly over his chest. Casey gives an agreeing "hmph".

"We will let you know," Splinter says, giving his son's shoulder a quick squeeze.

Sarina feels her stomach twist when she sees Destiny. The wolf mutant is coated in a sheen of sweat and she shivers even with the blanket draped over her. Her hair is plastered to her face and when her eyes manage to open, they're glassy and wrought with discomfort. Leonardo quickly goes to the side of the bed that's closest to the wall and sits down, resting his hand against Destiny's head lightly. He almost cringes at the heat coming off of it.

"Des, Sarina's here," he murmurs. "She's gonna help."

Destiny's eyelids flutter and she finally notices the cyborg lingering at the doorway. "Good," she croaks, letting out a quick cough. "Ow..."

"Sarina," Donatello murmurs, nudging her. "Let's go."

Sarina nods, composing herself in an instant. She follows Donatello to the bedside, where Donatello takes a knee and Sarina stays standing. He reaches over to Destiny's pyjama tank top, where the bloody bandages around her shoulder are easily visible, and pushes the thin sleeve down enough to start unwrapping.

As he uncovers it, his face pales. "Oh shell..."

Leonardo and Sarina take a look at the shoulder, both faces going blank with shock and horror. The spot where Destiny was shot has blackened around the edges. It's inflamed and oozing pus, with red streaks surrounding it that makes her skin look cracked, and the gouge itself is radiating heat. When Donatello tries to examine it, his touch makes Destiny yelp.

"What is it?" Michelangelo asks from the hallway, trying to look in.

"Infection," Donatello utters. "Sarina? What do you think?"

Sarina leans down, her irises spinning as she examines the wound. Symptoms scroll by in her head and her eyes flash once as she grimaces. Immediately, the three males directly around her direct their attention to her, expectant.

"Kraang bullets are, obviously, not like human bullets. They sear the skin, making the wound deep and hard to clean," she explains. "Usually, the smaller ones leave burns that heal easily with regular treatment; using ointments and such. This, however, was from a full-blown Kraang ship. No medicine you have here will help." She looks down at Destiny, a grim look bringing her lips down as she delivers the last amount of news. "If we don't fix it, she'll lose her arm."

"Lose my arm?!" Destiny squeaks, her pupils dilating before she groans and sinks deeper into her pillow. "Just my luck."

"I'm convinced that the only reason she still has an arm right now is because of her wolf form. That gave you time," Sarina adds.

"Tell me you have a way to fix this," Leonardo begs.

There's a soft whirring sound as Sarina thinks, sifting through her memories and trying to connect the dots. There's a click and her eyes flash. She turns to the group, moving into view of the spectators outside the door.

"I know of a medicine that will be perfect. The Kraang created it in order to heal their brain bodies as well as repair burn marks on their droid bodies." She pauses, allowing them to take this in, then adds, "I know that it works because they tested it on me when they first created it, then perfected it on me as well. The only problem is that this medicine is currently located inside TCRI."