Chapter 2-
Easing the lids of my eyes open, I stared tiredly at the ceiling of grey stone. Blinking several times, trying to dismiss the blurriness that fogged up my visions.
My body felt weak and sore, grunting when I tried my first attempt to push myself upwards. My form was stiff. I groaned loudly once I managed a sitting position. I felt dizzy as I took my first breath of the air and my lungs burned in a result. My gaze wandered around the room, studying each detail. The lab. It changed. There's so many things taken away and so many things that was added since the last time I saw it. Then sitting at the desk in front of his computer. Donatello. He looked--- older. Bulkier. And his skin was more pale then his normal warm olive skin color. I noted to myself of the many scars that was added to the frame.
"D-Donnie?" I spoke. My voice was rough, cracked and sounded deeper then I last remembered hearing it. Course that could have been just me. I blinked when I found the large turtle froze before slowly turning and gaping at me with disbelief and utter shock. His mouth ajar.
"L-Leo? Y-You’re awake? You’re finally awake!" His own voice was a bit lower but furthermore it stayed the same pitch. Confusion filled my head at the tone of astonishment reached my ears. What could have happened to me that would leave Donnie so flabbergasted about my being awake?
"Yeah, I'm awake. H-How long did I sleep, anyways?" I asked. Rubbing my head, trying to sooth the pounding head ache. Looking down at my form, I found IV's in my arms. Tubes for breathing in my nose. I pulled them off immediately. I had scars I don't remember getting that looked kind of old. My skin color seemed paler as well, and my limbs were smaller. That could only mean I was out for a long time.
I stared at my genius brother when I realized that he never answered me. He had a look of worry and uncertainty that caused my insides to twist uncomfortably.
"L-Leo . . . You were in a coma." I looked at him puzzlingly. Not sure I heard right.
"What?"
"You were in a coma . . . for over two years." My eyes widen to abnormal size. My breathing becoming unusually and probably dangerously heavy.
"Leo?" I had heard him call me, but I didn’t pay him any attention at this point.
Two years!? What all could have happened in two years!?
"Master Splinter and Mikey have to know that you’re awake." He immediately took off out of the lab. Shouting for our father and brother. All three of them took no time in showing up, crowding the laboratory. Wide eyes and breathing coming in pants.
"Oh my God, Leo! You’re awake!" Mikey was the first to end up in my arms. I could already see tears falling from his eyes. Mikey's skin had turned warmer and brighter than his usual tone. He had a few more scars then Don and his orange mask changed so it was covering all of his top head. It took a few minutes before my younger brother separated from me and my father took his place.
"My son--- I never thought you would wake up. It's a miracle." Tears were spilling from his eyes as well as they soaked in his now gray fur that was growing thinner by the years. A few scars that I was capable to see as the fur was no longer covering them up. His robe has changed to a brown and red poncho and I figured that his other one just got worn out.
Suddenly the sound of Mikey's t-phone went off. He took it out, his eyes widening at the screen.
"I got to take this." And with that he left the room. Silence following in his quake. I looked over my family that has altered in so many features, but yet, they managed to remain the same in personality. Then I realized that one of my brothers was missing.
Where's Raph?
Before I was about to ask, Mikey already peeked in.
"Um--- Donnie?"
"Yeah Mikey?"
"He's coming home." Don went silent.
"What's going on? Who's coming home?" I asked. Feeling curious and quite anxious. Don sighed, excusing Master Splinter and Mikey out. What the hell was going on?
"There's a lot that happened when you were in a coma. Big changes were made. Some would probably have been best not to happen."
"What happened Donnie? Please tell me? Where's Raph?" I spat out. Instantly feeling scared and worried.
"How much do you remember before your coma?"
"Well, I just remember that we all went out on patrol. We were fighting some Purple Dragons. Then everything blacked out." I knew there was more to it than that, but I didn’t bother to state them. So far, things already seemed muddled up as it is.
Raph--- I was planning on telling Raph something at the end of patrol. That I--- That I loved him . . . Two years has passed before I could tell him.
"Hm--- So a good portion of it." He rubbed his chin before looking at me straight in the eyes. "Leo, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there’s no use in lying. Everything--- Everybody's changed. You got hit with a metal baseball bat. When we brought you home, I gave you an x-ray and found that a bone in the back of your skull was fractured and was pressing against your brain. I had to do surgery to put it back in place. After that you went into a coma. I couldn't predict when you were going to wake up. All we could do was keep taking care of you till you did."
". . . So what happened when I was down?" I asked.
"Well, for the first year. We were taking care of you. Keeping plenty of fluids in you. Feeding you through a tube. Exercise your limbs so they don't freeze. Then changing you. Raph did most of the work. In fact, he was the one that stayed by your bed side for most of the time. He never wanted to separate from you. He didn't eat, didn't sleep, didn't train, and never went out. He basically tortured himself. It lasted a month before he finally could pry himself away without force to take care of himself."
I frowned as I listened to him. It was sweet that Raph was willing to take care of me, but the fact that he tortured himself just to do it. Honestly, it made me want to hunt him down a smack him upside the head.
"After a little more than half the year passed, he devoted all his free time to training. He never trained with us though. After Mikey and I did our time, he would immediately lock himself in the dojo for hours on end. Till he was practically dead on the floor before he would release himself of the torture. The other half of his time would be sitting beside you. Usually the sleep he gets was leaning against the bedside. If we tell him to go to bed he would start shouting at us, sometimes get violent if he was angry enough. Not even Splinter could get through to him."
I pulled my legs up to my chest and hugged them tightly. "What happened then?"
"After the year was over and you still haven't woken up. Things just got worse. He took on the part of becoming the leader, responsible of the family. And I know you would be like, "How is that bad?" The fact was, he may have learned how to get control of his temper and was able to fight a lot easier than he used to. He found that solving his problems was through violence. He went out on patrol late at night, but not with us. He would lock himself in the dojo or his room. We hardly saw him anymore. Then visiting you was becoming less frequent."
"About a half of this year and the next has past of this behavior, before it just became worse. Soon he totally ignored us. He would go on these long trips that would last about a week or two with no word before he suddenly returns for a day or two and then goes back out. We found out that he started killing. He killed the Purple Dragons and the foot. In fact, I know that he's plotting to attack the Shredder. He hasn't done it, but I know it's soon."
"He took up learning about medical exercises. Surgical procedures. Mechanical engineer. Weapons smith. Carpenter. Anything you can think of. I bet Raph knows how to do. In fact, if he hung around here more I could retire as the genius of the lair. But, he pretty much moved out from being a part of the family. He comes around the holidays for about three to four days before he takes off again. So pretty much Mikey has been taking care of being the leader of this family."
"I thought you would be the next in command if not Raph." I stated questionably.
"I--- haven't been much the same. I've dedicated my life to my work. Trying to make sure there was anything I could do to make you wake up sooner before this family really tears apart. Master Splinter is sick and is slowly dying of old age. Mikey has been taking care of him. You can find that he isn't exactly the same like before. He hasn't pulled a prank in a year and a half. Ever since Raph left, Splinter got sick, and I locked up in my lab. He hasn't been able to pull a prank on anyone. But you’ll be glad to know, he is more mature then what he used to be."
"You just seemed dead to Master Splinter and Raph. They believed that you would never wake up. So they treated you like you were gone permanently. Especially Raph. Mikey and I refused to believe that." I looked down at my lap, there was a sting behind my eyes and I swear I wanted to curl up in a dark corner and release my sorrows. Instead, I licked my dry lips and slowly allowed my gaze to fall back on Don.
"So much I missed. Two and half years of my life is gone. Our family is broken, and I just felt like I slept a night." I felt a tear fall from my eyes. Don pushed himself off the cot and back on his feet. I grabbed his hand that he offered me as he helped me to my own feet. My knees buckled from under my weight and I found myself falling, that was, until Don caught me and helped me back. Only releasing his hold when I found my balance again.
"Your muscles are weak and little. You will have to work them back up again. You’re going to have to go out in the sun also. You’re as pale as a ghost from how long you were inside." I nodded. Gradually moving one foot in front of the other in a walking, hobbling motion. Don handed me a single crutch and I gladly took it. Laying the most of my weight on it.
"Thanks." I followed Don out of the lab.
"So what happened to Casey and April?"
"They married. They moved more to the country away from the city. Especially how it is now. April is achieving more as a doctor, while Casey is retiring from hockey. Though it is his favorite sport. It's just a hobby now. He's leading more of becoming a teacher, maybe a couch in the future." I sighed with dismay. I even missed my best friend’s wedding.
Is there anything left for me in the future?
"They come to visit around any holiday during the year to see how it's coming." Don added.
As soon as we walked into the living room, it was completely different. It looked older, yet there was so many new things that I could have been mistaken this place for another subway station.
"Don, Raph's coming home tonight. He called me." Mikey reminded him.
"Did you tell him about Leo?"
"No. I didn't know if you wanted me to."
“It might have been best. All considering." My sights landed to the ground. I never would have imagine that Raph could be this unstable. Especially when announcing my awakening. "But I guess he's just going to have one hell of a surprise when he gets back home."
And as soon as that was said, a loud clanging sound announcing that the lair door was opening. Capturing our attention. Don pushed me a little back into the lab. I stared at how my once hotheaded brother walked into our home. He was a lot taller then what he once was. He probably now towered me an inch more. His muscles were bigger. He wore a leather jacket, stripping it off I could see he wore a black leather belt with pockets that held daggers, throwing knives, and grenades and what look like to be .500 magnum hand gun in his gun holster. Along the leather strap around his shoulders that held the bullets and what hung on his shell was a .357 rifle and a machete. And not a sign of his sais anywhere on him.
His skin was a darker green, like a pine green, and his skin was marked with unbelievably deep large and bright scars. His mask had turned a slightly darker shade of red, but that could have been because of what dirt and ash that collected and clung onto the fabric. His eyes though remained the same. They were still that wonderful emerald shade of green that he last remembered, but it was tougher to see past the grimace that hung on his face.
"Hey Raph! Welcome home!" Mikey greeted brightly. He only glanced up. Gave a small smile before resuming taking off his weapons and putting them to the side.
Mikey looked at Donnie as if he had no clue what to do next.
"Raph, there's someone here who would like to meet you." He said quietly.
"Hm. Tell him to wait." He grunted. His voice had lowered in tone and turned rougher, I was half tempted to clear my throat in an acknowledgment. Yet, I could still hear the sounds of my little brother in him. So much of him had changed. The sins and filth of the city had finally fully left their marks on him and transformed him into more of a revolutionary warrior than a ninja.
Donnie did that 'come here' motion with his hand. Hesitating at first, I persuaded my feet to move forward and out in full appearance.
"Raph?"
That darkened pine green turtle turned around, his eyes was on the knife he was sharpening. Glancing up for a second and it didn’t take much before his emerald eyes widen immediately to large circles. Dropping the knife as it clattered on the floor.
Panic and fear riding on his facial features that caused me to shiver.
"No--- No. You’re not real. This is another nightmare . . . You’re dead." His voice raised into a higher pitched when he breathed out the heart wrenching words. I hung my head in ashamedness. I was dead to him. Why would he ever want to speak to me?
"Hello Raphael." I murmured, trembling in my place. His eyes were puffy and glossy with unshed tears.
". . . You’re dead." He whispered before he whipped around and taking off into a run through the way he came in.
"Raph!" I shouted for him. Almost falling off the crutch I was on when I tried an attempt to chase after him. Donnie caught me before the fall could fully complete itself.
"Don't worry, Leo. It will take him a while to process what happened. Getting used to the idea after two and a half years of you being in a coma, you’re suddenly awake. He'll come back."
"How do you know he will come back!? I'm dead to him! I wouldn't blame him if he never wanted to come back!" I cried.
"He has to. He left all his gear here." Don smirked.
I shook my head. Collapsing on the ground purposely this time. Permitting myself to finally sob. Don kneeled beside me and hugged me tight. Shushing me quiet as if he was the big brother of this family.
"More than two years I've been sleeping. More than two years of my life slipped away of what could have been opportunity. My body has grown; yes. But my mind is still a teenager." I clung on tightly to my brother as if he was my personal life line.
"I know, Leo. I'm so sorry. But he still cares about you. I know he does. We all do."
"How do you know!?"
"I wondered that often myself. Then I read this when I got concerned about him and all questions were answered." He handed me a little book that said journal on it. "I know it was a personal thing to do. But I was concerned of what my brother was becoming." I nodded and took it. Setting it on the other side.
\t“Did you tell him everything?” Mikey asked as he passed by with an armful of weapons. Heading over to the dojo.
\t“Yes.”
\t“Did you?”
\t“. . . Oh.” I looked back and forth between brothers in confusion. What else could there have been? “You mean that he’s a murder.”
\t“Well--- not the words I would have chosen, but something like that. You have to admit, the dude does sweep the scum off the street but there’s going to be plenty of room in the jail houses more than the graveyards.” Mikey commented.
"He's not a ninja anymore." I said sadly.
"Not anymore. He doesn’t even use his sais. Last time I asked about them, he said they reminded him too much of what he used to be. Or something like that." I sighed.
"Mikey, do you want to show him to his old room we still have for him?" Mikey smiled brightly and took the key out of a box from the kitchen. He helped me back to my feet and strolled across the hallway. We stopped in front of a door and I contemplated the name tag I had nailed to the wood. He unlocked the door and opened it.
"No one has been in this room for a year and a half." He commented. I walked inside, finding everything how I left it. Only thing was, is that they had piles of dust on them.
"Sorry for the mess. If we knew you were going to wake up today, I would have straightened everything out." He giggled.
"Thanks Mikey. It's perfectly fine." I smiled my thanks to him.
"Call if you need anything." And with that said, he left me alone. I slowly walked around the room. Collapsing on my bed once I got there. A cloud of dust flying in the air as I did so and tickling my nose.
"Well--- At least Mikey is still cheerful." I took a sharp breath. "I'm twenty now. And it just feels like an hour ago I was seventeen." I frowned at the thought. Taking out the little brown book Don gave me.
Raph--- What happened to you? I don't even recognize you anymore. I know your still in there. No matter what Donnie says. My old hotheaded brother is still in there.
And I'm going to get him out.
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