27th Shuriken ➣ [Action]

[meanandgreen]

[Three weeks. Three weeks in that shit-hole was too damn long. Not that Raph has any idea how long it's been. He lost track a long time ago. Now, he staggers home through the woods from his mallynap, worn, battered and bruised

Comments

[honorthecode]

[Three weeks is far too long. Even for those that weren't in that hell hole. Leo's been keeping watch, monitoring the journals for any sign of his brother returning. How long did they plan to hold him for? What were they doing to him? The sound of somebody hitting the ground outside is faint, but enough to draw him out of his thoughts and to the windows. The sight that greets him is both a relief and a worry.]

Raph! [He's quickly out the door and over to where Raph is face down in the grass. He crouches down to check him for physical injuries]

Raph?

[meanandgreen]

[His voice is faint and hoarse as he weakly struggles to push himself up again.]

I'm okay...

[But things are obviously not okay. He's lost a lot of weight, that's apparent. So are the sickly gray patches on his skin and shell. Signs of starvation. His eyes are swollen to the point of blindness. In the crook of his arms and around his wrists, dark purple bruises only begin to tell what he's gone through.

He lifts himself up only slightly, arms shaking before he starts to collapse again.]

...I can't get up...

[honorthecode]

[His worry deepens as he sees the signs of starvation.]

You're not okay. Let's get you inside. [Before Raph can fall again, Leo's going to put one his arms over his shoulders, and lift him up. He's definitely easier to carry. Not that he likes that fact. They head into the house. Leo helps him to lay down on the couch, before he goes to find Splinter and Donny, if they haven't heard his shout before.]

Master Splinter! Donatello! Michelangelo!

[meanandgreen]

[Getting lifted only makes him dizzy, and when Leo puts him on the couch, he's not even sure where he is. But he's only worried about one thing:]

M' guts'll fall out...

[He presses a hand over his abdomen where a clear plastic bandage of sorts is stuck to the bone of his plastron.]

[Action, sometime next morning]

[ninjacane]

[Splinter has barely left his son's side since he was returned to them, instead quietly keeping vigil over his son. He rinses out the rag again, then replaces it over Raphael's swollen eyes.

His brothers, for now, have been shoo'd off to make some breakfast, leaving him alone with his injured and exhausted son.]

[Action]

[meanandgreen]

[Eventually, Raph begins to stir, weakly groping for the catheter in his vein. He's disoriented. All he knows is he needs to get that thing out of him.]

Re: [Action]

[ninjacane]

[Splinter reaches over to stop Raphael's hand, instead attempting to hold it.]

You must not disturb your IV, Raphael. It needs to remain in you for now.

[Action]

[meanandgreen]

[Raph fumbles against Splinter's hand for a moment before he realizes the familiarity of it. Immediately he stops his struggling and grips it weakly in return.

He's sore and tired, like a lead weight is pressing down on him so heavy it would make him fall straight through the couch if he let it. His eyes work under his lids, but he can't make them cooperate.]

I can't see...

may 19th

[the_mikester]

[Sometime this morning Raph will be aware of his little brother hovering just in sight with a perma-worried look on his face. Most of the time he's stirring something in a bowl.

Is it annoying yet?]

[meanandgreen]

[Just a little. It's bad enough feeling like a useless sack of crap. It's even worse when people look at you like that too. He can feel Mike's pity searing into him even as he closes his eyes and tries to doze.]

Mikey...

[the_mikester]

Whaaaat?

Wanna lick the bowl?

[Pity what pity what are you talking about?]

[meanandgreen]

No. [He goes back to looking as if he might doze off again, but he keeps talking.] I want you to quit lookin' at me like that.

May 22

[i_speak_softly]

[After getting a couple hours of training in and eating a light lunch that included none of Mike's baked goods, Don settles on the couch opposite Raph with a book. He's just going to sit here and read for a bit.]

[meanandgreen]

[This's the worst part of the day, lying around on the couch playing the invalid while everyone else goes about their business. Raph wonders if they'll let him move to his room today, at least for the night. He misses having some kind of privacy, or at least a place to sulk in peace.

He's been sleeping a lot lately, so that makes the time go by. But when he's awake, sometimes he feels like he might as well be back in that cell at the Malnosso facility. At least he has a window, but all that does is remind him of all the good Spring weather he's missing. Sigh.

He blinks owlishly at Don at the other end of the couch and heaves a sigh that says all these things at once.]

[i_speak_softly]

[Don glances up at that very expressive sigh. Something on your mind?]

[meanandgreen]

What'd you do today?

[He is asking about your day. Raph. Raph is asking about your day. That is how bored he is.]

[May 24, Morning]

[ninjacane]

[Splinter is sitting and working on mending a pillowcase.

... the reason behind it is a very long story, but one that is not the least bit surprising to the father of four.]

[meanandgreen]

[And Raph, as usual these days, is lying on the couch with a distant expression. He's been eating a little, and feeling much better. But the bad thing about feeling better is his mind has a lot more energy, and it takes him down all sorts of paths he'd rather not travel.]

[ninjacane]

[And Splinter knows the perils of letting Raphael sink deep into his mind for too long when his son is in such a state. He finishes another stitch, then glances up from his work.]

What is on your mind, my son?

[It's an open question that's an offer for distraction. Raphael can give him as truthful of an answer as he wants.]

[meanandgreen]

[Raph blinks a time or two, returning to himself, then shrugs.]

Nothin'. [His gaze wanders idly to his bruised forearm, tracing the odd patches of purples and yellows.] Just... [He shrugs again.]