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That first night after they got Leo back was filled with nothing but happiness, laughter, and relief.
The next morning, that all came crashing down.
Literally.
Donnie was the first to wake up from the pile they'd all fallen into when they finally went to sleep in their mostly-intact new lair. The reason he woke up was quickly made clear to him.
Donnie's shell was burning.
He gasped, pushing himself up on his hands even as his shell ached in protest. It was hot, sharp, just like it had been when he'd first been torn from the ship.
He scrambled to his feet, dropping his battle shell as he stumbled to the mirror they'd attached to one wall and turning to try and see the damage.
There were several small lines over his shell, looking almost like cracks even though his shell couldn't really crack. Not like his brothers' shells could.
Still, Donnie was horrified he hadn't noticed this before.
Snapping out of his thoughts was a pained gasp from behind him. His head whipped around to see Leo, eyes wide as he clutched at his chest.
Donnie was over to him in seconds, lifting his head and pushing gently at Leo's chest.
"It's okay, it's okay just...just try to stay calm, panicking only makes it harder to breathe-"
As he felt Leo's chest and the rest of his upper body, he had to stop himself from recoiling. This was...this was bad. How had Leo made it through the night, let alone all the stuff they'd done before?
"Holy Galileo...Leo, I need to get you to my medical room," Donnie said quickly, already checking for the best way to move Leo with minimal damage. There had to be broken ribs at least, and judging by the sound of Leo's breathing something might've punctured a lung.
"Shit...I can't move you, just hold still okay? I'm gonna wake up Raph and he can-"
A groan cut him off, this time from the snapper in question. Raph raised his head, a chasm of pain crossing his face. His arm - the one that had been Krang-ed - twitched as he squinted. Had the damage always been so bright? It was twitching and pulsing and there was a nonstop tremor that Donnie swore hadn't been there before.
"Don...?" Raph asked, face still contorted. "'S burning..."
Mikey whimpered on Donnie's other side and the softshell turned, seeing his younger brother trembling with his scarred arms pressed against his chest.
"Michael?" Donnie asked.
"Hurts..."
That was the beginning. Donnie was the only one able to stand, let alone use both arms, so he'd been the one to take care of everybody. Never had Donnie held more gratitude that Leo was the medical whiz. From assessing damage to getting the right kinds of medicine to any of the equipment they had in the medbay, Donnie was left scrambling and trying to remember any of Leo's random medical ramblings.
His brother had insisted someone else at least learn the basics of medicine in case Leo got hurt, but every time Leo got hurt he was still aware. Now he was hooked up to a heart monitor and oxygen mask and completely unresponsive.
In the end, Donnie had to call in Draxum and the Caseys to help his brothers, and his own shell. Thankfully, Casey Junior had been Leo's apprentice in both combat and medicine. He'd mainly been the one to wrap Raph's arm and head, and handle all of Leo's many, many serious injuries. Draxum focused on Mikey, given his worst injuries were magic-based. And Donnie did whatever he could, assisting in anything they needed. He stayed by his brothers at all times, always on alert.
He'd only left the room once. When Casey Junior announced that there was no way to save Leo's arm.
When he came back in after that, what was left of Leo's arm was bandaged. It didn't even get to his elbow.
Donnie hadn't been able to look at him for a week.
Instead he focused on Raph, who'd been out since he'd gotten into the medbay. All three of them had been out for two weeks, though Draxum assured Donnie that Mikey's state was purely due to his body being exhausted from the magic strain. It really was just an extended sleep.
Still, along with all the panic over his brothers was Donnie's own condition. Specifically, when he woke up two days after Leo's arm only to find he couldn't feel or move his legs.
Every part of his body hurt, except for his legs. His legs were completely numb and Donnie couldn't move them no matter how hard he tried.
Cassandra found him crying and hyperventilating on the floor that morning. She explained something about spinal damage, but Donnie couldn't hear her over his own buzzing mind.
He'd been hit by his first wave of pain, a blinding rush of white-hot pain that flooded his entire body so forcefully Donnie couldn't do anything but shutter and gasp. Cassandra hadn't known how to help, but her son had quickly dug through the medbay cabinets until he found an IV bag, and gone through the entire process of getting Donnie set up.
Whatever it was chased every rush of pain with a soft sort of tingling, something that cooled his aching body and made Donnie's head fuzzy in a way that made it a bit easier to bear through the pain.
Casey Junior called it an 'episode' and mentioned that future Donnie started having them after sustaining serious damage to his spine. Present Donnie was just grateful the kid knew how to help.
The paralyzation was gone the next morning, and in his confusion Donnie buried himself in Leo's medical journals, trying to understand. People didn't just stop being paralyzed after all. It wasn't something that just came and went as it pleased.
Except it totally was. Further internet research proved that plenty of people had periods of paralysis that would vary in intensity. It also explained why some days were harder to move than others for Donnie.
Mikey was the first to wake up. Donnie was laying in his own bed, his legs currently immobile but thankfully painless, so he was reading through one of Leo's med journals when his younger brother groaned beside him.
The journal was quickly abandoned in favor of turning, watching as Mikey opened his eyes slowly.
"Mnh...Wh't...?" Mikey tried to push himself up only to hiss in pain and pull both (heavily-bandaged) arms to his chest.
"Easy Michael, take it easy." Donnie reached out to him, his hand landing carefully on Mikey's shoulder.
The box turtle turned, face scrunched in worry.
"Donnie...? Wh'happ'ned...?"
"Long story. Draxum says something about our adrenaline mixing with all the ninpo we used basically gave us a steroid-boosted adrenaline-caffeine-sugar rush. We crashed the next morning."
Mikey, who was slowly looking more awake, only frowned harder.
"Is everyone okay?"
Donnie hesitated.
"....Everyone is alive, if that's what you mean. Okay is a relative term."
Mikey looked over Donnie to where Leo was laying, his missing arm thankfully out of Mikey's view at the moment. Raph's many, many bandages were not though, and plenty of Leo looked just as bad.
"Ohmigosh..." The youngest said quietly. "Are they...?"
"They'll be fine Mikey," Donnie insisted. "Traumatized and definitely in need of physical therapy, but fine."
Mikey nodded slowly, then noticed Donnie's oddly stagnant form.
"...What about you? You never stay down like this unless we're in a turtle pile."
Donnie paused, looking away from his brother and back to his useless legs.
"...Today isn't a good day for me."
"Donnie, what happened?"
So Donnie explained. From the first burning in his shell to his constant spinal pain to his 'Episodes'. The more he talked, the more Mikey looked like he wanted to burst into tears.
"...today is relatively good, in all honesty. The pain has been minimal....Angelo?"
Mikey sniffled and Donnie's face softened. He'd really been trying to put on an air of nonchalance, trying to show Mikey he doesn't care if he can't do anything useful.
"Donnie..."
Donnie sighed and pulled Mikey's cot until it was pressed against his own. Then he pulled his only younger brother into a tight yet careful hug.
"It could've been a lot worse. Casey Junior said I'm lucky it's only occasional paralysis and that it's only waist-down. I'm okay Mikey."
He wasn't okay, not by a long shot, but he was going to be. Besides, Mikey knew what he meant.
Raph woke up next, and it was thankfully on a better day for Donnie. He was up, moving with only a slight limp as he grabbed more materials for his first prototype of a leg brace for himself. Until his brothers were up he couldn't really gage what they would need, so he was alternating between his own brace and some ideas to help Mikey's hands.
Donnie knew the instant Raph woke up, because there was the sound of shattering glass. His head snapped up to see his oldest brother, arm still outstretched towards the side table where a glass of water had once sat. Now it was on the floor, glass and water scattered everywhere.
"S-Sorry Dee," Raph said, his voice hoarse. "I didn't-"
But Donnie was already on his feet again, trying his hardest not to limp as he grabbed a towel and broom (and shoes so he didn't cut his feet).
"How are you feeling?" Donnie asked, looking Raph over. The scarring was already looking good healing-wise, but Raph's eye had faded to a duller shade.
"I..." One stern look from Donnie had Raph biting back any lies. "My arms hurt. I don't know why I couldn't grab that, it was right in front of me."
Donnie finished cleaning up and walked over. For a long moment he stared at Raph's nervous expression, then wrapped his big brother in a tight hug.
Raph's reaction was immediate, pulling Donnie into his lap and nuzzling into the softshell's neck. Donnie may not be one for physical affection, but worrying about your older brothers for weeks on end tended to leave you rather touch-starved.
"Y-You're okay," Raph mumbled, sniffling. Donnie tried to ignore the disgust growing in his chest and nodded.
"Yeah...Yeah, I'm okay."
They stayed like that for a moment until Mikey burst through the doors.
"I heard a crash! Is everything-"
He froze, staring at Raph as the snapper looked up. In seconds Mikey was in Raph's arms, hugging him just as tight as Donnie was.
"You're awake!"
Raph just tightened his own hug, nuzzling into where Donnie and Mikey's shoulders were lined up. Donnie let them sit like that for a few minutes, then sighed.
"Alright Raph, I need to do a quick check-up to see how bad the damage is."
Raph whined and Mikey patted his head.
"It's okay Raphie, we'll both be right here."
Donnie carefully freed himself from Raph's arms (which were still shaking despite Raph being calm now) and picked up Leo's medical exam kit. He'd already done this routine with Mikey, so the box turtle knew how to keep himself out of the way while still hugging Raph, At least for the first part.
"Let me check your eye, since it was clearly affected in some way," Donnie said, pulling out a penlight. He started with Raph's good eye, watching the pupil react. He ran Raph through a simple 'follow the light' test, then switched to the other eye and did the same thing.
His pupil didn't react.
At Donnie's frown, Raph cleared his throat.
"Uhm...Donnie? What's that look for?"
Donnie thought for a moment.
"I want you to cover your eye," he finally said. "Just the one I already checked, and tell me how much you can see."
Raph hesitated, clearly realizing where Donnie's thoughts were going, but eventually did as the softshell said. His breath hitched.
"Raph?"
"I-I...I can't..."
Donnie couldn't help but grimace at his results.
"You...can't see anything, can you?" Mikey asked softly, pulling Raph's arm away from his face. "Out of that eye?"
Raph just shook his head, his good eye tearing up. His other eye - his blind eye - didn't.
Again, Donnie gave all three of them time to process the information. He noted it down, both on paper and on his gauntlet, because he was keeping a list of their injuries so he knew what to work on but also because Leo insisted on keeping all his notes physical.
After about an hour, Donnie moved on to the rest of the tests.
Given how badly Raph's arms had been messed up, and how they hadn't stopped shaking, Donnie took both of Raph's hands and told him to squeeze as hard as he could.
"No," Raph said immediately. "I'll crush your hands Don."
Donnie tried to give his brother a reassuring smile, but even he could tell it missed its mark.
"Don't worry about that Raph. I...highly doubt you'll be able to."
Raph's eyes widened again, but he nodded with a dull sort of understanding. And sure enough, while Raph could get one hand to squeeze tight enough Donnie had him stop, the other couldn't even hold Donnie's hand tight enough to keep him from pulling away.
"...I'm sorry Raph," Don said softly. "But there's physical therapy that will help, and you'll still be the strongest even if it doesn't bring you back up to what it was before."
Raph had just nodded again, eyes - eye - locked on Leo's still form, and on the stump of where the slider's left arm used to be.
While Mikey woke up after only a week, and Raph took two, Leo didn't wake up for a month.
When he finally did, Donnie was laying on his own cot, tinkering with the finished prototype of an arm brace for Raph. He heard the heart monitor pick up and immediately dropped what he'd been doing to roll over (Casey Junior had stolen a wheelchair after seeing Donnie frustrated at being immobile one too many times).
Leo's arm - his complete one - had twitched then, his face contorting as Donnie got closer. He took Leo's hand, squeezing gently but firmly, and held his breath.
After a moment, Leo's eyes opened, and the slider looked around in confusion until he saw Donnie.
"...Y' always said I'd be the one on the bed someday," He said, voice quiet and hoarse. "Guess I should've listened."
The response was so ridiculous, so Leo, that Donnie laughed even as the tears fell down his face.
"You dumb-dumb," He said, hugging Leo like his life depended on it. "You scared the hell out of me."
Leo blinked, then grinned.
"I must be dead if Donnie just dropped a swear word."
"Oh shut up, I deserve to swear after everything that's happened."
Leo's smile fell slightly.
"Yeah, guess that's true. I uhm...I'm s-"
"Nardo I swear if you try to put any of the blame on yourself I'll send you into another coma."
Leo paused, shocked. But then he teared up and his smile was back, his real smile. Soft and small and shaky, but real.
"...Thanks Dee."
Donnie just smiled back and hugged him again, letting Leo's arm wrap around his back. Leo's other arm reached up, and Leo hissed.
Donnie immediately pulled away, watching as Leo processed what had very obviously happened.
"...Well, guess it was too much to ask all of us to make it out in one piece," he eventually said. "But hey, at least I'm alive right?"
He turned to Donnie as the softshell wheeled back a bit to grab the exam kit, and paled.
"Donnie...what...why are you...?" Leo covered his mouth with his remaining hand, eyes darting around the medbay. "You...the others, did they...?"
The tone was enough to know where his twin's mind was going, and Donnie was quick to grab his hand again.
"They're both okay, I promise. Your arm is the worst of it. Everyone else is fine."
Leo let out a shaky breath and nodded, but dropped his eyes back to the wheelchair.
"But you...are you...?"
Donnie paused.
"Oh, this?" He gestured to the chair. "It's not permanent. I have...bad days. Uhm...it's a lot to explain right now, you missed a lot, but I'll explain everything once you're a bit more stable. For now, let me check you over."
Leo nodded slowly, then cracked a small smile.
"Didn't I say something about someone else needing the medical knowledge?"
Donnie rolled his eyes.
"You don't get to make jokes about being in the medbay and about nobody else learning."
"Why not?"
"Because it's not fair. You never taught anyone."
"I tried."
"You offered, that is not the same thing."
Still, Donnie's hands were well-practiced as he went through Leo's checkup. As it turned out, having half the bones in your body broken didn't tend to turn out well. The beginning went okay, with Leo's sight and hearing mostly unaffected, but that was the only part that was unaffected.
Leo hurt everywhere, and while that was expected at this stage, something about the way Leo described it made Donnie pretty sure it wouldn't be going away. There was Leo's arm situation, which Donnie was used to dealing with by now, but Leo wasn't.
"It hurts," Leo said. "But it feels like it's still there, too, y'know? Like, it feels like I could just..."
He reached for the water by his bed (in a bottle this time) and huffed.
"...grab it, y'know? It's weird."
"Phantom limbs are a common symptoms. Some people feel it decades later, even."
"I know, it's just...trippy."
"Right," Donnie said, relieved just to hear Leo's voice again. "Now, let's check your legs. Can you sit up for me?"
Leo nodded and pushed himself up.
"Alright, roll your left ankle."
Leo did.
"Now your right."
Leo nodded, but then frowned at his legs. Donnie's brows furrowed.
"What's wrong?"
"I...I can't..." The slider's face shifted to one of horror. "I-I can't...Donnie I can't feel my leg..."
Donnie, understanding exactly how Leo felt, put a hand over his brother's.
"That...yeah, that's not good."
Leo let out a hysterical laugh.
"I- I can't feel my leg! It's like it's not there! Donnie, I feel my missing arm more than my leg! Isn't that-"
"Leo."
Leo stared at him, before his smile fell into sobbing as he clung to his brother. Donnie let him, lifting himself onto the bed to hug Leo better.
"Hey, I get it," he said, running a hand over the back of Leo's shell. "I really do. I freaked out too."
Leo jerked away.
"Wait you- I paralyzed you?!"
Donnie's expression hardened.
"No. You didn't. I damaged my spine when the Krang pulled me out of their ship. And I'm not even fully paralyzed - how the actual hell are you more worried about me when you're missing an arm?!"
He hadn't meant to get so freaked out, but it seemed to be exactly what Leo needed somehow. His brother chuckled, sniffled, wiped his eyes, and smiled a little.
"Yeah, guess I really did end up worse than I went in, didn't I?"
Donnie let out a soft breath.
"You're an idiot. But you're an idiot who was willing to give an arm and a leg to save the world."
Leo stared for a loooong moment, then burst out laughing so hard it was probably painful.
"Did- ohmigosh- did you really just-" He couldn't even talk through his laughter, which made Donnie smile.
"I keep telling you guys I'm the funny one."
"Yeah," Leo said, finally getting a breath in. "I guess you do. Speaking of which...where are the guys?"
Donnie glanced at the door.
"Raph was in here, but Mikey went to make us dinner and Raph went with him. Didn't want him to be alone." He paused. "Raph...isn't big on being alone. Or any of us being alone."
"Well yeah, but he never was anyways."
"True," Donnie agreed. "But it's...worse, now. He got weird when Mikey left to use the bathroom. It wasn't more than two minutes."
Leo winced.
"That's...not great. Is Mike okay?"
"Yeah, he's doing pretty well. He came out of it the best, I think. His hands are shaky, and they hurt him sometimes, but...that's the worst of it for him."
Leo nodded along, already looking like he wanted to take notes.
"And...what about you?"
"...What about me?"
"Donald," Leo said. "You are literally in a wheelchair and you got ripped out of a spaceship that was hooked into your shell. Talk."
Donnie sighed.
"First off, don't call me that," he grumbled. "And second, I'm fine. I've been up taking care of all of you just fine, I just need Casey Junior's help sometimes with the equipment-"
"Hold on, what do you mean you've been taking care of all of us?" Leo's face shifted into worry. "Why weren't the others helping?"
"They were! I was just the only one awake for a while, and they both had to recover, so..."
Donnie shrugged, but Leo was staring at him with a worry so familiar it almost made Donnie forget his surroundings.
"Donnie..." Leo's voice was soft. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have had to-"
"Leo, stop. I wanted to. You're my brothers, I...I had to do something to help. I couldn't just sit here while you three were..."
Deep breath. Stay calm. Leo didn't need to help him through a meltdown right now.
"I wanted to help. I should've learned this stuff years ago anyways."
"Donnie..."
"Leo, I'm fine. Mikey woke up after a week and Raph was a week after that. It wasn't...I wasn't alone for that long."
Despite Leo obviously not believing him, he let the subject drop in favor of pulling Donnie closer. The hug was...nice. Donnie leaned into it for a moment, closing his eyes. Then he forced himself off the bed and back into his wheelchair.
"I'll get the others. They'll be ecstatic to hear you're awake."
"Oh, right." Leo chuckled. "Guess we should let them know."
"Yeah. I'll be right back, okay?"
Leo nodded, so Donnie rolled his way into the hall. He didn't really want to let Leo out of his sight yet.
"Guys!" He shouted, voice echoing through the tunnel. "Get in here!"
There was a thud, before both brothers came running out of the kitchen.
"What happened?!" Raph asked. He looked panicked, so Donnie held up a hand.
"It's okay," he said. "It...Leo's awake."
...And they were quickly running past him into the medbay. There were shouts and excitement that just made Donnie smile as he rolled back over.
Raph was crying, holding on to Leo and muttering apologies while the slider patted his shoulder. Mikey was wrapped around Leo's middle, under Raph, and hugging just as tight.
"I'm okay guys," Leo was saying. "And Raph, quit apologizing you big baby, it wasn't your fault."
"I-I hurt you- I should've-"
"Raph you were literally possessed by evil bubblegum, it was not. Your. Fault."
The joke didn't make Raph laugh, but at least he stopped apologizing. Mikey was curled around Leo like he was four again, and Leo let go of Raph to pat the youngest's head.
"Hey Mikey. You doing okay?"
"You- are an idiot!" Mikey mumble-shouted into Leo's stomach. "D-Don't make me do that again- I thought I wasn't gonna b-be able to do it-"
"Sorry little brother. It won't happen again." Leo already looked ten times lighter. "Let me look at your hands."
That snapped both brothers out of it enough to push Leo back into laying down.
"Not a chance," Mikey said, pulling his arms to his chest.
"Yeah," Raph agreed. "You are officially off medic duty."
"Wha- you can't do that, I'm the leader!"
"Yeah well," Raph crossed his arms. "You're off leader duty too."
"Raph!"
"Sorry Leo," Donnie said, smirking. "What oldest says goes."
Leo groaned.
"But I'm-"
Mikey's eye twitched.
"If you even try to finish that sentence, Dr. Delicate Touch is gonna have words with you," He threatened. Leo swallowed and nodded.
"Understood."
They were far from okay, but they had each other. And really, what else could they ask for at this point?