semilethal | LEO - POST MOVIE

LEO - POST MOVIE

[ nobody asks where april found the van. some mild criminal activity feels irrelevant in light of the day they just had anyway, and they couldn't exactly walk all the way back to the lair.

not with leo like...this. not just leo either; raphael couldn't hardly hold his head up, hunched and clearly wearing his 'i'm the eldest and i won't complain' face as he cradles leo so carefully on their way to the van. mikey's hands and arms won't stop trembling, even when he twists them together and presses them to his plastron. donatello is sore all over and his skin and shell feel raw, like someone rubbed him down with sandpaper.

and leo's quiet. leo's too quiet.

so there they are in the cargo van, raph tucked toward the front with a leg stretched out for mikey to use as a pillow to doze upon. april and casey sit up front, throwing concerned glances over their shoulders as often as is safe while april slowly weaves the vehicle through the half-destroyed streets toward the nearest access point. splinter sits near the doors as their only other capable fighter, though he keeps his tail curled around leo's uninjured ankle.

and donatello, he's stripping off his gloves because he's going to have to touch his brother to get a better idea of his injuries, and his skin doesn't feel like his own and that'll interfere with his judgement. the fewer layers between he and his brother, the more accurate he can be. ]

Alrighty Leon. Look alive, let's...let's diagnose.

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[Seeing Donnie like that, it bubbles up a nervous kind of laugh from deep in his throat. It's like they're kids trying different costumes. If he squints a little, it isn't so serious. Until he hears the clank and his nerves jolt for a brief moment.

He's terrified. He's so scared of this and of course Casey's here so he can't even be honest about it. He shoots Donnie a glance before trying to settle still again.]

Yeah, I'm gonna say that's normal.

[He is still the worst patient.]

[It's weird, because Donnie kind of feels the same way. Not a kid, maybe, not for a while, but in a costume?

He straightens the few surgical tools he'll be using, for the tenth time. He still doesn't look over at Leo.]

Not normal, but it's cool! You're probably just freaking out.

[The slant of Casey's brow is sympathetic, even as he reaches for Leo's wrist to turn his arm over and expose his inner elbow.] Sensei, we'll be right here. Can you straighten your arm out?

I am not freaking out-

[His arm goes rigid stiff when Casey reaches for it. He doesn't even want to turn it over until he hears his voice. Leo forces a heavy swallow of whatever had started to pool under his tongue and carefully follows the motion with careful motions, clearly methodical and not at all with his usual fluidity.

So he's freaking out a little bit. This is happening... now. Like now now. No more "when Donnie finishes building thing" or "after Pops comes back with the supplies", definitely an end to the thought "it'll be after we finished prepping". This is it. They're ready and Leonardo is not.

He feels sick. He feels like he's going to vomit at some point in his future.]

Y-yeah.

...Hey, Donnie? [He waits for a second to see if he'll respond. Either way-] You got this. I trust you.

[Looks over at Leo in surprise. Does he think...or maybe it's not about Donnie at all?

Casey looks up at Donnie over Leo, and Donnie nods towards the hallway. Clear out for a second. Thankfully Casey seems to pick up on it because he lets go of Leo's wrist and sets the IV needle back down on the surgical tray, heading over to the sanitization hallway and closing the flap behind himself.

Donnie resigns himself to scrubbing in all over again as he strips his gloves and drags a stool over to sit next to Leo, not pulling his mask down but taking his brother's hand after a moment.]

I'm not worried. You're afraid, though. Scientifically speaking, lying about it won't make you less afraid.

[He hadn't really expected Donnie to stop and come over. Just expected a noncommittal response noise and them going on with it.]

...It's not lying to say I trust you.

[He does. Every bit of trust is flowing through their ninpo whether anyone else is keyed into it currently or not. And if he tells himself that Donnie's got it and really believe that (he does), then he can get over his own nerves. Just. A few hours, maybe half a day if that and done. That's it. That's all it is. That's all and then he's fixed and things can start going back to normal. They've been in limbo a week too long.]

[Waves his free hand. Obviously Leo trusts him, they've been over this.] I meant you saying you aren't freaking out. You are. Your heart rate is up and your palms are clammy. Anesthetic might make you nauseous so it would be best for the procedure and recovery if you can calm down.

[At the mention of his palms, he'll just take his hand back, fold them anxiously together for a second. Then lay his arms at his sides again. All nervous energy, this adhd king.]

I'd love to try to calm down, but you're right. I'm freaking out right now. It's the first time any of us have had to do this. So I think I'm allowed a little freaking out. I'm already nauseous anyway.

[Looks around for something Leo can fiddle with before settling on a spare surgical sponge, shoving it into his hands so he stops picking at his nails.]

Literally none of that is a point in favor of just letting you freak out.

[oh- he takes the sponge shoved into his hands and just. Holds it for a second before starting to fiddle.]

So what then? Because this has to get done, sooner the better.

I agree, but. [S I G H.] Shut up ahead of time.

Michael gave me. [ugh] Coaching. Lessons. [uuugghhh] To "improve my bedside manner."

[The natural brother instinct to laugh is something he has to fight down. So instead he bites down on his lip and just lays there watching his brother.]

Oh-Okay. Sure. Go for it.

[GLARES SUSPICIOUSLY. literally never in their lives has 'shut up ahead of time' worked, ever, even once. surely there cannot be that much trauma to overcome leo's compulsion to make fun of donnie when donnie is being awkward, surely he must be backloading the ridicule.]

...and part of that coaching, [PAUSES TO EYEBALL AGAIN. he doesn't trust this or you, leonardo] was to. Y'know, [gestures in a circle, like, carry on] check in with the patient. Both prior to and afterwards. ...emotionally, check in.

Okay...

[He's quiet, just feeling the different divots and porous holes in the sponge. It's not a bad feeling, it's enough to keep his hands occupied. But he also figures he probably shouldn't make fun of the guy about to go into his spine and do some delicate surgery to hopefully make sure he can still like. Move.]

Okay. [A little exhale. Just... thinking.] We talked about a lot of it last night? Not sure what else there is to say here. It's a big deal, first time any of us have had to have serious medical stuff, and I'm. Just. Really nervous about it.

That's a natural reaction, or so I've read.

[Donnie relaxes just a bit when it looks like Leo really isn't going to jump right into mockery. It's not his usual vibe, not their usual vibe, but their vibe hasn't been 'usual' for days now. Maybe their usual vibe has even changed from what it was. Donnie's not sure he likes it, but then again he doesn't like anything when his footing is unsure.]

What specifically are you nervous about regarding the procedure?

None of us have had something like this. What if it goes wrong? What if your hand slips [Doubtful.] or it's waaaaay worse in there than you thought it was gonna be [Also doubtful.], or something else happens-

[Oh.

That's... it. There's a clear realization on his face as it hits him. It's because he's not in control here. This isn't something he can plan and manipulate the field to what he wants. He is entirely at the mercy of someone else for his health and medical need. He's going to be out in medically induced sleep and won't be able to even see what's happening, let alone be part of it or be able to take charge when he needs to, and that's really it.

He sighs, slumping a bit where he's laying.]

This isn't really something that can be fixed with talking. Just - knock me out, let's go.

About time. [Donnie stands up. Leo's not wrong, and Donnie's of the mind that nothing is fixed with talking. So many times he'd had to just put himself out there- fuck it, it's not working and he's tired of trying Mikey's playbook because he feels guilty or because Mikey looks at him with his big stupid doe eyes. Enough. If there's anything else that needs to be done, Donnie's just going to hide around the corner and tranq his stupid brother instead of dealing with this bedside manner bullshit.]

"What if your hand slips," of all the nerve, [Donnie huffs off to scrub in anew, tossing the flap of the sanitization hallway aside and pointing back at Leo to the somewhat-guilty-looking-Casey who was very clearly trying to eavesdrop.] Did you hear that? Knock the man out.

[Casey comes back in a little timid but watching them both before deciding Donnie in this state is probably worth being cautiously afraid of. Leonardo, for his part, is just watching his brother huff at a single low percentage possibility of an outcome.]

I said before to just do it and you wanted to talk!

[Even Casey winces a little as he starts to fit the syringe into Leo's arm, where Donnie showed him the best place to find a vein would be. He almost seems relieved when Leo reacts more to that than whatever Donnie's saying.]

[Yells out the flap, scrubbing up to his elbows] You can't give anesthesia to someone having a panic attack, idiot! I was trying to help your stupid ass!

[From somewhere outside the tent Raph shouts LANGUAGE!! and Casey just bites his lip as he inserts the IV and connects the saline bag, accepting the additional syringe from Shelldon and inserting it into the administration port.]

[Wait is that what was happening? Was he having a panic attack? He couldn't even tell. He's still watching where Donnie went to as Casey gets that second syringe going.

Even if he was, it'll be fine. They'll fix all this, and then he'll be fixed, and it'll be fine. Just a few hours. He can make it a few hours, he thinks even as the darkness creeps in.]

Count backwards from twenty, okay Sensei? [Casey's there at least, leaning over Leo with a surgical mask and a hairnet, brows crumpled together in concern. It had kind of looked like a panic attack, or maybe a start of that dangerous spiral, but maybe Donatello was projecting.

Maybe.

Casey turns to say something to Donatello over his shoulder, but it's been more than twenty seconds, and Donatello's coming back over with his hands aloft, and the room goes very dark and very, very quiet.]

-----

[The procedure concludes. Donatello stays behind to clean up, but Casey can see how he's gulping and sweating so he just gives him privacy, follows alongside the Shellcot to move Leonardo into a separate sterile recovery room, close enough to the lab to deal with any emergencies but not in that disturbing surgical tent.

Casey pulls up a chair and monitors the saline drip, hangs it carefully back up next to Leonardo's bed once they're stationary again. Everything really had gone incredibly smoothly. Casey had seen Donatello work on intricate things before, but he still couldn't help by be impressed by how confident he'd seemed as he guided the tools into his brother through the tiniest of cuts and just...fixed pieces of his spine.

For the fourth time, Casey gets up just to check that the sanitary bandage is still firmly in place over the surgical site underneath Leo's arm but above he ridge of his shell. It is.

Infection, Casey knows from experience, is now the thing to be concerned about. That, and keeping Leo still and comfortable while he recovers. Infection is the bigger concern considering where they are, though.]

...you'll be okay, Master, [Casey whispers, for his own benefit. In an hour or so he'll be relieved by Mikey or Raph, then another, then Splinter, probably April, maybe eventually Donnie as they cycle through family members to keep vigil over Leo, to watch his vitals and change his saline drip, ready to reassure him that finally, hopefully, god-willing they can start to get over everything that happened.]

[He was just blinking. Just a quick blink and when they open again, the world's changed around him. A different room, a different feeling going on. Hard to pin if it's an ache and soreness, or just something Different.

But Leo's eyes blink slowly again, this time keeping the same surroundings. That's enough for him to try and sit up. And then it's very clear that it is, in fact, all aches and soreness. He goes back down with a noise in his throat that sounds distant and foreign to his own ears.

Only after that pitiful attempt does he even notice someone next to him.]

...Case?

[Thankfully Leo is already settling back down after that awful pain-filled croak, so Casey doesn't have to find a gentle way to push him back down. Instead he just settles a hand on Leo's shoulder, a smile curling the corner of his mouth.]

Master! You woke up sooner than we expected. [He half-turns to adjust a valve on the IV drip] Hold on, I'll see if Master Donatello's awake.

[He isn't exactly in the best position to say anything else.]

Sooner? How long's it been? [He does settle like that, watching Casey and following his eyes to the IV drip.]

It's been about a day since the first time you woke up. [hopefully leo knew that, that he woke up once already, and hopefully that does not come as a shock as casey is generously increasing the morphine now that leo is AWAKE awake]

A day...

[He really doesn't remember, if he's honest. Not so immediately. He might later, after his brain can catch up to the situation.]

How'd it go?

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