Day 11- Forced to Go to the Doctor/Medic/Hospital - SIW
Lotus stretched out her arms as she sat cross-legged on the couch, groaning and wincing from the tightness in her limbs left from another restless night. It was far past morning now, slowly creeping into the afternoon as the light of warm rays peeked their heads through the grates above the sewer tunnels.
Leo had already come through the Living Room earlier, asking about how Lotus slept, to which she replied with a simple, “Fine”. As per usual, he didn’t let her curt answer slide, and pressed her for more details.
What, am I supposed to have a full essay on my levels of sleep ready? Is that a normality in this household? It’s flipping five AM. He’s lucky I’m cognitive enough to speak.
Following a pointlessly draining argument about “being honest” and “not letting her feelings go unchecked”, Leo finally walked back to his room in a huff.
Nice. Not even six in the morning, and I’ve already ticked someone off. This is going to be a great day.
Time drudged past as she remained on the couch, trying to daydream. It was always her go-to at the labs, so she might as well use it here. Daydreaming is like having normal dreams, just without the hassle of trying to sleep. It’s a one-way ticket to blissful unawareness.
“Good morning, Lo!!”
Lotus flinched and groaned as her cold, exhausted form was blinded by the blaring sun of Mikey’s voice. Slowly turning around in an unkempt lump, her eyes fell onto her way too chipper brother bounding into the room like Bambi. His infectious smile fought every muscle in her body to lift her stagnant frown.
“G’morning, Mikey.” She groused, “Going by the fact that you’re bouncing like a caffeinated rabbit, I’m guessing you most likely slept well.”
Mikey’s smile faltered, and his eyes quickly swelled with something that Lotus couldn’t quite classify.
“...And going by the fact that you’re as sour as Sensei’s tea, I’m guessing you had nightmares… again… I’m sorry.”
Lotus huffed a mirthless chuckle. It made Mikey’s frown fall deeper.
“Nah, can’t have nightmares if you didn’t-”
Lotus’ tongue tied itself in a knot as she watched the bright ray that was her little brother smother into a dulling flame. There were no tears yet, but there would be soon if she didn’t change the subject now.
“-Uh. I-I mean, I wasn’t sleeping on the floor, so yeah! Sleep was great! Five stars, would totally recommend spending a night on a mattress.” Lotus backpedaled, stammering and stuttering as she attempted to breathe comedic oxygen into the dying flame of Mikey’s smile.
Unfortunately, her kind of comedy didn’t always match her little brother’s.
“Why.. Why would you be sleeping on the floor??” Mikey asked carefully, his pupils growing in size, as his flame continued to shrink into a flickering spark. The compassion in his heart quickly shifted into protective anger. “What the shell did they do to y-”
“-OKAY, I’m gonna go now. It’s fine, I’m fine, I’m here, everything’s fine.” Lotus rapidly spoke, holding up her arms in defeat at her now battle-ready brother. “Just forget it.”
Lotus slinked off the couch, briskly attempting to make her exit from the awkwardness that she caused once again.
Shoulda just kept my mouth shut. Now I broke two brothers in the span of one morning. Fantastic.
Just before she reached the hallway, her conscience ruthlessly beat at her heart. Her swift movements froze as her hands clenched into fists.
I can’t leave him like that. Just- just try to make him feel better. I have to at least try.
With a sigh, she released the tension digging into her sore muscles, allowing her shoulders to slouch and her fists to slide open. She turned her head around, just catching the disappearing form of her brother walking into the kitchen.
“Mikey?”
Her spotted brother’s head shot up in alert as he turned around to face her.
“Yeah?..”
Lotus pushed back all the lies lined up to leave her lips, and settled for as bright a smile she could muster.
“I’m alright. I didn’t sleep great, but it’s getting better… I promise I’m okay.”
Mikey’s downcast and concern-filled expression regained some of its warmth by Lotus’ words, as he too mustered a simple but appreciative smile on his face. His small spark grew as it breathed in the air of Lotus’ somewhat good news.
“Okay. Thank you for telling me, Lo. I’m.. I’m glad it’s at least not getting worse.”
“N-no problem.” Lotus shakily spoke, as the foreign words of encouragement and optimism found their way on her tongue. She gave an unconvincing thumbs up with her crooked smile, resulting in Mikey chuckling with a confused look on his face.
“Dude, we need to work on your smile- You look like a teacher returning from summer break.”
EXCUSE ME????
Lotus’ smile quickly sharpened and contorted into a snarl.
“EXCUSE ME????” She bellowed, fully twisting her body around to face her brother, who was now stiff as a board, and slowly edging his way further into the kitchen.
Oh I’m SORRY~ Guess smiles don’t come so naturally to someone who’s been through hell and back. LEAST I’M TRYIN’ HERE!!!
As Lotus’ last frick was given, she launched herself into a sprint headed for her shrieking brother.
IT IS WAY TOO EARLY FOR THIS.
All of Lotus’ limbs ached and begged for rest, but her wounded pride remained at the helm. All throughout the lair she ran after Mikey, leaping and dodging over furniture and even nearly knocking over Raphael. Instead of rebuking her for her temper, Raph simply burst into a fit of laughter, and held his peppermint tea up in a “go, make me proud” motion.
Not like I needed your permission, but m’kay.
Unfortunately, Mikey’s cleverness won out against Lotus’ brief distraction. Tailing her brother into an unknown sewer tunnel, she screeched to a halt to find he had vanished.
DANG-FRIGGIN-SON OF A NINJA TURTLE.
Lotus dashed into the shadows looming throughout the tunnel, crouching and waiting for her prey.
Mikey may be the greatest at hide n seek…
…But he’s the worst at patience.
She positioned herself at the tunnel that led to the kitchen.
Not even five minutes later, she heard him approaching, humming to himself. The sound of his voice melded with something else… wheels?
She didn’t let the questions stop her. In one quick motion, she leapt out of the shadows, effectively blocking him.
What she didn’t realize though, was the speed at which Mikey was skateboarding towards her. Before she could shout for him to stop, he collided into her in a screaming explosion of chaos. The air in her lungs shot out of her mouth as Mikey’s elbow slammed into her plastron full-force, leaving her gasping and panting. Her vision flashed white as her head slammed into the concrete.
Everything went dark.
~ ~ ~
“--otus?!?! LOT-S?!?! -AKE UP!!!!!”
The world spun as if her head was placed in a washing machine, coiling her stomach with waves of nausea. Her ears rang with pitches that made her wince.
“Ughhhhhh…”
“LOTUS??? Are you okay!?”
The growing nausea snaking around her tongue forced her to mumble an affirmation rather than speak it. As she tried to move, a hiss squeezed through her clenched teeth by the stinging burns clawing at her knees and elbows.
It.. is way too early… for this.
“Whereee did that train come fromm?” Lotus slurred as she rubbed at the back of her aching skull. A headache had already begun forming, pulsing at the base of her cranium.
“ME? WHAT ABOUT YOU?? What’s with hidin’ in the dark? Are you okay!?” Mikey panicked, gesturing his hands at Lotus’ collapsed body. His shrunk pupils grew in concern as he took note of all the scrapes and bruises scattered over his big sister. Especially the bruise forming at the back of her head. Fortunately for him he remembered to wear his knee and elbow pads, with his gear mostly taking the brunt of the collision.
“MMMmmm f’ne.” Lotus mumbled as she tried to stand, resulting in another strained hiss.
“EH-EH! NO. BAD. STOP MOVING.” Mikey commanded, kneeling down and gently pushing Lotus back to the ground with his hand on her shoulder. “You’re not speaking right, and you hit your head. Leo’s gonna freak if you just start movin’ around after you got a concussion!”
The thunderous migraine in Lotus’ head was pushed aside by the growing panic creeping from the shadows of her memories.
~“Hold her still.”~
No.
~“Breathing appears to be normal.”~
No, please no…
~“HOLD HER DOWN!”~
I can’t…
~“This will sting.”~
“I’m gonna try to carry you-” Mikey whispered, squeezing Lotus’ shoulder, and then shifting to reach underneath her. “Leo will want to check you ou-”
“NO!” Lotus choked out in a shattered scream, flailing her arms and legs to deter Mikey from carrying her. The movement only inflamed the sting of her scrapes and bruises, but that didn’t matter. She was not going to do this. Not if she had a choice.
And now she does.
“NO. I’m FINE. Lay off, Mikey.” Lotus growled under her breath, riding out the swirling tides of nausea in the depths of her stomach. “I’m fine. I’ll walk it off.”
Mikey’s expression hardened into a pout of defiance. Concern still filled his soul to the brim, but there was just enough room for exasperation at the very top.
“Ah, no. Not gonna happen. I’ve been in enough wipeouts to know that’s not gonna fly, sister.” Mikey spoke as sternly as he could, shifting his voice so that it left no room for argument.
“I. SAID. NO.” Lotus ground out, barely finishing her sentence because of the creeping nausea making its way up her throat.
The world was still spinning. Her legs and arms ached, and that pain was only intensified by the scrapes and bruises. The argument with her stubborn little brother wasn’t helping her migraine either.
“DUDE!! He’s just going to check to see if you’re broken- THAT’S IT! Last I checked, he’s not planning some nefarious scheme in the Medbay!”
He didn’t mean that- he doesn’t.. know what he’s saying.
“Fine.” Mikey huffed, pulling back his arms and pushing himself off the ground. He began turning around. “ I’ll just go and get him, and he can carry your concussed butt to the Medb-”
“N-no..” Lotus whimpered, wrapping her arms around Mikey’s torso from behind him as she knelt on the ground. “Please, Mikey..”
The spite on Mikey’s face vanished as he felt Lotus’ body shake with frightened tremors, uncontrollable sobs escaping her in fragmented shards.
“P-please….I… I can’t..” She brokenly pleaded, nuzzling into Mikey’s carapace. “I just can’t..”
“...Why are you so scared of him?” Mikey whispered, gently gripping onto Lotus’ quivering arms around his waist.
“I-It’s n-n-not hi-im…” Lotus hiccuped, now releasing her sobs freely despite her pride. “I-I-It’s what he’ll d-d-do.”
Mikey’s brow tightened as his eyes softened. He carefully pulled Lotus’ thin arms off him, followed by kneeling down and twisting into an embrace with his shivering older sister. He stayed silent as Lotus softly wept into his shoulder, speckling his jade green scales with her misty blue tears. When it seemed she had finally settled, he spoke.
“I go in there all the time. It kinda looks scary, and smells weird, but I promise Leo’s the best mutant turtle in the medical business. He’s always careful. And gentle.”
Lotus’ grip around him tightened.
“He’s not goin’ to do anything that will hurt you unless he has to. And if it comes down to that, he usually won’t do it until you’re ready.”
...And what happens when you're never ready?
Mikey pulled Lotus away from him just so she could see his face. His thumb delicately rubbed away her tears. He smiled.
“He’s not like them, Lo.”
More tears brimmed over Lotus’ eyes.
“Leo loves you. You’re not some science project to him.”
The panic and fear in her mind slowly began creeping back into the shadows of her past.
“He takes care of you cause he wants you to be okay.”
Lotus tried to rub the tears off her face, but they kept coming. She tried to forget the ghosts of her past but they kept flashing back. Despite the power the shadows held over her, Mikey’s soothing voice and words restrained them. They were still there, whispering and reminding her of what she’d been through, but their ghostly voices were drowned out by an overwhelming shine of warmth.
She took a breath.
“O-okay. I…I’ll g-g-go.” Her voice still shook in terror, but her words echoed of her bravery, newly blossomed by her little brother.
Mikey’s smile shone the brightest it had that morning, as he nodded. Before Mikey’s arms slid under her again, she whimpered one more plea.
“M-mike- Please move slow…s-so...nauseous…”
Mikey’s eyes widened as he gave an understanding nod, making sure to move carefully as he picked Lotus up. Thanks to his more gentle motions, Lotus’ head only mildly pounded inside her skull as he began walking to the Medbay.
The whispers of her past screamed with all their might, demanding her to run, to be afraid, to cower. But the love of her family far exceeded her past.
She knew she was safe.
She knew she was home.
THE END
Thanks for reading! :)
~ Melissa
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