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The next day meant another patrol for the Hamato Clan. As Mikey and Raph geared up to leave, Leo just stood in Donnie’s doorway.
“You’re coming tonight. No more excuses.”
Donnie sighed and grabbed his bo staff.
“Are you sure? Surely you don’t need everyone tonight.”
“I need everyone every night. You’ve been lazy lately, and I don’t appreciate it. Now get your ass out here and patrol with us.”
Donnie nodded and trudged along, not wanting to cause another fight. When he finally met up with everyone else, they left in a hurry. Donnie did manage to catch up, but it exacerbated the pain in his broken leg.
“Hurry up!” Leo yelled.
Donnie rolled his eyes and sped up, ignoring the pain. Once finally topside, they met up with April and Casey. As they raced to the rooftop of a newer complex, Donnie could feel his head start to swim. Not only was he hurting from the physical exertion, but he was also starting to feel unwell. Part of it was from everyday stress, which already halted any attempt to heal from his current bout of illness. But the sudden surge of physical activity also tired him out and made his muscle aches more prominent.
“We’re here. Pick a corner and survey.”
Donnie picked the corner closest to the fire escape ladder. He felt himself fall hard onto his plastron, and his chest started to feel tight. It made breathing harder than it needed to be, and Casey could hear his wheezing from where Raph had positioned himself.
“Don?”
“Huh?”
“What’s going on over there?”
“Um…. no unusual activity.”
“Not what I meant and you know it.”
Donnie was about to answer, but was soon cut off by Raph.
“Over there! 2 good-for-nothings trying to rob that antique store.”
Leo nodded and motioned with his fingers, a clear signal to jump in and start the fight. Mikey was the first to barrel in, slamming one of the criminals headfirst into the sales counter. As he continued the assault, Donnie swung in and restrained the 2nd one. Raph beat that guy to a complete pulp, allowing for Leo to swoop in and restrain them together.
“That’ll teach you to steal from small businesses.”
The group cheered in victory and began to run off. As they ran, Donnie’s energy levels completely faltered. He was able to keep pace by walking at first, but even that soon proved to be too much effort. With the night wearing on, he allowed himself to fall behind. And once his brothers had become nothing more than blobs in the distance, he allowed himself to collapse.
April was the only one to notice. As everyone else blabbed on about the night’s victory, she managed to sneak back to look for him.
“Donnie?”
It didn’t take long, mostly because he was hard to hide. Donnie laid face first on the hard rooftop, clearly knackered. April rolled him over, but soon found herself scared out of her mind. In the time he had been unconscious, his breaths had grown weak and even inconsistent. She knew she couldn’t wake him up normally, so she had to take drastic measures.
“Let’s try this.”
She quickly readied her hands and began chest compressions. It took a sheer amount of luck to even apply the needed pressure to his heart through his plastron, let alone wake him up and get him breathing again.
He sat up in shock, quickly taking in a large gasp of air before starting to cough again. As he coughed, a violently uncomfortable amount of blood spat out from his mouth, and he started to shake almost uncontrollably.
“You shouldn’t have been out tonight. It was too risky.”
“I know…”
He sighed again and collapsed onto April’s lap. She just picked him up and started the trek back to the lair.
“You don’t have to say anything. Just keep your eyes open, please?”
He did try, but the effort couldn’t last long…
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Donnie woke up again to the sound of the nebulizer running. April sat him up and fitted the mask over his face, still shocked at how warm he had become.
“Try this. And then maybe some tea?”
He gave a shaky thumbs up. The rest of the treatment window was nearly silent, and watching the cup of herbal tea brew was the only thing keeping April in one piece. Eventually, Donnie slipped off his mask and started to sip at the tea, hoping the steam would help clear out his lungs more.
“Why did you come out tonight?”
“Leo needed me.”
“...we were there, though.”