TMNT: Ricochet ▶ON HOLD (till gets more reads, votes and comments)◀

Chapter 2

It's so surreal, Don thinks as the hovering gurneys take them down the winding hallway to Med Bay Three. Swarms of Utroms and organ-like architecture pass them by in a cold, slow-motion blur. He wants to say something to Mikey, but his mouth is dry and his mind is racing like a hurricane.

It's the first time he realizes he's in shock. Back on the ship, there was no time to process anything, only to act and react. And when it came time to make the ultimate decision, all he could think about was how many lives they were going to save.

He's not sure why being alive after all of that has him so shaken. They had gotten lucky. Shell, luck couldn't even begin to describe what had happened back there. And just minutes ago he'd been so, so relieved. But now... Now he's facing the very real possibility that he and Mikey may soon be the only remaining members of their family. The last two of their kind. Before, there was a measure of comfort in the idea of dying together for such a noble cause.

Now they were so terrifyingly alone.

When they reach the med bay, he glances at his brother's face. If possible, Mike's gone even paler than before, fresh tears rolling slowly down his cheeks. But as they settle in, he's the first to break the silence, his voice thick and full of gravel.

"They're gonna be okay, right?"

"I cannot say for sure," Glurin answers gravely. "Only time will tell."

"You said you would tell me everything," Don cuts in like a knife, almost startled by the intensity of his own voice. "You have to promise me you'll answer everything I ask."

"Of course. I will do my best."

A minute of silence ticks by uninterrupted as he tries to sort through his thoughts. There are so many questions, so many things racing through his head. How did they know about their plan to overload the power core? Had Honeycutt's distress signal even mentioned they were on that ship, or were they just that lucky? It's something he finds hard to believe. And then there's a million and one worries and fears about Leo, about Raph, and he never even got a chance tosee Master Splinter. He tries to see it all from a logical perspective, to think of only statistics and facts, sort through the blur of events leading up to now as rationally as he can, and start his questions there. But the fear and panic over memories of Raph's ragged breathing, the sight of Leo's blood all over the floor...

As good as Don is at thinking on his toes, it's too much. His head is a mess and he feels like he can't catch his breath.

"Honestly..." he breathes shakily, "I don't even know where to start. How... how did you know we were on that ship? I thought the Professor's distress signal hadn't even gone through..."

It's a question with hardly any significance in the shadow of everything else, but it's an easy way to start.

"We didn't," Glurin answers simply. "We have known about Ch'rell's plans to leave Earth for quite some time. When we received Honeycutt's transmission it was severely corrupted. All we knew was that his ship had left Earth and we had made plans to intercept it. It wasn't until our sensors picked up on the unstable energy signature that the Council had decided to activate the stasis bubble."

That familiar delirious feeling hits him so hard he almost starts laughing again. What were the odds...?

"Wait until Raph hears about this. He..." Mike's wan smile shifts into something that makes Don think he might get sick again. "He's always going on about... Turtle Luck."

Don shakes his head, trying to get his thoughts in order before they both lose it completely. "I need to know what's happening to my family."

"Yes, of course." Glurin takes a slow breath before he begins. "Leonardo has a stab wound through his left shoulder that has penetrated through several muscle layers and shattered his scapula. We're currently dealing with an associated arterial bleed our surgeons are working to ligate."