You're Needed Here Now, Donnie

Chapter 10 - Middle Brothers

*Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

*Special Note: The beautiful cover art for this chapter was created by the incredibly talented pilyarquitect. This one gets me right in the feels. ❤️

*Author's Notes: Here's Chapter 10 of 'You're Needed Here Now, Donnie' and it's an emotional one. I hope that you enjoy it. Thank you to everyone who has been reading and commenting on this story. I really appreciate it. And a special thanks to AyaShanti for providing the new cover art for this story. It turned out awesome! ;) CJ

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Chapter 10 – Middle Brothers

"How are you doing, Donnie?" Raph asked, kneeling in front of his genius brother, who was currently sitting on the concrete floor where his brawny big brother had set him down just moments ago. Donnie's posture was poor, at best, with his shell slouched against the wall behind him and his head lolled back, like he was in a lazy chair. It was making Raph nervous, so he reached out and lightly ground his knuckles into his little brother's plastron, hoping that it might perk him up some. Donnie's eyelids were getting too droopy for Raph's liking. "Hey, eyes on me. Tell me . . . how many fingers am I holding up?"

Donnie lifted his head up and his eyes started rolling around, but Raph wasn't sure if it was because his little brother was about to pass out, or, if it was because he was irritated by the moronic question that Raph had just posed. If the red-clad turtle had to wager a bet on it, he would have guessed that Donnie was irritated. That was probably because Raph didn't want to think about the other alternative. He didn't know what he would do if Donnie passed out on him.

"Raph . . . you only . . . have three . . . fingers on . . . each hand. Even if . . . I'm seeing double . . . unless you . . . are holding up . . . one finger . . . simple math . . . tells me . . . how many. If I see . . . four . . . answer is two . . . " Donnie panted out, leaning even more heavily against the wall. Truthfully, the brick wall that his older brother had propped him up against was the only thing keeping Donnie somewhat upright.

"Just humor me, Genius. You owe me that much. Remember, you puked all over me," Raph said with sarcasm nipping at his every word. If the words didn't remind Donnie of the mess that he had made of his big brother's plastron earlier, the smell certainly should have.

"Two . . . " Donnie groaned and his exasperation was obvious, but the corners of his mouth still arched up into the ghost of a smile. Then, as quickly as the smile had registered, it was gone. "Raph . . . you should . . . leave me . . . Mikey . . . Leo . . . need you," Donnie gasped out, little by little.

"I'm not leaving you, Donnie! So you can stop wasting your breath," Raph said pigheadedly and he placed a hand on top of one of his little brother's shoulders, giving it a good squeeze. He grimaced over the heat that was exuding from Donnie's skin. He was sure that the genius's temp was still soaring to detrimental heights. The second oldest turtle tried his best to pretend he wasn't freaking out about it.

"Raph," Donnie wheezed.

"I mean it, Donnie. Leo and Mikey . . . they'll be fine. They can handle Rahzar themselves," Raph said, not sure who he was trying to convince more with that last statement – Donnie or himself.

"You always . . . were a . . . terrible . . . liar," Donnie muttered under his breath.

"Wh – what?" Raph coughed out, feeling as though the word 'what' had somehow gotten lodged in his throat. He couldn't believe what he had just heard come out of Donnie's mouth. His docile and bashful little brother had just had the audacity to call him a liar to his face. If the brainiac wasn't so injured, Raphael would have slapped him upside the head.