Till Death Do We Part (Donatello X Depressed!Reader)

05 | A Gentle Spirit

Your PoV

Shit. I've been found out.

My face heats up as I avoid Master Splinter's gaze, hiding my forced, nervous smile in my teacup.

For a long moment, I don't answer him.

"You do not have to talk to me about your troubles if you don't feel comfortable," he reassures me. I let out the breath I'd been keeping in. "I suppose a more imperative question would be as to whether you are feeling better?"

I nod, the tension between my shoulder blades slowly diminishing. "I feel pretty good." I say. "Um, thanks for asking..."

Master Splinter smiles a little. "It is late," he murmurs, as I take in the last sip of my tea. "Perhaps you should get some more rest so your body can heal. You are sleeping in the lab, I presume?"

I nod again, fighting back a yawn. I guess I am tired.

I stand up as Master Splinter comes around to my side of the table, guiding me across the common room back into the dark laboratory. He slides open the door, and I pause for a moment, letting myself stand there long enough to get a good look at Donnie.

He's still sitting there, his face buried in his muscular green forearms. He's still sleeping.

I sigh, gently relieved, and turn back to Master Splinter to say thank you for the tea and goodnight.

The common room is empty.
Master Splinter has disappeared.

A heavy, sinking feeling settles on my head again, and I hurry into the lab and sit on the edge of the table Donnie had me lying on.

I lie down, ignoring the coolness under my back of the surface material as I pull the blanket over my body again.

It isn't long before I find sleep.
~

When I wake up, my vision is hazy and I blink lazily, trying to clear my eyes.

I lick my lips, which are dry and slightly chapped. A shadow moves above me, and I focus on it calmly as I sit up.

My shoulder is still weak, so I have to rely on the unhurt arm, my left, to balance myself.

Donnie stands in front of me, a stethoscope around his neck.

"(Y/n)," he begins to explain himself, "I'm going to give you a medical check this morning... I forgot to tell you yesterday. Don't worry, though- it'll be really quick, promise."

I blankly try to follow what he said, his words sinking into my brain only after a minute.

Without another option, I give a tight nod.

"You're up early today," he smiles.

I look at my hands. "What are you gonna do to me?"

Donnie presses something cold to my chest.

"Well," he says gently, "I'll start by listening to your heart."

He listens to the redundant beat for a second, drumming his fingers in the edge of the table in unison. I find myself smiling.

Donnie presses a hearing tip of the stethoscope back into his ear with a shoulder, grinning.

"Your heart is beating a little faster," he cracks. "You liked that?"

I nod again, my voice unrecoverable.

Donnie laughs a little, shaking his head at himself. "Could you take some deep breaths for me, (Y/n)?"

I breathe a bit deeper, letting the air come in through my nose, and to slowly exit my mouth. I concentrate on my breathing, not wanting Donnie to have to correct me. I want to silently win his respect.

He nods at me, absorbed in his examination of my heartbeat. "Good," he murmurs. He blinks, finally straightening. "(Y/n), that was really good."

"Thanks," I say slowly, trying to see if he means it. He grins goofily at me, a gap in his upper jaw tinting the smile kiddishly.

Donnie picks up a small white flashlight that's sitting on the table beside me, and flicks on the exceedingly bright light, which gently illuminates the not-dark but at the same time not-exactly-lightness of the lab. He cups my chin in his big green hands, tilting my face into a more favorable position for him. My nose is close to his face as he does this, and I hope to God that I don't start blushing again.

Donnie shines the light into my eyes.

At first, I must have closed them, because I don't think my eyes are used to such bright light. So there I am, blind and rubbing my eyes to clear them, while Donnie tries to reason with me about keeping them open.

"I should've warned you," he mumbles, after apologizing for the tenth time.

And for the tenth time, I tell him that it's okay.

"It was my fault," I say again, finally able to see clearly again. "D-don't worry about it."

Donnie nods at me, lets out a breath, and shines the light at me again.

It isn't as bad as I thought it would be- in my mind I was picturing searing pain and visionless eyes for the remainder of my life- but the light is calm, and Donnie's hands are steady. He turns off the flashlight after looking at both of my (e/c) eyes.

"Are you feeling okay?" Donnie asks me softly. My head snapped up. I guess I'd zoned out, not realizing that he was still standing there.

Donnie looks nervous. "I didn't hurt you, did I?" he mumbles, almost dropping the thermometer in his hand.

"No," I say truthfully.

He sighs, relieved. "Good. You got me scared for a second there," he laughs. "Um, next I'll take your temperature, then..."

The thermometer is an older model, a glass end that goes under my tongue connected to the electric portion at the top, from which Donnie reads my body temperature.

He rests a hand against my forehead and I jump, but he quickly calms me down.

"Don't worry, (Y/n)." he tells me softly. "You're fine. You just have a bit of a fever."

"I do?" I ask, plainly surprised.

Donnie smiles weakly. "But like I said- don't worry. It'll maintain itself, go down after you get some liquids and maybe a bit of food."

As if on cue, my stomach growls.

I feel that familiar blush crawling up my cheeks, and Donnie laughs aloud.

"I can see no objection to my statement," he says, faked military seriousness in his voice. "Come on, (Y/n), let's go get you something to eat. I can't promise anything elaborate, though- we should go see what Mikey's rustled up in his spare time this morning."

*