Lost in the Fight

Chapter 39 - Lost in the Fight - Part 1

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

*Special Note: The beautifully emotional cover art for this chapter was created by my dear friend, CorolineThePheonix. It gets me right in the feels. Love it!!!

*Author's Notes: Chapter 39 of 'Lost in the Fight' is here and it appropriately shares the same title as the story. I'll warn you in advance, this one's a bit of a tearjerker. 😭 

Huge hugs to everyone for reading 'LITF' and for showing me so much support all this time. Your thoughtful feedback means the world to me and inspires me to keep posting. Thank you all very, very much for always being so nice to me.

Okay, let's get onto the chapter. I've made everyone wait long enough. ;) CJ

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Chapter 39 - Lost in the Fight - Part 1

The sight of Donatello coiled up into a ball in the corner of his room, shuddering and weeping with hitched breaths, was so gut-wrenching, it nearly made Leo's steadfast composure fail on the spot. The leader in blue had to hold his own breath to stop a sob from slipping out.

Leonardo couldn't remember the last time he had seen his second youngest brother out-and-out cry like this, if ever. Sure, he had seen Donnie upset plenty of times, and had even seen him shed tears on occasion, but this far surpassed anything the oldest turtle could recall and it scared him to see his injured brother in such a traumatized state. In fact, Donatello was so overwhelmed with grief right now, Leonardo was pretty sure his little brother hadn't even noticed they had entered the room.

Of course, had Donatello been more cognizant of what was going on around him, he would have probably pitched a holy fit over what Raph had just done to his door in order for them to gain entrance into his room. That was the one and only saving grace of their genius brother being so out of it at the moment.

After the initial shock wore off, Leonardo rushed over to Donnie and crouched down beside him. In an attempt to console his visibly distraught brother, Leo placed one hand on the back of Donatello's shell and squeezed his other hand around his younger sibling's nearest arm. At a complete loss for what to do next, the oldest turtle looked up at Raph and Mikey with a troubled expression that silently begged his other two brothers for help.

Sensing Leo's anxiety, and feeling it as well, Raph moved to the other side of Donatello and took a careful yet firm hold of him. The turtle in red then gave Leonardo a short nod and the two oldest brothers gently hoisted Donnie up, hauling his quivering form over to his bed where Mikey was waiting with a blanket to wrap around him. As soon as Donatello was set down on the mattress, the youngest turtle bundled his brainy brother up with all the tenderness of a mother lovingly swaddling an infant.

Sadly, the movement didn't lessen Donnie's breakdown any. He continued to shake and sob out of control, hiccupping on air that seemed to be getting noticeably thinner.

Donatello wasn't the only turtle in the room having a tough time breathing.

Wanting nothing more than to comfort his hurting brother, Leonardo climbed up onto the bed and positioned himself in front of Donnie so that he could wrap his arms around his genius brother's carapace and pull him into his chest. The position was rather awkward, since Donnie was still curled up into a ball and the splint on his leg was now pinned in between the two of them, but Leo didn't mind. He would sit like that for an entire month of Sundays – and then some – if Donnie needed him to. He would do whatever it took to make his little brother feel whole again.