Liability

Chapter 3

Mikey awoke with a jolt, neck lined with cold sweat. He craned his neck to check the time on the small digital clock that sat on his nightstand. It was five in the morning. He groaned, rolling to his other side, knowing it would be impossible for him to go back to sleep without the high of the pills. He reluctantly lifted himself from his warm bed and exited his room, heading to the kitchen. He noticed a dirty bowl in the sink which meant Master Splinter must have arrived during the night.

He made a beeline for the fridge, fishing out a carton of eggs and a packet of bacon. As he started breakfast, he heard someone walk in, and felt a hand on his shoulder. 
Mikey turned, greeted by a pair of midnight blue eyes. 

"Leo! Are you ok, should you be out of bed?"

"I'm fine Mikey, Donnie gave me the all-clear last night."

"Oh. Well, that's good, I'm glad you're not too hurt. How's Raph?"

"You know how he is. Angry he lost, but he's fine."

Mikey nodded, looking back down at the cooking eggs.

"Master Splinter's home."

"Yeah, we saw him last night."

"Oh."

"Mikey?"

He looked back up to his eyes. "Yeah?"

"How about you? Are you hurt?"

Mikey shrugged. "It's not like Don would care."

"Hey! That's not true. Are you hurt?"

"It is true, he kicked me out of the lab when I just wanted to help! But I don't blame him, it is my fault all of you were hurt."

"No Mikey, it wasn't your fault, we were outnumbered."

"Yeah, and I didn't get to you in time."

Leo sighed. "It was inevitable Mikey."

He shut off the stove as Leo grabbed some plates. 

"So? Are you hurt?"

"No, I don't think so. The guy hit me on the head, but I'm ok."

Leo gave him a skeptical look. "You should have Don check you out just in case, it might be a concussion."

"Nah, dude, really, I'm just fine." 

Leo was about to protest but Raph came into the room with a sour look plastered on his face. 

"Better serve breakfast before Raphie over there gets mad, more than he already is."

Leo huffed in surrender as Mikey began serving each plate with an equal amount of eggs and bacon. A second later, Donnie limped in, grumbling something about coffee, which Mikey quickly caught on to, as he pranced over to the coffee machine. 
The three oldest turtles sat down at the table as Mikey set each of their plates down along with D's coffee, tea for Leo, and orange juice for him and Raph. 

"Dig in!" 

The four of them finished breakfast in a matter of seconds and then dropped their plates in the sink as they headed to the dojo for training. Master Splinter greeted them with a "good morning," and instructed them all to sit down. 

"Now, since several of you are injured, we will take a break from training for today, do not get used to it," he said, looking specifically at Mikey.

They all nodded excitedly, Mikey pumping a fist in the air. "Alright!"

"You are dismissed."

"Thank you, Master Splinter!" They cried in unison, bowing before they left the dojo.
Mikey sighed, holding his trembling hands close. Why was he so jittery?
He tried to shake it off as he made his way to his bedroom.