Muted Soul

Reveal What is Hidden

It's been a few hours since the surgery and Mikey has yet to awaken. Hopefully, he should wake up soon.

"Come on little brother, wake up...you can do it." Raph mumbled in a quiet voice.

"Remember guys, when he wakes up don't mention the incident right away, be gentle." Leo warned them.

They all looked at Mikey who wasn't as pale as before. His face was calm as if he was sleeping peacefully on the bed.

Suddenly, his face twitched slightly and he whimpered a little bit before opening his bleary baby blue eyes.

"Guys, he's awake!" April gasped in slight surprise as everyone was immediately was immediately at his side.

"Hey little brother, how ya feelin'?" Raph asked very gently, taking Mikey's hand and squeezing it tightly.

"Pain." Mikey murmured as he winced. His voice sounded foreign and hoarse after not being used in so long.

"I'll get you some more medicine, I think it's worn off by now...Leo, can you get him some water?" Donnie turned to Leo who nodded.

He returned a few moments later with a full cup of cold water and handed it to Mikey who sipped it greedily.

"I-I'm sorry." Mikey whispered. He had failed...now they were going to be dissapointed.

"Whatta you sorry for Mikey? Ya haven't done nothin' wrong." Raph asked in confusion.

"B-But, I talked....I wasn't supposed to talk." Mikey stammered. "I failed you..."

Leo grabbed his hand tightly and sighed. "Mikey, you didn't fail us and we're so glad you're talking again." He said sincerely.

Mikey blinked in doubt. He contemplated thinking if they were kidding. Did they really want him to talk?

He then noticed his plastron was wrapped in thick guaze bandages and was immediately worried.

"Um, w-why does my shell feel so weird? I feel like a giant magnet..." Mikey stammered.

Everyone turned serious. Donnie sighed and stepped closer to Mikey. "Mikey...why did you hide your injury from us?"

Mikey gulped. He knew this was coming but there was no use lying about it now. He had to just tell them the truth.

"I...I just thought I could take care of it myself, I took some bandages and wrapped it..."

"Mikey, you had three broken ribs, two cracked ones and one of your broken ribs punctured your lung." Donnie said seriously.

Mikey's eyes widened. He really didn't think it was that serious. "I...I knew I was hurt but I didn't know it was that bad."

Donnie sighed, taking a deep breath to calm down. "I understand that Mikey, but...you were in pain weren't you?"

Mikey nodded. "Yeah, the first couple of days it was just sore, it didn't get bad until a few days ago." He explained.

"Still though, it was extremely dangerous for you to just hide an injury this serious." Leo chimed in.

"Why?" Mikey asked in confusion, not knowing how close he came to death.

"Mikey...you threw up blood and then you passed out, you didn't wake up until today...you were out for a whole 48 hours."

Mikey gulped nervously. Why had he worried them so much? "I...I didn't realize..." He trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"I know you didn't, but do you have any idea how terrified we were when we saw you lying on the dojo floor, coughing up blood?"

Mikey's eyes watered slightly. He was starting to feel really, really horrible about all of this. "I'm sorry." He whispered.