The Reject Ch. 12

Mikey's POV

The orange masked turtle hurried across the city's rooftops until he reached the red-heads place. He carefully set down Kari, who had blacked out during the small trip, and taps on the window. He heard the creaking of a bed inside before April appeared in view.

"Mikey?"

She opens her window and immediately notices the blood on his three-fingered hand.

"What happened?" April asked, suddenly wide awake and concerned.

He turns towards the unconscious girl on the fire escape. Leo hopped down next to his younger brother.

"Kari was just attacked by Shredder. She needs medical attention. Could you get her to a hospital?" The blue masked ninja asks.

April quickly nods and motions towards the brunette. "Bring her inside quickly. I'll go call for an ambulance and say she was attacked by the Purple Dragons." Leo nods then turns towards a silent Mikey. "You okay?"

He doesn't reply at first. "She should have left me tied up. If she hadn't of helped, this wouldn't have happened."

"She knew the risks of what might happen. She took the chance and helped you out." He rested his hand on the younger turtle's shoulder.

The sounds of sirens could be heard not too far away. "Come on. We have to get going."

Mikey frowns but nods, knowing they couldn't be seen. He casts one last look at his unconscious friend before following after his brother.

"She's gonna be fine, Mikey. Just relax."

Several days went by and things were tense at the lair. Donatello and Raphael were against Michelangelo at the lair but ceased to argue about it once Splinter heard that he was back. April had been stopping off at the lair to let Mikey know how Kari was.

"Mikey?" The red-head was waving her hand in front of his face and he blinked.

"Huh?"

"I asked if you wanted to come with me to see her today." April said, softly.

"It'd be better than moping around and getting glared at by Raph."

The last bit was said quietly but the red-masked turtle growled. "He shouldn't be here. He snuck out with any of us knowing and because of his stupidity, he lead the Shredder here."

"He's not the only one to leave the lair on his own."

Everyone turned to look at the tri-colored rat entering the room.

"I remember when you went off on your own and you got into that fight with Casey."

A small smirk appeared on Leo's face but it quickly faded when Splinter turned and met his eyes with Splinter's brown ones.

"As I recall, you also went off on you own before multiple times, Leonardo."

As Splinter went on, scolding his sons, April and Mikey took that time to leave the lair.

Kari hated being in the hospital and tried to leave on multiple occasions while the nurses weren't looking.

They had to move her up a couple floors so if she tried to make another break for it, there'd be enough time for the nurses or security to catch her.

When she heard a familiar voice, all thoughts of her current escape plan vanished.

"Half-way down the hall to the right. Number 428."

It didn't take long for a familiar redhead to enter the room.

"I hate it here." Kari said, irritation rolling off of her like waves.

"You're only here until the wound heals."

"It's already getting better!" She protested. "I was naturally born a fast healer."

April just rolled her eyes before stopping Kari's next thought on escape. "Someone came with to visit."

"Visit? Who?"

A blonde figure walked into the doorway, his face clear with guilt once he saw that half of her face was bandaged.

"I was wondering when you'd show up. This one here won't help or approve any of my escape plans out of here." Kari said, letting out a sigh of irritation directed to April.

During Mikey's silence, Kari quickly glance over Mikey before frowning, easily recognizing that look.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up because of this."

"But you got hurt because of me!"

The redhead quickly closed the door to the room so the noise didn't attract any attention.

"I was in with the wrong crowd. That's all." She replied, trying to help him not blame himself.

"No, you were attacked by the Shredder because you let me go."

By now, any argument that went this long, Kari would have already increased her volume and be irritated. Mostly the reason of that was because of where she was, but she couldn't find it in her to raise her voice to him.

"That was my choice and my choice alone. I knew what I was getting myself into. If our roles were switched, I know you would've done the same thing." She told him, softly.

"Had I left you there, Shredder would've tortured and killed you. You can't heal from being dead, but I can heal from this." Kari motioned to her bandaged face. "Besides, who would've taken care of Ice Cream Kitty if you were gone?"

During the times that Mikey would spend back at the lair and during her time in recovery, a lot had happened.

Before Kari could continue, an older nurse came in, saying she was there to replace the bandages. After ushering Mikey and April out, she took her time removing and cleaning the wound. The brunette started to doze off when she placed the new bandages back on.

"This should help with any pain."

The nurse injected a sedative into Kari's IV before she could protest and it knocked her out cold before her head hit the pillow.

Kari woke up with a frown. She was getting tired of being sedated when the bandages were changed. Yeah it hurt quite a bit, well, more than a bit, but she felt like it was a little too much.

She reached over towards her bag that April had brought her and rummaged for a clean pair of clothes. Tonight was the last night she would stay there. Kari removed the IV and covered it up with a small bandage before heading into the bathroom.

She listened for any footsteps before slipping into a light gray t-shirt, a pair of black skinny jeans, and a thin black and gray striped hoodie. She fixed her hair to cover up the bandaged half if her face then brought up the hospital band on her wrist to her mouth then ripped it off.

"Finally! Normal clothes and no band." She happily muttered before sneaking over to her room again and towards the hallway door.

The sounds of approaching footsteps caused Kari to suddenly turn and leap back into the bed. She covered herself with the blanket and pretended to sleep.

The steps went past the door and faded as they progressed down the hall. When there was no sound, Kari let out a sigh of relief. She shuffled out of the bed and back to the door.

"You're going to get me fired, you know."

The brunette froze and saw a young nurse in the doorway.

"I was just going for a walk..."

"No, you were going to leave. You're lucky that I like you. You're not one of those patients who constantly complain about the slightest thing." With a wave of her hand, she motions Kari to follow her and walks over to the desk.

"I'll discharge you under a fake name, alright?"

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because when I was your age, I hated hospitals as well. My older brother got into a wreak and I always hated having to see him there so I can understand your discomfort."

Kari looked over the nurse cautiously then nodded. "Alright."

After she signed the discharge papers, she placed them on the desk and handed a copy to Kari.

"In case you have any troubles leaving, just show them this."

"Thanks..."

"Cassandra, but call me Cass or Cassie and here." She handed her a small slip of paper.

"What's this?"

"It's my number in case you need help or more bandages. Now off you go before the other nurses come and get suspicious."

With a quick wave, Kari heads down the hall and towards the silver elevator.

She had a few complications but Kari finally emerged from the sliding glass doors.

"Finally."

She was tempted to call someone to see if they could drive her home but she decided to surprise them that she was out. She glanced around and realized how close the hospital was to her apartment.

Without wasting time, she went on her way, happy to be out. The hospital had made her restless so she planned to take out Pearl and walk around the city for awhile.

With her mind occupied, time seemed to slip by and before she knew it, Kari was approaching the brick building she called home. She didn't want to go through the front because she didn't want to wake anyone in the building up so she chose the fire escape.

As she walked into the alley, a slight chitter sound echoed, having Kari stop.

"Skeeter, I thought you were done digging through the trash."

Moments later, a small masked ball of fluff poked its head from the trash. The raccoon chirped before making his way to his human friend.

Skeeter was a raccoon Kari took in when he was little. He had gotten stuck in an empty trash can and couldn't get out. Feeling bad, she started taking care of him and let him stay in her apartment.

She had to leave him outside while she was in the hospital so no one would complain.

Skeeter climbed up her leg before resting on her shoulder and back.

"I missed you too, buddy. Come on. Let's head up and eat."

Not paying attention, her foot stepped in a thin puddle. With a glance, she noticed it was green with a small glow.

Before she could find its source, a burning pain erupted underneath her skin and spread throughout her body, preventing her from making any sound to call for help.