The lair was quiet and everyone was asleep except for Klunk who sat at the end of Leo's bed looking at the monitors, the little tabby thought that it would be useful for once and guard Leo who was in a healing coma after the tumour was removed. It had been very close to attach it self to Leo's heart and then it would be to late to save him but it had spread on the most important organs in Leo's body anyway.

Klunk didn't seem to even blink or react to the snoring turtles on either side of the bed, he didn't care and moved closer to Leo to make sure the turtle was breathing and still alive. He did how ever let out a meow that was loud and the tone was enough to freak out both Raph and Donnie, the latter moving right into action as the monitors were beeping like crazy...

Leo was going into cardiac arrest and was losing oxygen fast.

Raph tried to find the cause of the oxygen problem and Donnie moved fast to make Leo's heart beat again, Klunk was slamming his claws in Leo's feet to make him react and so far he didn't get wait he wanted...Until he moved to use his teeth. Leo flew up with such speed that he knocked Raph to the floor and scared Donnie half to death, Raph found the oxygen cable that had fallen out and quickly plugged it back and got some duck tape to make sure it stayed there.

"Good job Klunk, and now I think we need to wash your poor mouth" Donnie laugh as the cat used his tiny paws to get the disgusting sewer taste out of his mouth, Raph couldn't hold him self and laughed him self to death. Donnie picked up the poor thing and went to the kitchen while Raph stayed with Leo "You might wanna think twice from now on where you should bite him if you want him to react Klunk" Donnie said and helped Klunk get his mouth clean.

"And thanks for that heart attack by the way...Where you there the whole time" to Donnie's great surprise the orange tabby made a salute with his right paw and all Donnie could do was blink "Mikey taught you that one, didn't he?" He asked as they made their way back to the lab and found Raph quietly talking to Leo and there were things not even Donnie knew about so he remained out side listening.

...

"...Just wake up bro! I know I say that I can take care of my self and that I'm not afraid but...I am...I'm scared to death that you might give up when you are so close to get better" Raph sighed and buried his face in Leo's limp hand, crying the fear and pain that was eating him alive in his chest and he could barely breath. Raph held his eyes on Leo the whole time and saw how pale his brother had become.

The mask was removed and showed black circles under those tightly shut eyes and the rasped breathing that sounded horrible, Leo had lost more weight then ever and Raph could see the blood veins and the bones. Leo was nothing more then a living skeleton and even if they had plastorn you were able to see the ribs and see the spot where the heart was beating. It all looked so terrible that Raph almost bolted out of the room but instead he slammed his forehead in the bed and cried, outside it brought tears in Donnie's eyes and he too saw the change of his brother's once strong body. Finally entering the lab and placed Klunk at the foot of the bed he moved behind Raph and hugged him.

"I c-can't take much more of this! I-I can't s-see him like this any m-more!" Raph whispered and turned around so he was facing Donnie and not the body in the bed, it was then he noticed Mikey and the fear in his eyes "He looks...Scary...Like..."

"Like he was taking from one of you sick movies? Oh ya, and that freaks ME out!" Raph cut off and covered his face with his shaking hands, Donnie helped Mikey to the other kitchen chair and then he got his own desk chair to sit beside Raph while Klunk hopped over to Mikey "Klunk saved Leo, he was going into a cardiac arrest and the oxygen tube on the machine had fallen out. His...what ever sound he made...Woke us up and we both nearly died" Donnie said and hoped it would start a conversation so that it wouldn't be to quiet.

Mikey smiled and hugged his cat "Awww...Good boy!"

"But then he tried to make Leo react so he slammed his claws in Leo foot, no reaction and by then eve Raph was looking at him"

At that Raph chuckled and looked up "Crazy hairball, he slammed his teeth in Leo's foot and THEN he flew, knocked me to the floor and the result was that Klunk had a disgusting taste in his mouth! How long did you have to wash it out?" "To long, he even use SOAP to get it out and then he burped bubbles all the way back here"

As if Klunk understood him the little tabby jumped while hiccuping some bubbles, making the turtles laugh so hard that they were in tears and they couldn't stop when Klunk started to chase and jump after the bubbles as if they were toys. Raph face palmed and shoke his head as he came to the conclusion that the cat was as nuts as his baby brother and kept laughing, his two younger brother had just as fun.

But none of them noticed the shadow in the corner, smiling at Klunk and chuckled. Leo had been standing there since the surgery had started and he figured that in this form his mind would be lost and his body could heal, he also learned more about his brothers then ever thought and felt a little guilty for not telling them in time when he first noticed that he was sick. They did love him more then life or the world so maybe they would kill them selfs after some time, he was still shaken to the his spirit heart at the sight of his own body state and hoped that his brothers would help him with that. Suddenly Splinter walked in and both he and Klunk was looking right at him as if they could see him...But then he figured that Klunk could see him but splinter could sense him there and hoped none of them would be moving towards him.

"My sons, you have been in here ever since the surgery and it won't help your brother if you are close to fall to sleep" Splinter said and looked at them all before his eyes fell on his eldest son and his cane fell to the floor "Is...Is he even breathing?" "Yes, thanks to Klunk we were able to save him. I think he's been awake the whole night while Raph and I were sleeping in here" Klunk jumped up to the bed and carefully made and slowly made his way to Leo's head before sniffing, suddenly the cat almost flew out it's hide when Leo coughed loudly and Klunk bolted away leaving half of his fur behind. In the corner Leo chuckled and made a mental note to cuddle with the poor tubby for almost killing him.

"You still breathing Klunk? Hehehe, Leo sure freaked you out huh?" Mikey laughed and placed his cat on his shoulders and felt how the cat was shaking "Haha! Klunk is going to kill Leo when he wakes up!"

"If he ever does..." Raph sighed and got up, leaving the lab to get some of his emotions on his punching bag in the Dojo *Don't give up Leo! I love you and I'm so sorry I didn't tell you that before...All I did was to make life harder for you and I just want to be a brother, not a monster*

*You're not a monster, I know how you feel Raph! I can sense it and to be honest...It kinda hurt*

Raph turned around and didn't see anything but he could hear a voice "Great! Back to meditation then!" Raph mumbled and sat down on the floor.

~Astral Plane~

Raph reopened his eyes and the second he did they they were filled with tears as he launched him self on Leo, who laughed and held his little brother tightly.

"I'm sorry I'm making you so worried bro, but I promise I won't give up!...And I saw how I looked right now, creepy"

"What ever...Leo, I'm sorry for all the times I made things harder for you, I don't hate you, I know you're not fearless, I know you want us to be safe and that you are worried about me going up all the time and that you get angry at me for not being there for the family when you want me to"

Leo chuckled and looked at Raph "Hey, it's okay, You don't have to apologize...I know all of it and I was there when you finally got permission to be beside me after the surgery. I wanted to hug you even then but I couldn't so I waited til you were alone"

"Please...come back when your body is healed...I can't take much more of this"

"Of course...There is no way I' miss you birthday"