Chapter 27 Treasured Moments
The day before their departure, I was full of mixed emotions. Lucy was going with
them to return to her apartment. Check up on mail, get back to her job and stay in
contact with Raph.
She hated him at first but after what they went through, her heart finally opened up to
him.
With my hands able to have feeling in them, I moved around the grounds in my wheelchair
slowly but freely. Took me awhile but once I got the feel of moving the wheels with
my fingers, I could
move by myself. On the balcony, I took a breather. Man, this was tough!
My fingers weren't fully strong. I guess I was desperate to move around than
stay in a horrid bed. Susan was
changing the sheets, anyway. I had to get away for some fresh air.
Stopping to view the reddened skies, I found Don staring out into the sunset, dressed
in full battle attire. His breathing appeared short. Must have been sparring
with his brothers. What a pity to
have missed that. To think the first time I saw them practice, I'd give dollars to
watch them do that all over again. There was no way I could sneak up on him.
He heard me the minute the
wheels turned forward.
"Oh, hi Jewel! Long time since I've seen you outside."
"Well, I've had a bad case of cabin fever. Thought I was going to enjoy the sunset alone. Looks like I was wrong."
Don stepped away from the edge and walked around me to help push the wheelchair closer.
"You're healing remarkably. The doctors said weeks but I'm seeing days. Maybe it's because you're young and healthy."
"And loved." I smiled. His smile shortened. Oops. Was that not a good thing to say right now?
"Speaking of love, I've been thinking about Splinter lately." Big mistake. "I miss him greatly. We're leaving tomorrow, you know." Why did they have to remind me? "Jewel?"
"Hmm?" My mind was elsewhere.
"Did you hear what I said?"
"Yes, I did. I hear it often. Leo reminded me, Mike reminded me, Raph should be doing it next."
He stared out to the reddish sky. "I guess you could say we're all a little homesick. England is nice but my home is back in New York."
"Don, I have to be honest with you. I don't want you to leave. I know that sounds selfish, but, over the past days, I discovered something."
He turned fully around with a questioning eyebrow.
"And what might that be?"
"You're my purpose for being here on earth."
"How can you be so sure that's true?"
"I can't be sure." He looked skyward. "Don, please!
Listen. I almost died at the hospital. But someone sent me back. Someone
told me it wasn't my time to go because there was another on
earth that loved and needed me. When I woke up, the first person I laid my eyes upon
was you. It's a sign, Don. It has to be you."
"And what about Edward? Have you forgotten that you're still married?
My heart was not meant to be jerked around by a young girl who's already settled
down into a relationship. Let's get
serious here, Jewel. You're in love with Edward. You're married, you're taken.
End of discussion."
Don gave me a very harsh look before heading back indoors. That did not go well. Not at all. I had to think of something desperate.
"No, stop-" I clutched the handles of the wheelchair and lunged forward. My legs immediately gave away and I fell down flat on my stomach. Now, that was desperate.
"Jewel!" Don was at my side within seconds, lifting me up into strong his arms. "Oh, you crazy girl! Don't ever do that again or you'll hurt yourself!"
"Please...." I coughed and gasped, unable to speak clearly.
"I'd rather be hurting more than you. If it's one thing I discovered over
the time we had together, it's I can't live without you. I need
you in my life. If I didn't, I wouldn't have quickened the strength to do
this." I raised a shaky hand to touch his face. He snapped his head back
and my hand fell down to my side.
"Jewel, stop. You can't do this." He whispered. "You're married."
I shook my head. "I may be a widow. There have been too many
suspicions that Edward is no longer with us. If that is true, than my heart is left
opened for another one to enter it. And....."
My fingers started to flex slowly on his belt. "That other one is right here
beside me."
"Oh, Jewel." He sighed. "You don't know for sure if he's dead. And I can't wait around to find out. Our lives are completely different. You could never love me. I'm not even human."
"If I didn't love you, why would I ask you to kiss me at the hospital?"
"You just wanted a quick kiss on the cheek. I was the one that went too far with it. That's why you cried out the way you did. You wanted me to stop."
"No, oh, no Don...." I sobbed quietly. "Is that what you
thought? Goodness, no! I was upset because you held me close and my paralysis
prevented me from feeling your body next to mine.
If I had it my way, I would have wanted you to join me in the bed!"
"Sorry, there was enough room."
"Then, I would have thrown out Franklin and had the beds pushed together."
"Franklin?"
"The old man I bunked in the same room with. The one who kept the damn TV practically all night. They eventually had to take the remote away because he was becoming a disturbance."
Don smiled to me, recalling the remote control was always a problem with his family. I didn't get the connection but knew I said something to amuse him.
"You would really throw your life away to be with me, Jewel?"
"I would give up everything just to have that one night with you again."
"That could be arranged."
I grinned devilishly. "Be gentle with me. I'm still very weak."
"I would never cause you pain. We can wait to do other things."
He smiled wickedly. "Until then, I just need to know if you are being
honest with me. I have to hear it out loud." I frowned with a
nod, catching on to what he wanted me to say. "Just say the words so that I
know it's true."
I didn't have to wait to think it over. "I love you, Don. I loved you since I first met you and I want to be with you forever."
I could feel myself crying all over again. Before I knew it, both of us were
shedding tears. He held me tight and I raised my hand again to his face. He
didn't snap back this time. With little
strength I had, I clutched his cheek and pulled downward. He got the message and
bent lower to kiss me long and full on the lips. The seal of approval. Safe in
his arms, I knew at that
point he would protect me from any harm. Don lifted me up off the ground and headed
into the house, leaving the wheelchair behind. As far as I knew, I wasn't going to
need it for awhile.
The house seemed quiet. For the most part. Some parts tended to stir up little activity.
Lucy sat quietly on her bed, reading a book with a desk lamp overhead. Everyone
was starting to get tired, moving around in different parts of the house. Lucky for
them. The radio played
low in the background as she read. A contemporary station. With a stretch, she
sat up and placed the book on the fire place mantle. A click of the switch left her
sitting in a pool of darkness
on the bed. Sleep was coming on strong. Not just yet.
"Lucy?" Without a knock, Raph opened the door, suddenly falling into the dark room. "Oh. Lights out already?"
"For me, anyway." A voice came from the bed. "What's up?"
"Um, I'm up. Your father was going to show me his trophy collection but I declined. Leo's covering for me."
"That's nice. I'm sleeping now."
"No you're not. You're still talking." Raph moved over to sit on the bed. "How could you be sleeping if you-"
"Raph, it's just an expression. Meaning, after I say it, I go to sleep. Haven't you ever-" Lucy moved her leg, feeling something awkward. "Are you on my bed?"
"Maybe. Why do you ask?"
"We have 20 some odd rooms. Didn't Dad offer you one?"
"Yeah, but mine is missing something."
"Like what?"
"You."
Lucy stared at her ceiling. Was she ever going to get some sleep?
"You've been here over a week and you're just now realizing this?"
"No. I've been realizing it every time I go to bed."
"So, what you're saying is, you want me in your room."
"It needs a woman's touch."
"Well, I can't be in two places at once."
"I didn't mean it like that."
"Raph, you've got your room. I have mine. You can have a different room each day of the week if you wanted."
"Sounds like you bed hop. What's it like?"
"Bed hop? How dare you." Her voice didn't sound threatening, but then again, she was too tired.
"With all the guys you've known, you probably did a lot of bed hopping."
"Okay, you're making me angry."
"Ooh. I feel threatened."
"Don't tempt me." Lucy started to sit up but he couldn't see her moving in the dark. Too bad his night vision didn't adjust.
"Tempt you? Ooh, what is little Lucy gonna do about it?" She decked him with her pillow. Right in the kisser. "Hey!" He muffled through the fabric. "Alright! That's it, now you're asking for it!"
Raph chose his weapon, the second pillow, and swung it at her. Lucy almost fell
off the bed but rounded on him, smacking his shell with such force, he almost tumbled off.
He came back with a wide
swing and she flew one at him. Fire was in her eyes mixed with mischief. She
was pissed but also playful. Both of the pillows smacked together and exploded with
feathers flying everywhere.
"Oh, no!" Lucy laughed hysterically.
"What the hell?" Raph slumped to the bed with eyes darting the room as Lucy rolled with hysterics.
"These pillows have, or should I say had, feathers in them!" She continued to laugh before speaking more calmly. "You're silly."
"And you're beautiful when you're angry." Lucy pulled a strand of hair
back behind her and crawled to the head of the bed, resting on the mattress littered in
feathers. Raph joined her on the other side.
Both were huffing and puffing. "I'm all out of breath." He wheezed.
"And we haven't even done anything yet." He heard her quietly
snicker. "What?"
"You."
"Yeah, me."
"You're weird!"
"Am not!"
"You're so.....odd." Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"And you English folk are strange."
"Ahh, touché turtle!" She made a funny. Raph groaned and she giggled.
"Not funny."
They sat quietly for a moment. The radio was still on. A familiar tune started to play, making Lucy look over to her pillow fighter.
Lying beside you. Here in the dark. Feeling your heartbeat with mine.
Softly, you whisper. You're so sincere. How could our love be so blind?
We sailed on together. We drifted apart
and here you are by my side. So, now I come to you. With open arms.
Nothing to hide, believe what I say. So, here I am. With open arms.
Hoping you'll see, what your love means to me
Open arms.
Raph felt a brush of hair against his shoulder. Looking down, he caught her resting her head on his chest.
"I......lost my pillow." She sighed, feeling she should explain.
"And I've found another." Raph placed an arm around her, daring to move
on but at a slow pace. Lucy breathed out before getting real quiet. She must
have been tired. His moves would have
continued had he not heard the sound of footsteps approaching. "Ut-oh-"
"Lucy? I brought you some-" There was a loud thump on the floor. "Lucy?!" Rebecca switched on the ceiling light. Lucy sat by herself on the bed, surrounded in feathers. "What happened in here?!"
"Um, my pillow ripped! Had a little accident."
Rebecca crossed the room, looking around. "But what was that thump?"
Lucy looked around, finding Raph wasn't anywhere in sight. Was it a dream?
How could she explain the feathers?
With Rebecca facing her, she caught Raph slip out of the room from behind the door.
Letting out a snicker, Rebecca followed her gaze, still seeing nothing.
"I was going to say I brought you
some more blankets but it appears you need more pillows!" She moved away toward
where she dropped the blankets. "Honestly, Lucy, your friends are very wild.
If you've picked up bad
manners from them, I'm going to have to start you from scratch on proper etiquette."
"I said my pillow ripped. Why do you always think for the worse?"
"I don't always think that way." Lucy raised an eyebrow to her. "Okay, maybe I do. A little bit. But this isn't your kind of behavior!" Rebecca gestured to the feathers.
"I know. I will clean the mess. I promise."
"Good, I will have the maid bring you some new pillows."
Rebecca left the room and a smile danced across Lucy's face.
Leo found Emma pacing the front gardens. He caught her by surprise which startled
her to attack and throw him over her body. But he didn't release her grip. In
turn, she ended up on the ground
and got pinned to the ground. Staring with shock, she gasped and giggled to him.
He stared now in confusion.
"Sorry, Leo. Thought you'd be someone else."
"Billy perhaps?"
"Don't insult yourself." He smiled to that. "What brings you out here?"
"Gerald, um, your father was trying to kill me with boredom by showing me his trophy collection. I sneaked away when his back was turned."
"Yes, Daddy is quite proud of his prizes in that large room of his."
"The room wasn't that big."
"You were in the first room. He's got another one much larger than the first."
"Thank goodness I practiced stealth real well. He never knew I left." Leo thought for a moment. "That was some move you pulled on me. Do you study martial arts?"
"I, um, take classes in Karate. One form of martial arts." Leo nodded. "Um, I don't study that much because it's really hard. In class is when I work out the most. Otherwise, I do nothing."
"That nothing was something powerful to me."
Emma blushed. "Well, I do try." She caught him smiling at her. She quickly cleared her throat. "So, you're leaving tomorrow?"
"Bright and early."
"Couldn't you wait till Saturday?"
"Sorry. That would be another week too long to wait."
"How can I say goodbye if I'm at school?"
"Then, say it to me now. Before you go to bed."
"I just got to know you. I'm so curious about your life-style."
"It has it's ups and downs."
"But New York must be fabulous!"
"Again, it has it's ups and downs."
Emma sat down at the fountain, looking up to him shyly.
"You come into our lives and then you'll leave without a trace."
Leo sat down beside her.
"So many people come and go in our lives. We get used to it after awhile."
"I don't think I ever could. I hate good-byes."
"Me too."
The two sat quietly, listening to the fountain.
"Le-" "Em-"
They both laughed.
"You go first."
"No, Emma. You started to say something first."
"Yeah, your name. I wanted to say, I'll miss you on what I learned from you."
"What's that?"
"Don't fall for the guys who make you fall flat on your face."
He smiled again. "So, I did teach you one thing."
"You were my hero that night. You still are a lively chap, but a hero nonetheless."
"It's an honorable title. And I'm honored to be called a hero. Especially from a beautiful girl."
"You sweet-talker." She smiled back. "I have something to
give you." Before he could ask, Emma reached over and placed a hand under his
chin to pull him closer. He almost saw sparks flying
when she skipped the cheek and planted her lips onto his mouth. "It's your
reward I meant to give you that night you rescued me. The hero always deserves a
kiss."
Leo blinked but didn't resist her when he realized she still held me close. He slowly put an arm around her.
"Does this make you uncomfortable?" He gestured to his arm.
Emma shook her head, placing her head on his shoulder. "You're my hero. I can't ever forget that. You're leaving and I may never see you again. So, I want to make this moment last."
"If I wasn't a hero, didn't rescue you, or even met you the way I did, what would you think of me as?"
"A lively chap."
Good enough. Leo sighed and looked up to see a million stars overhead. A slight breeze whipped up around them. He realized at that moment, he was going to miss her very much.
Mike found himself walking alone in the halls. He was bored, needed to chat with
someone. Leo was busy outside with Emma, Lucy was having her fun with Raph, Don and
I went off on our
own, Gerald would bored him with his gallery of paintings and Rebecca occupied herself
with a book by the fire place. Thinking I was in bed, he went off to see me in my
room.
"Hey, Jewel!" He popped in by surprise.
"Oh!" Susan gasped to Mike, dropping the sheets and blankets to the carpet. She went to retrieve it but he stopped her.
"I'll get that." Mike crossed the room and bent down to pick it up,
catching her legs. Long, skinny legs with off-white nylons and nurse's white
shoes. Mike stood up fully to smile in her
face. The first time he saw her, the only light that came through the room was from
the windows. Now, he could see her more clearly in better lighting.
"Hellloooooo Nurse!"
"Umm, hello." Susan took the blankets from him and hastily put them on the bed. "Uh, thank you. I guess I wasn't expecting company."
"Sorry, I startled you. I thought Jewel was in here."
"No, she stepped out for awhile. She'll be back soon for bed." She kept staring at him. "Pardon me, but Jewel told me you were a turtle."
"And she was right. I am a turtle."
"But, you're not small like a turtle. You're as tall as me! I'm not very tall but turtles don't grow to my size."
Mike moved around to the other side of the bed. "Did Jewel tell you about our transformation?"
"I don't think so. She mentioned you were very special turtles."
"Aw, how sweet. And Jewel's a very special girl, in my opinion."
"Which one are you? I think she said there were four of you."
"Yep, there's four of us. Name's Michaelangelo." He thrust his three-fingered hand out politely. Susan smiled and slowly extended her hand.
"Hello, Michaelangelo. I'm Susan. Or, I go by Sue for short."
"Yeah, you could call me Mike for short. Makes no difference to me."
"Pardon me, again." Susan looked to his hand still in hers. "I couldn't help but notice how smooth your skin is.
"Oh, yeah? Must be the Oil of Olay I bathe with." He grinned again.
"But, turtles are reptiles. I thought their skin was cold and slimy." He felt wounded and almost said something but she continued her sentence. "Your skin is soft and warm."
"Ummm, thanks. The warmth I guess comes from having human DNA within our
system. Instead of being cold-blooded like reptiles are, the chemicals changed our
formality, ergo making us
warm-blooded. I'm also warm-hearted, too!" He lifted his eyebrows and
smiled ear to ear.
"But, why are you so dangerous-looking?"
The poor guy just said he was warm-hearted and she calls him dangerous? Now, his heart sunk a few notches lower.
"Dangerous? You've wounded me, dear Susan." Mike clutched his
chest. Susan frowned sympathetically. "But I'll live. I know I seem
the type you wouldn't want to meet in a dark
alley, right?" Right. She nodded to him. "The transformation
prevented us from living like everyday folk. Look at me, you take one look and words
that come to mind would be
freak of nature, abnormal, monster, irregular, uncommon, beast-"
"Okay! I get the point!" Mike jolted and Susan nervously pulled a
lose strand of hair behind her ear. "Sorry. But, I get the point."
Her eyes darted everywhere around him. "So, um,
is that why you wear those garments and eye-mask? To look dangerous?"
"Yeah." Mike puffed out a breath to calm down. "As one of my
bros said to a friend of ours, this stuff I wear comes with the job. The garments
protect us and the mask is just for decoration.
That's my opinion again. A fashion statement to show the enemy I mean
business." He waited for a response from her which was wide-eyed and a slow
nod. "Actually, I wear this stuff because
I'm a crime fighter. If trouble starts, I'm there to stop it. If I'm attacked,
I fight back. We were trained in the martial arts to protect our skin from ignorant
people."
Susan sat down on the unmade bed, mesmerized by his witty speech.
"Oh, I seeeee." He smiled and nodded. "So, you are evil and kind all at once." A long frowned followed.
"Evil?" Mike's finger went to his mouth. "I'm not evil!
Again, you wounded me! Susan...." He sat down beside her.
"What I'm trying to say is, I'm a good guy. I fight because if I don't,
I'll get injured or killed. Jewel was in a lot of trouble before we came here and it
was us that pulled her out into safety. If I were evil, I would be doing bad things
to good people. I only
hurt people when they are hurting others. I'm like a cop without a gun or a
badge. I handle situations my own way with my bros."
"I'm sorry, Michaelangelo, uh, Mike." She smiled. "I misjudged you. When you put it like that, I can understand why you do what you must do."
"That's because you're not an ignorant person. I could already see that when
you came in to bathe Jewel. My life is always like a blind date. The first
reaction is always the worst. But then,
as you get to know the person, it can come out to be a real pleasant experience."
"I'm glad I had this talk with you, Mike. You are quite a character."
"And you're quite a lady!"
Susan stood up, checking her watch. "I wonder where Jewel is. I should be going home soon."
Mike stood up next with a stretch. "Ah, I don't know. This place is so huge, I find myself getting lost half the time. She'll turn up eventually."
"Well, I must go. One of you will put her to bed for me? I don't want to leave without doing my job properly."
"Yeah, it's cool. Jewel's cool. She'll be fine. You go home and grab some Z's. Thinking about doing that, myself."
"Thank you, Mike." She started to walk away then turned around again. "Oh, the bed! I still need to-"
Mike raised a hand. "I'll take care of it. Even though you wounded me several times, I'll still help ya out here!"
"You're a doll." That earned him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Oh, sorry!" Susan started to blush. "I don't know what came over me."
Mike's cheeks turned a dull pink. "Hey, no prob. We're quite a lovable bunch."
"Take care, Mike. And I do appreciate your help." Susan gathered her belongings and walked-fast out the door.
"Too bad we're leaving tomorrow." Mike fanned under his chin.