Chapter Text
Donnie didn't know what was going on anymore
"I'm here!!" She shouted triumphantly "I'm here. You were right, Raph. There's so many of them" She said, starting to ruffle through the papers with a mixture of confusion and elation "Dr House is –"
"What is that?" Asked Leo with a raised eyebrow, snatching the papers she was holding and starting to skim through them with a confused expression on his face.
April watched him with clear bemusement
There were a few moments of silence while Leo read, Donnie leaning forwards slightly and wiping away a few frustrated tears that had accumulated under his eyes as he tried to get a closer look. They seemed like legal documents? A formal complaint for medical malpractice?
"It's not that they think less of us because of what we are" Was saying Raph "They're just like this all the time, even with other humans" he said sending a weirded out look at the doctors, which was met with a few shrugs and sheepish smiles "and they're trying to help"
Leo frowned and then, mystifyingly, extended the papers towards Donnie
Feeling absolutely out of his depth and raising an angry eyebrow at his brother, Donnie accepted the clear peace offering and started reading through them.
Copies of complaint letters, lawsuits and more filed by a multitude of people. From patients to subordinates and colleagues alike all directed to one Dr. Gregory House and sometimes –significantly less frequently– to the other three doctors. Unnecessary harmful procedures, invasion of privacy and a general lack of manners were the most popular themes. And not only that! There were also a few pages on April's personal research that detailed how their guests seemed to enjoy breaking and entering into their patient's homes to 'search for pathogens' which was similar to what they had tried here he supposed? Everyone in the hospital just kept their secret and the director let them get away with this, apparently.
Now, Donnie was not an expert in how normal people lived their lives, but this didn't seem like a good example of that. He had thought that doctors working in a hospital would be less… whatever this was. It's not like he had a lot of regular human role models –April didn't really count and Casey definitely did not count–, but still…
Just who the hell had Leo brought to their house?
One thing was clear though. This hadn't been a personal slight because they were mutants, ninja, teenagers or even turtles. As Raph had said, this evidence seemed to indicate that they were just like this with everyone for some reason.
"They still put us all in danger with that stunt" Leo said. He still seemed somewhat reluctant and a bit annoyed but was visibly a lot calmer, even if he was trying to keep up his serious front
Raph spoke up, begrudgingly
"That was my fault" he said, biting his lip "I should have paid more attention. I was angry and distracted"
It was a surprisingly eartness apology. Donnie knew how hard it was for Raph to admit that he had done something wrong.
"I should have helped too" added Mikey shyly, shifting a bit in place "Instead of playing videogames "
Leo nodded silently at them and turned once again to the doctors, his expression now more open. Still serious and slightly harsh but most of the frostiness was gone
"I suppose you aren't planning on doing something like that again?" He asked "Not because it's secret but because it was incredibly dangerous"
The three younger doctors muttered vague affirmations, even House seemed in agreement
Leo nodded before sucking in a deep, heavy breath and turning his attention fully to the older man
"Answer me honestly" He said with all the seriousness reserved for a fight against the Shredder "Are you making any progress with his illness at all?"
The heaviness of the question settled around the group, his other two brothers tensing as House's eyes narrowed, meeting Leo's stare fully, not showing a hint of doubt
"Yes and I know I am your only option"
Donnie tried his best not to outwardly react at that.
Huh, judging by the way his team had been going around taking stabs in the dark he doubted they had the slightest idea about what was wrong with him. Which made sense since Donnie himself was drawing a blank too but… lying to Leo to his face like that was not easy, he would know.
House seemed absolutely convinced that he had something
Donnie couldn't help but doubt him
Oblivious to his thoughts, Leo accepted the answer, desperate as he was to find a way to magically fix everything so, giving one last sharp look at Donnie, Leo's shoulders sagged slightly as he sighed
"Alright" He agreed, reluctantly "From now on the keys won't be left unguarded even if there's someone watching the lab and only one of you at a time may enter" he clarified, raising his voice slightly and turning his attention to their guests "No more excursions and no more touching Donnie's things"
With this disastrous conversation finally over an feeling incredibly tired, Donnie excused himself, leaving to the medbay.
As always, there was something he needed to fix
"Are you alright, my son?" Asked his father when Donnie stepped inside.
He nodded, hoping that he'd drop it but, instead, the older rat watched him for a moment, brow furrowed in suspicion and whiskers twitching minutely, before he walked closer.
Immediately on guard, since he was well aware of where this was going, Donnie took a step backwards just as his dad extended one hand to feel his forehead.
"Yes, dad" he said, slightly amused as he tried to keep his father's hand away.
A useless endeavour even on a good day so he just huffed, a bit annoyed, as he was inevitably cornered against one of the walls.
This was not an accurate method of measuring body temperature but he had argued that point with his dad many times without any results. It was also useless to tell him that there was no way he could have a fever since he had been monitoring his symptoms for a while and that wasn't one of them, thank you very much "We just had an argument. I'm a bit tired" he said, having to wait for his dad to officially declare the absence of his nonexistent fever. Just a second before he inevitably proclaimed 'no, there is no fever'
"No, there is no fever" his father mused without missing a beat
The perfect timing of it made Donnie crack a small, accidental smile
"If you are feeling tired, then I will stay to give you company" he said, giving Donnie a knowing look and directing him towards the bed
"No, it's fine" Donnie said with a shrug "you should read these" he said passing him the papers
"I can do both" said his sensei, amused. He took the papers, skimming through them before raising both eyebrows in surprise and humming thoughtfully
An absolutely fair reaction, honestly
"I just want to be alone for now" Donnie sighed, trying to get the conversation back on track
He wasn't expecting his dad to fight him on this too much. Of course, when House had revealed how dangerous Donnie's condition actually was, his dad had stuck to him like glue, especially at first. But still, Donnie could see that the more time passed the more he had started to withdraw, eager to drift back into the astral plane like he had been doing for weeks
Sure enough, instead of trying to insist or settle himself on the chair resting by his bedside, his father gave him an sceptical look
"And you will rest?" He asked raising a single eyebrow at him
He wasn't that bad!
"Yes" Donnie muttered, unhappily
His father gave him a once-over, watching him intently with pursed lips but, after that terrible conversation at the dojo, Donnie didn't really have to fake the bone deep exhaustion weighing on him so, in the end, the scrutiny ended with an accepting nod
"Alright, you do look very tired so I will leave you to rest" conceded his dad. Success! Now he could– "but I will take your laptop because I wasn't born yesterday, my son"
Aw sewer apples
Trying his best not to show his disappointment and reveal that he had definitely been caught trying to pull one over his sensei he waved him goodbye
He did groan once the door closed behind his back though
Damn fathers and their perceptiveness!