Experimental Blessing C 10

Don was glad to have had a few days extra rest and made some new friends. But he still needed to keep on moving. He was also more than glad to have some food to last him and the baby awhile.

He wished the boys could have given more, like a car to drive home in. But they could have done only so much. They had given him one of their dad’s old coats that might help protect him from the elements a lot more too.

Within a short time, Don walked past the border into Pennsylvania. He was just one state away from being home.

If he had to walk on a highway, then he did it at night. Now that he had a coat on, he walked further more into the night now too. He would mainly stick to trying to hide in barns overnight, or camping near streams. But more than anything, Don just tried to avoid any more human contact.

Given the time of year it was now, November, anything was possible in the back woods. On his journey home, he hadn’t run into any wild animals.

For many miles across the state, Don didn’t run into any trouble or any other humans, but one day, when he was passing through some back woods, suddenly there was a SNAP!

Don cried out so loud that it caused many birds to fly away and some deer to run.
The turtle went down and he saw what happened. There was a trap on his right foot.

This wasn’t good. It meant that a hunter could be nearby. And the last thing Don ever wanted to face was a human with a gun aimed on him again. He had to try to get this trap off his foot.

He took his backpack off and he brought himself as close to his leg as he could get. He tried to pry open the trap with his hands, but it held strong. He then took his Bo off and tried to get it inside the trap to free his foot.

He hoped he could get the trap off his foot and not have to wait around for a few days for a hunter to arrive.

As it turned out, he managed to get his Bo into the trap and with one hand and the Bo bracing it, he managed to pull his foot free. Don cried out when he got it out. He hoped his foot wasn’t broken. But he knew he had to use it.

It was wounded. He took his belt off and wrapped his foot with it. He would try just walking on his toes on that foot.

He managed to pull himself to his feet, picked up his backpack, and moved on, using his Bo as a walking stick now. But his walking was now much slower than it was.
……………

It was a beautiful day out.

There was a photojournalist out photographing some wild animals. He was done now and heading back to his boat. He preferred living out in the boonies so he could have privacy and do his job.
…………….

Donatello had been walking awhile. He was heading towards the stream, when finally, his injured foot gave out on him. He cried out as he went down.
…………….

Benjamin the photojournalist thought he heard someone cry out, and he looked over to his left and there was a person lying on the ground. He went over to investigate. As he got closer, he saw this person had a green head and green legs.

“What’s that?” As he got closer, he didn’t know if it was alive or dead. “You poor thing.” He touched Don’s shoulder and Don moaned in pain.

“You’re alive?”

Don opened his eyes as he heard a voice. “Oh no! A human found me again!’ He said to himself.

“Can you get up?” Ben said.

“I… think so.” Don said.

“Here. Give me your arm.” Ben said. “What are you?”

Don gave the man his left arm and he pulled the wounded turtle to his feet. He tried to keep the weight off his injured foot. “I’m- a turtle.”

The man noticed he was limping. “I can treat your injured foot. I was once a veterinarian.”

Don looked at him suspiciously.

“Come with me to my boat and I’ll treat you at my home. That’s where all my supplies are.” Ben said.

Don didn’t really have a choice. Ben helped him down to the water’s edge and helped him into the boat.
Don watched him get in and shove off shore.

“So what’s your name, Turtle.”

“Donatello.” Don replied.

“I am Benjamin.” He was an older guy.

Don kept his distance from the man though he could sense he wanted to help. He wasn’t in a condition to escape right now.

Soon, after getting away from shore and crossing the lake, they came to a house on the shoreline. Ben got the boat settled and tied off, then he helped Don out of the boat.

Don limped into the house where Ben had Don lift his foot onto a stool and he removed the belt. There was an infection setting in. The wounds needed to be cleaned immediately. Ben also took Don’s coat and backpack and put them safely on the floor.

Don clenched his stomach as he let the man clean the wounds and splint and bandage his foot.

“I don’t think your foot is broken too badly. And the wounds need to heal too. You need to stay off of it for a little while with plenty of fluids.” Ben said.

“But I really need to get home! My family is terribly worried about me!” Don exclaimed. “I have been trying to get back to them for a couple of weeks now!”

“I think you can wait a little longer. You need rest. And where do they live?”

“New York. I was kidnapped and I’m just trying to get back to them.”

“Donatello, there will be plenty of time to get you home to them, but for now, you really to rest. I can sense that you’ve been on a long journey. Your feet are all blistered and worn out.” Ben said.

He was right. His feet were sore, even the non-injured foot. But he had been pushing himself to make good time. But it didn’t look like that was going to happen now.

Don was helped to the guest room in the house, and for the first time in a long time, the pregnant turtle was more than happy to lay in a bed again. He was asleep the instant he was settled in bed.

Ben put some pillows beneath Don’s injured foot and covered him up. It was clear this turtle was exhausted.
…………….

Donny slept for most of the day. He did shift in his sleep and acted like he was in pain. Ben wished he could help him, but knew that he couldn’t. He would try talking to him when he woke up.

When Don did wake up later that evening, he saw he was in an unfamiliar room. He had no idea how he had gotten here. He began to panic, then he felt the pain in his ankle.

“It’s alright, Donatello. You’re safe.” Ben came in to soothe the panicked turtle.

Don was breathing hard, trying to calm down. He just didn’t want to be back in the clutches of Beatrice. Then he remembered this kind man helping him with his injured foot.

“I’m sorry, Ben. It was just a bad dream.” Don said.

“Must have been a bad one.”

“It was. After all this trauma, I just hope my baby’s ok.” Don said, looking down and placing a hand on his belly.

“You’re pregnant?”

Don looked up and realized his mistake for what he said. He sighed. “Yes. Please don’t turn us into a science lab. My baby and I don’t need that kind of life.”

“I have respect for all life. I think they need to be free. Not in cages or to be science experiments. You have my word, Donatello.” Ben smiled at him.

Don looked carefully into the man’s eyes. He saw sincerity. “Thank you.”

“Are you hungry? I have some soup for you.” Ben said.

Don waited a moment and did feel his belly growl.

“Yes. The two of us are hungry.” Don smiled back.

Ben gave him a big bowl of soup and Don was more than happy to oblige to eat it. This was his first time having soup in awhile. At least it was one of a few foods his stomach could keep down.

Ben sat down close to the end of the bed watching the turtle eat the soup and he saw that he must have been hungry for the way that he ate. “Don’t eat too fast.”

“Sorry. It’s just really good.” Don said. "And I had run out of food a couple of days ago."

The man waited for Don to finish the soup before he asked more.

“So, Donatello, what’s your story?” Ben asked.

Don looked up at him in worry. “What about my story?” He gave Ben a glare.

“I mean your life story. I’ve never seen anything like you before.”

Ben did seem trustworthy enough. Don proceeded to tell most of his life story and about the family he so desperately missed. He also told him what happened when he was kidnapped without telling too many distinct details, but he did say that an experiment was what got him pregnant.

“Even though I didn’t like the concept that her chief security officer tried to drag me off and kill me, it was the best thing he did, for it allowed me to finally escape. I’ve come such a long way already from Ohio and I intend to get back to the city soon. I miss my family so much.” Don said.

“I understand. They are all you have.”

“Yes.”

“And now you have a little one on the way. The baby is a part of your future.” Ben said.

“I’m really worried about what they are going to think about all this.” Don said, placing a hand on his stomach. “If I was still in her clutches, Beatrice would have had me impregnated many times. She said I was worth breeding about ten fold practically.”

“It is worth saving the species, but when it’s voluntary, not forced, the way she forced this on you.” Ben said. “What did she want with you anyway? There had to be something behind it.”

“My being a genius. She wanted it in more generations.”

“Do you know how many you are carrying, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“One, as far as I know. I had only one ultrasound while I was there.” Don said. “I don’t think I could handle carrying more than one. But I do know that it’s not being born from an egg, like all turtles usually are.”

“And what are you a genius at?”

“Many things. But mostly science, technology, math. I can build and fix many things. I’ve done it since I was little.” Don explained.

Ben could understand then why this woman had thought about breeding this turtle like that. He had such a gentle soul, and he had a deep understanding of life and all the things that modern society brought these days. He knew how to do things for himself and his family that most other humans could only dream about doing.

But Ben wasn’t like that woman. He would help Don in any way he could to get well and get back to his family as soon as possible. He promised he would take him home.
……………

Don really wanted to get going back to his family as soon as possible, but Ben was against it until his foot healed some more. He wasn’t to be up except for the bathroom.

Don hated being the patient. He was terrible at it. At least Ben didn’t have him tied down. It would take awhile for the foot to heal.

By a week later, Don was allowed up with the help of crutches. And the blisters on his feet were healing too.

He was allowed to do some light chores around Ben’s house, but he still needed to stay off his feet as much as possible, at least for another week or so.

It had gotten much colder outside now. Don was glad that he was in a human home for the time being. It was kept nice and warm in here.

But, despite the cold, Ben still went out into it in cold weather attire and still took photos of wild animals to submit to his publishing company. Some of the pictures were even turned into calendar pictures.

Ben showed Don his photographing skills. The turtle was impressed. He took very good pictures of animals like deer, ducks, geese, and even some beautiful turtles. Of course, the turtle pictures were from earlier in warmer weather.
……………

In New York, it had been well over 5 months since Don had been taken away. It was nearly time for Thanksgiving, but no one felt like celebrating the holiday this year. It just wasn’t the same without Donatello around.

Leonardo and Raphael had been fighting for quite awhile now, deciding to stop looking for their brother. There had been no traces of him for a long time, and Leo was certain he might come back, or he wouldn’t come back at all.

Raph was still refusing to give up on looking for him. He had scoured every inch of the city that he felt he had, but had never found him. He hated the idea most of all of giving up on Don. He would never give up on the hope of him coming back.

Mikey had tried to keep his own spirits up and his two remaining brothers up, but they just yelled at him to back off before he got pummeled too.

Master Splinter still tried to keep track of Don in the astral plane and still felt his presence was alive. But when it would show up was unknown. Whoever had him was making sure that he didn’t get away so easily.  

April, Casey, and even Leatherhead had tried their hands at trying to find him too and had all been unlucky as well.
……………

Don was thankful for having Thanksgiving dinner with a good friend, but he wished he could be having it with his family as well. He hoped they were ok without him.

“I know you miss your family, Don, but I am glad you are here with me. I don’t have any more family and I haven’t had a guest here in years. Its nice to have the company.” Ben said.

“Thanks, Ben.” Don replied. “And I’m happy to oblige.”