"Don't the rest of you ever have anything to say? I'm the one that keeps spillin' his guts, here. Yer makin' me wish I could brood a little," I said. "Donnie, anything from you?"

Don raised an eyeridge. "Seriously, Raph, you don't really want to hear any of my 'stories', do you?"

I debated that for a moment. "Yeah, yer right. Mikey?" I turned to him.

"Living here? Ask Leo when he comes back in here," Mike said.

"Where'd he go, anyway?" I asked.

"Right here," Leo said, coming back in the room, from behind me.

"Gah! Don't do that! Geez, Leo!" I complained, almost laughing.

"Oh, God, not Pictionary!" I said.

"Sorry, Raph, but it's my pick," Mike said.

"Hey, where the heck'd Leo go to anyway? He's been gone a couple hours now," I asked.

Don shrugged. "He didn't say he was leaving."

"Oh, great. First, we got Raph all emotional on us and now Leo's brooding," Mike said, then grabbed my shoulders. "What'd you do with Leo?!" He laughed.

"Don't make me teach ya how to swallow a sai, Mikey," I said, then grinned.

Mike let go of me. "Heh. You're definitely Raph."

Suddenly, the front door closed. "'Bout time, Leo!" I called. "Where ya--" I stopped dead when Leo came in the room, accompanied by... "Adalida?" This had to be a dream, another nightmare. I'll wake up screaming any minute.

She smiled. "You do remember me, Raphael."

Leo must have understood the look on my face. "It's really her, Raph. I found her," Leo said, smiling.

Before I even registered standing, I was across the room, picking her up in a hug.

Don waved Leo over. "That's really her?" Leo nodded. "How'd you find her?"

Leo shrugged. "I called information."

Mike clapped his shoulder. "You, my brother, are awesome."

I finally let Addy go. "I thought that you were--" I couldn't finish.

"Dead?" Adalida finished for me. "No, but I had a rather lovely concussion."

"So, you're not mad at me?" I asked.

She smiled again. "Not a bit. You weren't in your right mind. Matter of fact, I think you were in shock." She raised a hand to my face, next to the patch. "Red looks good on you."

"Maybe that's why he's blushing!" Mike called out.

We turned and found everyone watching us. "Are you going to introdue me, Raphael?" she asked.

"Oh, right!" I said, then paused. "First, though, Leo," I nodded, "thanks."

"You've got a great family and friends, Raphael. How could you leave them?" Adalida asked, sitting at the foot of my bed.

I laid, sprawled, staring at the ceiling. I shrugged. "Circumstances at the time." I sat up. "It was just a really bad time for us, and I just couldn't handle it, so I ran away from it."

"Are you going to stay here?" she asked, surprising me.

"No, I wasn't--" I was suddenly cut off by Addy scooting across the bed and giving me a kiss on the beak. "Wha- What was that for?"

"Would you stay if I stayed?" Adalida asked.

My jaw dropped. This was all so overwhelming. "Uh... yeah," I finally managed.

"Then we're staying," she said, then sat back a little. "Raphael, I have to tell you, I tried looking for you, especially back at the swamp. Where had you gone?"

"I was there... sometimes... and usually ended up wrestling the gators," I said, watching her frown at the mention of gators. "Anyway, I'd found a better hiding place to live and that's where I stayed. I thought I'd killed you, Addy. I felt so guilty about it, I had to get away... but I just couldn't leave."

"So much guilt you had. I wish I'd been able to find you long ago, but I'm so glad your brother found and brought me here," Adalida said.

I motioned for her to sit next to me, against the headboard, and I wrapped my right arm around her shoulders. "I'm glad, too."