Tuesday, April 17 2018
It started out as a normal Tuesday afternoon in the Loud house. However, this normal day would soon come crashing down with horrible news that would change the Loud family's lives forever.
It started out with Lincoln walking down the stairs getting ready to watch TV, since it was his TV time. A few of his sisters were also in the living room. Lynn was kicking around a soccer ball as usual, Lori and Leni were taking selfies, Luna was fixing a snack for the twins in the kitchen, Luan was fiddling with Mr. Coconuts in the dining room, and Lucy was sitting next to the fireplace reading one of her vampire novels.
As Lincoln settled onto the couch with the remote in hand, he starts talking to the readers, "You may be wondering why there aren't any crazy explosions in the middle of this chaos. Well that's because Lisa is at the Royal Woods Science Institute."
"I know what you're thinking," Lincoln continues, "Isn't Lisa a little young to be so far away from home? Yes, you're correct; but she insisted that working at a legitimate science institute satisfies her desire for scientific pursuit."
"My parents had to be the brains of the house now that Lisa's not here. It's been tough, but they've handled it fine. On the bright side, hopefully she'll be coming home soon," Lincoln finally finishes his explanation.
Lincoln turns the TV to ARGGH! Unfortunately, just after the opening credits, the show was interrupted by a news broadcast. The logo for Royal Woods News and the words "Breaking News" in the big, bold, white letters showed up on the screen.
Lincoln looked at the screen very perplexed. Normally the news doesn't interrupt regular programming unless it's an Amber Alert. Then again, this was breaking news as opposed to regular news; so it must be very serious.
"You guys, it's breaking news!" Lincoln called out.
As the Louds begin to assemble towards the living room, Lincoln turned to the readers again, "We always watch breaking news, especially if it's in or near Royal Woods."
The Loud kids all sit down on the couch while Rita and Lynn Sr stand behind it; with Rita holding Lily in her arms.
The TV showed the main news anchor, named Tucker, sitting at his desk at the news station, "We have breaking news in Royal Woods," He announces, "A fire has broken out at the Royal Woods Science Institute."
"(Gasp) That's where Lisa is! Turn it up!" Lynn Sr gasps frantically. Lincoln instantly obeys and turns the volume on the TV as high as they can take it.
The news footage shows a building on a side of a cliff. The building is completely engulfed in red and orange flames; with small orange sparks and thick gray smoke rising towards the sky. A total of five red and white helicopters from the Detroit, Michigan fire department surround the building and spray it with water to hopefully extinguish the fire. The reason why the Detroit fire department had to be called instead of the Royal Woods fire department is because only the Detroit fire department had helicopters.
As the news footage continues, News Man Tucker explains what's going on, "As you can see, the Detroit fire department are working very hard to extinguish the fire. As for the victims, they are currently being rushed to the Royal Woods Hospital via flight paramedics. We now go to the hospital to get an update."
The footage then cuts to the female news reporter that has brown hair and wears yellow. She is standing outside the hospital; several feet away from it. Three blue and white paramedic helicopters have landed.
"Tucker, I'm here at the Royal Woods Hospital where the flight paramedics have just rescued the victims of the fire," the female news reporter says.
She walks up to a woman with short red hair, glasses, and wearing a white lab coat that's covered in ash and soot. This is Dr. J, the head of the science institute.
"So Dr. J," the female news reporter says, "Can you tell me exactly what happened?" She puts the microphone to Dr. J.
"Well, I smelled smoke coming from one of our research laboratories," Dr. J recalls the events leading up to this disaster, "I opened the doors and saw the room was set ablaze. I'm not entirely sure, but I think a probable cause might have been hazardous chemicals coming in contact with flammable materials."
"I was able to call the fire department as soon as I could," Dr. J continues, "But there is one particular colleague I'm worried about; a young child by the name of Lisa Loud."
All the Louds look at the TV with concern at the mention of Lisa's name. Of course they continued to watch and listen carefully.
The female news reporter places her right hand on her right earpiece, "Hold on, I'm getting an update from one of the paramedics. It seems that an EMT working on helicopter number 502 is transferring Lisa Loud. However, the EMT says that she is having trouble breathing; but they are doing the best they can to provide oxygen for her. Back to you Tucker."
The footage cuts away and goes back to News Man Tucker sitting at the news station. He has a saddened and disturbed look on his face, "We at Royal Woods News will keep the people from the science institute in our thoughts. Until we get an update, we now return to your regularly scheduled programming."
Before ARGGH! can come back on, the TV gets shut off. Many of the Louds stare at the blank TV; stunned.
Lynn Sr starts to panic, "Did you hear that?!" He turns to Rita, "We have to go to the hospital! She could be hurt!"
Lori gets up from the couch and faces her father, "Dad, we should all go!"
Lynn Sr furrowed his brow, "I don't think you kids should go. We don't know the kind of condition she's in."
"Dad!" Lori starts to argue, "Lisa is our little sister! We should go and see her regardless of her condition! Besides, don't you think she'd want to see us too?"
"She's got a point honey," Rita tells Lynn Sr, "Maybe when Lisa sees everyone, it'll raise her spirits up."
Rita looks down at Lily and starts to wonder whether or not they should take her with them.
"I don't think we should take Lily with us. If Lisa really is hurt, especially since she was rescued from a...f-i-r-e, then I think it'll be a little too much for her to take," Rita sighs.
Lynn Sr places his index finger on his chin, "So what should we do?" He asks.
Lincoln gets an idea, "Maybe Clyde and his dads can watch her," He suggests.
"Fine; but we've gotta hurry!" Lynn Sr urged.
As everyone filed out the door and headed towards Vanzilla, Lincoln rushed upstairs to grab Lily's diaper bag. Once he did, he ran out of the house and got inside the van just as Rita was strapping Lily into her carseat.
Lynn Sr drives Vanzilla towards the McBride house as carefully as possible so as not to alarm his youngest daughter. Once the Louds pull up in front of the McBrides, Lincoln slings Lily's diaper bag over his shoulder and exits the van. Lana unbuckles Lily from her carseat and opens her door. She hands the baby to Lincoln and he carries her into the McBride house.
"You're gonna stay with Clyde for a while, Ok?" Lincoln tells Lily gently.
Not quite understanding what's going on or why, Lily just silently stares at Lincoln as he carries her to the McBride front door.
Lincoln rings the doorbell of the McBride house. As he waits patiently for someone to answer, he anxiously taps his foot. Finally, 5 seconds later, Clyde answers.
"Hi Lincoln," Clyde greets. He looks down at Lily and wiggles his index finger, "Hi Lily."
"Yeah, hi buddy," Lincoln steps inside the house, leaving Clyde perplexed.
Lincoln looks at Howard and Harold, who are sitting on the dining table drinking coffee and reading a newspaper.
"Hi Lincoln," Howard greets him.
"Hi Mr. McBride, hi Mr. McBride," Lincoln greets back, "Listen, can you please do me a favor?"
Clyde walks towards Lincoln and stands in front of him so he can know what's going on.
"Sure Lincoln, what is it?" Harold wonders.
Lincoln holds Lily out in front of him, "Can you guys please watch Lily for a while?" He pleads.
As Lily reaches her hand towards Clyde and giggles, Howard and Harold look at each other. Then they get up and walk towards Lincoln.
"May I ask why?" Howard questions.
"Well...my little sister Lisa is in the hospital and we have to go check on her. My parents say it's best if Lily doesn't go with," Lincoln explains.
Clyde and his dads' eyes widen; with Clyde and Howard giving a small gasp.
Clyde shakes his head to mask his worry and takes Lily from Lincoln. After he does, Lincoln removes Lily's diaper bag from his shoulder and places it on the floor.
"We'll watch your little sister for you," Harold steps in.
"Oh thank you. I appreciate it," Lincoln sighs in relief.
Lincoln turns towards the front door and rushes out of the house. Once he leaves the house, he gets inside Vanzilla.
Lynn Sr starts to slightly speed down the street to make it to the hospital on time. However, Rita tries to make him slow down a little to watch out for other cars. While that's going on, the kids keep Lisa in their minds and keep hope that she'll be Ok.
Eventually the Loud family pulls up in the hospital parking lot and they get out of Vanzilla. They go inside and go up to the front desk. A woman with light skin and light brown hair in a low ponytail is sitting at the desk. She looks up at the Louds.
"Good afternoon," The woman at the desk greets them.
"Hi, we're here for my daughter Lisa Loud," Lynn Sr answers.
"Hmm," The woman at the desk looks through a pile of folders and paper work. She finds a paper and glances at it.
"Ah, here we are," The woman says, "I need you to please have a seat and wait for the doctor to speak to you."
Everyone follows the directions and sit down in the waiting room. Of course, with 11 people in the Loud family, they took up almost all the chairs. Eventually, a male doctor with dark brown hair, dark gray rimmed glasses, and wearing a white lab coat with sky blue scrubs underneath and black shoes approaches the waiting room.
"Family of Lisa Loud?" The doctor announces.
All the Louds stand up, much to the doctor's surprise.
"Hello sir, I'm Rita Loud, Lisa mother," Rita greets the doctor.
"Lynn Loud Sr, Lisa's father," Lynn Sr says.
Rita gestures her hand towards her kids, "These are all of Lisa's sisters and brother." The kids all bow their heads.
Upon learning that Lisa had a big family, the doctor was even more anxious to tell them Lisa's condition.
"Pleased to meet you all, I'm Dr. Martin," the doctor introduces himself.
"When Lisa came in, she was unfortunately in very bad shape. I was also informed that her ability to breath on her own was cumbersome; which was expected given the unfortunate situation that she was in," Dr. Martin explains.
The siblings all look at each other with worried expressions. "What does cumbersome mean?" Lola whispered to Lori, who was next to her.
"It means she was having trouble," Lori whispers back.
"Don't worry," Dr. Martin gently reassures Rita and Lynn Sr, "Even though her condition was pretty bad when she first came in, we are going to do whatever it takes to make your daughter feel better."
"Thank you so much doctor," Rita sighs, "You have no idea how much it would mean to us to have our little girl back."
Dr. Martin briefly glances at the 9 children and gives a warm smile, "Believe me, I do. I am not a father; but I am an uncle." He eventually leaves the family and goes back to taking care of Lisa.
After many "minutes turned to hours" go by, Dr. Martin exits the room that Lisa is in and walks slowly towards the waiting room, with his footsteps pounding on the white tile floors. As the waiting room comes into view, he stops walking and stands still; staring at the Loud family. He was reminded of the fact that Lisa had a big family with many sisters and a single brother. As he stared at the family, including the parents, Dr. Martin began to slowly blink a total of seven times...to fight back tears. What he had to tell them would surely break all of their hearts; something that every doctor feared and no doctor was prepared for. Nonetheless, it had to be done. Taking a deep breath, Dr. Martin walked towards the waiting room.
Once he came into view, everybody's heads shoot up and looked at him. The doctor once again took a few deep breaths to maintain his composure.
"Rita...Lynn...I need to speak with you in private," Dr. Martin said somberly.
Knowing that wasn't a good sign but keeping their composure, Rita and Lynn Sr follow the doctor, leaving the kids behind.
"What're you waiting for Lynn? The doctor is calling you," Luan joked to Lynn, who she was sitting next to.
This was clearly not the time for jokes, so in response to that, Lynn stared at Luan with an unamused look that just screamed "are you serious?"
Luan realized that her joke was completely out of line, especially given the situation, so she quietly whispered, "Sorry".
Meanwhile, a few seats away, Lola looks in the direction her parents and the doctor left and raises an eyebrow suspiciously.
"I wonder what they're talking about," Lola whispers. She gets up from her chair and tries to sneak away to spy on the grown-ups.
However, she was quickly grabbed by Lori, "Lola, sit!" Lori commanded.
Lola did what she was told and sat back down next to Lori.
Meanwhile, Dr. Martin leads Rita and Lynn Sr to another area with a small group of chairs. Rita and Lynn Sr sit down and Dr. Martin pulls up a chair and places it in front of them so he is facing them. After sitting down, Dr. Martin cups his hands together and brings them about an inch or two in the front of his mouth; taking another deep breath.
He removes his hands from near his mouth and puts them in his lap, "You know how I said Lisa was in 'bad shape' when she came in? Well...I'm afraid...she was actually in terrible shape."
Dr. Martin continued, "The reality is that she was badly burned from head to toe. Her body is black and charred, with a lot of her skin having been peeled off."
After learning that their little girl was burned, Rita squeezes Lynn Sr's hands and he bites his bottom lip.
"There's more," Dr. Martin continues, "Her breathing complications were a result of smoke inhalation. The fire must have been so massive that the burning and combustion from it caused asphyxiation, or lack of oxygen. Also given the fact that she was surrounded by various chemicals, they also could have reacted to the heat and prevented her from getting the oxygen she needed."
Dr. Martin reaches into his lab coat and pulls out a beige folder. He stands up, "Follow me."
Rita and Lynn Sr follow Dr. Martin to a big gray screen and turns on a light. He places a photo on the screen which showed an X-Ray showing a chest with two black masses where the lungs are.
"This is a chest X-Ray showing a healthy pair of lungs," Dr. Martin says.
Then he showed another picture showing another pair of lungs; however, there was a mass of gray-ish haze inside the lungs.
"These are Lisa's lungs," Dr. Martin says. He points to the hazy grayness in them, "This is smoke. This is what caused her lungs to cease function."
The two of them stare at Lisa's X-Ray with worry. They couldn't believe that Lisa had smoke in her lungs.
Dr. Martin pulled out another piece of paper from the beige folder. "While Lisa was stabilized, we took some blood work," Dr. Martin looks at the chart, "Unfortunately we found a lot of carbon monoxide in her blood."
As the parents gasp, it's time for Dr. Martin to finally break the news to them. Once again, he slow blinks a few times to fight back tears.
"You might want to sit down," Dr. Martin leads Rita and Lynn Sr back to where they were sitting before. Once again the parents sit next to each other with the doctor sitting in front of them.
He once again tries to take a few deep breaths and fight back tears as he prepares to tell them.
"Mr. and Mrs. Loud...we did the best we could, but...your daughter Lisa Loud...didn't make it. She passed away. I'm so sorry." Dr. Martin closes his eyes and bows his head.
The news that Lisa had passed away was like a shot in the heart. Rita's lips started quivering and tears begin to build up in her eyes. Her eyes squeeze shut as the tears run down her cheeks. Meanwhile, Lynn Sr completely loses it. The tears in his eyes literally burst out of his eyes and his sobs gradually get louder and louder. As he covers his eyes, it truly dawns on him that his little girl is really gone and never coming back. His sobs gradually die down a little bit.
"Doctor…" Rita began, "Is it Ok if...we see her?"
"Absolutely," Dr. Martin grants them permission, "With your permission, I would like your children to see her too."
"Does that mean…" Lynn Sr began.
"Yes sir, I'll have to tell them," Dr. Martin sighs.
As the three adults made their way back to the waiting room, the thought of the news being told to the kids breaks Rita and Lynn Sr's hearts. Tears slowly begin to run down both their cheeks. The doctor trails about three feet behind them so that he can try and calm down since he has to be the one to tell them.
All the Loud kids look up as they watch their parents turn the corner and walk towards them. They immediately notice their parents' eyes are glossy from crying; which can only be a bad thing. Rita and Lynn Sr can be heard sniffling as they sit down in the same chairs they sat in when they first arrived at the hospital.
Lincoln is about to ask where the doctor is, but his question was answered when the doctor turns the corner; with his head hanging low in sadness. As he looks up at the kids, Dr. Martin's lips start quivering and he can feel tears building up in his eyes.
"Hello children," Dr. Martin grabs a chair and places it across from them so he's facing all the kids.
Just like when he spoke to the parents in privacy, Dr. Martin cupped his hands together and brought them in front of his mouth as he took deep breaths.
"I have bad news," Dr. Martin began.
The kids look at him with worrisome expressions. They were afraid something was going to happen; but they continued to listen.
"Lisa was badly burned...and there was a lot of smoke in her lungs, which is why she was unable to breathe properly," Dr. Martin explains.
Dr. Martin clasped his hands together and once again took a deep breath.
"There was also a dangerous gas found in her blood that prevented oxygen to flow through her blood."
As Dr. Martin pauses his explanation, Lincoln looks over at his parents, who both have tears in her eyes. Lynn Sr is quietly breaking down as rita his holding him in her arms. As he watched his parents' and the doctor's demeanor, Lincoln was able to roughly figure out what's wrong; but a small part of him didn't want to believe it. He and his sisters continue listening to what the doctor had to say.
A single tear begins to trickle down Dr. Martin's cheek, "Unfortunately we couldn't save her in time, so...she died."
Once again, hearing such devastating news was like a shot in the heart. For the most part, each sibling reacted differently. Lana closed her eyes, grit her teeth, and clutched her chest. Lola placed both her hands over her mouth and visibly started shaking. Lori grit her teeth and tears started building up in her eyes. Lincoln closed his eyes and hung his head low as his lips start quivering. Lynn grit her teeth and hung her head low as she started rubbing her arm. Luan gave a look of fear, grit her teeth, and placed her index finger on her chin near the corner of her mouth. Leni grit her teeth and placed her hand on the base of her neck as tears build up in her eyes. Lucy placed both her hands on her heart and her lips were quivering. Although her eyes could not be seen, tears began to build up. Finally, Luna closed her eyes and hung her head low.
Dr. Martin takes everyone's reactions in and is pretty shaken up by it. He figured that if they see her one last time, it'll bring their spirits up; despite the fact that she's but an charred empty shell that cannot see or hear her family.
"Would you like to see her?" Dr. Martin suggests gently.
Everybody looks up; with Rita, Lynn Sr, Lori, Leni, Lana, and Lincoln visibly crying.
"Doctor...do you mean it?" Lori sobs.
Dr. Martin gives a small understanding smile, "Of course, follow me."
All the Louds, despite being heartbroken, get up from their chairs, and follow the doctor to the room where Lisa is staying at. He opens a wooden door and everyone files inside. Dr. Martin closes the door and gestures towards a bed that is behind a white curtain.
"There she is," Dr. Martin says, "I'll leave you alone."
After Dr. Martin leaves the room and closes the door, the family stares at the bed for a few seconds. On the one hand, they wanted to see her one final time. But on the other hand, they were afraid of how she would look after the doctor described her condition.
After careful consideration, they decide to see the expired four year old, regardless of her condition. She may not be alive anymore, but she's still family.
"(Gulp) Come on kids," Lynn Sr squeaks as he and Rita gently push the kids towards the deceased child. They all gathered on the left side of the bed.
After they pulled back the white curtain and looked at Lisa, they could not believe their eyes. The doctor was right: Lisa was burned badly; and it was worse than the family thought. Although only her head was visible and the rest of her body was covered by a large white sheet, the child's entire head, including her hair, was black and charred. It looked so painful to see her skin and hair burnt to a crisp. Her eyes were closed and the left lense on her glasses had a huge crack in it. Luckily, it wasn't broken, just cracked. Lynn Sr stepped forward and gently pulled back the sheet on the bed just to see how bad the damage truly pulling the sheet back towards Lisa's neck, he notices something that makes him gasp in horror.
Curious as to what their father saw, the kids and Rita look closer at Lisa's face and what they saw was horrifying. The left side of Lisa's jaw was burnt so bad that you could actually see her jawline through the hole in her face.
Lynn Sr wanted to pull back the sheet further in order to look at the rest of Lisa's charred body, but his hands were shaking so much that it ultimately prevented him from doing so. He pulled his hands back and cupped them together towards his chest.
This clued Rita in that she should be the one to further investigate what the rest of Lisa's body looks like. So, with as much bravery as she could muster, Rita stepped towards the bed and pulled the sheet further back until it's completely off her daughter's body. As she was doing so, Lincoln, Lana, Lola, and Luna move to the right side of the bed to get a better look at Lisa. Luan and Leni both stand on the foot of the bed while Lori, Lynn, and Lucy remain on the left side of the bed with their father. Now that Lisa is completely uncovered, they take her in.
For one thing, much of Lisa's clothes have been singed off her body, so she was almost nude; except for her underwear and shoes, oddly enough. Her right arm and the right side of her chest were fleshy and bloody in addition to being burned. You can see chunks of red flesh on the right side of her body. Her stubby legs were not only black and crispy looking, but you can see a little bit of her bones through her skin. This, along with her visible jawline, were quite disturbing sights to be sure.
Despite how ashy his kid sister's body was, Lincoln wanted to touch her one last time. So he placed his hand on her right arm for a few seconds. As he removed it, black ashes rubbed off on his hand, which he wiped off.
As they looked at her, Luan and Leni talk. "I'm so glad that Lily's not here," Leni whispers, "She doesn't need to see this. The poor thing will have nightmares."
"Just like how I'll have nightmares," Luan shivered. This wasn't a joke, Luan really did believe that she was going to have nightmares tonight.
Lola gently placed her hand on Lisa's right upper thigh, the only area of her right leg that didn't have bone sticking out of it.
"I can't believe Lisa's dead. She was so young," Lola whispered, with tears building up in her eyes.
Lana, with ears actually flowing down her cheeks, says nothing but nods in agreement.
Rita walks to the right side of the bed and gestures for her kids to move down a little so that she is standing right by Lisa's head. Lynn Sr, who's still standing on the left side of the bed, inches closer towards Lisa's head. After the parents briefly nod to each other, they both lean down and kiss the corners of Lisa's forehead. They both get ashes on their lips, but they don't care. The important thing is that they were able to kiss her. They do however wipe the ashes from their mouths.
The tender moment of the family looking over their fallen daughter and sister was interrupted when the door to the room opens. Without any of the family acknowledging him, Dr. Martin enters and walks towards the bed. It's only after he stands at the foot of the bed next to Luan and Leni does the family finally acknowledge his presence.
"Doctor, what's going to happen to Lisa now?" Rita asks.
"We are going to keep her in the morgue for a few days and then we will bring her to the funeral home," Dr. Martin says.
As soon as the word "funeral" was uttered, the floodgates in Rita and Lynn Sr's eyes begin to burst; that is to say they cried harder than they have all day. The prospect of the two of them arranging a funeral for one of their children who died before them was heartbreaking enough. Now throw in the fact that the child in question was only four years old; not even in the double digits yet, and the feeling was even worse.
As much as it pained him to remove the deceased little girl from her grieving family, the doctor knew it had to be done. Dr. Martin turned towards the door and motioned for someone to come inside.
Four nurses, two male and two female, dressed in mint green scrubs and white shoes, come inside the room. They are wheeling in a stretcher. The family backs away from the bed to make way for the nurses to remove Lisa from her bed and onto the stretcher.
One of the female nurses takes the sheet and gently covers Lisa's body. After the dead prodigy's body is completely covered, two nurses get on the left side of the bed and the other two get on the right side of the bed. The nurses work together to lift the little girl from the bed and gently place her on the stretcher.
"Any last words?" Dr. Martin suggests gently.
The family look at each other somberly. Without any words, they all unanimously decide what their final words to Lisa will be.
"Goodbye Lisa," the family say in unison. Some of them cry while others just look on sadly.
Dr. Martin nods his head and he leads the nurses away towards the morgue; leaving the family behind to grieve the loss of their little girl.