*Disclaimer* I do not own The Loud House. All rights reserved
AN: So, this is loosely inspired by an arc from the famous comic strip "Peanuts". I'll explain myself more at the end of the chapter.
"Carry on my wayward son, for there'll be peace when you are done. Lay your weary head to rest, don't you cry no more."
- Kansas
(Date: October 29, 2016)
(Location: Royal Woods hospital)
The sounds of intercoms, doctors shuffling around and heart rate machines were imminent.
'So this is what it's like to be waiting in the emergency room' Lincoln Loud thought to himself as he laid in a hospital bed all alone, 'I wonder if I'm dying? Would the doctors tell me if I'm dying? If I'm not dying…am I already dead? I wonder if they'd tell me…' Now you're probably wondering how the snow haired child ended up in this predicament. Well, allow me to explain this daring tale.
(Earlier that day…)
(Location: Ketchum Park)
It felt like just any normal day, Lincoln and co. were having fun playing Frisbee with Lynn.
The athletic sister was in the mist of catching the disk, she managed to catch it but not before rolling onto the ground. Lynn tosses the Frisbee to Jordan. She catches it and tosses it to Liam who then sends it to Kay. The blue haired lass sees Haiku, so she then throws it to her. The little sorceress misses and then it flies off hits a tree, then the fountain, a car and then comes back to Haiku who manages to catch it before it hits the back of her head. "Whoa, nice one Haiku" Kat commented. "Aw, it was nothing…" Haiku muttered while trying to hide her blushing cheeks. Lynn took a moment to catch her breath, "Thanks for inviting me to your day at the park little bro" she tells Lincoln. "Think nothing of it, I know that you like coming here to play too" he tells her.
Their little game continued until Jordan's phone vibrated, she looked at it and saw it was lunchtime.
The braided lass then walked over to the picnic table where she kept a basket and the brought it over to the group. Jordan then pulled out a blanket for everyone to sit on and then proceeded to distribute everyone's meals. A peanut butter & sauerkraut sandwich for Lincoln, a tuna fish sandwich for Kat, a loose meat sandwich for Liam, a grilled cheese sandwich for Haiku and a meatball sub for Lynn.
"Eat up" Jordan tells everyone while she munches on her peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
After finishing his sandwich, Lincoln got up to throw his wrapper in the nearest trash can. Then he saw a drinking fountain and decided to take a quick sip before returning to the group. As he walked back to the picnic table, the snow haired child's stomach began to churn. At first Lincoln was slightly concerned, but brushed it off when the churning stopped. 'It's probably nothing' he thought to himself.
(Timeskip)
(Scene change)
(Location: the Loud House)
After saying goodbye to his friends, Lincoln and Lynn walked up to the front porch.
Then all of a sudden, the snow haired child began to walk slower and slower. The athletic sister noticed this, "Linc, are you okay?" she asks with concern. "I-I-don't feel so good…" the Loud boy croaked out.
It then became harder for Lincoln to keep his balance, and then he collapsed to the ground. "Oh my god, LINCOLN!" Lynn yelled, "HELP! I NEED HELP!" she cried. The other sisters heard the athletic girl's cries and rushed outside and circled around Lynn and Lincoln. They noticed their brother looking pale and shaking.
Lori called 911 and then what felt like no time at all an ambulance rushed over and then rushed the snow haired child to the hospital. All the girls could do at that point was watch the ambulance drive away.
Rita, Lynn Sr and Lily had the van since they were visiting Pop-Pop.
'I need to call mom and dad. The sooner they know, the better' the eldest sister thought. She then proceeded to call and waited for one of them to answer. "Lori?" she heard her mom's voice ask. "Mom, something happened to Lincoln…" her voice was cracking and then she told her mother everything that happened.
(Now…)
(Location: Royal Woods hospital)
And that's how ol' Lincoln Loud ended up in this predicament. When the medics rushed him to the emergency room, the doctors were baffled. None of them had seen a stomach virus quite like this.
'First I was surrounded by doctors and nurses…now everyone's gone' the Loud boy thought, 'What's happening to me? Where'd everyone go? Am I incurable? Where are mom, dad and the girls? Is it possible that the doctors told them to wait so they could see what was wrong with me first? I guess I just have to wait and relax.'
The snow haired child then began to hum a song that he used to listen to a long time ago.
(Scene change)
(Location: the Loud House)
The parents were sitting on the couch with pained expressions on their faces. When Lori told them what happened, they had to cut the visit with Pop-Pop short but the grandfather understood and told them that he sends his love and prayers to his only grandson in this frightening situation.
After getting home, they received a call from the hospital and the news was not what they had hoped to hear. The doctor asked if Lincoln could stay overnight for observation. Somehow, the parents said yes.
So now, they waited. However, the parents weren't the only ones shaken up by these turn of events.
(with Lori and Leni)
The oldest sister sat up on her bed hugging her knees and rocking herself back and forth. "This isn't happening…this isn't happening…" she muttered to herself over and over while trying and failing to fight off the tears.
The fashionista laid in a fetal position on her bed while hugging a pillow. Her head is spinning out of control on the inside. "Why…just, why…" she sobbed to no one in particular.
(with Luna and Luan)
The musically inclined sister found herself at her keyboard with her headphones on playing a familiar tune.
"When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me…speaking words of wisdom, let it be…" she sang softly, "And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me speaking words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be. Let it be, let it be. Whisper words of wisdom. Let it be."
Luna took in a long deep breath before continuing to sing.
"And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree. There will be an answer, let it be. For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see there will be an answer, let it be."
Luna's emotional walls began to crumble, her eyes began to water.
"Let it be, let it be. Let it be, let it be. Yeah, there will be an answer. Let it be. Let it be, let it be. Let it be, let it be. Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be. Let it be, yeah, let it be. Whisper words of wisdom. Let it be. And when the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me…shine until tomorrow, let it be. I wake up to the sound of music. Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom let it be."
She couldn't take it anymore, and then she let it all out and sobbed while still singing.
"Let it be, let it be. Let it be, yeah, let it be. There will be an answer Let it be Let it be, let it be
Let it be, yeah, let it be. There will be an answer, Let it be. Let it be, let it be. Let it be, yeah, let it be. Whisper words of wisdom…let it be…"
Afterwards, Luna put took her headphones off and put her head down while still lightly sobbing.
The comedian laid on her part of the bunk bed wearing her Groucho Marx glasses trying to write new jokes to tell Lincoln when he gets out of the hospital. She grew more frustrated at anything that she wrote down didn't feel right to her. She then threw the book and her glasses to the ground and then pulled a pillow to her face and screamed into it, the screams slowly turned into sobs of anguish and then to simply crying.
(with Lynn and Lucy)
The athlete had a slew of emotions coursing through her body; anger, fear, sadness and confusion. She channeled all those feelings into her punching bag. She also imagined the bag having the face of the doctor that told them that she couldn't see her only brother in his time of need.
The little goth in her fortune telling gear, is trying to communicate with spirits and asking them to watch over her big brother and also to say that she loves him and that she misses him and wants him home.
(with Lana and Lola)
The little grease monkey laid on her bed while being surrounded by all of the pets in an attempt to comfort her. "Big brother…" she lightly whimpered, "please come home…"
The little princess tried to host a tea party with her stuffed animals in hopes to calm her nerves. Unfortunately, it didn't work. She then gave her stuffed bear, Mr. Sprinkles a death grip-like hug. "Linky!" she yelled while her face was deep into the bear's chest. She didn't care that her toy was being soaked with her tears; all she wanted was for her big brother Lincoln home.
(with Lisa and Lily)
The little genius looked up to her Albert Einstein poster for some kind of guidance. "Older brother, please be okay…" she whispered. She hated not knowing what was going on, it tore her up inside.
The baby of the family bless her heart, picked up on something being terribly wrong. She felt sad because everyone else around her was sad. So she did the one thing she felt like she could so, take a nap and hope that everything would be better and happier when she woke up.
Meanwhile, the Loud parents continued to sulk on the sofa. Just then, they heard the house phone ring.
The matriarch rushed over, "Hello?!" she asks in a frantic tone hoping that it was the doctor. "Oh, hello Kat." Sadly it wasn't the doctor. "Sorry to bother you Mrs. Loud, but I tried to reach Lincoln's phone but it kept going straight to voicemail. I wanted to tell him that he forgot his Frisbee and I was coming over to return it" the blue haired lass explained. Rita gulped, she didn't want to be the bearer of bad news but she had to in the moment. "Actually, Lincoln's not home right now…" she began. "Oh, where is he?" Kat asks. Rita took a deep breath. "He is at Royal Woods hospital with an unknown stomach virus."
(Scene change)
(Location: Ketchum residence, Kat's room)
"Oh…I-I see…" young Katherine's voice began to crack.
"The doctors told us that they wanted to keep him there overnight because they don't know what caused it or how to treat it" Rita explained while slightly breaking down. "Is there anything I can do?" she asks the distraught Loud mother. "To be honest, I don't know what anyone can do. I'm being told that I can't be with my son when he needs me the most because the doctors themselves don't know what to do." Kat couldn't take it anymore. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. I need to tell the others about this" she tells Rita. "I understand" The Loud matriarch tells her, and then she ended the phone call.
The blue haired lass took a moment to take a deep breath, and then she called up the others to give them the news. 'I need to see him' she thought to herself, 'and I don't care who tries to stop me.'
(Timeskip…)
(Scene change)
(Location: Royal Woods hospital)
Young Katherine rallied the rest of the group as they stormed the doors and charged their way to the front desk. The blue haired lass halted, which caused the other three to crash right behind her.
Meanwhile, the lady at the front desk looked down at in her mind was an unruly group of misfits.
"Can I help you?" she asks in a wary tone. Kat was the first to get up. "We're here to visit a patient by the name of Lincoln Loud" she stated. The lady then went to her computer to look up the information. "Ah yes, there he is. But according to the file it says visitations have been revoked due to not knowing if the patient's stomach virus is contagious I'm sorry." This saddened the group; they couldn't see their friend in need.
"Yes ma'am, we understand" Kat spoke up, "we'll be on our way then. Come on guys."
The gang walked out of the hospital with downcast looks.
"This ain't right" Liam commented, "Lincoln doesn't deserve to be hold up in some dag'nab hospital all alone and prevent us and his own family from seeing him." "The spirits and I sense that Lincoln will be able to pull through from this, and they're hardly ever wrong" Haiku added. "I don't like that they're keeping his family away" Jordan grumbled. Kat sympathized with her friends' opinions, and then she had a thought.
She pulled out her phone and quickly dialed a number. "Mom, I have a favor to ask. Lincoln's in the hospital with a type of stomach virus and all the doctors can't figure out what kind it is to be able to treat it. I'm hoping you could contact Dr. Melendez and send him over to Royal Woods General; maybe he could shed some light on the situation. And I know that this is big to ask for but I also want to pay for Lincoln's hospital bill."
There was a few minutes where the blue haired lass listened to what her mother had to say.
"Thank so much mom" Kat breathed, "I know it was a lot to ask for, but I felt like I had to do something and I wanted to help." There was some chatter on the other side. "Alright, I might not be home for awhile, I talked to you later. Love you, bye." She then hung up and then placed her phone back into her jacket pocket.
"That was really nice of you to do" Liam commented while Jordan and Haiku nodded in agreement.
"I just hope Dr. Melendez can help him" Kat thought out loud, and then she took a seat by a nearby bench and let out a long sigh. The others joined her moments later. "You really care about him don't you?" Jordan asked as nicely as possible. "His friendship has been the best thing to happen to me in a long time" the blue haired lass answers. Jordan could relate, Lincoln offered her his friendship despite the rough beginning.
"You know something" Liam spoke up, "my Meemaw once told me this story where a woman sat on a park bench across from a hospital. She was staring up at a window that her boyfriend was in. She'd hoped by doing that, he would get better." "Did he? Get better that is?" Kat asked with curiosity.
"Not sure" the country boy admitted, "Meemaw never told me how the story ended."
"Perhaps it's for the best" Haiku mused, "one could imagine the ending how they would want it." "Lincoln's gonna get through this, right?" Jordan asked. No one gave her any kind of answer.
They just sat there in silence, praying that their friend will get better.
(Timeskip…)
(Scene change)
(Location: the Loud house)
Lynn Sr. understandably didn't feel like making dinner, so he opted for ordering pizza for the family.
He, Rita and the girls sat all around the family room trying to eat their slices but were having trouble due to all the stress each member has because they're here and Lincoln's in the hospital all alone.
RIIIIIIIIIING
Everyone turned their heads to the direction of the house phone, and then Rita got up to answer it. "Hello?" she asks in a somewhat calm tone. She listened closely to the person on the other side. "Mmhmm…" she nodded. "Uh-huh…" Lynn Sr. and the girls were growing more curious by the second.
"Alright then, thank you doctor. I'll tell everyone after I get off the phone. Thank you" and then she hung up.
"Who was it" Lynn Sr. asked with slight hope in his tone. "That was Dr. Melendez" Rita began to explain, "a specialist who was called to take a look at Lincoln's case. And he also told me that we don't need to worry about the bill, he said that someone has taken care of it." The caught the patriarch and the girls by surprise.
"Did the doctor say who paid for it?" Lynn Sr asked in wonder, Rita shook her head. "He said that the person who paid the bill wanted to remain anonymous" she answered, "to be honest I'm not asking too many questions I wasn't too sure if our insurance would cover this and now at least we don't have to worry about it." She then took a slice of pepperoni and took a seat on the couch.
Meanwhile, Lori had some thoughts of her own. 'I need to give Kat a hug the next time I see her' she thought.
(Later that night…)
(Location: Royal Woods hospital)
After several hours of being looked over by the specialist Kat sent over, Lincoln couldn't sit still anymore. He got up and slowly walked over to a chair and positioned himself right in front of the only window in the room. He looked up to the sky and saw a lone star and sighed.
"One little star…all alone in the sky, do you ever get lonely as the twilight drifts by?"
(Scene change)
(Location: the Loud House, Lori and Leni's room)
The oldest daughter found herself looking out the window of her bedroom while Leni was sleeping after passing out due to all the stress she gave herself. Lori couldn't blame her, she wished she could sleep right now but she couldn't rest, not until her little brother was home safe and healthy.
"One little star…" she sang softly, "in the darkening blue. Do you long for another just the way I do?"
(Scene change)
(Location: outside of Royal Woods hospital)
We find Kat sitting on a park bench with Jordan, Liam and Haiku who are fast asleep. But the blue haired lass couldn't bring herself to do the same. She felt too restless, she hated feeling like this.
"Skies begins to fill; darkness ends the day. Someone who I love is far away…"
(with Lori)
"One little star, reaching far through the night. Do you shine on my someone? Are we sharing your light? Oh one little star, shine on both of us tonight."
(with Lincoln)
"Gee, I wish Lori was here to sing me a lullaby, and I wish my friends and the girls were here too and then we'd all be to together. I wonder what they're all doing tonight?" the Loud boy thought out loud.
"One little star…" he sang, while Lori and Kat appeared in spirit. "One little star…" they sang together. "Reaching far through the night…" Lincoln continued. "Reaching far through the night…" Lori and Kat repeated. "Would you shine on my someone…" the Loud boy sang, "Sine on my someone…" the eldest sister and the blue haired lass repeated. "So we're sharing your light?" the snow haired child continued, "please share your light…" Lori and Kat sang. "Oh one little star, shine on all of us all tonight." They all sang together.
The snow haired child sighed and then hobbled back over to the bed and tucked himself back in. 'I REALLY hope that things will look better in the morning…' he thought to himself.
And then he tried his best to get some sleep.
(The next day…)
As Lincoln opened his eyes, he noticed that someone was looking over him.
"Hello Lincoln, how are feeling today?" the voice asked him. The snow haired child blinked twice and then he was able to see that it was Dr. Melendez. Back to the good doctor's question, he actually felt quite better. "I…feel good sir. A lot better than I felt last night" he told him.
"Excellent" the doc clapped his hands together, "I am happy to tell you then that you will be able to go home today." The Loud boy then sat straight up. "I can?!" he asked with hopefulness. Dr. Melendez nodded, "Would you like to call you family and tell them the good news?" "Yes please" Lincoln says to him.
The doctor then handed the Loud boy the phone and he began to dial the house number.
He could hear the normal ringing, and then someone picked up the phone. "Hey mom" Lincoln spoke, "the doctor said I could be the one to tell you the good news" he said while smiling.
(Sometime later…)
Meanwhile, Kat and the others were still outside on the bench all sleeping soundly.
That is until they heard the blaring sound of a minivan pulling up to the hospital. The blue haired lass rubbed her eyes. "Hey, isn't that the Loud's van?" she asks while the others were waking up. "I think it is" Jordan muttered. Liam then began to think. "Wait, if they're here…then that means…"
The group then got up and raced into the hospital in search for Lincoln.
The lady at the front desk was a lot more willing to let them in due to Lincoln no longer considered being contagious. They found his room and saw that the Louds were there and all of them had smiles on their faces.
"Uh, is this a bad time…?" Jordan commented. The Loud parents shook their heads "Come on in, Lincoln will be happy to see you." The kids then walked inside to the room and saw Lincoln looking at them with a huge smile on his face. "Hey guys" he told them. Kat then walked over to the boy and then gave him a very tight bear hug. "Don't ever scare me like that again" she whispered into his ear. "I'll try" he whispered that.
She then let go and then gave a sigh of relief. "What exactly happened?" she asked the million dollar question.
"According to Dr. Melendez, he found a parasite in my stomach which he was able to successfully remove" the snow haired child explained. "Was he able to find where the parasite originated from?" Lisa asked as her scientific curiosity took over. "He asked me if I ate or drank anything unusual in the last 24 hours and I told him that I remember taking a sip from the drinking fountain at the park" Lincoln answered.
"Interesting" Lisa thought out loud, "perhaps this should be brought up at the next town meeting…"
"So what do you want to do now sport?" Lynn Sr. asked his son. "I'm kinda hungry" the boy admitted. The patriarch chuckled, "Anyone else in the mood for breakfast?" he asked everyone in the room and the every raised their hands in an unanimous vote. "I guess that answers that."
After getting properly discharged and dressed, the Louds and Lincoln's friends piled into Vanzilla to Lynn's Table for a celebratory breakfast of Lincoln's recovery. As Kat was just about to enter the vehicle, she was pulled aside by Lori who surprised her by giving her a hug of her own.
"I know it was you" the oldest sister whispered to the blue haired lass. Kat then grew concerned, feeling like she overstepped a boundary. But then Lori continued, "Don't worry; your secret is safe with me." Kat then felt relief. "Thank you" she whispered back, "Lincoln means a lot to me and I wanted to help in some way." Lori smiled. "Well thanks to you, Lincoln got better. And that's what we all wanted." "Indeed it is."
Just then, both girls' stomachs began to growl like the dickens. "I can't wait to try your dad's breakfast" Kat commented. "You won't be disappointed" Lori told her. And then the two got into the van. As everyone got situated, Lynn Sr. started the vehicle up again and began to drive away from the hospital.
And good ol' Lincoln learned something important that day, be careful of public water fountains.
You never know how other people treat the fountains before you drink from it.
(Next time…)
"A Magical Sleepover"
"Family don't end with blood."
- actor, Jim Beaver
Lincoln's playlist:
"Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas
"Wait" by The Kills
"Joe Cool" by Vince Guaraldi
"Let it Be" by The Beatles (performed by Luna Loud)
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day
"One Little Star" written by Jeff Moss (performed by Lincoln Loud, Lori Loud and Kat Ketchum)
"Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane
AN: From July 2, 1979 to August 3, 1979 the character known as Charlie Brown was admitted into the hospital for an unexplained illness who fortunately though made a full recovery. I had this thought of something in this realm happening to Lincoln. And no, this is not my take on "Requiem for a Loud" despite the similarities. I guess in retrospect, there's no logical explanation for why I wrote this premise. Perhaps I wanted the readers to keep on their toes and learn to expect the unexpected.
I also would like to take a moment to dedicate this chapter to all those fighting COVID-19 and any other kind of disease.