Clyde, Stella, Rusty, Liam, and Zach were buying food from the vending machines when they saw Grace walk into the cafeteria with the rest of Bolhofner's class. "That's odd. I thought they weren't supposed to be back until 3:00." Said Rusty. Grace noticed them and ran over. "There you are! I've been looking for you guys!" "Grace, what's going on, why are you guys back so soon? And where's Lincoln and Mr. Bolhofner?" Asked Zach.
Grace wasn't even sure where to begin. "Well, about that, um..." "what happened??" "Lincoln fell of a cliff and is now in the hospital!" She said quickly. The gang was definitely taken by surprise. "He's what?!" Cried Stella. "How!? What happened!?" Asked Liam. Grace told them about Bolhofner refusing to help Lincoln which resulted in him being brought before the superintendent.
"As we pulled away we saw a police car drive up to take him. He's at the police station right now being questioned." Explained Grace. "Does Lincoln's family know?" Asked Rusty. "I'm not sure. But I'm positive the hospital would call when he got there." The kids had to take a moment to process all this information. "We have to get to the hospital! "Cried Zach. "School or no school!" "I'll go get Lynn!" Cried Liam. And the friends ran out the cafeteria door.
At home, Rita and Lynn Sr were watching T.V when her phone rang. "Hello? May I ask who I'm speaking with? What? OH MY GOD!!!" Lynn Sr jumped at Rita's sudden scream. "Honey, what's wrong??" He asked. But Rita was still on the phone. "He's what? Surgery?! Oh thank god. Yes, we'll be there in 10 minutes." She hung up and grabbed her husband by the arm. "Lincoln's in the hospital! We gotta go!" "What?! What happened?! Is he alright?!" Asked Lynn Sr. "I'll tell you on the way!" And they screeched out of the driveway and headed for the hospital.
When they arrived, they were quite surprised to find Lynn and Lincoln's friends already there. "Mom! Dad!" Said Lynn in surprise. "What're you all doing here?" Asked Rita? Stella explained that they had heard about Lincoln's accident from their classmates. Then, a doctor wearing a long white coat came in. "Are you Mr. and Mrs. Loud?" He asked. "Yes, and this is one of my daughters and my son's friends." Explained Rita. "Nice to meet you all. I'm Dr. Ralph, I've been treating your son since he arrived. Now, I wanted to talk to you about his injuries. And, bear in mind, what I'm going to tell you isn't going to be very pleasant." Everyone looked at each in sheer worry.
"What happened to my son?" Asked Lynn Sr. "Well, you see, when he fell, he landed very badly on his left leg, and it was damaged far beyond healing. It was twisted and broken in several places." "So what are you saying?" Asked Clyde. "We had to amputate Lincoln's leg." Dr. Ralph said sadly. "We brought Lincoln into surgery a few minutes after he arrived. We knew right away there was no way we could save his leg. I'm sorry." Rita burst into tears as Lynn Sr hugged her. Clyde and his friends hugged each other too.
"On a related note, the surgery was a complete success and Lincoln is now in the recovery ward. I'm afraid he'll have to stay there for about Six weeks at best before he could try any sort of prosthetics if that's what you choose to do. He might still be under the anesthetic so he may not be awake yet. But you may wait in his room till he does." They quickly accepted and followed him to Lincoln's room. He opened the door and there he was. He had some bandages on his head and arms but other than that he looked fine. "I'll give you all a moment." And Dr. Ralph left, closing the door behind him.
Lincoln groggily opened his eyes. He looked around and saw that he was wearing a hospital gown. He then saw his parents and his friends sitting nearby. "Mom? Dad? Guys?" He said sleepily. Rita immediately perked up and saw her son's eyes were open. "Lincoln!" She ran to his bedside and hugged him. Lynn Sr did the same. Clyde, Lynn and the others went to the other side. "What happened? I remember being pulled in here on a stretcher and then everything went black." He said. "I'm afraid you were in surgery." Said Clyde. "Surgery!? Surgery for what?!" Cried Lincoln as he jumped.
Lincoln suddenly noticed that something didn't feel right. He tried wiggling his toes but only felt one side. Lincoln began to lift up the covers. "Uh, honey, there's something you need to kn-." But she was cut off by Lincoln's sudden gasp. His face was as white as a ghost. He pulled the covers off to find half of his left leg was gone. "Wha-what di-what happened to me?!?" He screamed. Rita hugged him gently, caressing his head. "Shhhh. Deep breath's sweetie. Deep breath's." Lincoln stared at his leg in pure shock. "My-my-my leg. My leg." He whispered, tears welling up in his eyes.
As her parents hugged her brother, Lynn clenched her fists. "You just dug your own grave Bolhofner." She said to herself.
Stay tuned for chapter 3!