1216 Franklin Avenue, often known as the Cursed Place. Nowadays, it became something of a tourist attraction, as nobody really wanted to move in. After all, the house itself was bad luck, right? Or at least bad luck was the start of what became a family's downfall. Things that started could not be stopped and recent events were considered a testament to the state law, so hopefully no other family would foolishly follow their example if their children were behaving out of line.
"Alright, people," said a tour guide. "Thank you all for gathering your courage today. We're about to embark on a tour of the former address... of the Loud House. No touching anything on the inside and stay within the borders." He opened the door, but two red lasers shot out, fortunately missing him and the crowd.
"INTRUDER ALERT!" It was one of Lisa's robots. "INTRUDER ALERT! MUST DESTROY ANYTHING JOLLY!"
"Yeah, we'll see about that, you bucket of bolts!" The tour guide gave the robot a swift and hard kick, causing it to fly over a nearby fence and crash.
"My yard, my property!" came the shout of the next-door neighbor.
"And that was the next-door neighbor of the Louds, Mr. Bud Grouse," said the tour guide, trying to save face. "He's been complaining about the Louds for years."
"But what was that robot?" asked one random person from the group.
"That belonged to my sister, Lisa," said a familiar blonde teenage girl approaching. "I think it was named... Mr. Reinforced Titanium Alloy Arms. ...Hey! I remembered the name! Usually I don't!"
"You're one of them," said the tour guide. "Leni Loud. What brings you here, young lady?"
"This house has so many memories," said Leni. "A shame it had to come to an end after all those years. Ah, it feels like it was only yesterday. ...Was it yesterday?"
"Uh... typical Leni behavior, everybody," said the tour guide rather awkwardly. "Let's go inside, but no straying off the path! It's best not to touch anything. Could be bad luck." Bad luck, thought Leni. That was the start of what brought my family to their knees. She thought to accompany the group, perhaps for old time's sake. "That's the living room over there and the dining room over there," said the tour guide. "That's the family's trophy case - a trophy for each of the Loud children. Looks like even the baby has one for thumb-sucking. Odd. It's no surprise that Lincoln left his behind in this house, seeing as it was only awarded because his sisters felt sorry for him. And as you can see, one path we're allowed to stay on leads us to the room... of the Loud parents. Of course, we're only allowed to look without actually going in." Leni sighed. She recalled what happened to her parents, who succumbed to the typical cliché of not thinking things through when actions have consequences.
"They were bad parents, weren't they," a kid said to Leni. It was in fact the young son of Ms. Carmichael, the current manager of Reininger's from the Royal Woods Mall. Leni gently patted the kid on the head.
"I think... they just made bad decisions," she said to him. Poor Daddy, she thought to herself. If only he hadn't...
On the day that Lincoln was taken to the hospital, that afternoon, the phone rang at the Loud residence and Lynn Sr. answered.
"Is this the hospital?" he asked. "Listen, we still have the costume here, so whatever you do, don't touch my son-"
"Will you shut up and listen to me?!" a voice roared on the other end, nearly making the resident father drop the phone. "Lincoln Loud has pneumonia, do you hear me?! He has pneumonia! He just slipped into a coma moments ago!"
"...What?"
"You heard me! Pneumonia! He's in a coma!"
"..."
"Do I have your attention now? Good. Now listen. Your son has developed a slightly mild to moderate case of pneumonia. It's not life-threatening, but since he's now in a coma, he'll have to be treated here at the hospital. Although we're confident he'll wake up this evening, we're keeping him here for a few days."
"My... my son..." murmured Lynn Sr. "What happened? How did this happen? How on earth did he get pneumonia?!" Rita and all ten daughters overheard this fact and gasped loudly.
"Apparently, he's been sick for at least ten days and it went untreated," the doctor on the other end of the phone confirmed. "So we're gonna be the ones dying here... for answers."
"Ten days?!" gasped Lynn Sr. "But... how?! Why didn't he...?!"
"We've found multiple skin rashes leading to various infections," said the doctor. "There are also traces showing that a wild raccoon had come into contact with the boy. And apparently the reason he slipped into a coma was because of a near heat stroke." The Loud father grew increasingly nervous. "Has your son been exposed to extreme heat?" the doctor asked. It was now Lynn Sr.'s turn to start sweating. He and the rest of the family knew exactly what they made Lincoln do for the past two weeks, as well as how a wild animal touched his son, and right then and there, he finally realized the negative impact it had. "Has your son been exposed to extreme heat?" the doctor repeated. "And what about the raccoon coming into contact with him? ... ... Hello?! Why won't you answer? What's going on?!"
"Uh..." Lynn Sr. stammered. "We'll... pay a visit to the hospital and explain everything."
"Negative," said the doctor. "Visiting hours will have to wait until at least tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm afraid we'll have to conduct an investigation." Before Lynn Sr. could say anything in response to that, the doctor hung up. He slowly turned around to face the rest of the family, each of them in utter shock.
"Pneumonia?!" said Rita, going pale.
"Bruh..." Luna stuttered.
"How did he...?" questioned Lori.
"How long did we make him wear that suit?!" Lynn Jr. asked.
"T...two weeks..." Lisa choked. The father made his way to the living room and collapsed into an armchair.
"Dad?" said Lana.
"L...Lincoln... is in a coma..." Lynn Sr. sputtered weakly. Everyone else gasped. "He almost had a... heat stroke... Th-the doctor asked... if he had been exposed... to extreme heat... I was stunned... didn't answer... The hospital is going to conduct an investigation..." The Loud family trembled.
"Does that... mean...?" Luan whimpered.
"We... we have made a grave mistake."
It was obviously not long before Lincoln's best friend Clyde got word of Lincoln's sickness and of course was stressed out. His two fathers had to watch over him as he breathed heavily into a paper bag. They all had yet to know that the rest of Lincoln's family had a huge hand to play in Lincoln coming down with pneumonia, though. As the day went on, Clyde eventually retreated to his room, kneeled on his bed and prayed for Lincoln's safety.
"Dear Lord," he murmured, practically in tears. "Please bless my best friend, Lincoln Loud."
At the hospital, Lincoln was wearing an oxygen mask on his face and was hooked up to IV fluids. But in the early hours of the evening, true to the doctor's prediction, Lincoln woke up, very much alive, but incredibly weary.
"You're awake!" said a kindly, yet familiar nurse, seeing it safe to remove his oxygen mask. "Lincoln? Can you hear me?" Lincoln's eyes fluttered open all the way and saw his school nurse looking at him, relieved.
"Puh... pa... Patti?" he breathed.
"Yes, it's me, Lincoln," said Nurse Patti. "I'm here." She gently patted his forehead.
"Where... am I?" he panted.
"You're in the hospital," she answered. "Try not to freak out, but you got pneumonia."
"Whaaaa...?" He suddenly coughed again.
"Take it easy and lie still," said Patti. "You've been sick for ten days straight and you never got treated! I think we all want to know how and why... but you need to rest first. Listen, you're gonna be kept here for a few days and hopefully your fever will break soon." Lincoln let out a few mumbles and mutters as his eyelids grew too heavy to keep open. In mere seconds, his eyes closed and he drifted off into a heavy slumber. "Poor guy," Patti murmured.
And then one night, Leni heard Lincoln crying in his room and managed to catch a few words from him through the door to his room.
"I hate it here!" His voice was somewhat muffled, but Leni could hear him perfectly. "I wish I could get out of this place! They don't love me anymore..." Leni gasped upon hearing this and instinctively knocked on his door. "LEAVE!" Lincoln hollered upon hearing the knock and had a terrible coughing fit afterwards. Leni felt horrible, but in going along with what the family was doing to him, she felt that she had no choice but to leave him be. The poor blonde felt like crying, knowing that her only brother needed help, but she fought back her tears instead. It was time for her to be brave, even if her brother was still being labeled as bad luck while not wearing some silly mascot costume. Whether it was the heat of a moment or an instinct born of sisterly love, she knew what the right thing to do would be. However, it dawned upon her that there was a very real chance that their family would be changed forever. There would be no turning back and the right thing to do could cost everything that they hold dear, but Leni would not swallow her pride, not this time. There's no other way, she thought. Linky... I have to do this! Mom, Dad, LJ... forgive me. Her mind made up, she proceeded to slink off to the kitchen, where she was sure no one could hear her, and whipped out her cell phone to make a late-night call. She waited for the other end to answer and then replied.
"Leni L. Loud," she said, nervous but standing her ground. "I... I wish to report... a confession."