A few days later...
It was a new morning at the hospital. Lincoln stepped out of the shower, changing into a clean hospital gown. His skin was nice and clean, his rashes having been treated, and it was its usual color again. Much of his fever had broken, but he was still very much exhausted and there was one thing he would not likely recover from for a lot longer.
"Looks like your case of pneumonia has gone away," said a male doctor, helping Lincoln into a wheelchair. This was the same doctor who yelled at Lynn Sr. over the phone and declared that he would have an investigation launched into the matter of the boy getting sick in the first place.
"I'm so tired," Lincoln murmured, as the doctor wheeled him back to his hospital room.
"Yeah, you're probably gonna be for a long time," said the doctor. "Your sickness and our treatments here at the hospital seem to have taken a toll on you physically. You may even need a wheelchair like this one to get around, especially if you're gonna go back to school." When they returned to Lincoln's hospital room, Lincoln got straight into bed. "Oh, and... I know you were kind of... out of it when I said this the first time, but... well... don't forget what we talked about."
"I know..."
The morning after Lincoln was admitted into the hospital for mild to moderate pneumonia, Lincoln woke up feeling sick and dizzy, still hooked up to IV fluids. His skin rashes were beginning to go away, but many parts were still red and sore. On top of that, despite being in a coma briefly, he recalled perfectly what led up to him being hospitalized, which only piled on to his misery. He coughed a bit, which was nowhere near as bad as the past few days, but in his sickness and sadness, he started to cry. He felt that his family had ostracized him after all these years and having to deal with ten sisters, nine of them more unstable as Lily was merely an infant, the position he felt that he was in was pretty much one of his worst fears. Had his family truly abandoned him? Just as Lincoln's crying quieted, the doctor who put out the phone call to the Loud residence earlier came into Lincoln's hospital room to check on his patient.
"Ah, Lincoln," said the doctor. "Nurse Patti graciously informed me that you awoke from your coma last night. I'm Doctor Antilles, Patti's former mentor."
"Cuh... coma?" breathed Lincoln.
"Don't worry," said the doctor. "It was extremely minor. Your body was just unable to handle the sickness then and there, but we were able to treat you right. I see the skin rashes are beginning to subside, so that's good. You're on your way to recovery."
"..."
"Yeah, I know. You've been through a lot, kiddo. I phoned your family yesterday afternoon and tried to get an idea of what exactly happened to you. Your father couldn't give me a straight answer."
"Couldn't...? Or...wouldn't?" Lincoln murmured.
"Huh?"
"They... they did this to me..." Lincoln started crying again and the doctor found this to be a puzzle. What did his patient mean?
"Uh... your sister Leni was the one who called 9-1-1 the other day," he said, which made Lincoln stop crying instantly.
"What?" he sniffled. "L...Leni?" His head swam. Now one of his sisters had actually pulled through for him? But his confusion wasn't helping his current condition. He needed to rest.
"Lincoln," said the doctor. "I know this is gonna be difficult... but in all likelihood, you're going to have to tell us how you think you might have gotten sick for days with no treatment. This isn't the common cold or the flu. But for now, just worry about getting plenty of rest." Lincoln weakly nodded and the doctor left the room.
"Doctor Antilles," said a nurse, approaching him. "We just received a call from Officer Schoffner."
"Huh," said the doctor. "I was going to follow through with having an investigation put out anyway. I guess someone beat me to it."
"Also, your family called us again," said the doctor. "We can open up visiting hours this afternoon." Lincoln's eyes widened.
"I don't want to see them!" he blurted.
"Yes, I was a bit reluctant myself, to be honest. Something seemed either amiss or just off when your father never exactly answered if you were ever exposed to extreme heat."
"Please... I-I... I can't..."
"Alright, I'll tell your family that you don't want to see them. But you realize this means you'll have to tell us everything... because something's wrong with your family. Very wrong."
Rita hung up the phone in tears, breaking down into a sobbing fit. Her husband acknowledged that this recent bad luck fiasco finally went too far when it was revealed that Lincoln got sick from skin rash infections and went untreated long enough to catch a variant of pneumonia.
"Honey?" said Lynn Sr. Rita turned to face her husband and family, thick tears streaming down her face.
"He doesn't want to see us!" she wailed hysterically. Everyone else was dead silent, even Leni who put out those two calls from before. Events from the past two weeks and the couple of days before were rushing up to meet them and hit them in their sorry faces. What started as bad luck put Lincoln in the hospital and now the rest of his family had driven him away. Lincoln's plan for me time backfired on him only for the family's retaliation to backfire on them.
"What have we done...?" murmured Luna. Tears then formed in Lynn Jr.'s eyes and she finally realized everything that was happening. What have I done? she thought. What have I done?! She buried her face in her hands and cried.