Back at the Royal Woods Child Care for Mental Health, Lincoln had quickly adjusted, though for the most part he stayed in his assigned room and looked out the window while sitting in a chair. The quiet and stable environment was doing him good, but he was still feeling very sad. Lyra was looking after him, and although she didn't blame him for being so quiet and sad, it was beginning to break her heart to see that he had lost much of his motivation and will to do... pretty much anything.

When night fell, after Lincoln returned to his room from taking a nice, hot shower, he got into bed and snuggled with Bun-Bun. In that moment, he wouldn't care what Lyra would think of him, an 11-year-old boy still relying on a stuffed animal for comfort. But of course, Lyra didn't make fun of him, far from it. Instead, she came over and rubbed his back.

"I love stuffed animals," said Lyra. "Besides, you really look like you need yours." Lincoln nodded and had himself a little cry. "There, there," said Lyra soothingly. "You'll see me again tomorrow." Lincoln laid down and Lyra tucked him into bed as he snuggled with Bun-Bun, falling asleep. "Good night, Lincoln." Lyra kissed his forehead. "See you in the morning."

Lincoln woke up the next morning with Bun-Bun snug in his arms. Sitting up in bed, he looked around the room, knowing immediately it wasn't his own. After taking in several deep breaths, he then heard a gentle knock on the door.

"It's me, Lyra," said Lyra's voice. She slowly opened the door and came in, seeing Lincoln in bed. "Good morning, Lincoln!" She came over and kissed his forehead, happy to see him. Lincoln was somehow able to form a small smile on his face when he looked at Lyra. "Hey, a smile! Look at that! How are you feeling?" Lincoln looked down.

"I'm sad," he murmured. Lyra sighed, as she knew why, but she kept her own smile fixated on Lincoln and held his hand.

"Would you like me to sit with you and... hold you for a bit?" Lincoln blushed for a second, but then nodded. So Lyra sat on the bed and held the white-haired boy on her lap with her arms around him. "You know," she said to him. "I used to be teased just like you were, but for me, it was because of my white hair." This surprised Lincoln as he never recalled anyone, not even Chandler, bullying him for just his hair. "Fortunately, my learning environment was kind to me," Lyra continued, stroking Lincoln's back. "So I like to think... if it wasn't for my teachers and the school staff, I might not have graduated from high school. It was after that... I went into therapy, I came out lot a stronger, I went to college, I got my Bachelor's degree... and I started here as an intern. I love kids. I love seeing them grow..." Lyra's gentle tone entered Lincoln's ears in a most soothing way as he kept his head rested on Lyra's chest, his eyes closed as he listened. "Everyone here is doing their best to make sure the children we take in can adjust to the outside world a lot better than when they are first checked in. That's what I want for you, Lincoln. You must have a dream of your own... and a future to follow..." Although Lincoln felt quite comfortable, he felt the need to let out a few more feelings he had been holding on to. But not being able to speak due to steadily recovering, he instead just cried softly, Lyra gently shushing him like a mother as he did so. "Can you take a few deep breaths for me?" Lyra asked after Lincoln shed his tears. Lincoln did so, breathing in and out. "There you go." They finally looked at each other. "You must be hungry. Let's get something to eat."

It was obvious that for the most part, Lincoln seemed to be suffering from what seemed like clinical depression or close to it and it showed outwardly the number of times he would just sit in a chair at his room's window and look out at nothing in particular apart from the outside view. Lyra had offered to hold him to give him strength and comfort and each time, the boy cried in her arms. It seemed the only way for Lincoln to get through this phase was to just cry it all out until he would feel better. Now Lincoln was able to at least eat and sleep, although during his first few days at the institute, his appetite seemed to vary - he would either feel listless and sick and hardly touch his food or he'd be hungry enough to clean his plate.

For obvious reasons, he stayed in his assigned room except for meals and showers. Poor Lincoln never seemed to be in enough of a mood to join other kids in the playroom. But Lyra never left his side, only leaving the institution after making sure that Lincoln would go to sleep each night, and she would return to his room first thing in the morning. Lyra understood him and how he felt, something he believed his sisters, maybe his parents as well, didn't have those previous days. And she trusted him with her own backstory, leading to her gaining a few years of professional experience working with children that struggled with mental health issues. As for Lincoln's privacy, not getting enough time to himself wasn't exactly an issue. Child specialists had been instructed to keep watch over their assigned children through their day shifts due to their struggles with mental health and it had been proven that at the institute, monitoring the children was effective and quelled some of their troubles. And in any case, Lincoln didn't seem to be in the mood to strip down to his undies each time he read one of his comic books. And as the days went on, he didn't seem to want Lyra to give him any privacy or so much as leave his side. The two had grown quite close to each other, like a mother and son, and sometimes Lyra reminded Lincoln of his real mom, Rita. No doubt she was right that Lincoln proved just how strong he was by mustering up his courage to tell her and his father exactly what troubles his sisters had given him time and time again and after all this time, he wanted it all to stop - and for a good reason, for the sake of his own mental health. Whether his sisters even cared or not, words can hurt and more so than some people realize.

At Royal Woods Elementary School, when word got out over Lincoln's absence and where he was staying for a month, the pranksters who tormented Lincoln and Clyde with cat litter and such came forward and confessed to Principal Huggins, who suspended the students for a week and had them assist the school janitors with cleanup. A few other students were even starting to feel a little bad, that perhaps they should have stopped teasing him after one day, or should not have teased him at all. Also, during Lincoln's absence, his homeroom teacher, Agnes Johnson, spoke to Principal Huggins several times to help certify a special teaching curriculum for the boy to not just help make up for missing a month so he could still graduate on time, but also make sure he can be safe and undisturbed in his learning environment. Any other teacher would see it as the highest form of leniency, but in this case, the intention was to provide extra assistance to bring him up to the same level as the other students so he could recover without any impediment.