A/N: OK, first off I want to apologize for the time it took to upload this chapter. Given the time it took between the first two chapters to be uploaded, I made it seem like there would have been a consistent schedule. I forgot to mention in the A/N of the last chapter there was not going to be consistency with the uploads. Each chapter will be uploaded when I finish them, so I'm sorry for not telling you all before. As for this chapter, the reason I took so long was because even though I had the gist of what I wanted to say, this chapter was too short at first. Initially, it came out to just over 2500 words where the others had 3000-4000+. I wanted to make this chapter a similar length, and ironically it has over 4700; LOL!
Anyway my friends, here's chapter 3. I hope you enjoy it and I look forward to seeing your reviews. I always take the time to read them for feedback and advice, and I certainly did that with this one.
Ch. 3 – Too Early To Tell
Today was, without question, the worst day of the Loud Sisters' lives. It all started when nine of the girls got into a large argument and after Lori came home and called for a sibling meeting to discuss it, they discovered Lincoln had left the house without telling them. Then their mother called and told them he went to the mall, passing on a message saying he did not want to help them with their problems anymore since they told him so on a previous occasion. If their hurt feelings from hearing this message weren't enough, they later saw a news report about a mass shooting that occurred at the mall. After they remembered Lincoln went there, Michigan State Troopers came to the house with bad news.
Lincoln had still been at the mall when the shooting occurred; and he had been shot.
He was alive, but in critical condition. His wounds were so bad he needed immediate surgery. Unfortunately, the hospital at Royal Woods was overwhelmed with other victims of the shooting. It simply didn't have enough resources to deal with injuries as traumatic as Lincoln's on top of all the other patients. As a result, he had to be rushed to the next nearest hospital; which was in Detroit.
After telling the girls about Lincoln, the Troopers told them that they had been ordered to take the girls to that hospital. Their parents had been notified and were already there waiting for them. Without hesitation the girls piled into the SUVs the Troopers drove to the house. A Royal Woods Police officer, who also came to the house with his cruiser, escorted the Troopers to the main highway where they continued on their way.
This car ride was the most harrowing one the girls ever experienced. Even as they approached Detroit city limits, the girls were still shaking with fear over their brother's state. Everything that happened that morning was bad enough, but to find out from the police Lincoln had been shot hours later and was now in critical condition, possibly on the verge of dying? It was too much.
Since there were two cars the girls split into groups of five. The cars themselves were large enough for the girls to be seated in the rear seats, so nobody was riding in the front with the Troopers. All the girls were trying their best to comfort each other, but it was difficult. Not because of the noise from the sirens but from their own emotions.
In one car, Lori was sitting in the middle row holding Lily. They left the house in such a rush they didn't bother to look for her car seat. Lily was clinging to Lori's shirt as she cried into her shoulder. Lori wasn't sure if Lily was crying due to the sirens or if she was aware of what was going on with Lincoln. It wouldn't have mattered either way as Lori herself was crying too. She held the infant close to her as she rubbed her back, doing her best to comfort her.
Sitting behind the oldest and youngest sisters was Leni, who had Lana and Lola in each arm. Just like what Lori was doing to Lily, Leni was trying to reassure the twins Lincoln was going to be OK. But just like Lori, her efforts were just as futile as Lana and Lola were sobbing into her shoulders, almost hysterically. Leni could only tighten her one-armed hugs on them as much as she could as she cried with them. But to her credit she still tried to reassure them all the while. In the driver's seat the female Trooper could only witness this heartbreaking scene in dismay. This was turning into another one of those days.
In the other car, which was leading the convoy, the male Trooper's situation was no different. Ever since they got in the car, Lynn and Lucy had been locked in an embrace. Despite being very different they were still roommates and were always there for each other when they needed it; and they needed each other now more than ever. For the entire trip, all they could do was hug the other as they cried in each other's shoulders.
Behind them were Luna and Luan, with Lisa sitting in between. Lisa was normally never one to give in to her own emotions due to her scientific beliefs, but even that only works for so long for someone like her. She was still only a child after all. The young girl was in a group hug with the teens, who each had one arm around her. Lisa clung to her sisters' arms as she quietly cried. Luna and Luan used their free arms to hold each other as they also wept for their brother.
Eventually, the cars exited the highway and drove through the streets of downtown Detroit. The Troopers told their passengers they would be arriving at the hospital soon and one of their parents should be outside waiting for them. After another ten minutes of driving, they finally arrived. Looking out of the windows, the girls saw their mother sitting on a bench near the main entrance. When Rita saw the SUVs pull up, she stood up and started walking over to them. After stopping the cars, the Troopers got out to open the doors for the girls. They quickly piled out, thanking the Troopers. As they went up to their mother, they finally got a good look at her face. Her bloodshot eyes and shiny cheeks revealed she had been crying. This further concerned the girls and they started asking questions.
"Girls! GIRLS!" They quieted down as Rita shouted, still distressed. "Girls, listen. Lincoln is still in surgery. We haven't heard anything yet, but we do know he's still alive." The girls let out a small, collective sigh of relief. It was no different from what the Troopers told them, but at least Lincoln's condition had not changed somewhat. That gave the girls just a little bit of hope. After a few seconds of taking in this information, Lori looked to Rita. "Where's dad," she asked. "He's inside," Rita replied. "I've been waiting here for a while, so he may have heard something by now. Let's get inside; I'm sure he wants to see you all." They went inside and headed straight for the Emergency Room.
Lynn Loud Sr. was sitting in the waiting area of the ER of a Detroit hospital. Just like for the rest of his family, this was the worst day of his life. One of his children, his only son, was fighting for his life after being shot in a mass shooting; and Lincoln was not the only one. This hospital was treating other people who were injured in the shooting after the one in Royal Woods reached full capacity. By this point, Rita had been gone for nearly fifteen minutes after she went to wait for their daughters to be dropped off by the police. Lynn Sr. spent most of the time staring at his cell phone, which was displaying the text conversation he shared with Lincoln. All the while he kept staring at the last message he sent to his son.
-Ok sport see you later love you-
Lincoln never replied, but Lynn Sr. could only hope he saw it. He wanted to believe Lincoln saw it. Because if Lincoln did and, God forbid, he didn't make it, at least he got to know is father told him he loved him. That thought made Lynn Sr. tear up as he put away his phone. This was not the time to think about those things; Lincoln was still alive and receiving treatment. Now that he had his phone away, the sounds of the ER flooded his ears; which managed to distract him from those earlier thoughts. Right now he had to remain hopeful for his son, and stay strong for the rest of his family. He was just beginning to wonder where they were, when he heard a voice above the already loud din of the ER; which he recognized as his wife's.
"LYNN!"
He looked up to see Rita coming towards him with the girls close behind her. The father of eleven stood up and walked over, the girls instantly forming a group hug around him. Lynn Sr. spent the next few minutes with them, taking the time to have a word with every one of them as they expressed their grief. After tending to his daughters, Lynn SR. turned to his wife.
"Well," she asked.
As soon as Rita asked that question, Lynn Sr. looked over to see the girls staring up at him; waiting to hear some kind of good news. But to their dismay, he sighed and shook his head as he looked back to Rita. "Not yet." The girls' hearts sank. For all they knew, Lincoln could have been in surgery for hours, and now their hopes for finding out anything about him were dashed. Rita just sighed; this was becoming too agonizing.
Nobody spoke as they went to the waiting area. This was not something the girls would ever do in normal circumstances, but Rita knew this was anything but normal. The Louds have never been strangers to stressful situations. In a family like theirs, where each kid was very energetic and had a unique personality, their very nature always led to some form of chaos occurring nearly every day. The average person would probably reach their breaking point very quickly in an environment like this, but the Louds were nothing like the average person; and Rita, and Lynn Sr., would always attest to that. After having so many children they had become masters of mayhem in their own right, and over time the kids themselves had learned how to handle stressful situations just from living with each other. In that sense, anyone would think they would be able to handle stress much easier than anybody else.
However, despite living in a household as chaotic as theirs, nothing could have prepared the Louds for something like this. While it was true they had been in situations which could be considered borderline life-or-death (which were sometimes due to the kids' own actions), what happened today was life-or-death to the extreme. And what made it worse was the fact this was due to something well and truly beyond their control.
Those thoughts played on Rita's mind ever since they sat down. She knew that for some of her daughters, particularly the little ones, the stress they had, not only from worrying about their brother's state but all of today, left them exhausted. Looking around, Rita noticed Lana and Lola had never left Leni's side and at the moment both were curled up in Leni's lap. Leni kept comforting the twins until they both fell asleep from the stress. Leni herself only lasted a few minutes before she fell asleep too.
As Rita took in what everyone else was doing, she looked down at Lily, who was fast asleep in her arms. Rita had taken over holding the baby for Lori since they arrived, and now Rita was just doing what she could to keep Lily comfortable. Looking back up Rita saw Lori herself was on her phone, spending the time texting Bobby. It had been the first time since she looked at her phone since this morning, and she saw she had a lot of missed texts from her boyfriend. Reading them over, they were obviously about the shooting ranging from what happened to if she was okay and why she wasn't responding. Lori texted him about the shooting and what had happened to Lincoln; she was still waiting for a response.
Meanwhile the rest of the girls were trying their best to pass the time. Lucy had borrowed a pen and paper from the reception desk and was trying to think of some poetry to write. Unfortunately for her, nothing came to mind. Lisa was quietly muttering to herself on what possible damage Lincoln's body could have endured and how they could be treated. Luan had mostly kept quiet since they arrived, and she didn't even dare try to crack a joke. Now was not the appropriate time. Right now she and Lynn were sitting on either side of their father, the latter was doing all he could to convince his daughters Lincoln was going to be fine.
But what really caught Rita's attention the most was Luna. Despite being naturally one of the loudest, if not the loudest, of the girls, she had been uncharacteristically silent ever since they came into the building. Ever since they came into the waiting area she had been sitting in the same chair, staring at the floor with a very downcast look on her face. To Rita, Luna seemed to be deep in thought about something. What exactly, Rita couldn't put her finger on it. She decided that when she got the chance to be alone with Luna she would ask about it.
However, her chance would come sooner than expected as a sound made her turn to see Luna leaving her seat. "You OK, honey," she asked as Luna walked past. Luna turned her head slightly when she heard her mother's voice. "Yeah mom; I just need some air." She turned and walked in the direction of the hospital's entrance. Rita didn't blame her for doing so, but now she knew there was more to Luna than her just 'needing some air.' Looking around, Rita noticed that everybody else who was awake was watching her and seemed to have the same feeling. Realizing some of the girls might try to follow her, Rita stood up. As she gently handed Lily over her husband, Rita told everyone she would handle this and started to follow Luna.
Rita managed to tail Luna up to the point when the girl turned and walked through the hospital doors to the outside. She walked faster down the hall and only slowed down when she approached the doors. When she looked through the windows, Luna was nowhere in sight. Feeling slightly concerned, Rita went outside and looked around. To her relief, she saw Luna sitting on a nearby bench. However, her body language confirmed Rita's suspicion. Luna had her arms wrapped around her waist and was staring at the sidewalk still looking really sad. Rita slowly made her way over to her daughter, stopping a few feet away.
"Luna?" The girl looked over when she heard her mother's voice. "Hey mom. What are you doing here," Luna asked, still sad but slightly confused. "I just wanted to check on you. Is everything OK?"
Luna raised an eyebrow, still puzzled. "Uh yeah, I'm fine. I said I just needed some air. Why? You don't believe me?" "No, no, I do. It's just; I couldn't help but feel that there was something else going on. Is there?" Luna briefly looked down, feeling slightly guilty. "Was it that obvious?" Rita nodded, but she gave her daughter a sympathetic smile as she sat next to her. "Luna, you know you can talk to me if there's something on your mind. It's just the two of us now, so you have nothing to worry about. Please, tell me; what's going on?"
For a moment, neither of them spoke. Rita wisely gave Luna the time to think about what she wanted to say. Eventually, Luna looked back to her mother. "Mom, am I a bad sister?" Rita was surprised at the question. "What?! No, of course not! Why would you say that?!" Luna sighed. "It's just; ever since we got here I've been doing a lot of thinking."
Rita nodded. "I had a feeling. You've been awfully quiet ever since the police dropped you off with the others. Do you want to talk about it?" Luna sighed. "I might as well tell you everything. It all started this morning; after that argument we had." Rita bit her lip when Luna mentioned the argument. She had a bad feeling where this was going, but decided to let her daughter do the talking. "I see; go on."
"You remember when Lori told you that I was the one who couldn't find Lincoln when we were having our sibling meeting?" Rita nodded before Luna continued. "Just before I went to look for him, I told Lori that I didn't think he should have been in on the meeting. I mean, he had nothing to do with the argument; and there had been times when he had been caught in the middle of some arguments when he didn't deserve it. But Lori pretty much forced me to get him. Just before I did I realized Lori had a point when she said Lincoln might have ideas on how to resolve the problems we had. Don't get me wrong he never solved all of our problems but he's been there for us many times." Luna paused to gather her thoughts, then turned back to her mother.
"Well, after you called us, I started thinking about that message you passed on to us; and I realized Lincoln was right." Rita's eyes widened slightly at this revelation. "About what," she asked. "For one thing, we did tell him we didn't need his help with our problems. Again, don't get me wrong, he wasn't there for everything, and we had done things for him; both by ourselves and as a group. I had been thinking about that after you called, and I realized something." Rita gave Luna an inquisitive look. "What was that?"
"Like I said, he may not have helped us with everything, but I realized he had been there for us more often than we had been there for him. I also remembered that some of us even refused to help him with his problems, including me. I mean, I'm supposed to be Lincoln's guardian, for crying out loud! How can I call myself that after doing that to him?!" Luna had to stop again to catch her breath. "Back at the house, I told myself I would make it up to him for all those times. But then we found out about the shooting and then the cops came and told us what happened to him and then…"
Luna's breathing became shaky as she tried to calm herself. Noticing this, Rita put a hand on Luna's. "Everything at the house happened so fast. I didn't have time to think about it on the way here since we were all so scared and I was trying to be there for Luan and Lisa. But, I started thinking about those things again after we joined dad." Luna's voice had started to crack at that last statement and Rita saw her eyes had started to water. "I wasn't there for him, mom. I should have done something; call, text, anything to tell him to come home! But I didn't, and now this happened! All I wanted was to make it up to him, and now I might not get the chance!" By now the tears had started to flow. Without a word, Rita pulled Luna into a hug. The teen did not hesitate and wrapped her arms around her mother tightly before finally breaking down. "Oh God! Why mom?! Why did it have to be him?!"
All Rita could do was hold Luna as she sobbed into her shoulder. The memory of what she said to her and the others over the phone that morning came back to her. She did tell them she and Lynn Sr. would discuss that call with everyone when they got home. But that didn't matter now, the situation had changed. Luna just told her all she needed to hear, and right now she needed someone to lean on. After a few minutes, Luna's crying had started to ease up. Rita decided to say something.
"Luna, I understand you felt like you could have done something to stop this from happening. But listen, what happened to Lincoln was not your fault. It wasn't any of our faults. None of us could have known this would happen." Only a sniffle came from the girl, who still kept her face in Rita's shoulder; though her breathing had started to slow down. "I guess I made it seem like you would have been in trouble from that call this morning, did I?" Luna didn't say anything, but she nodded. "I'm sorry I made you feel that way. None of you would have been in trouble if what happened at the mall didn't happen, and I'm guessing you still would have said what you told me just now, would've you?" "Mm-hm," was all Luna could muster after another sniffle.
"As for what happened to your brother, you can't think about those things. Right now Lincoln is getting the treatment he needs, and we all need to be there for each other. And when he wakes up, we'll all be there for him, OK?" Luna finally broke from their hug and looked to her mother. Her cheeks were wet and her eyeliner was smudged, but she managed to give a small smile. "OK," she said with a nod. The two shared one more hug before Rita gave Luna a tissue to clean her face off, then they both went back in the hospital to rejoin the others.
The rest of the Louds were still in the waiting area when Rita and Luna returned. By this point, those who had been asleep were awake and everyone was talking amongst themselves and fell silent when they saw the pair return. When they asked what happened, Rita spent the next few minutes telling the girls what she told Luna.
While this was going on, a man in scrubs approached the reception desk; asking where the Loud family was. When the receptionist pointed in their direction, the man was surprised to see so many kids and asked again if that was really them. When the receptionist confirmed it was, the man took a deep breath and walked over to them.
"Excuse me," he asked, making the Louds turn to face him. "Are you the Loud family?" "Yes," said Rita. "That's us." The man nodded and introduced himself. "I'm Dr. Goldman. I was the surgeon in charge of Lincoln's operation." This made the Louds exchange a look before Rita asked, "You have an update on Lincoln?" Dr. Goldman nodded. "Yes, I do. In fact, if you all follow me, there's a place we can talk in private." The Louds got up and followed him to an enclosed waiting room which was accessed by a door. After crowding into the small room and taking their seats, Dr. Goldman closed the door and turned to the family.
"Now, before I say anything, I need to ask you all this; did anybody tell you anything specific about what happened to him? As in, other than he had been shot?" The parents looked to their children. "Did the police tell you anything," Rita asked. The girls thought for a moment, but they realized the police didn't. When they told their parents and the surgeon what the Troopers told them, Rita and Lynn Sr. revealed they had a similar conversation with the police officers who told them about Lincoln. With this information revealed, Dr. Goldman released a long sigh. Since all the chairs in the room were occupied, he crouched down to meet their eye level. Then he started speaking.
"All right, now I need you all to listen very carefully. Lincoln is incredibly lucky to be alive. He had been shot in the chest, shoulder and leg; but the good news is the bullets went through him and by some miracle missed his vital organs, so there was less damage than we thought. However, the bullet he took to the chest had damaged his aorta. This, along with the other wounds, caused him to lose a lot of blood while he was being transported here, and during the operation he slipped into a coma. Although if it hadn't been for the paramedics, he would've died before he got here. The good news is the operation itself was a success. We've managed to stop the bleeding and repair what damage we could, and we're still giving him transfusions at the moment. He's stable, but all we can now do is wait."
The Louds sat in silence trying to process what the doctor just told them. They knew Lincoln was hurt badly, but they had no idea he almost died. The doctor did say the threat of death was gone, but now Lincoln was in a coma. The question now was, for how long? The girls looked between each other; they all had the same question on their minds, but weren't in a position to ask. They looked to their parents, who could immediately tell what that question was. After exchanging a look with his wife, Lynn Sr. turned to the doctor. "Doctor, when do you think Lincoln wake up?" Dr. Goldman sighed before answering. "To be honest, I don't know. It's still too early to tell." Everyone's face fell as they looked down at the floor. This was not the news they wanted to hear, and they didn't know what to say.
"However…" Everyone looked up as Dr. Goldman spoke again. "…if Lincoln does wake up soon he's going to feel pretty lousy. Waking up from such massive blood loss will leave him exhausted. Moreover, the shots he took to the shoulder and leg will mean he will feel pain in his limbs for a while and he may or may not have to undergo physical therapy to use his limbs again. But other than that, he should be able to recover."
"… if Lincoln does wake up;" that was the thing. The possibility that he wouldn't wake up was still there, but what the surgeon said did give the Louds some hope that he would. After another moment of silence, Lynn Sr. faced the doctor again. "I see. Is there any way we can see him?" Dr. Goldman briefly looked between Lynn Sr. and his family. They were all giving him the same look. He thought for a moment and then said; "Well, he's been moved to the ICU and is receiving post-op treatment. The room he's in has a viewing window so you can see him; but, for now, only from outside." It wasn't much, but it was good enough for the family and they agreed. After leaving the room, Dr. Goldman escorted the Louds to the ICU and the room where Lincoln was being treated. What they saw through the window was heartbreaking.
Lincoln was lying in a hospital bed with several nurses monitoring his vitals and attaching another blood bag to an IV in his arm. Since he was in a coma, Lincoln had an oxygen mask on his face to help him breathe. He was covered with a sheet, which hid all evidence of his surgery except for a barely visible collection of gauze wrapped around his shoulder. And if anybody looked closely enough, they would just barely make out the blood stains on the gauze.
Dr. Goldman stood by as the Louds looked on. He cleared his throat, letting them know he was about to speak. "Once they're finished here, Lincoln will be moved to Recovery. You will all be able to be with him when that happens." None of the Louds spoke, but Lynn Sr. looked over and nodded slightly to acknowledge him. As Dr. Goldman turned and left, the Louds could only watch as Lincoln was being treated by the nurses.
Lincoln's surgery may be over, but his fight wasn't. Being in a coma was one of the worst scenarios for anybody to be in, let alone a twelve-year-old boy. There's no telling when a person wakes up from a coma, if at all. Some of the Louds knew this, which just made the situation more difficult for them. All they could do now was think about the memories they had with him, good and bad, and what they thought about just made them sadder. The girls took it especially hard given what they went through all day. But no matter what everybody was thinking at that moment, one thing was certain; things were still going to be hard on everyone for a while.