A/N Yo. Thank you for clicking on and reading the 3rd chapter of my story. First, I want to say sorry for taking so long to get this one out. My laptop kind of messed up for a few days, and a few more things got in the way of finishing this chapter. No promises but I will try my best not to take as long on future chapters. Next, while I am grateful to everyone who leaves a review on my story, I have to say thank you to that one Guest account that has left detailed reviews on the previous 2 chapters. (1) I will try my best to keep the "supernatural elements" limited but that is kind of how the story will go. (2) Lucy's outburst was from a standpoint that no matter how dark she claims to be she is just a kid, whose older brother is very close to his hurt. But I do understand if her getting so mad is so too far out of character. (3) And lastly the comment about Luna opened my eyes. I feel like the exaggeration of Luna and Lincoln's relationship is overplayed. Glad you caught that early for me. All in all, thank you for your reviews. Alright, enough talking. Hope you enjoy chapter 3. Ps: Chapter 3 picks up right off of chapter 2.

Chapter 3:

Any sacrifice

The male doctor looked to be at least 7 feet tall and had a solid bulky build. He looked as if he was a mountain in human form. Just one look at his face and you could tell he had to be at least 50 years old. His accomplice was a very beautiful young woman. She had silky black hair, a soft face that looked like it was crafted from clouds, but sharp, cold eyes that looked as if they could see right through you. Though they both wore classic doctor attires, Lisa was very skeptical that they are actually medical professionals.

The female doctor's soft voice cut through all the chaos that was present in the room, "Wow. It's like a Circus in here." She turned to her partner and nodded her head. The big guy slapped the wall so hard the room shook. He did this to get everyone's attention, and it worked.

Lola screamed out in terror, "Oh. My. GOSH! It's an earthquake! Save me. I am the prettiest one!" Everyone watched in disappointment as Lola hid under her brother's hospital bed.

The woman spoke up again, "As much as I would love to speak on how embarrassing that display was. It seems we don't have the luxury to waste time." She pointed towards Lincoln, but before she could continue, Rita spoke up.

"My son. Please save my son!" Rita begged the doctors to save her baby boy. Soon the whole family joined her. All but two members actually moved to plead with the doctors, they were Lisa and Lynn. Lynn would have moved to show her sincerity, but currently was incapable of doing so. As for Lisa, she still felt something wrong.

"Saul, if you would." After the female doctor addressed the man now known as Saul, he started to move toward Lincoln. He pulled out a syringe and proceeded to stab him square in the chest.

"What are you idiots doing?! What did you just inject into my brother!" Neither of the doctors answered. Their faces were unreadable. The whole family was in shock, no one really knew what was going on. On the one hand, they were out of options, but on the other hand, Lisa seemed pretty distraught at the event that just took place. Considering Lisa has proven to be right on most occasions, the family usually finds it best to trust her judgment.

In a low and hushed tone, Rita addressed the doctors, "Excuse me what did you just…" Before she could finish her sentence Lincoln started to calm down. His breathing slowed, and he didn't look like he was going to die at the slightest touch anymore.

"What did you give him?" Lisa said as she looked at her brother. She couldn't deny that it appeared his condition improved, but she just couldn't believe there was something that could act that fast and be so effective.

"It was a light sedative. It calmed his body down, allowing his body to get a chance to recover."

The mood in the room instantly changed from a funeral to the birth of someone's kid. Everyone was laughing, hugging, and thanking the doctors in unison.

Rita dropped to her feet and started crying. "Thank you, thank you so much. I am so sorry I doubted you."

"Now, now. It's our job to do everything in our power to help your son. Well. I guess this is as good a time as any for introductions. My name is Sarah, and that mountain of a man is Saul." Sarah continues talking as she helped Rita up to her feet, "Sadly though, I don't come bring the best of news." The Louds felt their stomachs drop to the floor, making each one of them feel like throwing up. What could be worse than what just happened?

"Before you all start crying and freaking out again, please let me finish. You see, right now, one of Lincoln's ribs has pierced his left lung. This is slightly good because the rib is so deeply embedded in his lung, he isn't losing any blood and he is still capable of breathing. But remember, at the end of the day his lung is still pierced. That alone is bad. Just because he isn't losing much blood as of now and is capable of breathing, that doesn't mean he isn't in a good condition. Forgetting the fact that he is currently in an unimaginable amount of pain, he can't even feel it, because he is still comatose. To put it bluntly, he is slowly dying regardless of what is actually going to kill him."

The Loud family's eyes got closer and closer to bursting with every word. Just as it looked like we would be able to see Lucy actually cry, Sarah continued speaking, "Buuuut. We have a solution. There is an untested drug, called 'QI boost' that we can use. What we gave him early was a diluted, already approved, and vetted, version of the full drug. It's been developed and manufactured by a company called ShadCorp." Once again, the family looked like they were going to blow, they were so conflicted. From the sound of it this might be their only option, but the word "untested" didn't sit right with any of them. Sensing the family's worry Sarah continued speaking, "I can understand your speculation but the company that manufactured the drug is legit. The drug has been vetted by the FDA. This would just be their testing stage. Our hospital will take care of the procedure, and you can hold our facility responsible for any damages to your son. But we are confident that it will work the way it is supposed to, without any unintended side effects."

Nobody said a word. What could they say? A—No I won't save my brother/son because I can't trust this drug and let him die. Or B—yes, let's save him even if it might do more damage to him. After a few minutes Lynn Sr. decided he was in group B, he would do anything to save his son. Even if it meant doing something he might regret later. He looked towards his wife, she was already looking back at him, she nodded showing that she had the same thought process as her husband. He looked towards his genius daughter nodding, telling her she should be the one to take point on this.

"I find this somewhat hard to believe Dr. Sarah," Lisa took a deep breath before continuing, "I have run my own series of tests and have come to the conclusion that our brother's chances of survival are near 0. To be perfectly honest…" It was obvious that the weight of the situation was getting to the young girl. People often forget, even though she is brilliant, she is still just a 5-year-old girl. She held back tears as she continued talking, "Lincoln should have died right then and there prior to you giving him the drug. Even though you were able to help him now, I do find it highly unlikely there is anything that can save my brother now. Especially when I couldn't do anything." Along with having a great intellect, she was very prideful as well. It hurt her to admit that she has no solution to save Lincoln. Not just because of her own pride to be exact, but because she felt it would be her fault if he were to die. She thought what good is being so smart if you can't even help those closest to you.

"It's very reasonable that you would have doubts, Dr. Lisa."

"Dr?" Lisa was taken aback by the use of one of her numerous titles.

"Why yes, doctor. You are one, are you not? You used my title, so it is only right I respond in kind. Which is an amazing feat by the way."

The prodigy blushed at this compliment, "Tha.. Thank you."

"Please don't think about it. To answer your question Lisa, while it is true if we left the rib where it is now your brother will die. So, to solve that Lincoln would have to go under an operation to remove it. The only problem is that he would lose too much blood when it comes time to stitch and close the wound. Causing him to die moments after getting the rib out. This is where the drug comes into play. In exchange for a massive wave of fatigue, something akin to a super sugar crash or a hangover, the drug would speed up Lincoln's body's natural recovery abilities, among other things. If we were to give the drug right before removing the rib, it would force the wound to close almost instantly after it is removed and the wound would be able to be stitched back together. Limiting the amount of blood he would lose, thus saving his life. Here is the data on the drug from the most recent simulations. These readings are straight from ShadCorp themselves." Sarah handed a tablet with the information about the drug to Lisa.

Everyone in the room was stunned, it sounded so simple. But again, it just seemed too good to be true. They all looked toward Lisa to see what she thought. And it appeared she was deep in it.

"If it changed…. The cells would… Then it could…" Everyone waited in anticipation for her verdict. Lisa stopped mumbling to herself and looked towards her parents and gave her answer. "According to this information, it would work. The surgery only has a 4% chance of failing, and if it were to work brother would actually be multiple times stronger than he was before." She reviewed the information one more time. "Parental units, I do believe this is our best and only option."

Both Loud parents looked at one another. They didn't have to speak words, the look they exchanged said it all. They held hands, and just as they were about to speak, their daughters wanted to make their opinions known.

"We have to do it Pops, we just have to!" the rockstar pleaded.

Lori followed up after her younger sister, "Yeah, Mom there is literally no other option other than yes. Lincoln may be a pain in the butt most of the time."

"But he is still our brother!" All the sisters said in complete unison, showing just how highly they think of their brother.

Rita and Lynn Sr. looked at their daughters with a sense of pride because their kids care so much for one another. They knew that no matter the cost the sisters were willing to deal with it if it meant their brother would be ok.

Rita waited a moment for her daughters to calm down before speaking, "Girls, girls. We had no intention of saying no. We love your brother as much, if not more, than each one of you. Of course, we were going to use the drug to save your brother."

The Loud sisters all let out a sigh of relief, thankful that their parents were on the same page as them. But none of them looked more relieved than Lynn. The guilt of putting her brother in this position was bad enough, but the thought of him dying left her speechless. Thank goodness. Almost thought I would have to steal the drug myself somehow…. I am so sorry Lincoln. When you wake up, I will make it up to you! Times 100, no, 1000! I will make sure something like this never happens again. After Lynn had her moment of self-reflection, she looked over towards her family rejoining the conversation.

"It is incredible that you all decided to allow Lincoln to test the drug," up until now Sarah's tone has been somewhat uplifting. So, it came as a shock when the next words that came out of her mouth were said with such a cold tone. "There is now only the matter of payment." The smile she had before was nowhere to be seen, her eyes showed no type of warmth, and her whole being said she was not someone to be messed with. She gave off a vibe similar to a debt collector, and the crazy thing was that no contract or agreement was officially signed yet.

Lynn Sr. took a deep breath before speaking, he felt as if one wrong word would cost him and his family their livelihood, "Of course. We didn't think an opportunity like this would be cheap." He looked around at his family, and he noticed that they were just as frightened as he was, but the one thing he didn't sense was doubt. "My family and I are willing to make any sacrifice if it means our son will be ok."

Still keeping her same demeanor, Sarah looked towards Saul and gave him a directive. "That's good because everything has a price. Show it to them." The big behemoth of a man slowly walked towards the family of 13, as he got closer, he started to reach for something in his lab coat.

No one moved a muscle; they were all too scared to. Once Saul was close enough you could feel his body heat, he started pulling whatever he was reaching for out of his pocket. The family all shut their eyes for fear of what may befall them. After a few seconds though, to their surprise, what awaited them was just an ordinary stack of papers.

They all looked toward Sarah who was now laughing her head off. She tried to speak between short breaths. "I am sorry… I couldn't keep it together… Your reactions… We're just too funny."

The whole family was absolutely confused. Not as much by the fact she was laughing, even though that was just as confusing. It was the fact that the woman who is capable of giving off such as bone-chilling aura was nowhere to be found anymore. Leni was the first to break the family's silence. She did that by laughing herself. "That was a good one Sally. How do you come up with this stuff." After a few more seconds of laughter from her, she finally got out, "What exactly did you even say."

Those few sentences from the lovable airhead brought all the Louds to their senses. There were three things currently wrong with Leni's statement and their current situation. Lori was the one to point them out.

"First off Leni, no one literally said a joke. Secondly, I can't really tell who you were talking about when you said "Sally" because neither one of their names is Sally. It's literally Saul and Sarah. Lastly, Leni does make a good point. I literally don't see what could be so funny."

It took a few more seconds before Sarah was able to fully calm down. And it took a few more than that for Leni to finally get, that there was nothing to actually get. "Ha… Sorry, your faces being in perfect sync was just too funny."

Starting to get annoyed with all the games being played, Lola started having an outburst, "Well, out with it! What was so funny?"

Before speaking Sarah took one deep breath, "I am sorry. I am well aware this is no time for laughing matter, but I often find myself doing that."

"Giving off the feeling you are a serial killer?" Lucy told more than asked.

"First time hearing it called that, but yes. I didn't mean for my demeanor to drop so much. But as you can see," Sarah flashed them a large smile, "Keeping this attitude is sometimes taxing. It's a doctor's job to keep the patient, and their family, in a good mood. Because I have trouble showing my emotions sometimes, I sometimes overdo it when it comes to putting on a smile. So, when my face or my mental state, in general, needs a break, I can go overboard sometimes when trying to take a break. That's why Saul over there takes a backseat when it comes to talking with patients. But your reactions were so funny it gave me enough charge that I can finish these formalities with an actual smile."

"While I am glad you were able to get a good laugh, no offense, this isn't really a time for laughter. Plus, I really want to know just how much it would cost to save my baby." Rita seemed a little fed up with the hold-up on saving her child, along with the fact that she felt Sarah's recent cold attitude wasn't just an act. Something about the phrase, "everything has a price", left a bad feeling in her.

"I can see you are very concerned with said price, and I am guessing how I phrased it earlier didn't really help." Each member of the family nodded their head with haste. "Well, the price issss…. Free!" Again, Sarah left the family speechless.

"Free?" Lisa was one of the few who knew just how bad Lincoln's condition was, and how valuable a drug that could heal him that much would actually be.

"Yes, Lisa free. To a certain extent anyway. You see since the drug is still in the testing phase, you are allowing Lincoln to be the company's first participant in testing it. The company has agreed to pay for Lincoln's hospital fee, the price of the surgery, and the drug itself, and they even offered to pay for your daughters' fee too."

"Wow," the family was all starstruck by just how generous ShadCorp was being.

"Yeah. You see when a company is ready to send a drug into its testing phase, it may make deals with certain hospitals to allow them to offer treatment for certain patients. In doing so, certain details about patients are released to said companies to see if the treatment would be effective. No overly personal information is shared, only the details of what brought the patient to the state. So, they put one and two together and determined Lynn Jr. was also involved in the event that led to Lincoln's hospitalization, so that is why they offered to pay for her too. Testing a drug can have serious consequences just as much as it has rewards."

While some things were starting to add up, something just didn't make sense to Rita. "Ok, I understand why it is free. But you did say that everything has a price, which was referring to this drug. Or was that just a lie?"

"No ma'am. I can assure you the procedure won't cost you a thing. If you looked on the 4th page of the contract it will make more sense."

Everyone looked towards the contract as Lynn Sr. flipped toward the correct page. "In-house monitoring?", he read aloud.

"Yes, in-house monitoring. This is asking, in return for the procedure, that you will allow Lincoln to visit the ShadCorp facility here in Royal Woods to monitor his progress. While the drug's effects will be instantaneous, something may happen down the line. So, this will allow them to catch any problems that may occur before it gets too late, while also gaining valuable research."

Lynn, Sr. read over the contract, one more time, before handing it to Lisa. "Is she telling the truth?"

With impressive speed, Lisa read the contract in its entirety and understood it all. "According to this, yes, Dr. Sarah is telling the truth. Nothing seems wrong with it, and we are not selling Lincoln off to some shady company."

After hearing the ok from their 5-year-old daughter, the matriarch and patriarch of the loud family thought the offer over one more time. They looked towards their young son. They wished they could go back in time a stop all of this from happening. Deep down they both blamed themselves, thinking if they disciplined and watched their kids, just a little more stuff like this wouldn't happen. But they also knew dwelling on the past won't change anything. They gave one last sigh, looked up and both said, "Where do I sign?"

Sarah's mouth was now wearing the biggest smile she has had since meeting the Loud family, "Excellent! Just sign here." Even though her smile and voice said one thing, the way her eyes were closed as she smiled gave off a slightly odd feeling. No one in the Loud family was able to notice it since too much was happening, the only one who noticed Sarah's true feelings was Saul. He noticed that, while it was faint, a piece of Sarah's true self was showing. If the Louds were a little more focused, they would have realized Sarah was slightly giving off the same feeling from when she "accidentally" dropped her smile earlier. It would have made them wonder what Sarah and Saul were really hiding.