I'm really liking that everyone is enjoying this fanfiction so far. Sorry for not updating in a while. I'm busy with my college classes and also work and life just likes to break my non-existent balls. So I'll try to update at least every week in a half at the most.
I DO NOT OWN THE LOUD HOUSE. ALL RIGHTS GO TO CHRIS SAVINO
The Loud girls surprisingly stayed quiet as they stared at the clock slowly ticking away. The small amount of 30 minutes felt like it was an eternity. The girls were pretending to occupy themselves into thinking that time has quickly passed by and their parents would come through the elevators at any moment.
Luan sighed as she read an outdated magazine. She looked up seeing a patient pass by with an IV pole in his hand.
She and the girls were given an unfortunate view. The girls had disgusted looks plastered on their faces with audible groans while Leni covered Lily's eyes.
"I'm blind!" Lola said covering her eyes. "Now I know why it's called an ICU...Ha, ha...ha...Ah, who am I kidding?" She said leaning in her chair. "How long has it been?" Leni asked as she been playing with Lily.
"Only 30 minutes..." Lynn groaned tossing and catching a baseball in the air.
"This is taking forever!" Lola cried. "I'm going back there!"
Lana grabbed her arm. "Woah! You heard mom and dad. We can't go back there yet."
"Lana is correct. Our parental figures are probably discussing Lincoln's condition with doctors and most likely talking with proper law enforcements about his abduction." Lisa stated as she was writing some equations in her notebook.
"Well, I say we've waited enough. Don't you guys want to see our brother?" Luna said.
The girls agreed. "Guys! I understand we want to see Lincoln but mom and dad said we gotta wait. We could get in trouble if we just barge back there."
"Oh cmon Lori! I know you want to see him too!" Lynn said.
"He's our only brother. I've been making deals with some of my friends to make sure he came home ok." Lucy said. "Now I owe them a couple of favors."
"Yeah. I wanna see Lincoln as bad as all of you but we gotta wait until mom and dad say so. And they left me in charge until they say so. So we stay." Lori finished sadly.
The girls sighed and sat down again.
"Oh, the heck to this!" Lisa sighed and got up from the lobby and walked to the nurses' station. Lisa cleared her throat.
"Salutations Barbra. How are you today?"
The nurse looked at Lisa. "Oh hello Dr. Loud, what can I do for you today?"
"Do you mind telling me what room my brother Lincoln Loud is in?" She asked looking up at the nurse. "Oh, sure thing Dr. Loud." She typed on her computer. "Room 315." She said.
"Do you also mind telling me who is handling his case for me also and also telling me what his status is?"
"Dr. Savino is handling the case and the details, he strictly asked to be kept private because of the investigation. I can't give any information except Dr. Savino himself."
"I see. I will have a word with him later on. Thank you, Barbra." She walked back to her sisters.
"We can go in." Lisa said. "Lisa I said we had to wait!" Lori said.
"Lisa I said we had to wait!" Lori said.
"I know. And I refuse to waste any more of my precious prepubescent time waiting. So here you go. You all are lucky I volunteer here." She said walking off. The girls looked at her.
"Well, are you coming or what?" She asked. The girls followed close including Lori.
"Do you guys think we have time to visit the gift shop first?" Leni asked.
Lincoln stared at the nurse who was treating one of her wounds on her. "All done." She said as adjusted the bandage on her.
"All done." She said as adjusted the bandage on her. "Press that red button if you need anything ok?" Lincoln nodded as the nurse left the room.
Lincoln stared at her hands seeing them scratched from her travels and the wrapped up scars that remained her wrists. She took a deep breath.
'You've really done it now...' Lincoln's head snapped up to look at the foot of her bed with a gasp. It was the shadow of herself. She looked exactly like her in every way. Her white messy hair, her bruised body which was covered by her white dress that she wore back home. ''
"What are you doing here?" She quietly asked. 'I followed you. You know I follow you everywhere you go.'
Lincoln looked away from her. 'You know daddy is going to be furious when he finds out. Or he already knows...' Lincoln's face had the look of fear on her face as she thought about him.
'You shouldn't have left...' She said.
"I didn't mean to..."
'But you did...'
"I don't know why I did..."
'It's ok.' She stared deeply at Lindsey. 'You know I'm going to protect you.'
"No, you're not."
'Yes, I am. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you before. But I want to protect you now.' The shadow placed her hand in Lincoln's hand.
'I promised to protect you. And that what I'm going to do.'
Rita and Lynn saw Lincoln as she was having a quiet conversation with herself. The silence went on for a while. "How are we going to tell the girls?" Rita said breaking the silence. "I don't know. How can we explain this is more like it?" Lynn said holding her close. "When did he decide this? Was it recently? Has he always felt like this and we just didn't know?"
"Well, we're going to have to tell them one way or another." He sighed. "I mean they're going to be expecting their brother but instead they're going to see someone that looks like Lincoln but it's just isn't...him."
Rita nodded and wondered how she was gonna explain this to her daughters. "We'll just have to tell them as gently as we can. We don't know how they'll react."
"React to what?" Lola said accidentally.
The parents noticed the girls walk up. "Girls! We told you to wait in the lobby!" Rita said upset at the girls.
"We know you guys told us to wait until you can back. But we just couldn't stay behind!" Lori said.
"We wanna see Lincoln ourselves," Leni said. "We got him flowers and everything."
"Please, mom and dad. Can we see him?" The twins asked clasping their hands together. Lily sniffled.
"Winkoln?" She reached for the door. Lynn sighed, as Rita was taking young Lily into her arms. "Ok, you can see him...her...I mean..." The girls were confused by their dad's answer.
"Girls." Rita cut her husband off. "What your father is trying to say is that..." She took a deep breath. "Lincoln is...different now."
"Different how?" Lynn asked.
"Well your brother...after his time away from us he...probably went through some things...and now...he...wants to be referred to as...a girl now..." He tried to say the best he could.
The girls were still confused but surprised. "So what are you saying?" Lana asked hoping her parents could give them a clearer answer.
"Well, Lincoln identifies as a girl now. And if that's what he wants then we have to respect it."
"So Lincoln's basically like our sister now?" Lucy said.
"In a way...Yes." Rita finished.
"But you girls need to still give her the respect she deserves girls. She might still be a bit fragile from being away from us for so long." Lynn said rubbing Lily's head. "Can you do that for us?"
The girls looked at one another and agreed with their parents. Rita and Lynn looked in the room seeing her kind of explore her surroundings. They could tell she wasn't completely used to being in there. "Let us go in first and tell her the news." Lynn walked in with Rita.
"Let us go in first and tell her the news." Lynn walked in with Rita.
"Hey, sweetheart," Lynn said coming to her side. "How ya feeling?" Lincoln retracted in her bed, looking down at the floor in fear.
"It's ok, one's going to hurt you. Not anymore." Rita said. Lincoln looked up at her. "W-who's Lincoln?" She quietly said. "I'm sorry honey, can you say that again?"
"Who's Lincoln?" She repeated quietly but still loud enough to hear. "Well, it's you." Rita rubbed her head.
"I-I'm sorry but, I don't know a Lincoln." She said. Lynn sadly looked down at the frightened girl. "That's ok."
"Is Lincoln your son?" She asked. "Yes!" Lynn happily said, frightening the young child. "I mean yes. He is our son."
"You never got to tell us your name." Lincoln looked down at her hands. "Here how about this? My name is Rita and that's my husband Lynn Sr." She introduced. Lynn gave her a friendly smile. ""
Lily was confused by this stranger sitting in bed. She reached her hands out to her babbling. "And this is Lily. Your younger sister." Lincoln looked at Lily.
Lily looked at her long and hard before she wiggled out of her mother's arms and into bed where she crawled to Lincoln and smiled happily at her. Lincoln gave a small smile.
"Hello Lily."
"Do you mind giving us your name?" Rita said hoping that she would speak.
"Lindsey. My name's Lindsey..."