Family Bond

2

Rita Loud wasn't the best mother. She yelled, forgot things, and sometimes left a few of her kids behind at the grocery store. However, she tried her hardest. She was a dentist's assistant who was writing a novel, but she still found time for the children-all eleven of them.

When Luan called her, harshly sobbing, she began to panic. The girl had been bullied before-had a classmate taken it too far this time?

Now Rita was racing to the hospital as her only son fought for his life.

Rita and Lincoln weren't as close as she'd wished they'd be. Of course, she was closer to some of the kids-Lori, Leni, Lucy, Lola, and Lily-but Lincoln? Even though she'd planned on writing a book on his adventures, schoolwork and work-work had piled up for both of them, and the book was put on the back burner.

The cab stopped, and Rita tossed a twenty at the driver before she hopped out and ran to the exit.

"LINCOLN!" She shrieked. The clerk stared, confused, as Rita rushed to her and began speaking quickly. She jumbled her words, and was about to scream in frustration when someone put a hand on her shoulder.

"Ma'am, my name's Lynn Loud, and this is my wife, Rita. Where is Lincoln Loud? We're his parents." 

Although Lynn Sr. sounded calm, his heart was racing. The clerk told them where Lincoln would be going when he returned from surgery, and she took them to the rest of their children were waiting.

The parents rushed to give hugs to everyone, quickly noticing Luna was isolated from the group, and Lynn Jr. looked paler than anyone else did-as a matter of fact, some of the kids were shooting dirty looks at Luna.

"Um, Lynn Jr.? Come with me to get everyone some candy from the vending machine, sweetie," Rita instructed, her voice unsteady. The athlete nodded absentmindedly and stalked towards her mother, and the two left.

"Mr. Loud?" 

Lynn Sr. jumped when a doctor tapped his shoulder. He quickly recovered. "Yes?"

"Could I speak with you in private?" the doctor requested, his eyes widening as he saw all the girls.

"If it has to do with Linky, tell us!" Lola growled, giving the man an angry look.

The man cleared his throat. "Okay. Is that okay with you, Mr. Loud?"

Lynn nodded, eager to hear his son's prognosis. The way everyone looked, it wasn't going to be so great.

He had been at lunch when his cell phone rang, and it was Lori. He expected her to ask to borrow Vanzilla or if she could have money for something at the mall.

He was dead wrong, though.

He'd gotten there and seen his wife charging for the doors of the hospital, and he followed her. Lynn wasn't really close to Lincoln-honestly, he was closer to Luna, Lynn Jr, Lana, Lisa, and Lily-because after they'd gone on that game show together, they'd stopped their father-son bonding times, citing work and schoolwork as the reason.

"Mr. Loud?" The doctor interrupted his thoughts. He shook his head and cleared his throat. "Sorry. Go ahead, doctor."

"Okay. My name is Dr. Luke, and I was one of the supervising surgeons for your son's surgery. Honestly, his body is actually just bruised, since it seems like he was punched a lot there, but his right arm is broken. His head, however, is a different story.

"In layman's terms, when Lincoln was hit-repeatedly, it seems- his head began to bleed, and he had to have a transfusion. The hits gave him a bit of an affected memory. He may have trouble recalling some events from now on, but a majority of them, he'll remember within time. Lincoln might begin to have seizures, loss of coordination, and a slurred speech. He may go into a coma."

The girls were crying hysterically, and Lynn finally broke down. Luke left briefly and returned with tissues-and a police officer. There was an awkward silence that settled in the room until Luke spoke again, noticing the horrified faces of the Louds.

"May I ask how this happened?" Luke questioned.

"Why do you need to know?" Lola snapped, wiping her eyes.

"Well...when we were helping Lincoln, we noticed that while some of his marks were very recent, many of them were old, along with scratches and cuts."

The officer cleared his throat, stepping closer to Lynn. "We need to find out if CPS needs to get involved, and if you and your wife need to come down to the police station."

Lynn tried to hide his fear, but his mouth went dry as he spoke.

"W-well, my wife and I were at w-w-work when t-this happened. Girls, w-what happened?"

Luna gulped, feeling all her siblings glare at her once again. The only reason no one had pummeled her was because Lori and Leni were protecting her, even though they were livid as well-when they went home, Luan would probably choke her to death with a really long tie.

With a sigh, she shamefully recalled the events-the guitar lessons, how Lincoln accidentally broke her beloved instrument, and how she attacked him-first with her fists, then with the remains of the guitar. Luke nodded somberly.

"Well, Miss Luna, I'm gonna ask you to come with me," the officer instructed.

Luna paled immediately, feeling like she had no idea how to talk. "W-why?"

The officer pulled handcuffs from his belt. "Luna Loud, you're under arrest for aggravated assault."