Family Bond

5

"This could be a case of Dependent Personality disorder, brought on by stress or fear," Luan read from her phone.

Lisa was sitting on Leni's hip, tugging at her glasses.
After Lori had found the former genius, she immediately brought her down and started to panic. She was acting like a helpless child.
"Lis...please wake up," Leni whimpered. Lisa merely giggled and pulled harder.

All the others were watching silently, too scared to do anything. They slowly began to speak to each other. The talking soon turned to arguing.
"Alright!" Lori shouted, immediately silencing the others. Their older sister could be strict and bossy when she was in charge.
"Everybody, eat your pizza. At 10:00, we'll meet in Leni and I's room, and...we can have a sleepover, okay?"
They nodded, and Luan and Lynn began to pass out pizza.
After eating, the kids walked into their respective rooms, putting on their pyjamas. They stared blankly at the TV, the older siblings checking their phones for updates.
At 10:00, everyone took their blankets to the older siblings' room, finding their own spots on the ground. Lily's crib was pulled in, and all her stuffed animals were moved so Lisa could sleep with her. Lily stared in confusion at first, but giggled and cuddled into her big sister, who promptly did the same.
Lola walked over to Lori, holding her arms out. This was strange, since the two normally fought for the position of meanest sister.
"Will Linky be okay?" The younger girl pouted. Lori smiled weakly, stroking her little sister's blonde hair.
"I'm literally sure of it," she reassured. "Now, go to sleep. You'll feel better tomorrow, okay? We'll all go back to the hospital tomorrow."
"O-okay." Lola sighed sadly, trotting back to her blanket.
"Well, night, guys," Luan yawned, stretching. Lori turned off the light and everyone sat awake, staring at the ceiling as they prayed for their brother's health.

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"Luna! What are you doing here?" Sam exclaimed, setting her baby brother down and hugging her friend.
"Um...things ain't too good at home," the rock lover confessed. "It ok if I bunk here?"
"Uh...suure..." Sam agreed, backing up so Luna could entered. When she did, Sam immediately noticed how strange the normally optomistic girl had black mascara staining her cheeks, and there was a sad, tired expression on her face. She also looked like she had been running.
"I-is it okay if we talk?" Luna questioned. Sam nodded, picking her brother back up.

"Say hi, Simon," she instructed gently. The little boy waved shyly, squeaking out a "Hi" as he buried his face into Sam's neck.

"He's shy," Sam apologized. Luna smiled weakly, fighting back tears as she was reminded of her siblings.

"So..." The trio plopped down on the couch, Simon cuddling into his big sister. "What's up with your family?" Sam questioned.
"Well..."
Luna spilled her guts, ignoring Sam's facial expressions. As she finished, she burst into tears. Sam rubbed her back reassuringly, setting the sleeping Simon down.
"So the fight got a little out of hand. Sometimes I wanna choke Simon-and he probably wants to choke me, too-but at the end of the day, we still love each other."
"No," Luna sniffled, wiping her eyes. "You don't understand. He's in the hospital. As a matter of fact, the only reason my older sisters didn't fight me is because they were being a good example. My younger sisters wanted to kill me, though. What if they send me to prison? What if I'm there for life?! WHAT IF-"

Luna's words were cut off when Sam slapped her.

"I'm sorry, but you're freaking out and scaring Simon," she sighed. "I'm gonna take him to bed, and then I'll give you some blankets."
Luna didn't reply, because she looked at Simon and could swear she saw Lincoln's face.

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"W-what-wh-wh-what happened?"

Lincoln's voice was groggy and his vision was blurry as he peered around the room.

"Lincoln!" Rita cried, rushing over to him. She gently hugged him, peppering his forehead with kisses.

"M-Mom-Mom? What-what happen-happened?" Lincoln repeated, before sitting up.

"Mmm...w-water."

Rita practically flew out the room as she went to get a glass of water. As Lincoln drank with his good arm, Rita couldn't help but see that most of it poured onto his chin, his hands shaking. She made a note to tell Lynn Sr. when he returned with their pajamas.
He wiped away the excess water with his hand, satisfied.
"M-Mom? H-how did-did-did-How did I-I-I get h-h-here?"
Rita took a moment to ponder her choices. Either tell her son now, or let the girls tell? It was a no-brainer.
"Bubba..." She called him by his nickname as a little boy (that he begged them to get rid of when he turned ten).

She told him the story of what had happened, according to her girls, and by the time it had finished, she was teary-eyed. Lincoln, however, was expressionless. "O-o-oh."
Luke entered the room with a nurse, seeing his patient sitting up.

"Ah! Lincoln, you're awake!" He smiled, quickly checking the boy over as the nurse set a tray of salisbury steak, green beans, and mashed potatoes and gravy.

"So, Lincoln is stable," the doctor determined. "We'll be running a few tests tomorrow, just to make sure he's tip-top okay, but he'll be okay overnight."

"So we can take him home?!" Rita squealed.

"I didn't say that, Mrs. Loud. While I can confirm that Lincoln will be fine overnight, we have no idea what the long-term effects will be. The tests we did today only confirmed that he was stable temporarily."

Rita's face fell, making Luke feel bad.

"I think Lincoln will be fine," Luke soothed, rubbing her back. "We'll monitor him overnight and he should be out by the end of the week."
The mother of 11 smiled slightly. "Thank you, Dr. Luke."
"No problem, Mrs. Loud. Please...call me Luke."
The doctor and nurse left, and Lincoln looked down at his food, grimacing. Rita chuckled for the first time since everything went down.
"I'll text your father to bring us some food."
She pulled out her phone, seeing Lincoln smile weakly out of the corner of her eye at the mention of food. As she went to text her husband, she saw Lori had sent her a message. Rita read it, and tears welled up in her eyes.
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"Could I have three Big Burpers, three cherry sodas, and three large fries?"
Lynn Sr. was at the drivethru to pick up some food. He figured that-like him-Rita was starving, and Lincoln probably didn't want his hospital food.
He'd stopped by the house to find all the girls asleep. He packed three suitcases and checked on the girls once again, reminding himself to call Lori and Luna.
He recieved the food, alreay on his way back to the hospital when his phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Lynn..." Rita sobbed on the other end. "It's Luna. She's missing."