Ch. 22 A Long Road Ahead

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING from the Loud House.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

People often say that the road to recovery can be a long and perilous journey, the circumstances of which can vary from something as small as a car accident to dealing with PTSD. It is often stated that physical wounds can heal over time, even if said wound results in the loss of a digit or a limb. This rings true as, while the shock of losing your right hand or left arm can be debilitating, you will eventually learn to cope with this physical limitation and carry on with your life. On the other end of the spectrum, psychological scars...take much longer. You've seen or heard stories about soldiers returning home from Iraq or Afghanistan, having gone through the unimaginable hell that war itself has always been. This can be due to acts such as rolling over an IED, having your friend killed right next to you, doing the unthinkable of having to kill a child soldier, etc. But those are the easiest examples. Even everyday people can suffer from some form of mental scarring, whether it be from home invasion, a serious accident, or in the case of a certain white-haired boy: a heavy dose of blunt trauma from the likes of which he had never experienced until one Sunday afternoon.

The Louds, even Clyde, hope that one day those scars will fade; although the chances of such an event occurring seem unlikely as the days go on. Didn't help that it was very clear that everyone in the family had some personal demons to deal with. But at this point, despite how uncomfortable the Louds were in discussing their inner feelings or reaching the conclusion that something was wrong with them, there was one thing they could all agree on: they were in this together, and would see it through to the end.

After returning home Sunday, Rita informed Lynn Sr. about what Ms. Lopez had told her. Much like the matriarch, the father was in no better spirits upon hearing that all of his children had something going on. The only person spared in this whole debacle was Lily, and it was mostly because of her extremely young age. But, that itself was debatable. A 15 month old infant unable to do anything but watch as her family was falling apart. Despite her age, Lily was a fast learner, hence why she was scornful at her other sisters for the past week and a half. Whenever her sisters would try to hold her, Lily would get fussy and want to be put down; on some nights, she even preferred to sleep in her parents' room than bunk with Lisa. However, this changed following Lincoln's diagnosis. No one was sure what brought up this change. Maybe it was from Lily seeing Lincoln hurt, or it might have been the fact he accidentally tossed her in the air during his first panic attack. Or...she saw how sorrowful her sisters looked when they realized that Lincoln was afraid of them. At that point, Lily knew her sisters regretted their actions and were hating themselves for it. She couldn't form full sentences yet, but if she could...she'd tell them that she didn't hate them...however, maybe there was something she could do for them. After all, Lily was the only sister Lincoln trusted.

As for the parents, they decided to wait until Monday to discuss everyone's therapy sessions, including their own. The girls were given notification prior to that day, causing many to sleep restlessly. Mixed emotions ran through the family that night, a few being nervous with another group wanting to nip their problems in the bud. Lisa and Lucy felt indifferent, but thought it would be nice to reveal their inner problems. Needless the say, Monday afternoon was full of revelation, and heartbreak...

There was no debate about which tale was more depressing or surprising, as everyone was generally shocked at hearing what was discussed during each session. It's quite jaw dropping to hear that your own roommate had a serious problem, but never picked up on it despite sharing the same room for a few years. From Lori's fears and insecurities to Lisa's feelings of isolation, many tears were shed that night by everyone. Perhaps the only person whose feelings weren't too surprising was Luan's, as she had told everyone her problem the day before. It took a few moments after everyone had spoken to digest all of that information. Quite a few sisters came to realization that they had similar problems. Lucy, Lisa, and Lola suffered from isolation as a result of pursuing their interests, Lori and Leni each wished to be viewed differently, Luan and Lynn had to deal with their fair share of bullies from opposite sides, and Luna and Lana couldn't help but feel like they seemed the most 'normal' out of the pack. These two girls didn't seem to have any problems with them, besides the fact they let their anger take over and utterly demolished their brother. However, there was that issue they shared with the other girls when it came to acting as a single group if something caught their ire.

With the parents, 'heartbreak' was too soft of a word for them. The adults felt as if someone took their hearts, smashed them to pieces with a hammer, then used a heavy-hitter post pounder to rub salt on the wound. The fact their kids had this many problems, and they were so blind to not realize it, made them feel they really were failures as parents despite what Miranda told them during their sessions. They could've gotten Lucy some proper help but chalked it up as a phase when it was a much more serious issue, they tried to hide the fact they kept slipping Leni pills when she was in fact quite aware of this, and in the case of Lola, Rita felt she was responsible for why her 6 year old developed such a mean personality. And to top it off, the parents had to admit that they felt closer to a few of their kids than others despite not wanting to pick favorites. Lynn Sr. spent 20 minutes crying non-stop, preaching about how he's been a failure as a father while the rest of the family tried to calm him down. Not that they were in any better shape, as the rest were struggling to not cry themselves. This was why Miranda recommended the family to disclose this in a comfortable environment; it'd be extremely awkward to discuss family matters in a public setting, lest the Louds wanted everyone to look at them strangely.

Their psychologist also didn't say this to the family, as she wanted them to figure it out for themselves, but there was one important lesson that comes with these kinds of moments; when a bridge is broken, you can always rebuild it. It wasn't spoken out loud, but if the Louds were asked the question "Do you feel closer to each other than ever before?", the answer would be an unanimous 'yes'. After Monday, it was as if life had returned to the once quiet abode. While the girls were still unable to do much due to their restrictions, they spent that time trying to forge sibling bonds that had been strained for quite some time. For Lucy, since it was clear writing was an outlet for her depressed state, Lynn Sr. decided to relent and returned her poem book to her. Last thing he wanted was his daughter to spiral even further, enforced by the fact the patriarch was reminded of the one time he left his little girl home alone. The eight year old wasted no time in tearfully hugging her father before she let the words flow from her mind and onto the pages. The rest of Lucy's stuff was still in storage, but she could live with that. But all was still not well. While Lucy did enjoy talking to Lynn more than she used to, it was evident in her writing that she was constantly drawn to the one family member that wasn't with them...
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"So Lincoln, how does it feel to finally get out of this place?" Clyde asked, packing up some of Lincoln's stuff into a bag.

The white-haired child let out a sigh of relief as he changed into his regular clothes. "Just glad it's finally over...I hated being bed-ridden for almost a week. Even though Dr. Philips finally let me walk around for a while when my pelvis was good enough, I still felt," Lincoln paused, moving his arm sling and tightening it a bit on his leftie to keep it bent before trying to fit said limb through his sleeve, "Trapped...I guess?" Lincoln grunted as he tried to move his arm further, only to end up getting it stuck half-way. "Uh..." He laughed nervously.

"Hang on." Clyde walked and pulled on Lincoln's arm while Lincoln tugged his own shirt.

"Ow, ow, OW!" Lincoln yelled as his arm was finally pulled through. He frowned at his busted wing. "Guess I can't bend it all the way..."

"Don't worry Lincoln. Good news is at least it's the last body part that needs to heal." Clyde swung the bag over his shoulders. "Bad news is...a broken arm like yours can take months to heal...you said your elbow joint was bent the wrong way right?"

Lincoln shuddered a little. "Y-Yeah..."

"...You're still not feeling any pain... down there are you?"

Lincoln shook his head. "N-Not really. I mean, I guess if I hold it for too long I might feel a little pain, but for the most part, I don't have any issues going to the can."

Clyde caught his best friend staring at his damaged limb, appearing to be lost in thought. The nerdy child knew all about Lincoln's mental health, and it no doubt wasn't helping that he would be constantly reminded of it given how the white-headed male received said injury.

The African-American put a hand to Lincoln's shoulder. "Lincoln, I know you're hurting more on the inside, than the outside. And I know you're thinking about...you know who...but this is why you're coming home with me and my dads remember? They can't hurt you as long as you're with us (not that I think they will since they're clearly sorry for the whole ordeal), but if you can help me get over my issue with L-" Clyde stopped himself before he could finish that word. "My crush, then I can help you get over your fear."

Lincoln bit his bottom lip. "T-Thanks Clyde, I appreciate the help but...I just...I just don't know. Even after I spoke with Dr. Lopez on Sunday, I still keep seeing them in my dreams..." He brought a hand to his head. "On some nights, I would just stay wide awake b-because I think they might sneak into the hospital and hurt me during the n-night...also, we tried helping you get over my...older s-sister, but that didn't work..."

"Weren't you taking sleeping pills?" Clyde inquired.

Lincoln shook his head. "I-I did at first, but..." Memories of a certain nightmare came to mind, sending a shiver down his spine.

"Ah Ah, say no more. Like Dr. Lopez says, if you don't want to talk about it, I won't force you. So, "He grabbed another arm sling that was on the bed. "Ready to put your new cast on?"

Lincoln nodded and began to remove his old one. The one he kept while in the hospital was a simple dual strap that went around his arm in two spots. His new one was all black with a single, adjustable strap that came with a full cast that covered his arm completely. It was much more durable in the event he accidentally landed on his bad arm again, and he was supposed to wear it every day until told otherwise.

A knock at the door was heard before Lynn Sr. opened the door. "Ready to go boys?"

"Yep, just finished getting everything settled." Clyde said as Lincoln finished adjusting to his new sling.

Two weeks. It took two long weeks before Lincoln could finally say goodbye to the place. He had to put up with sitting in bed doing nothing, eating stale food (which thankfully ended when his dad started bringing him home-cooked meals), and on some nights, being left alone by himself made him quite antsy. He was too embarrassed to admit it, but Lincoln had wet himself two more times due to his night terrors. He hasn't told anyone about them, but his parents could see the distress on his face. But, Lincoln's stay at the clinic wasn't all bad. On some days, the boy would spend his time walking around the hospital at his doctor's suggestion. It was the best way to help him get some form of exercise and keep his legs active. On some of those walks, he was accompanied by one of his best friends, or even both such as on Wednesday. They stopped by the baby room, awing at the newborns since they couldn't resist their cuteness. Well, Lincoln and Clyde did while Ronnie Anne just stood next to them, though she was secretly cooing as well. Sadly, they ended up waking the babies and caused a massive crying fit, getting them in trouble.

Once Lynn Sr., Lincoln, and Clyde got to the lobby, they were greeted by Howard, Harold, Rita, and baby Lily.

"Ooooh, I'm so happy you're finally getting out of here!" Rita cried as she hugged her son.

"Yeah, better than sitting in the same room all day." Lincoln replied, hugging her back.

"Oh and before I forget," Rita took out a couple of school textbooks. "Since you've missed two weeks of school, we let your teachers know that you were in an...accident. So you only have a week's worth of homework to catch up on."

Lincoln gave an exasperated sigh.

"Don't worry buddy. I still remember everything we went through this week, though you'll have to make-up a couple tests."

"Guess I should've expected that..."

"So you're sure you guys have everything covered?" Lynn asked the McBride fathers.

"Don't worry. We've got the guest room set up perfectly, and since you brought some of Linky's stuff over, he'll feel like he's at home in no time." Harold stated proudly.

"I hope that's the good term for that phrase..." The Loud patriarch stated worryingly.

"Don't worry Lynn. If Lincoln has any nightmares, we have something that could help. It works great with Clyde." Howard quipped.

"He always did fall right back to sleep when we sang him that lullaby." Harold agreed. Lincoln looked at Clyde quizzically, who just gave a nervous smile in response.

"So...h-how long do I have to stay with the McBrides?" The ashen-haired child asked.

"As long as you need to Lincoln. We just can't risk you hurting yourself again...plus, I think just being around the house might cause your, 'problems', to act up." Lynn pointed out.

"B-But...what if someone sneaks into the house and tries to d-drag me back?..." Lincoln asked uneasily.

"Lincoln..." Rita spoke. "No one is going to bring harm to you ever again. We'll make sure of that..."

The serious look on his mother's face was enough to calm his nerves. "O-Ok. Thanks mom." Lincoln hugged her again.

In the hospital's parking lot sat Vanzilla, which had a clear view of the front entrance. Inside the car sat 9 occupants, eyeing the front like hawks. It had been 30 minutes since the Loud parents went inside, and the girls were anxious to see their brother back to his normal self. Well, as normal as he could be. Rita and Lynn Sr. were hesitant to let the rest of their daughters come along, but they promised to stay in the car since the potential of Lincoln even hearing them could send him into a panic.

"What's taking so long? I thought that stupid doctor said Linky was good to walk out!" Lola growled, her patience wearing thin.

Lisa breathed a little hot air on her glasses to clean them. "Relax dear sibling. Even if Lincoln has been officially discharged, on average it takes a patient up to an hour before they are ready to vacate the premises."

"The door's opening!" Leni shouted. "Is that him?!" To her dismay, it was just another family walking out with an elderly relative. "Nevermind..."

"Dudes, just be patient. Lil' bro will come walkin' out of there in no time. Sides'...I don't think we were too rough on him..." Luna suggested.

"Well...I guess it could've been a lot worse. Seen some of the injuries I got from doing sports?" Lynn added.

"True. He wasn't in a full body cast." Lucy piped up.

Lori gave a low sigh. "Yes, but he'll still be missing a canine, molar, and an incisor. I'm surprised none of us didn't knock out his chipped tooth."

Lola sank in her seat upon hearing that. After a few more minutes, the girls' patience was finally awarded. Ducking down in their seats, they peeked up just enough to get a good glance out the window. Lincoln was with their parents and the McBrides, and the boy appeared to be saying goodbye to Lily. The girls were glad it appeared that most of his injuries had finally cleared up, the only 'obvious' one remaining was his arm. Lynn looked at the ground in guilt, knowing her brother would be carrying that injury with him for weeks. They couldn't blame their sister for being so cute, and they were a little envious that Lily was the only sibling allowed to get within spitting distance of Lincoln.

Soon, the families went their separate ways. The McBrides parked further down, taking Lincoln with them. The Loud sisters continued watching them until they were no longer within eyesight, only barely paying attention to their parents returning to the car. Rita strapped Lily into her car seat while Lynn Sr. started the car.

"So..." Lori began. "How is he?"

"Good news is, he's pretty much fine physically. He just needs to wear that cast for another month." Rita replied, finishing strapping the baby in before getting in the front passenger seat.

"Bad news is...he's still getting nightmares..." The father finished. "And I'm not sure about it, but I think him being anywhere near the house might send Lincoln into a frenzy."

"Well, at least now that he's out, he could talk with Dr. Lopez right?" Lana suggested.

"That is true. I'll need to call and schedule an appointment." Rita fished her phone out of her purse. "But, I don't think she can get to him this weekend though...she's booked."

"Mother, did you tell Lincoln that I had taken the liberty of completing his course work in his absence?" The child prodigy asked.

"Nope. According to Ms. Lopez, he was rather 'iffy' when she tried to convince him that his fears were just in his head. I'm not sure what exactly Lincoln thinks about when it comes to you girls, but it seems to be along the lines that he doesn't trust you...even if you tell him you're sorry..." Rita replied.

Luna brought a hand to her face as she gave a low sigh. "Great...so even if we apologize to bro, he'll just think we're lying to him. How are we supposed to help Lincoln get over his fear, when he's hardwired to self-destruct?"

"So he can't see us in person, but can we like, talk to him over the phone?" Leni asked.

Everyone's eyes grew wide at that suggestion. It seemed like a sound idea. Talking to someone over a phone could grant more security than meeting someone face to face. Back when Lynn tried talking to him, he only flipped out due to getting too close to him. But he appeared calm when she was a decent distance away.

"Hmm..." Lynn Sr. rubbed his chin. "That could work, but we aren't sure if it'll help. I think it'd be best to wait until Dr. Lopez gets a good idea on how we can handle this. And speaking of which, since it's the weekend...Lynn, Lucy, Lola, and Lana, what I'm going to say is very important."

All four girls stared at their father intently.

"Since Lincoln will be attending school again, I want you girls to make sure he doesn't see or hear you. We don't want to make him paranoid...well, more so than he might be since you all attend the same school."

"Yes dad." They all agreed.

"Hiding from Lincoln won't be an issue for me." Lucy stated. "You 3 on the other hand..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lola said in an irate tone.

"Well, Lola, you can be pretty loud and you always like to make your presence felt. Lynn is in the same boat, and Lana...well she might be fine if Lincoln doesn't go near any trash cans or dumpsters." The 8 year old pointed out.

"That would be difficult since I'm not allowed to be dirty." Lana pointed out.

"Me and quiet don't go in the same sentence." Lynn bemused. "But, I don't want bro to think I'll try breaking his good arm..."

"But what am I supposed to do?" The former princess whined.

Lana gave her twin a small smirk. "Sometimes you gotta step out of your comfort zone sis."

Lola's eyes went wide. She remembered the last time Lana said those exact words to her. "Ooooh no! I'm totally NOT doing what you're suggesting!"

"Just sayin', if you can't hide in a locker or the bathroom, you gotta hide somewhere."

Lola growled in anger before giving a sigh in defeat. "Fine...but only because I love Lincoln..."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After getting to the house, the Mcbrides were quick to get the white-headed boy settled in. Most of his stuff was there, so it felt a bit like his room at home, albeit much larger and a lot more walking space. Lincoln spent much of his time rummaging through the suitcases to put his undies in the dresser and his clothes in the closet. He even found his red, 1 million thread count victory undies. Lincoln smiled, remembering how he got said underwear. Unfortunately, that felt like one of the only few times his 6 year old sister would feel sorry for him. Giving a saddened look, he placed the undies in a dresser before he heard a purring sound.

Turning to the door, Lincoln locked eyes with Clyde's pet cat, Cleopawtra. The boy grew nervous upon recognizing her. Unlike her little sister, Cleopawtra was known to be very...feisty. She certainly lived up to that accusation the last time Lincoln visited their house. It was definitely not a fun time treating those claw marks, and he hadn't even done anything to set her off. The house cat walked into the bedroom with her tail curled upwards. Lincoln stood completely still, fearing the slightest movement would irritate her. Or, he thought that if he didn't move, she wouldn't see him. However, stuff like that only works in movies.

Fortunately, Lincoln's accusation was wrong. Cleopawtra simply strolled up to him and rubbed her head against his leg. The boy smiled, seeing that she was just trying to be friendly.

"Aw. You're not such a bad kitty huh?" He knelt down, petting her head and back. Cleopawtra meowed in response.

"Hey Lincoln! ARGGH! is about to start!" Clyde called from the hallway. "You coming?"

"Oh heck yeah!" The boy took off after his best friend.

The rest of the day was spent like any other weekend. The boys watched their favorite shows and discussed about some Ace Savvy comics. At one point, Lincoln noticed it was getting late and nearly had the urge to voice that he needed to get home. It was out of habit of course, as he quickly reminded himself that he was staying over. Dinner was also another joyful affair. The 11 year old wasn't sure whose cooking was better. He considered his dad a pro-chef, but Howard sure knew how to cook a mean roast. Plus, it felt nice to eat something other than Succotash every Saturday.

It wouldn't be until after a few hours of gaming (with 20 minute rules in-between) before Lincoln was finally tired enough to go to bed. Clyde bid him goodnight, after making sure that Lincoln would be ok as he slept. In all honesty, Lincoln wasn't too sure himself. It was only on a few scarce nights that he got a decent sleep without some night terror waking him up, and he hoped this would be one of those nights. Slipping into his PJs, Lincoln turned the light off and just lied on the bed. Cleopawtra sat on the window sill, staring out at the dark streets. The chip-toothed male stared at the ceiling for what seemed like hours, even as his vision started to get blurry in his tired eyes. Soon enough, Lincoln was finally in a relaxed state to fall asleep.

For a few hours, Lincoln snored softly, shifting into a more comfortable position. What he didn't notice was that his bed was beginning to rock back and forth steadily. The swaying started to get worse, along with something wet beginning to hit Lincoln's face. At first, it only irritated him a little, so the boy just scratched his face without opening his eyes. He soon opened them fully when something cold drenched him and the bed.

"GAH!" Lincoln shouted at the sudden intrusion to his sleep. Wiping his face, he looked around and found that his bed was out in the middle of the ocean...in a raging storm no less. "W-What?!...How did I g-get out here?!"

"I needed another favor from you." A voice spoke out. Looking around, Lincoln saw a what looked like a research ship close to where he was.

The fear in Lincoln's eyes was clear as day. His pupils shrank to their maximum as his eyes became as big as they could get. "L-Lisa?..."

Said child prodigy was leaning on a railing of the ship. "Yes. I needed you for another test of mine dear sibling. You see, I accidentally turned the rest of our sisters into aquatic life, and while I try to find a way to reverse the effects, I have to keep them fed."

"S-So, can't you feed them fish food from the p-pet store?"

"Negative. Such feeble nutrients wouldn't provide them with enough sustenance, so they require larger prey to feed on. Particularly something..." Lisa's voice grew sinister. "Human-sized."

"W-Wha-?" Lincoln started before something bumped against the bed. Looking over, the boy could see a small, grey dorsal fin poking out of the water.

"Oh, and I should mention: they like it when their prey struggles." Lisa added.

Seconds later, a small shark that looked like Lola jumped out of the water, its teeth bared. Lincoln screamed and ducked, letting the fish pass mere inches from his face. Another shark, this one a bit larger, jumped out the water halfway. It was completely black with red, demonic eyes. If Lincoln had to guess, this was probably Lucy. 'Lucy' thrashed back and forth, biting at Lincoln before sinking her teeth into the bed. The shark slipped and took part of the frame with it.

"YOU TURNED THEM INTO SHARKS?!"

"Eh," Lisa shrugged. "I tried for octopi, but shark DNA was more readily available."

Lincoln held onto one of the bed posts for dear life as the waves were getting rougher. A few more sharks bumped the bed, trying to overturn it. One rammed the headboard, causing him to fall back to the front of the bed. Lincoln managed to catch the footboard before he ended up in the tossing waves. He squinted a little as he saw something coming up. It was another shark, which sent the boy screaming as he bolted in the opposite direction. Said shark looked like Luna, who bit the area where Lincoln's head was clean off.

"Why Lisa?! What did I do to deserve this?!"

"Oh, I think you know the answer to that Lincoln." Lisa said as she twirled a pen in her fingers. "I usually collect people who won't be missed to feed to the girls. You are no exception."

Yet another shark jumped out the water, and actually landed on the bed. This one looked rather similar to Lori, who was snapping its teeth every which way, wiggling around to try and reach her prize. Lincoln grabbed one of the bed pillows and desperately beat 'Lori' with the soft object. It didn't do much but to piss her off. 'Lori' caught the pillow and ripped it to shreds. She was about to bite Lincoln's leg when one of her 'sisters' smashed into the bottom of the bed, causing her to topple back into the sea. Snot and tears were running down Lincoln's face as the onslaught of death continued to peck at him.

"J-Just why?! Why does it have to be me?! What I did was just an accident!"

Lisa scoffed. "Oh please dear boy. There's no such thing as accidents."

"Look Lisa! I'll do whatever you want! I-I don't want to die!" Lincoln begged.

"Anything you say?" The 4 year old looked at her brother. "Then do me a favor, and let go..." She spoke in a dark, uncaring tone.

Immediately following that statement, the bed was hit with enough force to break the frame entirely. Lincoln screamed in terror as he was sent flying, landing into the dark, murky waters seconds later. The boy shot up to the surface as quick as he could, spitting out any water he accidentally breathed in. The 11 year old panted before a large wave crashed down on him, disorienting him as he twirled under the water. Just as Lincoln tried to right himself, he screamed out in pain when something bit into his right arm. A 'Leni' shark had grabbed a hold of him and was trying to wrestle his limb off.

"LET GO OF ME! PLEASE LET GO!" Lincoln yelled in despair.

He was brought back up to the surface before being literally thrown in one direction. When this happen, Lincoln heard the distinct sound of flesh and bone being broken and torn. He tossed around in the air before landing in the water once more. Looking to his right, the boy was horrified to see that his entire right arm was gone, leaving only bits of flesh to dangle. His blood poured into the water, letting the other sharks hone in on his position. Lincoln was completely defenseless for what was to come. His only working arm gone, he couldn't use his left arm since it was still in a cast, and the only thing he could manage to do was focus on trying to keep himself afloat.

"S-Someone...h-help..." Lincoln spoke in a weak tone, the blood loss starting to get to him. He didn't know what would kill him first: drowning, or being ripped to pieces.

It looked to be the latter, as a 'Luan' shark sped at him and bit into his side, forcing Lincoln to cry out in agony. She dragged him under the water, the boy's air bubbles leaving a trail. As the other sharks closed in, Lincoln's view became darker as he started blacking out. Tears streamed from his eyes as the predators dove in for the kill. Just as several rows of teeth were about to devour him, Lincoln felt something hard hit his front.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lincoln groaned in pain, opening his eyes steadily. He found himself back in the McBrides' guest room, and on the floor. Cleopawtra looked at him weirdly from on top of the bed, having watched the boy throw a fit in his sleep before slipping off the mattress. Lincoln rolled onto his back, pain shooting through his right arm as it throbbed for a few moments. At least that was confirmation he was still in one piece. Lincoln started to sniffle a bit as he thought about that traumatic experience. He had to admit that was probably his most weird dream so far, but it tied with the last one he had in terms of sheer terror. Tears began to stream down the white-headed child's face before Lincoln curled up on the floor as he started to cry to himself. He just couldn't seem to catch a break at all. All he wanted was a decent night's sleep, and he couldn't even get that before his mind would start playing tricks on him. Cleopawtra jumped down from the bed and rubbed her head against Lincoln's shoulder in an effort to soothe him.

His cries got loud enough to the point it had awoken Clyde and his dads, if they weren't aroused from the sudden impact to the floor. Opening the door, they saw Lincoln curled up on the ground, his bed sheets and pillow randomly strewn about, and the poor boy was letting his troubled soul pour out into the world. Clyde immediately went up to ask his friend if he was alright, but Lincoln wouldn't respond. The next few hours were spent pulling the scared child out of his crying fit...