9. In A Medical Opinion

A/N: Hello everyone. Glad you guys liked number 8. While writing it, I felt myself cry a bit when doing the dialogue, so I knew I had hit the right stance, and everyone's approval declared that chapter another winner. In other big news, I have finally started posting this story on Deviant Art. Those who have DA accounts may have seen it already, and it's also attracting some new readers. Now, before we get onto the story, something I gotta say first.

So, I got the chance to watch 'No Such Luck' on KissCartoon yesterday. The episode was fine at first, but then what happened in the second half pissed me off...I'll tell more about it at the bottom of this page because I don't want to distract too much from the story. But just so you know, (SPOILER) the the ending of No Such Luck is making me want to write another Loud House story based on what happened. However, before I do such a thing, I need to think about the main plot. Obviously, it'll be along the lines of the family suffering repercussions for going overboard with their superstitions, and I have a quite a few ideas floating in my head but can't decide on which at the moment.

Naturally, everyone has asked about the living arrangements (had this planned for a while), so let's look at the fallout of Lincoln's 'episode'.

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING from the Loud House.

Dr. Philips just finished doing diagnostic checks on Lincoln, writing some notes a clipboard. It hadn't been five minutes since he walked off to input the new data about the boy, and already something went wrong. Rita was in the room as well, but she wasn't holding Lily. The infant was outside in the waiting room with the rest of her sisters. The matriarch held her hands anxiously, looking between the doctor and her son. Although Lincoln's face looked peaceful, what transpired in this room was anything but.

Richard finally finished his writing. "Ok Mrs. Loud. Lincoln will be fine, he just needs to rest. His lack of breath is due to the fact the ribs are still healing, and they can't expand like they normally would when someone is overexerting their body. He needs to pace himself carefully to maintain even breaths until they're fully healed."

"Oh thank God..." The mother sighed in relief.

"Now, pardon my language, but what the hell happened in here? And why is there glass and cake on the floor?"

"...My daughters...the ones responsible for his current condition...they wanted to visit him to apologize for their behavior and for putting him this situation in the first place. The cake was supposed to be a gift...the girls did apologize, but during the whole time, Lincoln appeared to be stuck in a trance or something. When he finally came around, he started screaming and tried to run from them..." Rita tried to maintain her composure, but it was very hard, knowing how it seemed her family was falling apart. "He fell on the floor trying to run from us. We wanted to help, but he continued to scream, then begged his sisters to not hurt him..." She put a hand to her mouth to prevent her cries from ringing out.

Richard scratched the pen against his temple for a moment. "While it's usual for someone to be afraid if they meet their attacker again, from what you said, it seems this has been for a while. Is that true?"

The mother nodded. "On Monday I brought Lynn Jr. in as she needed bandages for her mouth. She wanted to speak with Lincoln...I was hesitant at first, but she was insistent on making things right with him. She apologized as well, but even then it seemed Lincoln hadn't heard her...he smacked her with his food tray when she was next to him...he's also been having nightmares almost every night, about his sisters I believe..."

"Well that explains why Ms. Heights was muttering about a broken tray that day..." Philips pondered over the information for a moment. "Hmmm...this is more serious than I thought..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've seen a few cases of it, but...are you familiar with the term syngenesophobia Mrs. Loud?"

Rita was stumped. She recognized the 'phobia' part, but not everything else. "Syn...gene...what?"

"Syngenesophobia means when one is afraid of relatives, much like how acrophobia is associated with high places, and hydrophobia with water." The doctor explained.

"Wait, so you're saying...my son is deathly afraid of his own sisters?..."

"Given what you said, yes."

That alone broke Rita's will to stay composed. She broke down, tears streaming down her face. "How...how is my son going to live if he's afraid of his own family?! All of the kids have their rooms in the same hallway!..."

Richard shuffled awkwardly. He really hated seeing a grown adult cry, even if it was a common place in his field of practice. "Well...if it helps, he didn't appear to hold any fear towards your youngest child. His fear is likely directed at his other siblings."

That much was true. Lily seemed to be the only sister that could approach Lincoln without him going into panic mode. If he did, he would have given the infant the same treatment whenever Rita came to visit. The mother of 11 wasn't sure on what to do, but she sure as hell didn't want her little boy living in forced solitude for the rest of his life.

"Please Richard...is there a way to fix this?..."

"Welp, like all phobias, the best I can tell you is therapy. I once had Mysophobia, a fear of germs, but my parents took me to a good psychologist and he helped me through it. It also helped in my studies, which is why I'm a children's doctor today. I'm not licensed therapist, so I recommend finding a really good psychologist."

Rita didn't have much else to say after that, but if there was any chance Lincoln could live a normal life, she'd take it.

The 10 Loud kids sat in the waiting room, filling it with despair and anxiety. Most of them had a sullen look, eyes puffy after having exhausted their tear supply. Only Leni was still pouring water like a faucet. Lori was trying to comfort her infant sister, who was giving small whines at this point. Luna was effectively devastated. She gave small sobs that were muffled as her face was covered by her hands. Luan sat depressed with her head supported by her hand on the arm of the chair she sat in, her lip quivering a bit. Lynn was doing a little better than the others, as she partially expected Lincoln to freak out. Still, it was not in the way she imagined. She was hugging Lucy, who was curled into a ball in her seat. The twins were in a similar position, comforting each other, while Lisa sat with a glum expression. The tear stains on her glasses were evident enough.

"It's true! Linky hates us!" Leni yelled as tear water continued to pool on the floor around her.

"Correction: he doesn't hate us Leni...at least I don't believe so..." Lisa stated, taking off her glasses wipe them clean. "What we bore witness to was a heart-pounding panic attack..."

"Now I get what you mean when you mentioned it earlier..." Luan added.

"...What are we going to do now?..." Lana finally opened up.

"To be frank...I have no clue...given our male sibling's reaction to us, which seems to have had a similar effect when Lynn first visited, I can safely assume our dear brother has developed a phobia..."

"Lincoln's made a photo album?..." Leni asked, not understanding what the little genius said.

"No, Leni. Remember your fear of spiders? It's like that..." Lori explained.

"Wait...so if Linky has a fear...then..." For perhaps the first time in a while, Leni hit the nail on the head of something. "He's...he's afraid of..." She didn't dare finish that sentence, as more tears were coming out.

"Yes Leni...the object of his fear is us...his own sisters..." Lisa concluded. "And that's worse than facing an act of aggression..."

"But...if I can kinda get over my fear of spiders, can Linky do the same?" The fashion diva asked, some hope building up.

"It's hard to say...I doubt we can even get within visual range of our brother without his phobia taking control...even the mere mention of our names may set him off..." Lisa replied.

The double doors suddenly swung open. The sisters looked to see their mother, who was about as glum as they were, possibly more.

Judging by their looks, Rita knew they were expected an answer on Lincoln's status. "Lincoln is doing fine now. He just needs to sleep for a while. Also I heard you guys talking when I got close to the door, and it's true...the doctor says he has syngene...syn...I'm still having a hard time saying it, but yes, your brother is afraid of you girls..." The news did not help their spirits one bit. "However, it seems the only person he doesn't react to is Lily. Dr. Philips said the best way to help him deal with it is to find a therapist. Since I have no clue where to start, that's gonna take some time..."

"Mom...what's gonna happen to Lincoln when he finally gets out of here?...I don't think it'd be good for him to scream his head off every time he opens his door..." Lynn stated.

"I'm still thinking on that sweetie...I'll have to discuss it with your father, but I think it would be best if Lincoln...didn't live with us for a while..."

The sisters gasped. It was already bad enough that Lincoln wouldn't be in the house until after he was released from the hospital, but not seeing their brother even longer after that was like putting a flaming stake in their hearts and pouring salt on the wound. It just wasn't the Loud House without all of its members being present, and considering Lisa's comments, no one wanted this to continue on for months, or God forbid, years.

Lola gripped her seat in anger, fresh tears threatening to spill again. "Moooom! We gotta do something! Anything but that! I WANT MY BROTHER BACK!"

Lana had to hold the little princess down. "Lola, I want him back too, but getting mad won't help!"

After nearly throwing her twin to the floor, Lola finally settled back into her depressed state. "I wish we never made up that stupid protocol..."

"I already discarded the chart and burned the documents containing it." Lisa quipped. "Wait a second..." At that moment, something clicked in her head regarding her files. "Mother...I believe I know who can help us." Everyone turned to the child prodigy. "I remember during the time when Clyde had stayed over at the house for a slumber party. He mentioned having a family therapist that helped not only his parental units, but also his various issues. Lincoln may know who it is, but..." Lisa stopped there, not wanting to think about happened moments ago.

Rita hummed in thought. "It's a start...but will this therapist be any good?"

The four year old shrugged. "That's up for Clyde to vouch. Do you know his abode's house number?"

The mother shook her head. "No, but I believe your father does."

Lynn Sr. was working tirelessly at his desk job. In all fairness, his work ethic had slacked a bit ever since his son was admitted to the hospital. But, he knew he needed to provide for his larger than average family. Home life was very different. It was as if everyone lived in a ghost town or some equivalent. No one really saw or spoke much to each other, and the only time the house showed some activity was at dinner. Even then, it was an awkward affair. The downtrodden looks on his daughters only fueled the father's self hate even further. At this point, the only motivation he had was that one day, things would return to normal. But even the universe seemed to be out to crush him today.

Lynn Sr.'s phone vibrated on his desk. Seeing it was his wife, he stepped out to talk. The patriarch certainly didn't expect the bombshell Rita gave him. He was already wary about the girls visiting Lincoln after hearing about what happened with Lynn Jr. after all. In the end, the father cried so loudly in the stairwell, that even though it was several feet from the main office floor, everyone still heard his screams. Even Rita had to pull the phone away from her ear to avoid temporary deafness. The mother managed to get him to calm down after a few minutes thankfully, but still had a hard time talking afterwards. The father just couldn't believe it. It was one thing for Lincoln to be physically hurt, but now he was afraid of over half his family too? The father wanted to cry again, but Rita begged him not to.

"Lynn, Lynn. I'm just as upset as you are, but you don't want your boss to reprimand you again..."

"Ok ok. I'm sorry..." Lynn Sr. took a deep breath and exhaled. "So...what were you saying?..."

"Dr. Philips said Lincoln needs a therapist. And a good one. Lisa knows that our son's friend, Clyde, has one. Not sure if it's a good one though, but-"

"Ah, say no more. I'll ask them." He paused for a moment. "Is he awake?..."

"No...he's still asleep..."

"Right...maybe we shouldn't have let the girls come today..."

"Lynn...that's what I felt...but I really wanted to see them try to make amends with their brother...it may even be a good thing we found out he has this condition now instead of later down the road."

Lynn Sr. became confused. "What do you mean?"

"Just think about it. What if when he comes home, he just hides in his room all the time and never comes out? I know he usually does when he just wants some time to himself, but this time, it would be because he knows his fears are on the other side of the door...it might even...it might even..." Rita started to tear up as the worst thought imaginable came to mind. She pictured herself bringing food up to Lincoln's room for his usual dinner. The boy wouldn't dare come out as he was still avoiding contact with most of his siblings. The mother knocked on the door to get his attention, but got no response. Becoming worried, the mother opened the door, only to find her son hanging suspended from his ceiling lamp with a rope around his neck. A parent's worst nightmare indeed.

The father listened to his wife's soft cries on the line. "Rita...it's not gonna come to that...I promise...we'll find the best damn psychologist we can find and we'll fix this...all of it..."

Rita sniffled. "I just don't want him hurting himself again..."

"Don't worry dear. I'll make some arrangements. I'm gonna make a call to the McBrides, I'll call you back soon. Ok?"

The two bid each other goodbyes before hanging up. Lynn Sr. then dialed another number. He silently prayed someone would be home right now. God must've heard him, because the line was picked up after a few seconds.

"Hello?" A young voice asked.

"Clyde?"

"Oh hey Mr. Loud. How's it going?"

"Peachy, well...actually it's not great, at all...are your parents home?"

"Not at the moment. They're busy getting groceries."

"Right...you have a family therapist right?"

"Yep. Her name is Dr. Lopez. Not only has she helped my dads with their relationship, she's been a big to help me many times. I still come to her for other stuff, though not sure if she appreciates that..."

"Ok, but I have one question...do you think she can help us? The doctor just told us that Lincoln has a...fear of his sisters, and-" The father was cut off when the nerdy kid screamed.

"Lincoln has syngenesophobia?!"

"Uh, yeah I guess that's what it's called."

"Say no more! I'll put in a good word for you guys, and trust me, if anyone can help, it's definitely Mrs. Lopez."

Lynn Sr. sighed in relief. "Thank you Clyde...oh and one last thing...I know it's gonna be a while before Lincoln leaves the hospital, but...we don't think he can live in the house knowing the people he's afraid of are very close to him...myself and Rita are worried Lincoln might hurt himself, so do you think your dads will be ok with Lincoln staying with you guys? At least until things settle between him and his sisters..."

"Well...it wouldn't be the first time Lincoln stayed overnight. I don't think my dads will mind. He can use the guest room." Clyde answered as looked towards the aforementioned room. His two pet cats were sleeping soundly on the comforter. The boy grimaced, hoping Cleopawtra wouldn't cause any trouble.

Dr. Miranda Lopez sat in her office, going over some notes she took from other clients. The office was rather spacious, as it was in a building she shared with dentists, skin care specialists, and orthopedics. Aside from her desk, it also contained a master sofa, a recliner and a lounging chair that her clients would usually sit on if they needed to get more comfortable. Being 33 years old, the Hispanic woman worked hard in the past decade to achieve her goal of one day becoming a well-known licensed psychologist. She received her Masters in the field from Howard University when she was 26, and while she didn't quite make it into the big leagues yet, she did appreciate taking small steps first. On her desk was a picture of her husband and 2 year old son. Much like the one time Clyde dressed as her when helping Lincoln last Saturday, she wore a green overcoat, brown shoes, and a yellow scarf (mainly because her neck was unusually sensitive to cold temperatures). In her more physical aspects, she was also fairly tan-skinned, had light-brown hair, as well as wearing glasses. She even had a little bit of make-up on her face.

Working in Royal Woods for the last few years was a good start for the young psychologist. She had a decent number of clients, but none of them measured up to the McBrides. She considered them her most challenging (and in some cases, annoying) patients. Knowing how critical people can be when it comes to same sex relationships, Miranda understood how Howard and Harold would feel about making their love public. Even today, the two still had some instances of mockery just for their lifestyle. The annoyance part came from the frequent visits of their son, Clyde. The most troubling issue with him was his constant obsession with an older girl named Lori. Naturally, it was a case of an unrequited love, but the issue was just how persistent the 11 year old was. Dr. Lopez was a very patient woman, but even she was beginning to lose her nerve when it came to Clyde.

The office phone rang, pulling her from her notes. Glancing at the number, the woman gave an audible sigh. She could never go a day without the nerdy child calling her for something. "What is it this time Clyde?..." She asked, not caring to hide her irritation.

"Sorry to call you at this time Dr. Lopez, but this isn't for me. My best friend, Lincoln, is going through some really tough times right now...I'm pretty sure his dad will call you very soon and explain everything, so I'm just letting you know. If anyone can help them, it's you."

"Thank you for the compliment Clyde. Is there anything else you-" The phone beeped twice. "I have another call." She pressed 'Flash' on the device. "Dr. Lopez's office."

"Yes, hi, is Ms. Lopez in today?" A masculine voice asked.

"This is she."

"Ok, good. Dr. Lopez, my name is Lynn Loud Sr. I'm calling because...my family is in need of some serious help..."

Miranda became intrigued. "Care to explain?"

"I just found out today my son, Lincoln Loud...he's afraid of 9 of his sisters..."

The psychologist did a quick pause. "Wait, did you say nine sisters?"

"Yes. My family is rather...well it's very big." Lynn Sr. chuckled nervously.

"I see...what brought on this fear?"

"It's a long story...I'm not really comfortable discussing it over the phone..."

"I understand. Well, I don't have any appointments this weekend, so you can bring your son in as soon as possible."

"Well, that's going to be difficult as he's...in the hospital right now...like I said it's a long story. I think it may also help that my daughters see you as well..."

Miranda tapped her cheek in thought. If this was something too serious to talk at a distance, a face to face would certainly help. "Ok. You can bring your other children in whenever you can. And don't worry about payment, we'll discuss that later." The father soon hung up, leaving the doctor to her thoughts. "Been a while since I solved a case of syngenesophobia. If Mr. Loud's family is as big as he says it is, this will be quite an interesting case..."

A/N: A bit on the lighter side of things, but it's about time I got a certain doctor involved. As far as I recall, not many stories mention or use Dr. Lopez, and since she's intentionally never shown, one can only assume her appearance. But, now that the Louds have someone to express their pain to, will make quite a few interesting chapters. I'm also considering having Lincoln spend a couple nights with the Santiagos.

Now, he's my rant about 'No Such Luck':

The episode starts with Lincoln trying to avoid his sisters because he doesn't want to be dragged to another one of their hobbies. He forgets Lynn, who ends up forcing him at gunpoint, or should I say batpoint, to come to her game. The boy is bored out of his mind, and Lynn's team loses. No big deal, but what first irritates me is that Lynn blames Lincoln for bad luck. It would be in her character to do such a thing, but seriously? You drag him all the way out here just to place the blame game on him when you fail? She doesn't even take into consideration that maybe the other team practiced specifically to counter her (a real thing in sports), and she choked when they managed to get that first home run. That's the first thing I found to be bad.

So eventually Lynn tries to prevent Leni from bringing the boy along for the same reasons, but this time Lincoln just rolls with it to get out of his sister's activities. That's fine, everyone needs time to themselves. However, it's odd Lisa begins to believe in superstitions, when in Raw Deal she was highly critical of it. Now of course, Lincoln ends up letting his little lie get out of hand and ends up kicked out the house. Partially his fault, but most blame goes towards his family on this. So let me get this straight, it's perfectly OK to kick one of your underage children out the house to fend for themselves? And you boarded up his room too? He might as well have been dead to the family at that point. Doesn't help when he DOES finally tell the truth, no one believes him. (At this point this where stories can born as it allows authors to make their own thoughts and what ifs)

I guess it was ok that they finally believed him when he came to Lynn's game in disguise, but this immediately fell flat when Rita offhandedly says 'We sold your furniture' while everyone apologized. That honestly made me go "WHAT THE F*** ARE YOU SH******* ME?!" It's one thing to board up the boy's room, but for what purpose did you sell his furniture for, other than to piss off the viewer? I got so wound up I had the urge to make a story on it. But I DO NOT want it to be a typical angry fic. Might not bother with it as I've seen several other authors make their own, but it's entirely possible I may.

Oh, and before I forget, on Thursday I was browsing Loud House tropes just to see whatever new stuff was added (and because I wanted to check the YMMV for opinions on newly released episodes). After checking the fanfic recs, I got a very big surprise: my story was posted on the Dark Fic category. Not only that, it's even got a trope page of its own (and boy half of them were funny to read). So I really appreciate you guys for all the support, and also for Troper TerrorKing10, thanks for the recommendation.