Quick authors note: Special thanks to  TheHardie-Boy

For proof reading this chapter and helping me out. I can't even tell you how much I appreciate it and how much it actually helped my anxiety level 

Anyway, enjoy! I'm sorry it took so long.

"I never meant to make it such a mess. I never thought that it would go this far- so I just stand here sorry...searching for something to say.....

Something to say....

Words fail,

Words fail,

There's nothing I can say..."

Dear Evan Hanson, Words fail

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Chapter 17

Everything hurt....

Louie has gotten used to the many headaches he has due to stress, but this one was different- it even hurt differently.

"Louie..." He heard someone say...

"Louie, you need to wake up now...."

He didn't recognize the voice, but he still half expected to wake up in the mansion.

"Louie?"

He opened his eyes and immediately regretted it: everything was so bright suddenly. He instantly closed them again, sitting upright and blinking a lot until they adjusted.

"Hello, Louie, I'm Doctor Harz."

He tried opening his eyes again, but they continued to force themselves shut. He continued to try until finally they adjusted slightly. As long as he didn't make eye contact with anyone and just focused on keeping his eyes open, he was fine.

"Louie, do you know what happened to you?"

He hadn't really put it together; he wasn't at home, and he was now talking to a random guy in an unknown place.

What even happened?

"Louie can you hear me?"

He nodded.

He just realized he was in a hospital. He now remembers why he's not in the mansion, but why is he here?

"Can you talk? Can you tell me your name?"

"I-It's Louie Duck."

He freakin hated hospitals!

"Good. How old are you?"

"E-Eleven."

"Alright. Do you know what happened to you?"

"No, but I have a feeling you're going to tell me."

The doctor chuckled, "Well, you hit your head while an older woman named Magica De Spell attacked you. Do you remember this?"

"Kinda," he said.

"When's your birthday?"

"April... 15th."

"Seems most of your long term memory is there. How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts," he groaned.

"I'm sure it does," the doctor chuckled. "And your arm?"

He looked at his now bright, red-stitched up arm. Just looking at it made him uncomfortable and want to pass out or vomit, he wasn't sure which yet. "Also hurts."

"Well, it's going to take time to heal. We'll get you some pain relief after we do some tests."

He hated doctors. They think they know everything when really all they do is test theories and call them facts.

"Your family is waiting outside, would you like to see them?"

Louie panicked as silently as he could, but the doctor seemed to notice. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, no, I-I... I don't know."

For some reason, the idea of seeing his family again was more stressful than waking up in a hospital.

"Stay calm, it'll be alright. Just take a deep breath."

Louie did...

"And let it out."

He did, thinking this was stupid. He shouldn't be afraid of his family; if anything, his family should be afraid of him.

"You don't need to talk to anyone yet, just wait until you're ready."

Louie knew he had to face them eventually, but he just couldn't stand the idea just yet.

"Now we need to do a neurological examination to make sure everything is fine. It's no different from when you get a normal check up."

"Okay," Louie said nervously.

Della:

She couldn't stop replaying the accident in her head, seeing Louie collapse and bleed through his arm and his head.

She screamed for him, but he was unconscious. For his sake, that was probably a good thing.

She'd had to act quickly. Magica De Spell was a heartless monster who deserved a fate worse than death! How could she hurt a child like that? And why?

She wasn't like Magica right? She hurt Louie, but not intentionally.

She shook the thought away. 'No negative feelings during combat, save the tears for later' as Scrooge would say.

The whole family was worried about Louie and knew they had to do something, so while everyone distracted Magica, Donald went over to Louie to make sure he was okay. He couldn't even have called an ambulance until they'd successfully taken care of Magica.

As the demon requested, they grabbed magical artifacts to defend themselves against her. They'd managed to distract Magica long enough for Scrooge to come up with a plan of his own.

Della did her best to fight her off using a Lævateinn that Selene gave her for her birthday. She was a great friend. A weapon so powerful, even Magica's staff was no match for her.

And Magica knew it too.

With all she had, Della fought. She was trapped in her own head, forcing the anger and hurt to be used only for fighting.

"It must be so hard for you, Dumbella," Magica had taunted, "You've ruined his life and now your own."

Della shook with anger. 'Remember to let it strengthen you, not tear you down,' she reminded herself.

"Why are you doing this to him?" she asked.

"He got on my nerves. You know how difficult he is better than anyone," Magica laughed, "You hate him almost as much as I do."

She grunted as she continued to fight Magica off. "That's not true! He's my son and I love him!"

She laughed again, "Could've fooled me."

The demon (of whom she'd forgotten the name of) started to notice her weakening.

"Della!" he'd called, as he threw a magical object her way. She caught it and pointed it directly at Magica as she fell through a portal to some other dimension. Della didn't care where she was, only that Louie was okay.

Magica sure had a way of getting into people's heads. She was wrong, Della loved Louie like any of her kids. She'd made mistakes, but she's still a good mom, right?

She'd waited until she caught her breath before running to Donald and the boys. Louie was still on the ground as Donald called 9-1-1.

"Is he... ?"

"He's breathing," Donald said. "Don't move him."

Huey nodded, knowing that after a head injury they shouldn't move his neck until the ambulance arrived. He grabbed Louie's hand and softly cried for his brother. Never in her life had Della seen anything so beautifully heartbreaking.

"Mom...?" she heard someone say, pulling her out of her thoughts.

She looked to see her oldest son in front of her, rubbing his arm anxiously. "What's wrong Huey?" she asked.

"I-I'm sorry I talked back to you."

Della smiled sadly as she gently lifted his chin. "I know you were only trying to protect your brother. And you were right to do so. I'm sorry for not listening to you in the first place."

He seemed surprised to hear Della apologizing, but eventually his face changed from confused to nervous again. "Do you think Louie will be alright?"

"The duck Family is strong, he'll be fine," she replied.

"I mean, mentally," Huey said.

"Oh, that. I... I don't know," she answered honestly. "But we'll be here for him like always. That's all we can do until he finds himself again."

"Louie Duck's parents?" called a nurse.

Both Donald and Della stood up.

"He's awake."

"Oh thank goodness," Della sighed.

"But he's still in shock due to the trauma, so we're going to keep him here overnight for observation; we advise visiting him tomorrow."

Della checked the time.

"Uncle Scrooge? How about you take the boys home. I'll stay here with Louie tonight," Donald said.

Scrooge nodded. "Sure, just call when you find out anything okay?"

Donald nodded.

"Maybe I should go too, I'm not sure Louie wants to see me," Della said.

"No, you're staying here as well," Donald said.

"Donald, I wasn't asking if-"

"Neither was I; he's your son, and you're staying here with him."

"Okay, I'll stay," Della agreed.

Donald said goodnight to the kids, reassuring them that Louie was going to be fine. Della could only wish for that kind of knowledge.

Huey:

"First my best friend and now Louie, magica is a monster," Webby scowled. "I will get her for this."

"Hey guys, where's the demon?" Huey asked.

Webby and Dewey looked around for Gad, but it was no use. He was going to do what he wanted anyway.

When they finally got back home, Beakley insisted they eat something no matter how late it was. Huey still didn't eat anything despite his obsession with doing as he was told. No matter how many times Beakley said, "Starving yourself won't help Louie," she couldn't really force him.

After that they just went to bed, neither Huey nor Dewey could sleep without knowing if Louie was okay, so they just talked as they waited for morning to finally come.

"Do you think this is our fault?" Huey asked.

"Mine and yours? We didn't do anything," Dewey answered.

"Exactly!" Huey said. "We weren't there for him like we should've been. We were so excited that mom was back that we didn't consider how hard it was for him."

"I don't understand him sometimes," Dewey said, "but that doesn't mean I love him less."

Huey nodded even though Dewey couldn't see him, "I don't understand him either; I don't really think he understands himself. He feels like he caused the problem, so he has to fix it, even if none of this was his fault. I wish I could get him to understand that it's not just him against the world. That we're here for him and we'd support him through anything."

"And that we're going through the same changes," Dewey added.

"Right."

"Huey?"

"Yeah?"

"Louie is a handful."

Huey laughed. "No more than you are."

"He's annoying and sometimes a little selfish".

"Sometimes," Huey agreed.

"But I still miss him," Dewey whimpered.

Huey sighed. "Me too."

Louie:

The next morning, the doctors finally left Louie alone so he could get some rest, and finally let himself think. He had no idea what he was going to say to his family after everything that happened.

He could use Gad's excuse and say the demon made him do it which would technically be true.

But he couldn't let them hurt Gad.

He could tell them that he meant to do it, that it was all his idea, and he let Gad manipulate him, but then he'd have to leave, which he may have to do anyway. The thought of living out on the streets scared him, but so did the thought of going home. No matter what he did, it was terrifying. He could only hope that his family would understand, and maybe they'll-

No, Della said it herself. If he wanted to be part of the family, he couldn't scheme anymore, and he seriously doesn't think he can stop; ergo, he's not part of the family anymore. He had to finally accept the consequences of his actions and come to understand the fact that he'd gone too far.

It's so easy to blame someone else, but Louie knew the truth. Della didn't mean to leave, she tried her best to make this family's situation work, and Louie ruined it.

Suddenly he heard a knock on the door, which made his heart skip a beat. It was only Donald; that didn't make him feel better, but it didn't make him feel worse.

"Hey, Louie," Donald greeted. "How are you feeling?"

His voice was so calm, as if none of this happened, as if Louie didn't betray him and his trust too, as if he didn't threaten his entire family, as if he didn't run off with a demon and let him take over Duckburg.

Louie shrugged. "I'm fine."

"Good," Donald said. "You wanna talk?"

Louie knew it was coming; he knew Donald would be mad and lecture him. He just needed to get it over with so he could figure out what to do next. Besides, if he could handle Donald's lectures, he may be able to handle Della's. "Okay," he finally said.

Donald took a seat next to him. Louie was pretty sure he knew what Donald was going to say; he felt so nervous he couldn't even make eye contact with him.

"I'm really glad you're okay, but you scared me, you know that right?"

"I know," Louie said.

"Louie, I always made sure you knew it was okay to talk to me when something was bothering you," Donald said.

"I know," he replied.

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because this was different," Louie said.

"How, Louie? How was it different?"

"Because..." He thought.

"Because why?" Donald demanded.

"Because!" Louie snapped, "Because I usually have a good reason to be upset but I didn't this time!" he said, raising his voice.

"Are you sure about that?" Donald asked. "Or do you think that's what everyone else thinks?"

Louie finally looked at Donald directly, trying not to cry. He really did try, but he couldn't control himself, just like how he couldn't control anything else.

Donald wrapped his arms around him. "It's okay, Louie," Donald soothed.

"I'm sorry- it's just- Huey and Dewey were so happy, and I wanted to be happy too but- I wasn't. I'm not happy- ugh! Why am I like this?"

Now Donald wanted to cry. "Because you're not your brothers, Louie. I can't imagine what you must be going through right now."

"I'm a Duck," Louie said, "We don't back down and- I'm supposed to be strong enough to handle this on my own."

"Part of handling it is accepting help, and being strong is trusting the people you love. Trusting that they can help you, and they will."

Louie didn't know what else to say.

"I should've been helping you anyway, and I'm sorry I haven't been there for you like I should've."

Louie just continued to hug his uncle, the only person he knew he could trust enough to be this vulnerable with. "It's not your fault, I should've explained everything sooner."

Donald did his best to comfort Louie; he wanted nothing more than to make all of this pain go away.

"Well, better late than never I guess. You ready to talk?" Donald asked.

Louie let go of Donald and backed up slightly with a nod. "Okay."

He explained everything to Donald, from Della coming back and the timephoon. He explained everything he could. Always making an excuse for Della, making sure this wasn't going to cause a bigger problem between Donald and his sister. Because as much as he denied it, Louie Duck cared about his family.

"I'm sorry you went through all this alone, Louie,"

"Are you mad at me?"Louie asked.

Donald shook his head. "No, I'm not mad. Maybe a little concerned but not mad."

Louie nodded, he did understand. "I know I messed everything up." There were still dried up tears under his eyes. The poor kid was stressed out.

"Not everything..." Donald said, looking towards the door as if he were mad at someone specific. "Mistakes happen, but you can always make up for them, and you know I'll always be here for you. I'll always support and love you unconditionally, no matter what anyone says or does." He smiled, and Louie couldn't help but smile too, new tears filling his eyes, but this time they were tears of pure relief that Donald still loved him. 'This kid's going to make himself sick with all this crying,' Donald thought, wiping away Louie's tears with his sleeve. "It'll be okay, lion." He winked while adding the nickname.

Louie eye rolled him but couldn't stop himself from chuckling. "Uncle Donald, please."

"I know, I get it, you're too old." He laughed, hugging Louie again. "But to me, you'll always be my lion."

Louie smiled despite himself; it meant everything to him that Donald wasn't mad. Now he just had to face everyone else, but suddenly it wasn't so nerve racking. Huey and Dewey would probably forgive him, whether they're mad still or not. Scrooge has probably forgotten it already-

"Louie, you need to talk to your mom," Donald said, cutting in his thoughts.

That was the toughie. Della had already said it was over, how can she possibly forgive him? She probably disowned him already.

"Louie?..."

"Talking doesn't work with her," Louie argued. "It's like she doesn't even want to listen to me."

"Maybe she never got the chance to. Give her another chance to explain, and I promise you she'll listen," Donald said. "She loves you more than you think she does."

'Not anymore', Louie thought.