Lloyd and his friends were in the waiting room at the hospital after Lloyd's mom called to tell them that Aria had been hospitalized. "All this time, she was being abused by her own father" said Kai, who was sitting in a chair beside his sister. "And none of us knew or even considered that as an option" Nya added. "Why didn't she tell anyone? Or at least ask for help?" Cole wondered out loud from where he was leaning against the wall. "Maybe she was too afraid?" Jay suggested. "Lloyd, are you okay?" Zane asked, looking at the blonde hair boy while also leaning against the wall. 

Lloyd was sitting with his head in his hands. "I should have known" he said quietly, but everyone heard him. "Lloyd, how could any of us know? Aria never told anyone about what she was going through" Nya told him. "Not to mention she rarely ever opened up to anyone" Cole added. "Yeah, but, I thought that I, of all people would be able to when someone is having parental issues" Lloyd told them. A nurse then came into the room. Those who were sitting stood up and those who were leaning against the wall got off of it. 

"How is she?" Lloyd asked the question that was on their minds. "Well, normally I would give the information to a parent or guardian, but seeing as Aria doesn't have either of those, I'll tell you. Come on" the nurse said. She lead the group down a few halls while breaking down the situation. "Aria has multiple bruises all over her body, all varying in size and severity. The more serious areas is around her torso, which brings me to a more serious issue. Since most of her physical abuse was targeted around her torso, her ribs have taken quite the beating. Almost all of them are cracked and at least three are actually broken to the point where we're suspecting a possible lung puncture"

"Wait, a lung puncture?" Lloyd asked. The nurse nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. And since she also has a bit of a serious head injury, we have her scheduled for an MRI here in a bit. As well as a few tests to see if she really has a lung puncture" the nurse replied as she stopped outside a large window to a room. Inside, Aria was lying there in a medical gown under the thin covers. She had a mask on as well as being attached to a heart monitor. "If she does have a puncture lung, then we don't want to take any chances" the nurse explained upon seeing the looks on their faces. "Oh" said Jay.

Lloyd sighed as his gaze traveled over Aria's body. "When will she wake up?" he asked, not looking at anyone but Aria. "Right now, she's going through a late reaction to when her father hit her. So she may be out for one or two days. If we're lucky" the nurse replied. "And after she wakes up, then what's gonna happen?" Jay asked. "Well, I'm pretty sure she's gonna want to see her friends first before we do anything" the nurse replied with a smile. "But we're gonna run her through a few tests and then see if we can't find some people who want to adopt" she added. "Adopt?" Cole asked. 

"Well, Aria has been drifting in and out of consciousness, and from what we were able to get out of her, her mother had died when she was five and her father is currently being held in a high security cell waiting for his court trial" the nurse explained. "Oh wow. So not only has she been abused, but Aria's now going to be adopted?! Man, things aren't going so well for her" said Jay. "Yeah, poor kid's had a hard life. Luckily, I do know a nice couple who are looking to adopt, so I'll see if they'll be interested with Aria. Which I'm rather certain they will be" the nurse told the group. "Why's that?" Lloyd asked. "Let's just say that they have a bit of the same history as Aria here" the nurse replied with a knowing smile. "Now, if you guys want to stay the night with her, that's fine, just let your parents know. Or, if you choose to go home, you can come back anytime tomorrow" she added. Lloyd and his friends looked at each other, all knowing what their option was gonna be...

Aria slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times to clear her vision. After she had 20-20 vision, Aria took in her surroundings. I must be at the hospital, she thought. She then noticed some movement out the window through the drawn curtains. Then her door buzzed and opened as a nurse with a food tray came in. "Oh good, your awake" they said. Aria rubbed her forehead a bit to try and ease up the small headache she was having. 

"Here, take these. Their pain meds" her nurse said as she gave Aria two pills. Aria took them with the water that was offered to her. "How long have I been here?" she asked. "You came in last night. Your friends will be relieved to hear that your awake" the nurse replied. Aria's eyes widened. "Did they spend the night here?" she asked. Her nurse chuckled a bit. 

"Yup. All of them. You got yourself some good friends, even if one of them is the son of Lord Garmadon" said the nurse. For some reason, Aria's cheeks started heating up a bit, though she didn't know why. "I personally don't see why everyone thinks he's a bad kid. I mean, sure, he's Lord Garmadon's son, but that shouldn't define who he is" said Aria. The nurse shrugged as they pressed a button that raised the top half of Aria's bed so that she was sitting up. "I guess that just how we are these days" they said as they put the tray beside Aria. Aria almost immediately took a cracker from it. "I'll go see if your friends are awake and let them know that your awake" said her nurse. 

Aria nodded and the nurse left, the door clicking shut behind her. Aria took a deep breath as she knew her friends were going to have questions. Questions she was gonna have to answer.