Mythical Link ▸ Link Neal {Book One}

Eighty One

     Unfortunately to Rhett's demise, a wink of sleep never met with him. He laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling for the rest of the evening thinking about all of the worst possible things that could happen. He thought about the infection in Link's leg, and how it was making him incredibly sick. He pondered taking Link to the hospital but he wanted that to be a last resort. 

     How would they go about explaining the nasty claw marks on Link's leg? They would run him through all sorts of unnecessary tests and Rhett wasn't partial to putting Link through that, when Link has already been through enough. Poor Link... he has been through so much already, and Rhett had the sinking feeling in his belly that it was only just the beginning.

     However, he was determined to help Link. He was determined to figure out what was wrong with him, and what needs to be done in order to make him better. If it's just the infection in his leg, maybe it will go away on its own in a few days after rest and regular doses of medication. If it was something more, something he knew nothing about, he would have to figure it out on his own. 

     He wasn't prepared to have the sole responsibility of keeping his best friend since the first grade alive. Granted, they have done stupid things in their childhood that could have ended in a deathly experience but that was all in fun and games. This was as serious as serious gets, and these guys weren't used to serious at all.

      Rhett took a deep breath and turned his head to look out the window. The sun was beginning to rise, beckoning the hot spring day to envelope them in scorching temperatures and horrid humidity. It was going to be interesting trying to get Link's temp to go down with the weather being like this, and Rhett felt like mother nature was conspiring against them. As if they didn't have enough on their plates. 

     He threw the covers off of him and began wandering toward the guest room where Christy and Link slept. He popped in front of the doorway and peered in, holding the sides of the door frame. Christy was sitting up in bed, smoothing Link's hair away from his face as he slept. 

     She turned her head and noticed Rhett standing in the doorway, and she smiled sadly. "He hasn't woken up since the nightmare," she said, and Rhett's shoulders slumped. He didn't know how to feel about that. He was glad that Link was getting sleep, but he was worried. 

     Something was gnawing at him but he couldn't place his finger on it. He wandered into the room and sat on the bed beside Link as softly as he could, and he placed his hand over Link's forehead. It was still burning up, and he withdrew his hand with a look to Christy.

     "We should try to get something solid into his system. Maybe some toast and water, and then he needs to have more medicine. He's still so warm," he said as he rose to his feet to march to the bathroom. He pulled the cabinet over and searched for the thermometer, taking it into his hands and looking down at it as he moved back toward the bed. 

     He stuck the tip of the thermometer in between Link's lips as he slept, a snore emanating from him but he never woke up. Rhett hoped it was under his tongue while he turned it on, waiting for the thermometer to beep. He watched as the temperature climbed, from 99.8 to 104.9. 

     The thermometer beeped and Christy jumped, Rhett glancing at her curiously. "What does it say," she asked quietly, and Rhett showed her. She shook her head, her hands shaking. "What are we going to do? We have to take him to the hospital, Rhett. This can't go on like this for much longer, can it? Something really bad could happen! It could get worse and his dream will probably come true," she was talking so fast and her southern drawl was far more pronounced than usual. 

     Rhett held a hand out to her. "Hey, hey. Remember what I said last night? I'm not going to let that happen. That means you need to trust me, alright? You have to understand that if we take him to the hospital and the doctors see this, they're going to ask questions. They're going to put him through all sorts of unnecessary tests while he continues to get worse. Just let me figure out exactly what it is and I'll handle it, okay?"