Happiness is a Myth

Chapter 16

.

A few days passed and work kept Rhett and Link busy.

They felt like every time they put out a fire another one pops up: the Mythical Store sold out and they have to order more merch, their app keeps crashing because they did not anticipate that many people signing in at the same time, more and more requests to be on the show or have Rhett and Link as guests have been flooding their emails and business line. They resorted to hiring more interns to cover for the main crew because everyone had their hands full.

Link was stretched thin.

He was exhausted before he returned to work now he was bone dry.

Having a full time job, managing a brand while taking care for 5 kids was impossible. For some reason, all of the kids seek Link for everything: homework, comfort, advice.. Even paper-cuts and cuddles. Link sighs as he finally accepts his substitute-mom role. Someone has to do it. As long as the kids are happy, he will do whatever it takes.

They were all sitting four days after the GMM announcement episode at the dinner table as Gabby started dishing out takeout Chinese food. Link found himself spacing out as he watched his big family of kids, agents and his best friend interact and laugh with each other. He has been feeling off all day but didn't want to admit it. If he taps out on a task, someone else has to fill in. Everyone around him was struggling and he didn't want to add to their troubles so he sucked it up.

Now..

All he has to do is stay focused throughout dinner and the day will be over.

He can finally lay down and probably pass out until tomorrow.

Link felt something trickle down his nose and acted fast by covering it up. He slowly gets up and moves towards the restroom in his bedroom without anyone noticing.

He sighs when he enters the restroom and lets his nose go.

Blood trickles down his lip and into the sink as he looks at it.

He's too tired to care at this moment, so he closes his eyes and leans against the sink to gather the will to deal with this.

Sandy already warned them that this might happen. Chronic Mycomere causes the blood to thin out, leaving Link susceptible to spontaneous bleeds while his blood takes longer to clot. People around him have been treating him like he's a delicate flower and he hated it.

A gentle knock on the door made him flinch.

Gabby whispers outside the door: "Hey Link. You ok?"

Link turns on the water tap to clean the pool of blood that accumulated at the sink and grabs a handful of tissues for his nose: "Yeah, I'm fine."

A few seconds later, the door opens slowly and Gabby slides in, glaring at the bleeding man. She walks over to him and holds his shaky hand that's holding the tissues: "Fine my ass."

Link huffs a small laugh: "I feel like that opens up a sea of comebacks but my brain is too busy leaking to come up with any."

Another soft knock interrupts them: "Dad, you ok?"

Link swallows hard, trying to sound as normal as possible: "I'm fine, Lily. Go finish your dinner."

The door opens once more and Lily slides in with the extended first-aid kit Sandy left for them: "I got this just in case.."

She looks up and stares at Gabby as she holds a bloody wad of tissues to her dad's face. She glares at her father: "Dad, you need to revise your definition of 'fine'!"

Link glares at the two intruders: "Since when did it become ok for women to follow men into bathrooms? What if I was naked or something?"

They both stared back, like he just said something ridiculous.

Link sighs loudly, he was too dizzy to lecture them about decorum.

Lily opens the kit and takes out the nose sponge and hands it to Gabby.

A few seconds after Gabby helps Link put the sponge in, Rhett bangs loudly at the restroom door: "NEAL! You need to see this!"

He busts the door open and pauses.

He looks between the three people cramped inside the restroom with suspicion: "What's going on here?"

All three of them responded at the same time. Lily and Gabby said: "Nose bleed." While Link went with "Nothing."

Rhett puts his hand on his waist, shooting Link a disappointed look while Link huffs at the girls: "Snitches.."

Gabby and Lily fist bumped as Link passed them all to get out and sit on his bed: "I can't even be alone in the bathroom. Are there any sacred places left in this house?"

Rhett follows Link and stands before the tired man, bouncing excitedly, overshadowing Link's grumpy grumble: "Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?"

Link rubs his head, a little lightheaded: "What?"

Rhett yelps in excitement: "The auction for your weird outfit is over. We sold it for 4.3 million dollars."

Link's head snaps up as utter shock color his features: "Come again?"

Rhett emphasizes each word: "4.3 Million. American. Dollars!"

Link blinked in confusion at his bouncing friend: "You're not joking?"

Rhett squeals, overwhelmed with excitement: "No, man! Look!"

He hands Link his phone to show him the final bid announcement.

Link stares at it for a long time then hands back the phone: "Ok.."

Rhett looked offended: "That's it? That's all you got?"

Link slowly lays down, not caring one bit that he's still in his work clothes: "I'm two seconds away from passing out, Rhett. I don't care."

Rhett frowns at the pale man: "What's wrong with you?"

When Link closes his eyes and concentrates at taking deep breaths, Gabby steps up and says: "He's just exhausted. He bled quite a bit in the bathroom too."

Lily sits next to her dad on the bed: "You ok, dad?"

Link opens his eyes to smile at his daughter: "Yeah, thank you for checking up on me."

She smiles back: "I got your back, dad."

Gabby motions for Rhett to step to the side for a quick chat: "He hasn't been well all day."

Rhett looks back at his friend before saying: "Did he tell you that?"

Gabby crosses her arms: "No. But I can tell. I was a field medic. I know what a struggling man looks like."

Rhett frowns: "Should I call Sandy?"

Gabby stares at Link as he seems to fall asleep while Lily smooths his hair back: "Let's see if he's feeling better in the morning. Maybe he just needs a good night's sleep."

Rhett nods, gesturing with his hand for Lily to leave with Gabby.

He helps the half sleeping man change his clothes to PJs, and turns off the light on his way out.

.