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In the Blink of an Eye.
Part III

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The moment that Rhett had spotted Link, it instantly appeared as if there was absolutely nothing wrong with him.

The dark haired man had been wheeled out from the wreck on a gurney, too, but was now fighting with the paramedics to stay sitting up. Rhett could hear his friend's short tempered attitude angrily rambling on about a number of different things. He didn't need to lie down, he felt fine, he didn't care if there was the possibility of a fractured femur, he just wanted to see his son.

Quickly dropping down to his kids' level, Rhett placed a hand on each of their shoulders, "Guys, just wait right here with the doctor, okay?" he commanded, gazing from Shepherd to Locke, "Look after Lando."

To think that no more than fifteen minutes ago, Rhett had been the one of the receiving end of Link's furious outbursts. But now, none of that mattered. It didn't matter what Link had said to Rhett, and it didn't matter what Rhett had said to Link. Because all that the tall, blonde man could think about was how scared he had been to see his best friend in such a devastating accident.

And not only that, but how scared Rhett had been at the thought of something happening to Link before he had the chance to tell his best friend how sorry he was.

Before Link even realised what was happening to him, his fiery ramblings were abruptly cut off. He breathed out a heavy grunt as he felt a warm, forceful embrace crash into him. Looking up from where he was stubbornly sat on the edge of the gurney, Link quickly realised who it was that was holding him and instantly started hugging Rhett back.

The taller man was sort of bent down so that his shorter friend's head was nestled right in the crook of his neck. A tingling shudder unwillingly escaped Link as he sighed out a shaky breath into Rhett's shoulder.

"You were supposed to just turn off and go home, man."

Rhett was silent for a thoughtful few seconds.

"You honestly think I wasn't going to turn around and come back for you?"

The comforting sentiment made Link's heated exterior absolutely crumble. The pain in his thigh was swiftly becoming all too apparent as his adrenalin started to wear off. The dark haired man had spent all of his time worrying about Lando that it felt sort of welcoming to know that there had been someone out there worrying about him, too.

As this thought crossed him, though, Link's eyes suddenly widened as he sharply pushed Rhett away, "Wait, where's Lando, I told you not to leave him?"

"He's fine, he's fine," Rhett tried to reassure him, "He's just being checked over at the other ambulance, Locke and Shepherd are with him."

Feeling his frantic emotions subside, Link sheepishly nodded his head, "Are they okay?"

"They're fine. A little shaken up, but fine."

At this revelation, all that the two long-time friends could do was fall back to silence. There were about a thousand people doing about million things all around them, but it all seemed like mere background noise for Rhett and Link as they awkwardly held a gaze with one another. Neither of them were one hundred percent certain of what they should say. The three kids were all okay, so that was the most important factor sufficiently covered. But now, where did the two internetainers stand with each other?

The last thing that Link had spoken to Rhett that afternoon was basically telling him to screw off, but that was only because Rhett had carelessly made light of Link's threat to walk out on him in the middle of a show. They had both said some pretty harsh things – things that, of course, they hadn't necessarily meant… but now, how were they supposed to come back from it all?

"Mr. Neal?"

With these concerned thoughts still consuming both of them, Rhett and Link were suddenly snapped out of their wordless trance as a second paramedic approached them, headed towards Link.

"Mr. Neal, I'm going to need to advise you to lie down," the man pressed on. He had dirty, blonde hair combed neatly on the top of his head and a small pair of glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose which he pushed up as he tried to convince Link to lie back on the gurney, "My team and I need to quickly check you over here before we take you to the hospital."

"What? No! No, I'm not lying down," Link continued to argue, "Not until I see my – "

"Mr. Neal?" came the sudden addition of a new voice, cutting Link off, "I'm Officer Reynolds, this is my partner, Officer Tolman."

Rhett could easily tell by how quickly Link had snapped his neck up and glared at the male officer and his female counterpart just how much his best friend was about to snap. Link was a short tempered person by nature anyway, but the more people who came up to hassle him, and the further away he got being reunited with Lando, the closer he was creeping towards completely blowing up.

"We'd just like to ask you a couple of questions about the incident that's occurred here this afternoon."

"Ask me?" Link spat in disbelief, "How about questioning the punk that hit me instead?"

"Look, I'm sorry," the paramedic cut back in, directing his attention to the officers, "But Mr. Neal really needs to come back to the hospital with us right now."

"Well, we really need to piece together this accident as much as possible before the vehicles are cleared," Officer Tolman jumped in, "Before he goes anywhere, Mr. Neal needs to – "

"No, just stop!" Link abruptly thundered, throwing his arms out to the side. He cringed at a painful twinge he felt shoot up his thigh and shrugged away from Rhett's attempted grasp at his shoulder, "I'm not talking to anybody and I'm not going anywhere until I see my son!"

"Link, okay, buddy, I'll go get him for you," Rhett spoke, gently bringing his hand back to his friend's shoulder. He braced himself to be harshly shoved away again, but this time as Link welcomed his comforting touch, Rhett glanced at the blonde paramedic, "Surely he and his kid can travel in the same ambulance, right?"

There was only a slim wave of hesitation from the paramedic before, of course, he nodded his head. Breathing a subtle sigh of relief, Rhett impulsively patted Link where he held him, and then dashed back over to where Lando and the other two boys were still waiting near the first ambulance.

The gloomy expression on Lando's sad little face seemed to brighten slightly as he spotted Rhett re-approaching him. Grinning down at him, the tall, blonde man quickly turned his attention to Doctor Graham, "How's he doing?"

The doctor reflected Rhett's positive appearance, "A little bumped, a little bruised, but otherwise completely fine."

"Well, thank goodness," Rhett sang out, ruffling up Lando's hair and causing a small smirk to finally cross his face, "Look, his dad's dying to see him, and they're gonna' go to the hospital in the same ambulance, so – "

"Of course, of course," Doctor Graham cut in, obviously aware of what Rhett was trying to ask, "Take him on over, I'm sure he's pretty desperate to see his daddy, too."

The eager nature in which Lando projected his arms forward beckoning for his dad's best friend to pick him up made Rhett's entire core settle in relief. He shot Doctor Graham a final, thankful smile as he scooped Lando up in his arms and shifted him onto one hip. He gestured for Locke and Shepherd to follow him, reaching his right hand down towards his youngest son.

"Shep," he spoke affectionately, taking the seven year old's hand back in his as the four of them safely wandered over to where Link was preparing to be loaded into the second ambulance.

The precise moment that Lando laid his eyes on Link, the small, blonde boy felt a single tear or two well up in his wide eyes, "Daddy?" he murmured quietly to Rhett.

"Yeah, bud," Rhett confirmed sweetly, "There's Daddy, he's okay."

Link sensed his whole body shudder and crumble as an emotional wave of reprieve totally crashed over him. Rhett gently let go of Shepherd's hand as Link stretched his arms out and near enough begged for Lando to be placed into his embrace. Instantly, he squeezed his little boy with all the warmth and love that he could muster.

"Hey, buddy," he exclaimed. As Lando burrowed his face deep into the crook of Link's shoulder, the dark haired man tenderly cupped the back of his head and kissed him on the cheek. He sighed sadly, whispering ever so quietly into Lando's little ear, "I'm sorry, son."

Hearing this sent a twinging ache shooting through Rhett's heart. None of this was Link's fault – none of it at all. Glancing over his shoulder, the taller man spitefully shook his head to discover that the two police officers were now talking to the young man who had caused the accident. Hopefully, if they had any sense at all, the guy wouldn't be on the road again for a long time.

Shaking off the vengeful thought, though, Rhett soon turned back to find Lando adjusting himself in Link's lap. The small boy shuffled in his spot, planting himself firmly onto his dad's right knee, causing Link to suddenly jolt in painful surprise.

"Ah, careful, buddy, careful. That's the leg I hurt," he hissed, shifting Lando onto his other knee.

Watching on in silence up until this point, Locke cringed at Link's abrupt cries, "Are you okay, Link?"

Smiling down at the curly haired eleven year old, Link smiled, nodding his head, "Yeah, I'm fine," he answered, looking back down to Lando, "Are you alright now, too, Lando?"

Instantly, the little blonde boy nodded his head, as well. He licked his lips and gazed up at Link, watching as his dad locked vision with his baby blue eyes. And then, he quietly cleared his throat, "Rhett got me."

An array of goosebumps went flying over both Link and Rhett's arms at Lando's words. All that the younger man could do was hug his son again as he mulled over the three simple syllables he had managed to speak.

Link shuddered to think what may have happened to Lando and who might have been there to calm him and protect him if not for Rhett. Looking up to his best friend, he stayed silent for a moment.

It was as if all of a sudden, it didn't matter how much they had been snapping each other over the last week, or what Rhett may have said about him on Good Mythical More, or how much of a jerk he may have been acting like during their fight. And as he stared back down at him, Rhett felt it all, too. He didn't care about any mistakes Link had made, or how sensitive he may have been acting, or how harshly he may have spoken to him.

None of it mattered. Not anywhere near as much as the fact that they had almost lost each other.

"Man," Link started, trying to stutter out his sentence, "Rhett, I'm never gonna' be able to thank – "

"I know, man, I know," Rhett cut him off, saving him from apologising. Smirking down at Link, he soon shot back the same appreciative grin. As guilty as Rhett may have originally felt, swapping "sorrys" had never particularly been their thing.

"Hey, you'd better call Christy," the bearded man quickly added.

"Oh, God no, man, not yet," Link spoke, shaking his head, "I'm not gonna' tell her we're just on our way to the hospital and then have her sitting around worrying about us. We'll just go there, get checked out, get the all clear, and then I'll ring her and tell her everything."

Rhett nodded his head in agreement. Any hint of even a slight tragedy would undoubtedly have Christy rushing back from their girls' weekend within a second, especially with Jessie and Lily there to worry along with her, as well.

"But," Link reiterated, "Could you… Could you go get Lincoln from his friend's place for me and bring him to the hospital?"

Rhett's answer was immediate, "Of course, man."

Link smiled, "I'd text you the address, but, uh…" he trailed off, gesturing to the wreck of a minivan which was finally being moved off the road, "I'm pretty sure my phone's more than a little dead right now."

For a couple of seconds, the two men simply gazed at each other in silence before the burst out in an array of chuckles. As they shook their heads at each other, they could barely believe that they were managing to find the humour in something as dire as what had happened. And not only that, but it was probably also the first time that they had shared a genuine laugh with one another in well over a week.

Keeping this thought in mind, Link pressed his lips together before going on, "It's on Shakespeare Lane, anyways. It's a really short street, and it's right down the end with a huge, red front door, you can't miss it."

Again, Rhett nodded his head, "Sure thing, buddy."

And then, there was quiet once more.

As Link held Lando, and Rhett gathered Locke and Shepherd by his sides, they both watched as the paramedics finally began to prepare the loading of the gurney. It had definitely been one whirlwind, hurtful, terrifying and relieving afternoon all mixed into one. But everything that preceded it was only a distant thought in the past now. All that mattered was that Link and Lando were being loaded into the back of the ambulance with full consciousness and near perfect health.

Feeling his chest swell in happiness at this thought, Rhett licked his lips, "I'll cya' at the hospital, man."

Sweeping his hair to one side, Link took a tight hold of Lando and simply gazed back at Rhett with a warm, grateful smile.

"Alright."

The taller man's expression mirrored his partner's.

"Alright."

As he finally conceded to lying properly on the stretcher with Lando comfortably by his side, Link peered out of the corner of his eye as he watched Rhett, Locke and Shepherd head back towards their truck.

Never again was the younger man going to let an argument with his best friend explode to such an extent. After all, he now knew just how much and how quickly everything could truly change.

"Hey, Rhett?"

Coming to a halt and looking back over his shoulder, Rhett raised a curious eyebrow. Sniggering to himself, Link smirked teasingly, "I'm still mad at you."

Echoing his best friend's obnoxious snickers, Rhett could only shake his head. They may have drove each other absolutely insane sometimes, but Rhett knew that no matter how hard they butted heads, they would always find a way to gently bounce back.

They were best friends of thirty years. And they were stuck with each other.

"Man, get over yourself!"

Well, hello there fellow Mythical Beasts!

I hope you all enjoyed this sweet little three-shot - which turned out to be a lot longer than I was expecting! :) I've got about a million more cute little story ideas like this one, so hopefully I'll bring a few more GMM fics really soon!

Please leave a review and let me know what you thought, I truly appreciate it :)

Till next time guys,

Reneyyyyyyy x