Rhett didn't know when he had passed out. He vaguely remembered seeing his house, and he had flashes of getting to his car, but the next thing he knew - he was waking up in a hospital room. The pain in his arm was muted but still present, and when he looked down, he saw it was bandaged up in a cast. There were also voices in the room - Link explaining what happened to the doctor and expressing his concern over whether Rhett was going to survive or not. The doctor assured him Rhett would make a full recovery - which was great for Rhett to hear. He groaned a bit to call attention to himself, and the conversation ended abruptly.
Link was over at Rhett's bedside immediately. "Rhett. Hey! How're you feeling? Are you alright? Do you need anything?"
"Whoa, whoa. Slow down there, killer. Let me process this whole thing..." Rhett smiled at him to show he was fine before he looked up at the doctor. "So, doc, what's the verdict?"
"You got quite a bite, Mr. McLaughlin. You have a broken radius and we gave you a dose of immune globulin at the site of the puncture wounds as well as a rabies vaccine. You'll need to come back for four more rabies vaccinations over the course of fourteen days. And we'll keep monitoring your forearm as well to see how it's healing and if we need to follow up with more extensive treatment."
"So, uh...I'm getting married tomorrow." Rhett laughed nervously - he was almost afraid of the answer to his next question. "How is this going to affect that?"
"Your bride will have to take it easy on you." The doctor remarked in good humor. "But your injuries shouldn't prevent you from carrying through with your wedding. Just take it easy. We will prescribe you some medications to help manage the pain. Please refrain from drinking while you are on them, though."
"Now you just went ahead and ruined my whole wedding." Rhett joked, looking down at his arm. "Guess it could've been worse."
"It could have been a whole lot worse." The doctor agreed. "Well, my nurse will be in to check on you. Congratulations on your marriage tomorrow."
"Thank you." Rhett answered, watching the physician leave the room.
"I don't care what you two say. It was still really bad." Link shuddered. "You just didn't stop bleeding. It's all up in the car. I'm surprised I could even drive us over here."
"Urgency kept you strong. Kept you from passing out again. Good for you, Link."
"Didn't stop me from passing out when it happened..."
Rhett studied him before shaking his head. "Nah. Don't even worry about that. I got us into that mess, and I got us out. You got me the rest of the way here, and I probably wouldn't have made it without you. So thanks, man. You did good."
Link rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I just did what needed to be done." He sank onto the edge of the hospital bed. "Jessie's gonna be heading over."
"What? But it's bad luck for the bride to see the groom on the wedding night. You know that. She knows that."
"Pretty sure it's bad luck to get bitten by a wolf on your wedding night, too. Just saying..." Link smiled, shaking his head.
"I don't know. It might be one of those good omens. Getting bit by a wolf will bring you tons of wedding luck..."
"Now you're pushing it." Link rolled his eyes and then looked at Rhett seriously. "I'm glad you're okay. I really am."
Rhett shook his head. "Quit looking at me like you thought I was on the verge of death. I wasn't. Honest. This is nothing. It hardly even hurts." He went to lift his arm to showcase that, only to wince. "Ow, ow, ow. Okay. It does hurt a little bit."
"Little bit ain't nothing considering how many painkillers you're on."
"Am I really on a lot of them?" Rhett frowned. "I'm gonna be completely loopy on my wedding day, aren't I?"
"I'll be there to pat your cheeks if you start to doze off during the ceremony."
"Good to know you got my back."
"I am your best man, after all. Which means I'm the best."
Rhett's expression sobered and he said with complete and utter honesty: "You are the best. Don't ever doubt that. I'm lucky to have you in my life." He free hand started to reach out, started to move for Link's. "There's something I never told you..."
"Rhett!"
The conversation ended abruptly as Rhett looked up at the doorway, seeing Jessie there, looking stricken. He glanced over at Link and saw him back off to make room for her, but Rhett didn't want him to. He frowned, shaking his head. It would have been dumb to say it anyway. Telling Link something like he always kind of had feelings for him would just confuse things, and Rhett was getting married tomorrow. He loved Jessie - there was no doubt in his mind about that. Link had Christy, too. It must have just been the pain medication messing with his mind, because Rhett vowed years ago that his infatuation with Link was stupid - that he just cared about him deeply as a friend and if he addressed what he thought might have been something a little bit more, it would put their friendship at risk. Losing Link would have been the worst thing that could happen, so Rhett chose to keep things bottled up inside. Today was no different.
"Wait! I can't look at you. It's bad luck." Rhett protested when Jessie took Link's place.
"Shut up, idiot! What did you do to yourself?" Jessie frowned, looking him over.
"He tried to get you a deer that you could rotisserie for your wedding. I tried to tell him it wasn't a very thoughtful gift, but he doesn't listen to me..." Link remarked in amusement.
"I was hunting. At least I wasn't looking at other girls' naked breasts. You gotta give me credit where credit's due, hun." Rhett put on his best puppy eyes.
Jessie shook her head, reaching out and pressing a kiss to his lips. "You could've been seriously hurt."
"Everyone's focusing on the could've - what about the fact that I wasn't?"
"Rhett doesn't think a broken arm is seriously hurt..." Link leaned over to stage whisper at Jessie. "I think the wolf broke his brain, too."
"You can't break what's already broken." Jessie stage whispered back.
"You two are real cute." Rhett rolled his eyes. "So when am I getting out of here? Tell me you came to bail me out? This would be one messed up bachelor party if this is where I have to stay the whole night."
"The nurse is gonna come check on you. Then you'll get released to Jessie. And by the way, Jessie - sorry about the blood in the car. Didn't have much time to clean it up with Rhett bleeding everywhere." Link turned toward her.
She smiled and shook her head. "Blood in the car is the least of my worries right now. I'm really grateful I still have a fiancé to get married to tomorrow. Thanks for taking care of him, Link."
"Don't even thank me. I did it because a lot of us would be pretty upset to not have a Rhett around. Even if he is an idiot."
"You were so close to building me up, and then you just had to tear me down." Rhett wrinkled his nose.
"You're welcome." Link smiled sweetly. "You deserved it for all your dumb decisions tonight. But hopefully you got it out of your system so you don't do anything dumb tomorrow."
"What? You mean the whole marriage thing isn't dumb enough?" Rhett raised a brow.
Jessie hit him lightly upside the head.
"Ow! Hey! The doctor said you need to take it easy on me. I'm not making it up. Doctor's orders." Rhett gave his wife a mockingly serious expression.
"You're lucky I said yes when you asked. You really are. And you're also lucky I didn't ball up my fist when I hit you." Jessie gave that mockingly serious expression right back. They were an equal match for each other.
"Aren't you two just precious?" Link teased. "Cheers to the happy couple." He raised a fake drink before pushing up his glasses. "I'm just practicing for tomorrow."
Rhett looked at Link and offered a faint smile before leaning in to give Jessie a kiss. "Hey - you mind if I have a minute with Link?"
"Sure. I'll go see if there's any paperwork I need to fill out to take you home anyway." She smiled and moved toward the door, smoothing down her skirt. "Don't you two concoct some crazy scheme or anything. We had enough wolf attacks for the night."
"Stop knowing us too damn well..." Rhett waved after her with his good arm.
Jessie left and Link watched her go before he tilted his head. "So what was it you wanted to talk about? Is this going back to that thing you never told me?"
Rhett wet his lips. He was about to answer when a sudden lance of pain shot down his arm. He couldn't contain the grunt, doubling over. He gasped as an attempt to focus his mind away from the agony.
"Rhett!" Link yelled out in concern, watching him for a moment before he ran to the door. "Nurse?! NURSE!"
Apparently Link's cries of distress worked because a nurse came rushing toward the room. Rhett clenched his eyes shut, tightening his good hand into a fist - knuckles whitening from the pressure. He couldn't explain what was happening. He couldn't even manage a word. All he felt was pain until he suddenly felt a needle penetrate his arm. As the contents emptied themselves into his vein, Rhett's body relaxed. The pain lessened and then faded completely. The last thing Rhett saw was Link's worried blue eyes before he fell into a drug-induced sedation.