Make a Wish || Rhett and Link

Chapter 15 - The Great Escape

*****Rhett's Point of View*****

"Kids! To the living room!" I called.

All 5 of our children came and sat down on the couch. Link and I stood up, ready to give our talk.

"Before we go and get Cooper, we've got to lay down some ground rules." Link said firmly. I nodded in agreement.

"First Rule:" I said. "No asking or talking about her illness. The whole point of her coming over is so she doesn't have to think about that stuff."

"But what if she like, collapses or something?" Lily asked.

"You can ask her if she's alright. If she doesn't look okay, come and see us." I said. Lily nodded.

"Next rule: No running or energetic games." Link said.

"Awww what? That's not fair!" Locke complained.

"Locke, it's one day of your life. We're only putting this in because she's been bed bound for almost 4 months. We just want her to feel normal."

"But she's not..." Lincoln started

"Yes. Lincoln. She's still a person. She's just sick. That's the only thing that's different. Okay?" Link said. "And there is to be no talk like that while she's here."Lincoln nodded.

"Alright, we're going to head off now." Link said. The kids all bolted off the couch back to whatever they were doing. I followed Link out to the car.

The drive to the hospital wasn't very long. At least it wasn't supposed to anyway. Yet, the 20 minutes dragged on as both of our heads were filled with doubts. The silence didn't help.

"What if something goes wrong?" Link asked suddenly.

"I don't know. We can call an ambulance or something." I said.

"But what if something goes really, really wrong, like, she has another stroke or something?" Link asked nervously.

"I don't know, Link. I don't know."

The silence returned and all that could be heard was the sound of the traffic on the road.

Link pulled into the parking lot and we drove around for a good 10 minutes looking for a car park. And then another 15 trying to figure out where we had to go. We went to the ward, and then out to the lobby.

"Hey Guys!" I heard a familiar voice call.

"Super-Cooper!" Link said, facing her.

As soon as I saw her, all the worries in my mind melted away. Cooper just had this huge smile on her face that lit up the whole room. The nurse and the doctor were standing next to her. Cooper leaned on some crutches. She was wearing the beanie and the GMM shirt.

"Wanted to represent?" I asked.

"Well, yeah." Cooper said.

"Awesome!" Link said.

"Plus the fact that this was the only shirt I had lying around." Cooper said awkwardly. "But you know, I didn't really have a choice. I had to borrow these pants and shoes from some other kids on the ward."

"Hey, we don't mind. You look awesome!" I said.

Cooper chuckled. "As awesome as sweatpants and ugg boots can look."

"You pull it off" Link said.

Cooper blushed.

"Well, you look all good here." The doctor said. "I'll head back. Make sure you're back no later than 6. And if there's anything wrong, you have my number."

Cooper waved her bracelet at him. "I got it."

The doctor smiled. "Alright guys. Have fun." he said, before leaving. The nurse hugged Cooper briefly before leaving too. That just left the three of us.

"You ready to head off?" I asked.

"Yep! I don't think I've ever been more excited to get out of a place in my life." Cooper said.

"Well, then, let's go!" Link said with a smile.

We started heading out of the lobby. Cooper was slow, even with crutches.

"So, why the crutches?" I asked.

"Well, the doctors tried to get me in a wheelchair, and I told them that there was no chance of that happening. So we went back and forth on that for a while. And then they told me crutches, and I was like 'No way, I can just walk.' But then they said that I had to take them or else I couldn't come. So I took them. But truthfully..." Cooper leaned close to us. "I'm dumping them as soon as we get out of here."

Link and I exchanged a glance. "Uh, you don't have to use them, but we'll keep them just in case..." Link said nervously.

Cooper furrowed her brows. "Yeah. Sure. Okay. Whatever."

"So, what kind of stuff do you want to do when we get to my house?" Link asked, changing the subject.

"Uh, I have no idea." Cooper said.

"Well, we obviously can't play a board game..." he said, a grin appearing.

Cooper laughed. She looked a little tired and we weren't even halfway to the car yet.

We reached the elevator and Cooper sat down on the bench. She puffed a little bit. Oh no. We haven't even left the hospital yet.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yes. Yes. Yes. Definitely. I'm fine." She said. sitting up. "I'm just a little...out of shape. That's all."

"Alrighty then. But if you're feeling tired, make sure you tell us, okay?" I said.

"Man. Doctor Anderson has really gotten to you guys, hasn't he?"

Link and I both laughed. Cooper chuckled. "He has a bit of a habit of exaggerating."

"We got that when he decided to tell us about what to do if you fell from over 20 feet" Link said.

Cooper laughed hysterically. "He did that?"

"Yep. And what to do if you were bitten by a mosquito." I added.

Cooper laughed and laughed and laughed. She had to wipe her eyes.

The elevator dinged finally and we all went inside. It only took a few seconds to go up 3 floors. We walked slowly to the car, where I sat in the back with Cooper while Link drove.

"You ready for an awesome day?" I asked.

Cooper smiled. "Way more than ready."