Mythical Link ▸ Link Neal {Book One}

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Link opened his eyes, the side of his face plastered to the cold floor. He pushed himself up with a groan, and looked up just in time to see several nurses and a doctor whir past him. He tilted his head to the side as he struggled to move to his feet, his entire body aching from hitting the floor. Once he was successfully to his feet, he began meandering toward the nearest nurse who was looking a chart over with a perplexed look on her face. Her strawberry blond hair was pulled back in an eloquently neat bun, revealing her soft features. Link took a deep breath before talking, not really knowing what he should say and not really wanting to interrupt the nurse from whatever she was doing.

"Excuse me miss, can you tell me how I ended up here?" He felt like he sounded stupid asking that question, but he looked down at her clothing and felt like something was extremely off. She was donning a white dress that hugged her chest and hips, but was otherwise flowy. From what he could see, it was made with the same material that scrubs were made from, which he was familiar with. But this wasn't typical nurse's apparel that you would find in the 2000s. He arched an eyebrow, waiting for her response, but she never looked up from the chart to acknowledge his presence once. Did she even know he was standing there? He gasped when she set the chart down and seemingly walked right through him, as if he was a ghost.

Her indifference to him really rattled him to his core, and he spun around with his eyes wide, trying to figure out exactly where he was and why. Had he actually died and didn't realize it? Frantic, he ran down the hall hollering and waving his arms to get somebody's attention. Anybody's attention. He skidded to a stop when he overheard a doctor talking with a nurse.

"She's about to have her twins," said the nurse, and Link narrowed his eyes. Who's about to have her twins? They took off down the hall toward the elevator, which would bring them upstairs to the maternity ward according to the sign. Link trailed off after them, his curiosity piqued. Why would he only happen to hear that part of the conversation, unless he was actually meant to hear it? Maybe it could bear some clues as to why he was here. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him to keep up with them, and the bright side to being in the ghostly form was that he didn't have to dodge the oncoming traffic when he could just coast right through them.

Just as the elevator doors opened and allowed the nurse and doctor entry, Link sped up and just nearly missed them closing before he fell into the elevator, smacking his chin off of the furthest wall. He let out a groan and fell limp on the floor for a few minutes, before bringing himself up to his feet again. He leaned against the metal railing, gasping for breath. On either side of him was the nurse and the doctor, the doctor looking nervous as he locked his hands behind his back. The doctor finally broke the creepy silence and startled him in more ways than one, so much so that he jumped.

"Hopefully we're not going to be too late. There was a good chance that one of the twins weren't going to make it."

Link felt instantly sorry for the woman, and for this older doctor because he seemed so distraught about it. Naturally because it was in their nature to heal. Link couldn't do what they do because he'd find himself growing too attached to the patients, and being heartbroken time and time again when they became too sick and passed away.

The elevator stopped on the fifth floor and the doors opened up, everyone high tailing it out of the elevator. The sense of urgency that crackled through the air was electric, and Link found himself pulling at his collar as he ran. They stopped in front of this humongous wooden door at the very end of the hall, the doctor opening it and disappearing inside with the nurse. Link wasn't comfortable running into some random lady's room while she was about to have her babies, so he was content with standing outside the door. He lowered himself to the floor and pondered exactly what was happening as he stared out the large windows that overlooked the city. What city, he didn't know.

He didn't remember how it happened at first, but then it hit him. He was with Mercedes and she told him to scream. Did she make him travel back in time again? That was the question, given the 70's garb the doctors and nurses were donning, along with the old style equipment they used. That would make sense why they weren't responding to him. He just needed to know why.

A rush of people filed in and around the halls as he watched. He half expected to hear screaming coming out of the room, but when he didn't hear it, his curiosity chewed him up. He hoisted himself to his feet and without a second thought, clasped the cool handle of the door and forced entry. There were no other sounds other than the soft crying of a baby. One baby, not two. Link stopped in front of the woman holding the baby, tears pooling down her tired face. Everything came crashing down around him in a hurry, sending him in a tizzy of nausea so fierce he had to swallow back his bile.

His chest tightened, breathing becoming labored. He experienced numbness of his extremities, including around his mouth as it hung open in absolute shock. His heart flooded with so many emotions that it beat unbearably fast, one of the most predominant emotions being his anxiety. He fumbled to catch a breath so that he could form a coherent thought in front of his mother.

His eyes lowered to the baby in her arms again, a hospital blanket swaddling his little body. That was Link, and he could all but blink back the tears that threatened to pool over his eyes. He started moving toward the hospital bed, bringing his hand up to his mouth. Watching as the child's chest rapidly rose and fell, its nostrils flaring, he knew what this meant. These were the things he experienced before he was about to scream, and finally, the baby started to scream. It was a wail so ear piercing that he had to cover his ears, and the tears streamed his cheeks as he watched the baby turn red from exhausting all of the air in its lungs. He honestly looked like he was going to collapse his lungs if he continued to scream any longer.

"Help, somebody help!" Link cried out, his face contorted with anguish as he gripped the side of the bed and collapsed to his knees. "He's going to die if somebody doesn't help him! He's going to... He's... I'm... Please," he pleaded, breaking down into sobs. Suddenly the door flew open and several nurses rushed into the room, followed by the doctor that was in the elevator. One of the nurses took the baby into her arms and began walking him out of the room, and Link whipped around and yanked himself up to his feet to follow her when he froze.

Standing in the doorway was a much younger Mercedes, and she stepped toward the hospital bed. He watched her every move as she took Sue's hand into hers. Sue was crying, but she wasn't in hysterics like her son was. The doctor was working on fixing her IV as the strawberry blond haired nurse smoothed her hand across Sue's forehead.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart," Mercedes spoke softly, squeezing Sue's hand. She shook her head, lowering her eyes. "He knew. The boy knew that his sister wouldn't make it. It's incredible," she began to lower her voice in barely an audible whisper. "The only male Banshee to ever exist in the face of supernatural history."

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