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The first thing he registered was pain. Burning, hot pain coming from his abdomen and it had him gasping out in shock at its intensity.
Almost as soon as he let out the little gasp, a hand was on his shoulder offering comfort. Merlin didn’t know who it was, or where he was since his eyes were still tightly closed.
He let out a few steadying breaths before realizing whoever had a hand on his shoulder was talking, saying comforting and encouraging things. He thought the voice sounded familiar but he didn’t dwell on it, too busy trying to breathe.
‘It’s going to be alright, Gaius will be back soon, just breathe, Merlin.’ The voice said gently with an undercurrent of worry.
Gaius? Gaius was here? Did that mean he was in Camelot? He was on a bed that felt similar to his.
He didn’t know what had happened or why he felt horrible but one thing was for sure, Arthur, the knights, and him went out for a border patrol and now he’s in bed at Camelot injured.
However, his injury wasn’t why he scrambled up and blinked open his eyes, ignoring the pain and the shout of shock from the person next to him - it was the thought that his friends could be injured too.
He looked over quickly, mouth falling open from shock after meeting the bright blue eyes of King Arthur.
Arthur looked equally shocked before seemingly snapping himself out of it, and gently pushing Merlin back down.
Merlin let him, looking over the king swiftly to make sure he wasn’t badly injured.
‘Lay down, idiot or you’ll just make it worse.’ His voice was soft and his eyes betrayed the king’s concern.
Merlin muttered out a quiet, ‘Arthur?’
The king’s eyes widened slightly in alarm. ‘Are you here, Merlin?’
The manservant squinted at the stupid question, ‘Of course I’m here, where else would I be?’
Arthur let out a sigh of relief before getting up off the stool he had been positioned on. He walked around the bed and grabbed a pitcher and a cup before pouring out some water and helping Merlin drink it.
The warlock hadn’t realized how thirsty he was until he was begging for seconds and thirds.
After the fourth cup, Arthur put the pitcher back down with a stern, ‘That’s enough, Merlin. We don’t need you to get sick as well.’
Now that his throat felt better and the aching in his stomach somewhat calmed down he watched as Arthur sat back down on the stool.
‘What happened?’
‘You don’t remember?’ Arthur kept a blank face but Merlin could tell he wasn’t happy with his manservant’s question.
‘I know we went on a border patrol… did we get attacked by an animal or did I somehow fall on a rock and impale myself?’ The bed bound man hoped that the last question would make his king at least smile but had no such luck.
He wasn’t wearing a shirt and through all the fuss, the blanket that covered him had fallen to his waist. A white bandage was wrapped around his midsection with a small red stain around where it hurt most.
Arthur continued to look at Merlin with a frown, ‘We were attacked by bandits.’
‘Oh.’
‘It seems there was an archer hiding in the trees and he managed to hit you.’ Arthur swallowed and Merlin listened a little dumbly.
How could he let a simple archer get the better of him? More importantly, why couldn’t he remember any of this?
‘You were.. pretty beat up.’ Arthur’s voice faded out before, ‘Do you remember anything other than the border patrol?’
Merlin shook his head slowly, alarm seeping into him and making his heart rate spike, ‘Sorry, Arthur.’ He kept his voice as steady as he could.
The king cleared his throat and Merlin knew Arthur was done talking about emotions, especially when the king put on a neutral look. ‘Well, this little stunt you pulled Merlin has gotten you a few days off.’
‘Really?’ Merlin asked, a little stunned, whatever had happened must’ve really shook Arthur up. Or he’s allowing himself time to figure out what to do with you A small voice supplied but the manservant pushed it down.
If Arthur knew, he surely wouldn’t be this nice right now.
Arthur’s voice ringing throughout the room made him blink back into reality. ‘Yes and I don’t expect to see you out of these chambers during your time off, do you hear me. That means no tavern time with Gwaine and no trying to help any servants with their chores.’
Great. He was stuck in the physician’s chambers for a few days. ‘Fine,’ he grumbled before adding a small ‘clotpole.’
Act normal and wait to ask Gaius about what happened.
Arthur chose to ignore the last of his manservants sentence and merely smirked before standing and stretching. ‘I have important kingly business to intend too,’ Arthur walked towards the door and opened it before turning to look back at Merlin, ‘Be safe, Merlin.’
Arthur quickly shut the door behind him, leaving a conflicted Merlin on the bed.
Just after Arthur left, Merlin was in and out of consciousness until he heard some shuffling in the main chambers. He lifted his head slightly and blinked before sluggishly calling out, ‘Hello?’
It didn’t take long for Gaius to come bustling in, putting a hand onto his ward’s forehead and smiling at the lack of warmth.
‘Welcome back, dear boy. Arthur said you had woken up earlier but I didn’t want to bother you.’
‘What happened, Gaius?’ Merlin said, still sleepy.
The physician’s face dropped and he shook his head, ‘You had gotten an infection from the bolt, Leon and Elyan got me as fast as they could but by the time we reached you and Arthur, you were fully delirious.’
Merlin’s face looked grave. ‘Did I say anything..?’ He didn’t have to finish the sentence for Gaius to know what he was asking.
‘Arthur hasn’t said anything about it.’
Merlin let out a sigh of relief. ‘Thank the triple goddess.’
Gais continued, ‘However, the infection took a large toll on your body and you need some good rest to speed its recovery.’
‘Gaius..’ The raven-haired boy whined.
‘No. You’re staying in bed. You may not have a fever but you still look like you could pass out at any moment.
Merlin was tired but he didn’t have to tell Gaius that.
‘How long will I be stuck here?’
‘Until you get better, now get some rest and I’ll make some soup for when you wake up.. Oh!’ Gaius walked over to the drawer and picked up a small vial of green liquid.
Merlin’s tongue shriveled at the thought of the vile tasting medicine hitting his taste buds.
Gaius didn’t say anything as he handed the sick boy the vial and Merlin grudgingly uncapped it and drank it. He coughed and scrunched his nose at the bitter taste.
‘Why can’t it taste like strawberries or blueberries?’
‘Because making berry flavored paste is expensive. Now sleep, my boy.’
Merlin watched as Gaius walked out and closed his door, face still scrunched up. Almost as soon as the door closed, Merlin felt bone-deep exhaustion and distantly wondered if Gaius put a sleeping potion into the concoction as well.
He couldn’t be mad at his mentor if he did, Gaius just wanted what was best for him and that meant sleep so he could recover.
His eyes fluttered closed and soon the warlock was sleeping peacefully.
--
Merlin was violently ripped from his peaceful dozing by a loud and boisterous laugh from the main chambers. Almost instantly, his door swung into the stone wall and Gwaine walked in with a shit-eating grin.
‘Merlin! You’re awake,’ Even though the knight's loud volume hurt his ears, a smile grew on the manservant's face as Gwaine took a seat on the stool that constantly sat next to his bed.
‘Hello to you too, Gwaine.’
‘I heard Princess locked you in here and I thought I could keep you company.’
Merlin arched an eyebrow and said in his most suspicious tone, ‘You just didn’t want to go to training today, didn’t you.’
Gwaine’s face turned a slight red as he laughed and shrugged. ‘Princess wouldn’t be able to argue against visiting my sick and bed-ridden friend!’
Merlin wasn’t sure how much time had passed but the sun was just rising about it’s horizon outside, the signal of a new day.
Merlin laughed along with Gwaine, ignoring how it caused slight pain from jostling his stomach. Gwaine did seem to notice and sobered up quickly.
‘How are you feeling, dear friend?’
‘A lot better than before.’ Merlin answered honestly.
The knight nodded, ‘We were all pretty worried.’
Merlin hated seeing Gwaine being so sad and attempted to cheer his friend up, ‘Atleast I get a few days off.’
It worked somewhat as Gwaine chuckled a bit. ‘I’m glad you’re okay Merlin.’
A yawn escaped the smaller boy before saying ‘Me too.’
‘I’ll leave you be then, I’ll tell Gaius you were awake and I’m sure he’ll try to get you to taste some nasty medicine when you wake up next.’ Gwaine said sympathetically.
‘Great..’ Merlin didn’t have time to ask about where Gwaine would go now that he didn’t have an excuse for training but his eyes fluttered closed before he could dwell further on it and his breathing evened out.
--
The next time Merlin woke up was to something heavenly smelling in the air. He blinked open his eyes and noticed the sun was shining brightly through his window.
He may not have the concept of time down during this whole affair but he was sure the sun was just rising when Gwaine had visited. It made sense since training was early in the morning.
He was so busy looking outside he didn’t notice a certain blonde haired king next to him.
Arthur cleared his throat softly and the raven-haired boy turned quickly. ‘Oh, Arthur!’
‘Hello Merlin,’ The king lifted a small bowl and sheepishly said ‘I have some soup, if you’d like.’
That’s what was smelling so good, Merlin realized. ‘That smells so good… did Gaius make it?’
Arthur laughed, ‘Straight from the royal kitchens, cook hopes you feel better.’
Merlin’s cheeks heated up at knowing even the cook was worried about him.
Arthur put the bowl down and helped Merlin sit up, wincing when his injured friend cried out a little. ‘Still hurts?’ The blonde asked guiltily.
Merlin picked up on the tone quickly and shook his head. ‘This wasn’t your fault Arthur.’
The older boy only nodded but Merlin was too tired to fight about it right now. He’d make sure to tell Arthur this wasn’t his fault when he was better and in less pain.
Arthur helped Merlin bring the spoonful of soup to his mouth and Merlin was so entranced by the taste he didn’t have time to be embarrassed about the king helping him eat. He could’ve sworn he’s never tasted anything so good in his life.
After finishing the bowl, Arthur set it back down. ‘You look a lot better,’
‘I feel a lot better. Can’t wait to get out of this bed, I’m incredibly bored.’
Arthur huffed, ‘Tell me about it, if I hear one more brass joke..’
Merlin laughed loudly, not caring if it jostled his stomach. Arthur floundered a bit, trying to defend himself but soon the pair was caught in a fit of giggles.
After wiping tears from both their eyes, Arthur took a breath.
Turning a bit more serious, but still in a joking manner. Arthur regarded Merlin for a moment. ‘Next time we go to do anything, and I mean anything, I’m making you carry a full first-aid kit and I’ll figure out a way to get you armor that isn’t too heavy. It seems anytime we go out anymore, you always seem to get hurt. I can’t decide if it’s your clumsy nature that does it or if you are just really bad luck.’
‘Maybe both,’ Merlin stated, taking a moment to think about it. ‘Anyway, I’m good without armor, it’ll only cause me to be more clumsy.’
Arthur looked like he wanted to argue but thought better of it. ‘We’ll talk more about it when you’re feeling better.’
The raven-haired boy nodded and turned serious with a somewhat grateful voice, ‘Alright. I’m glad you aren’t replacing me.’
Arthur looked shocked and confused. ‘Replacing,’ He echoed. ‘Why would I be replacing you?’
‘Well… George tells such good jokes about brass, I was concerned!’
Arthur’s face morphed from confused to mock anger so fast that Merlin couldn’t help but choke on his own breaths as he laughed.
‘MERLIN!!’
--
The guards standing outside the physician's chambers shared a glance before bursting into laughter at the two best friends as they continued to argue back and forth about a certain brass loving servant.