Merlin doesn't belong to me

Waiting for Guinevere

Arthur Pendragon was in a bad mood; which meant that the operating theatre was quiet - deathly quiet. His bad mood, though, didn't interfere with his ability to do his job with his usual meticulous care and skill, but it was making life hard for those in attendance as he snapped and snarled his way through a splenectomy. He vented his anger on George, the house surgeon who was assisting him and his registrar, Merlin.

Poor George was a clumsy man by nature but Arthur's mood made him even worse, and he dropped things, loosened the retractors when they should have been tightened, used the wrong scissors and generally made the already tense operating room even tenser. He cut close to the stitch that Arthur had just made, so that it was no longer a stitch, and before Arthur could shout at him even more, Merlin, who was as cool as a cucumber and quite used to Arthur's rages, stepped in and took over.

Guinevere, Arthur's theatre sister, was also quite used to Arthur's temper, and she quickly took the scissors from George, and gave him a swab to hold and then threaded another needle ready for the stitches. A sniff made her look around the theatre, and she saw Freya, a new theatre sister, in tears.

"Sir," she told Arthur, as she handed him the needle, "you've made one of my nurses cry."

"Really," Arthur didn't look up from his work, "if she's crying then her constitution is not strong enough and she had no business being here."

"She is qualified for her job," Guinevere told him, "and has a strong constitution, but when you're angry you're rather amazing."

Merlin snickered.

Arthur looked up from his work and although Guinevere couldn't see his face she knew that he was smiling.

"That is rather disrespectful of you, isn't it, Sister?"

"I'm sorry you think so," Guinevere told him, "but I can't have you scare my nurses."

"I know, we're all lucky to have you here, Guinevere."

At his use of her name there was a collective sigh of relief in the theatre. Merlin winked at Guinevere; everything was now back to normal. George took back the scissors from Guinevere and the operation soon drew to a close.

000

"What's with you this morning?" Merlin asked his friend as they cleaned up after the surgery.

"What do you mean?"

"Shouting at poor George like that," Merlin reminded him, "it was totally unnecessary."

"In case you didn't notice," Arthur said, "he was handing me the wrong instruments and basically doing everything wrong."

"Still, all that name calling," Merlin told him, "it was a bit much."

Arthur just grunted.

"And you made Freya cry," Merlin added.

"I wondered when you'd bring that up," Arthur laughed.

"It's as though you want the nurses to cry," Merlin told him.

"It's not my fault that they cry when people shout at them," Arthur said, "and I didn't even say a word to Freya."

"What's going on?" Merlin asked again.

"Nothing."

Merlin wasn't convinced but he let it pass. He would find out soon enough.

000

Guinevere oversaw the cleaning of the theatre. She didn't really have to but she always ensured that a theatre was up to scratch after she used it. After that she sought out Freya, she explained to the tearful girl that Mr. Pendragon's bark was worse than his bite and that she would get used to him and do her work well.

She made her way to the break room and found that whole surgical team was still there taking their tea. She was about to join them when the door opened and Valiant de Winter, the Medical Registrar, and more importantly her fiancé, walked in. They had been engaged for about three days now and they planned to marry, a few months later, in December.

"Hey," he greeted her with a kiss, "I missed you this morning."

"I told you I had an early op," she answered.

Valiant took a cup from the cupboard and joined his colleagues at the table, easily joining in the conversation.

000

"They're just dating."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Arthur replied.

"Gwen and Valiant," Merlin persisted, "they're not married yet; they're just dating."

"Their marital status means nothing to me," Arthur said.

"I see how you look at her," Merlin told him, "everyone with eyes sees how you look at her, it's a wonder she doesn't know."

"Know what?"

"That you feel something for her."

"Guinevere's great," Arthur defended himself, "and I like her but that's all."

"So why did you look like you were about to throw up when Val entered the breakroom?"

"I didn't," Arthur denied.

He had been excited early that morning as he made his way to the hospital; he loved his job and it was even better when Guinevere was there to assist. He was walking through the corridors to his office before going to the theatre when he ran into Leon Masters, a radiologist and friend.

"It seems you're going to need a new theatre sister soon," Leon said.

"Why? What's wrong with Guinevere?"

"She's getting married," Leon was all smiles, "it seems dear old Val finally popped the question and she said yes."

"Really?" Arthur's voice was cold but Leon didn't seem to notice.

"Yeah, about two days ago I hear," Leon continued, "it hasn't hit the grapevine yet but the wedding's set for December. I'm so happy for them."

"That's good news," his voice suggested that it was anything but.

"Good luck in there," Leon walked off.

Arthur realised that Merlin was looking at him. "They're engaged, actually," he told his friend.

"What?"

"Guinevere and Valiant," Arthur said, "they're getting married in December."

"I see." Now he understood his friend's mood.

"I think I'll join my father for lunch today," Arthur said.

"Really?"

"Like you pointed out yesterday, it's been a while and he is my father after all," Arthur forced a smile. "See you later."

000