"You took the wrong turning, idiot" Arthur pouted as the windscreen wipers of Merlin's battered car swished furiously.
"Only because you sent me that way, prat" Merlin gritted out. Arthur's sense of direction was nearly as bad as his patience, which had worn thin.
"If you hadn't got lost we wouldn't be in this mess" Arthur half shouted. Merlin barely flinched, barely. Arthur raised his voice a lot; years of not being listened to had taken its toll on him. But he'd rarely shout when Merlin was driving, he generally knew better than that.
They were on a thin country lane that looked as if it would be hazardous in the daylight. But now, dark, ominous clouds hung low and angry, rain pounded the roof of their car.
"Can you find where we are on the map?" Merlin asked as calmly as he could right now, which, as it turned out, was not very calm at all.
Arthur squinted at the map, but it was no good. It was just too dark, and there wasn't anywhere to pull over. The tension grew in the car, thick and taught.
They'd been to see Uther and his new wife; Catrina. Uther, unfortunately, did not approve of Arthur and Merlin's relationship, and Catrina supported his views fully, even suggesting cutting Arthur out of the will.
Merlin had tried desperately to calm Arthur down, but it was in vain. All Arthur needed to do now was rant and slam a few doors, which he wouldn't do until they got back to the flat that seemed a million miles away. Apart from directions, and cutting remarks about Arthur's awful sense of direction, they didn't speak.
Merlin sighed, and – reluctantly – tried talking to Arthur again in a soothing tone that you would use on an injured bird.
"Look, Arthur, I know it seems bad, but he'll come around. He won't cut you out his will, you're his only son'
Arthur glared at him, shaking with rage. "And what the hell do you know about it? You don't know what he will and will not do you complete idiot" Arthur snapped. Merlin gritted his teeth and said no more about the situation.
Sometime later, Arthur's shrill ringtone cut through the stony silence.
"Are you going to answer it?" Merlin asked after a few beats.
Arthur turned to glare at Merlin "No I'm not going to answer it, will you just shut up and keep –" He was cut off by a horn blaring. Looking up, he saw the other car, a sturdy four by four heading towards them at an alarming speed. Merlin tried to break, but it was too late. There wasn't enough time before the four by four slammed into the front of them. The sickening sound of metal colliding turned his stomach. Arthur put his hand out to stop himself flying forward. There was a crunch of bones, then nothing.
He wasn't out for long. Slowly, he opened his eyes. His wrist killed and his head was pounding. He was aware of the smoke coming from the car and sound of an alarm somewhere, he looked out to see the four by four had fared much better than Merlin's old Ford.
Merlin.
He looked over to the driver's seat, and his heart sank. Merlin was slumped against the wheel, an alarming amount of blood pouring down his face in a steady stream.
"No" His voice was shaky as hot tears dripped down his cheeks. "Please, god no" He shook Merlin gently, then quickly pulled his hand away. He shouldn't move him, what if he's broken his neck? His back? It was all too horrible to think about. His breaths were slow and shallow, but he was still breathing.
"Sir, sir! Are you hurt?" It was a woman's voice. He looked over to the window. A woman stood trying to pry open the door with no luck.
"My boyfriend, he's not waking up" Arthur croaked. "Why isn't he waking up?"
"I've called for an ambulance sir, they'll be here soon. I checked on the driver of the other car but..." She trailed off, biting her lip.
"But?" Arthur prompted.
"It smells like alcohol, I think he's drunk" She said in a quiet voice.
He couldn't take it in, he looked back to Merlin. He was so pale, and there was so much blood, what if he was...what if he...no.
"Oh god" He cried, "I – I told him to shut up, before we crashed, before he...I didn't mean it, Merlin, not like this, please, please wake up, Merlin!" He stroked Merlin's hair, hoping to god he'd wake up, hoping he'd do anything.
"It's alright" The woman soothed. "The ambulance is coming"
After what seemed like a lifetime, the sound of sirens filled the air, and Arthur was lying on a stretcher, being carted off to hospital. He wanted to stay, he be here with Merlin, he didn't want to him to wake up alone. He tried to protest, but it was too hard to speak, too hard to keep his eyes open...
He woke up to the sound of his heartbeat beeping on a cold machine. He checked himself over mentally before even attempting to open his eyes. His head was pounding like a drum, and his arm hurt. He felt bruised and battered. Slowing, gingerly, he opened his eyes. He was in a sterile white hospital room.
"Oh Arthur" It was his father's voice. He sounded ragged, like he'd been crying. "I thought I'd lost you"
"What happened?" Arthur asked trying to sit up. Gently, Uther pushed him back down.
"I'll get the doctor" Uther gave him a stern look. "Do not move"
Arthur nodded weakly, and waited for the doctor.
He had a broken arm, a nasty concussion, and was generally bruised, but other than that, the doctor assured his he was fine.
"What about Merlin?" He asked feebly.
The doctor, and old man named Gaius, raised a single white eyebrow. "His mother's with him" Was all he got. "Now, I'll give you some painkillers for your head and your arm, and I've got a leaflet somewhere about concussion...but we'll see you in six weeks for a check up"
"Thank you, Doctor" Uther said. "We appreciate your help"
Gaius nodded and walked out the door.
"What's happened to Merlin?"
Uther gave him a long look. "I'm afraid he wasn't as lucky as you. Last I heard he was still in surgery"
"Surgery" Arthur repeated in shock. "Why, what's wrong, is he okay? What's happened to him?"
"I don't know" Uther said calmly. "I'm not family, they wouldn't tell me"
He was shaking; visions of Merlin slumped against the wheel of his car, crimson blood rushing down in pale face. No.
"I've got to see him, I need to make sure he's okay"
"There will be plenty of time for that, son, but you need rest"
"No, I won't rest until I've seen him, until I know what's happened to him."
Uther sighed. "You really care for this boy?"
"Of course I do, Father what will it take for you to believe that I love him, with all my heart I love him, and I can't lose him, not now"
"Okay" Uther said, defeated. "Get dressed, we'll pick up your painkillers and find out where Merlin is"
His father led the way to the ICU, Where Merlin lay on a small bed, covered in tubes and wires, connected to all sorts of monitors. Hunith sat in a chair next to him, holding his hand.
"What's wrong with him?" Arthur asked quietly, not taking his eyes off Merlin, who looked so small and fragile lying there. Had he always been so skinny?
Hunith jumped at Arthur's voice. "Arthur! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there" She wiped the tears from her cheeks and smiled warmly.
"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have just barged in but, I couldn't, I didn't know if..."
"What are his injuries?" Uther interjected.
Hunith drew in a shaky breath. "His – his skull is fractured and he was haemorrhaging, he's in a coma, they don't know if he'll wake up. His ribs are broken and his lung was punctured and his leg – oh lord I've never seen such a state" She began to weep again, clinging onto Merlin's hand. "My baby, oh my baby, please come back"
Arthur put his arm around her. "He's strong, Hunith, he'll be fine, he'll wake up" He wasn't sure who he was trying to assure, but he hoped to god he was right.
Nurses came and went, Merlin was carted off to more scans and x-rays and whatever else.
Arthur waited, and waited, and waited.
It had been a week. A whole week he'd sat by Merlin's side, not moving. The doctor had said they didn't know if Merlin could hear them, but he told them to talk to him anyway. So Hunith and Arthur talked. About anything, shared memories and little bits of gossip. They begged him to come back.
And, finally, after a week of waiting, things began to look up. The swelling on his brain was going down, he was slowly getting better.
It was another three days before he showed any sign of life. It was 3 in the morning, Hunith had gone home for the night, and Arthur was talking in a hushed tone, clinging onto Merlin's hand for dear life.
"Come on, you idiot, wake up, we need you, I need you. I know I don't always show you, but I do need you, I love you. If you didn't wake up, I don't know what I'd do"
A squeeze.
A barely noticeable squeeze.
"Merlin?"
Another squeeze.
Merlin's eyes flickered
"Ar" He tried
"Shh, shh, it's okay, I'm here" he said through the lump in his throat. Tears threatened to fall, but he didn't care. Merlin was alive, he was awake.
"Arthur" He tried again, his voice weak.
"I'm here" He laughed. "I'll go get the doctor"
"Wha happened?" He whispered
"Don't worry, I'll explain later"
Gaius smiled as he checked over Merlin's chart, listing his injuries
"You gave us quite a scare there. Now, with head injuries like yours, it's likely you'll suffer some pretty nasty side effects, but don't worry; we're keeping you here for now. As for your leg, my boy, you're lucky they didn't amputate it. You're going to have to have more surgery on that, and plenty of physio if you're ever going to walk on it again; but it is possible. Now your ribs will hurt for a few weeks, but they're healing nicely"
Merlin smiled "Thank you, Doctor"
Arthur, who was standing in the corner of the room, nodded at Gaius.
"No problem, it's nice to see you awake. I'll get the nurse to bring you something for the pain" He lifted his eyebrow, and walked out.
It was silent for a few minutes, Arthur didn't know what to say, he didn't know how much Merlin remembered.
"Are you okay?" Merlin asked quietly, looking over Arthur.
Arthur took a deep breath. "Fine, broken arm and a concussion, I fared much better than you, I'm afraid to say."
Merlin frowned. "Don't say that" he snapped. "If anything was to happen to you, and it was my fault, I'd never forgive myself"
Arthur walked over to the bed, gently cradling his face. "God Merlin, I thought I'd lost you. You were just slumped against the wheel, you were so pale, and there was much blood! You were barely breathing; I thought for sure that you were gone. They had to cut you out your goddamn car and they wouldn't let me stay, they wouldn't me see you. When i woke up, all they'd tell me was that you were in surgery" He'd started to cry, the thought of it still made him sick. "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry, i told you to shit, I never meant it, I didn't mean" He cut off, the words stuck in his throat.
"It's okay" Merlin said, wiping away his tears tenderly. "I'm here, I'm fine, really. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, I promise."
Arthur pressed a kiss against his lips. It was over far too quickly, but there would be plenty of time for that later, when Merlin was better.
"Come on, Merlin" Arthur called. "There's a taxi waiting"
Merlin hobbled out the bedroom on his silver crutched, which in the past three months, he'd gotten pretty used to. His leg hadn't healed yet. His knee has shattered, and he'd fractured his ankle. He'd had pins put in around his knee, and the whole experience was unbelievably painful, but he was grateful to be alive.
He never did remember the accident, not fully, and Arthur thanked god for small miracles.
They were both dressed in their best suits for Gwen and lances wedding. Arthur had complained about how ridiculous weddings are, and Merlin just smiled ridiculously at him.
At the reception, they sat back and watched the newlywed couple dance their first dance, and Arthur kissed Merlin's cheek. "You know" He said in a low voice "I wouldn't mind one of these, when you're better, of course."
Merlin raised his eyebrows. "What, a dance?"
"No, you idiot, a wedding, a marriage, you, and me, getting married"
"Are you serious?" Merlin deadpanned.
Arthur scoffed. "Are you turning me down?"
"No, no, it's just that you've been complaining about weddings all day, now suddenly you want one?"
"Not suddenly, I've been thinking about it for a while, now come on, will you marry me or not?"
Merlin grinned, he was ridiculously beautiful when he did that. "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes" He said in his best princess voice. Arthur smirked.
"I think you'll look great in a big white dress, idiot"
"Prat"