Set before season 5, AU. I do not own Merlin.
The Court Physician- Chapter 1
Gaius waved his hand in a small motion toward the door he held open, "Just have your boy drink a small portion of that each morning for the next three days and the coughing should be gone by the week's end."
The woman who held the small vial of light green liquid between her index finger and thumb paused just outside the frame, " I cannot thank you enough Sir. It means the world to me."
Gaius smiled uncomfortably, "Tis no trouble Ma'am, it has been my job for more years than I care to say."
The woman laughed a little, more for Gaius's benefit than for discovering actual mirth in the comment. "Well, you certainly deserve all the credit you are given. You are so good to the people of this kingdom. My Mathew, for instance."
"Yes, thank you Ma'am, but, hadn't you said previously that your son's name was August?"
Without a pause she continued, "Yes, he passed a few years ago from a fever. You called on him as well, although he did not fare so well as August has."
Gaius face grew dim. "Ah. That was five years ago wasn't it? That was a bad time, we lost many good souls those months. I am so sorry about your eldest-"
"He was not my eldest!" She nearly spat. Then her face, which had been struck with a look of pure fury was mutilated into one of abject curtesy. "Forgive me, but he was my youngest-my baby."
Recovering from the woman's outburst the elderly healer stated. "A true tragedy Madam, indeed. That medication needs to be delivered quickly though so, please." He gestured to the door once more.
"Of course." She halted once more with one foot out the door and turned back, much to Giaus's displeasure. "I had nearly forgotten! This is for you." She held out a small cloth wrapped object, which Gaius was weary to accept. She thrust it into his hands. "Please! It is bread. I baked it for you this morning; it is a very small token of my… gratitude."
Gaius tried to pull his face into a look of appreciation but could not manage one too convincing. "Thank you Madam."
Percival strode through the castle on his way deliver some herbs to Gaius before heading to the training fields. It was a task intended for Merlin that the knight had graciously accepted when Arthur's furious voice echoed off of the stone walls the young servant's name. He caught a glance out one of the high windows and paused for a minute to look out at the rambling streets, so grateful to belong to such a place-
Something had knocked him off balance. He looked behind him and saw the skirt of a woman flying down the stairs. "Sorry!" He strained to yell after her, although he was mostly convinced it was not his fault. The woman neither halted, nor replied so Percival rotated and continued the long climb to the top of the tower with his sac of plants he could never possibly learn all the names of.
"Sir" he said while rapping on the door a little harder than he intended. He knocked again, softer, "Gaius I have the herbs you sent Merlin for. It seems he got himself in a tiny bit of trouble with our King but, ha, I can't seem to be able to remember a time when he wasn't. Sir?" Percival placed his ear close to the door in order to hear the response.
What reached his ear was a tiny noise- one he recognized. It sent a bolt of frozen lightning strait down the warrior's spine and forced every hair on his arm to repel the skin it so normally enjoyed the company of. He tore the door open and saw the old man he had come to admire sprawling on the dusty floor. The horrible rasping coming from deep inside Gaius's chest pulled his mind back to darker days. Without a moment's hesitation he flew down the stairs in search of the scrawny man who he believed to be the only hope for Gaius. Percival chased through the halls yelling for Merlin, trying to push from his mind the familiar sound of a man struggling, drawing his final breaths.
Just three days prior Merlin had endured complaints about his mentor's left knee from dawn to dusk; so (Merlin tried to convince in his own mind) it's not that he didn't know that Gaius was reaching the end of his life. Still, the young man who had been taken into his care just a few short years ago had not been prepared to see his mentor struggling to sustain breath.
"How is he?" Merlin nearly jumped. He had not realized Arthur had come in. Merlin sucked in a breath and turned away from his futile efforts at the workbench to glance at his fading mentor. The old man's chest rose less than half an inch then fell again, too far down.
He tried to compose a positive report, one worthy all of his years spent training as both the king's fool and a healer's assistant-but his shoulder's just sagged with the next fall of Gaius's chest. With the help of his friends Merlin had moved the man to his bed to make him comfortable and applied every remedy he could think of, but nothing had not even come close to stirring Gaius from his sleep. "Any minute now." Merlin spoke somberly; it was the only response he could manufacture.
However, this seemed to be an inefficient amount of information for Arthur. "Any minute now…? He'll what? Wake up?" He has now standing off to Merlin's right. The workbench Merlin was gripping for support prevented him from moving closer and seeing his friend's face. "Merlin!" He exclaimed as he grew frustrated. Arthur gripped his thin shoulder and yanked him around. "Answer me, you incompetent fool! In a few minutes he'll what?!"
It was too late that he noticed the tears that escaped the young man's eyes. Merlin never cried. "I'm sorry." Arthur tried to claim his latest mistake. I didn't know- I hadn't realized-I should have…" He finally stopped talking and waited for Merlin to accept the only apology he could manage. Merlin drew in a shaky breath before looking up, into the face of his king.
"I have tried everything Arthur. Everything I know, everything I have ever seen, heard, or read! Nothing has even had an effect! I have no idea what the cause is; I can't ask a comatose man his symptoms. How can I treat something I don't know!? How?" He begged desperately. "How?"
"I do not know," the king returned miserably. The two stood in silence a moment, faces both turned to the sickbed.
"You should keep him company," Arthur suggested, "I would be a comfort to him."
"I've been told I'm terrible company." Arthur could not tell whether Merlin was attempting a joke or is he seriously doubted his vital role in Gaius's life.
"Well that may be true to the majority of Camelot, not to mention the entirety of Britain, but I can say with confidence that you, alone, are the company Gaius would have requested, was he able." And with that he moved a chair to the lonely bedside and forced Merlin down into it.
When Gaius's chest refused to refill with air once more Merlin leaned forward so far Arthur was afraid he would fall from the chair and crash into Gaius's body. He placed his hand back on Merlin's shoulder to keep him in place and also to convey some form of comfort. He knew what it was to lose a father, and though Gaius and Merlin were far from related the relationship had always been quite clear to those that knew the two.
Finally Merlin spoke, but the words were not any of the ones Arthur had been preparing himself for. "What will the kingdom do without him?" Fortunately, surprising both king and servant, Arthur had an answer:
"They have you. That will have to be enough."