Mr Arthur Pendragon was busy; life was never quiet in the hospital, not even at the weekends. He was just glad that as a consultant he only had to be on call every third weekend. Gone were the days when on call meant working twenty hours out of twenty four. Being a Consultant had some perks. Unfortunately today this weekend was busy and his on call and turned out to be more like on duty. But he figured that's what you got for deciding on medicine as a career. He loved his job it was something he had always wanted to do, much to his father's disgust. He could remember clearly the day he told his father he didn't want to be a lawyer and join the family firm.
Arthur was hoping to be home by five o'clock. He had promised take his wife out tonight. They were planning to meet up with their friends for the Saturday night get together. It looked like they would all be able to make it. He had just finished the last operation planned for that day, and it was only two thirty.
It was a rare thing when all the friends could get together but they nearly all worked shifts. Most of his friends seemed to either work in healthcare or the police service. He supposed that was one of the reasons they had all become friends in the first place. It was surprising how often they came into contact due to their jobs. At least they understood the concept of working all hours. His best friend would be there tonight. He had known Merlin since he was ten and Merlin had been eight. Who would have guessed all those years ago they would both work in healthcare. He hadn't been surprised when Merlin decided to become a paramedic after all he was following in his father's footsteps.
Arthur wouldn't be able to drink as he was still on call until ten o'clock but hopefully if anything else came in his registrar would be able to cope with it. He made his way to the theatre restroom to get a cup of coffee before having a shower and go home. As he got there he was greeted by one of the obstetrics registrars, he had been hoping to miss her. She knew he was happily married but seemed to think he was fair game. He wished she fancied the dark and brooding type. Unfortunately, as she frequently told him, she liked blonde hair and blue eyes which made him a target. Arthur decided to go to his office and make his own coffee and left as soon as he could. He knew Gwen would be waiting for him.
Ten miles away Merlin was excited, today was the day. He had the same days off, the first time in ages, as Freya his girlfriend. Both worked shifts over seven days, he was a paramedic and Freya was an A&E nurse, it didn't make things easy. But today he had made the most of it; he had asked her to marry him. They had been childhood sweethearts but at long last he had enough saved for a deposit on a small house. All the shifts and weekends had been worth it.
So he had taken Freya to the New Forest. They both loved going for walks there and then afterwards he took her to her favourite restaurant for lunch and proposed. She had said yes. He had given the proposal a great deal of thought. He had nearly got the ring first but he knew she would love to help him pick it. So instead he had asked her without the ring.
Now they were going to buy the ring before telling their families. Tonight they were going out with their friends and could share their news with everyone. He knew Arthur would be pleased he had been telling Merlin to make Freya a happy woman for the last year. It was a pity Freya's brother was not in the country but they had decided to skype him later.
Merlin and Freya were driving towards Camelot the nearest town to the small village they had both been brought up in. Freya was sitting beside him and was happy and smiling. Every so often she put her hand on his knee. Not enough to distract him from his driving but it was nice. Both of them were fed up with living with their parents and wanted to be together. They had both decided they didn't want a big wedding that would take months to plan. Instead they would get married in three months when they had already booked of a fortnight's holiday. The money a big wedding would cost would be better spent on their new home.
It wasn't surprising they both had the same ideas about such things. They had known each other for seven years, and had become something of a joke with their friends. But they had both wanted to have the deposit for their own place before getting married. They also both wanted to finish their training and be settled in jobs.
