AN: Thank you so much again to all of you who took the time to review! I can't believe the reception this fic got, it's unbelievable. I don't know if I've ever had a fic with 97 followers and 48 favorites... That's kind of intimidating to be honest. But thank you so much!

Anyway, part 3/3 for my fic, however I have a bit more to tell you at the bottom...

"Help me get him onto the bed!" Gaius put one of his arms around Merlin's shoulder and lead him to the bed in the middle of the chamber. "What has happened, Sire?"

"He… Er..." Arthur hesitated as Merlin was lowered onto the bed. "He sort of got… Uh.. Stuck in the stocks during the storm."

"He what?" Gaius glanced to quickly.

"Yeah, it was an accident," Arthur looked everywhere but at Gaius. "The man who was supposed to get him out got killed in the attack, and so he was left out there. I thought he was with you."

"And I thought he was with you," Gaius examined Merlin, trying to determine his temperature. "Arthur, I know I shouldn't ask this of you, but do you think you could possibly get me a cool wet rag? I have some rags and water over there. It's for the fever. I'm afraid he has quite a bad one."

Arthur nodded, retrieving the rag, and Gaius placed it on Merlin's forehead. The servant groaned quietly, mumbling something in his sleep, and Gaius frowned, drawing his eyebrows together.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Arthur asked almost timidly.

"Well, this morning he complained of a slight sore throat, so he could have been coming down with something small anyway, however I think standing out in the cold and the rain has made his illness spiral out of control. Additionally, he may have developed a slight case of hypothermia while out in the rain, however this illness seems to have overtaken the hyperthermia in severity."

Arthur grimaced, glancing purposefully at his his hands and avoiding making eye contact with Gaius.

"What were his symptoms when he was awake? And have you done anything for him already?" Gaius asked, and Arthur sighed.

"Oh, I don't know, sore throat, muscles aching, couldn't swallow, tired, seemed to be having a hard time breathing, also he was kind of confused- more than usual. Mostly that serving girl and I tried to get him to warm up."

Gaius frowned, standing and hurrying over to a cabinet. He pulled out some vials and dried vegetables before he hurried to the hearth where he had some water boiling. Pouring some in a bowl, he mixed in some ingredients and then hurried back to Merlin's side.

Arthur wrinkled his nose when he smelled the pungent odor of garlic and onions. Gaius sat Merlin up a little and dribbled a miniscule amount at the back of Merlin's mouth. Automatically, Merlin swallowed it down. This happened several times before Merlin coughed as his eyes blinked open for a moment. He opened and closed his mouth several times before he seemed to give up and he closed his eyes, seemingly exhausted. He panted heavily again, wheezing slightly and making Gaius frown.

"I will do what I can tonight, but beyond some traditional remedies, we may have to let this run its course and hope it gets no worse. You might as well return to your chambers, Sire," Gaius's voice was verging on bitter as he turned away from the prince to better concentrate on Merlin, however Arthur didn't do as Gaius expected of him. Instead he shook his head vehemently.

"No, I will stay here tonight," Arthur told Gaius. "I'm sure you're tired after treating Sir Pellinore; I don't want to burden you with this task alone."

"It is no burden," Gaius told Arthur. "However you may do as you see fit. Give me a moment, I must retrieve some more herbs."

Gaius stood and searched the shelves as Arthur sighed uneasily and watched Merlin's labored, uneven breathing. For several moments the only sound in the room was wheezing, and then it was silent. At first Arthur was relieved that Merlin's wheezing had stopped, but after a moment his heart dropped.

"Gaius!" Arthur let out a choked cry. "Gaius, he has stopped breathing!"

Gaius was by Merlin's side in a second. He quickly checked Merlin's pulse, and he nodded emotionlessly. He sat Merlin up all the way, Arthur watching with wide eyes. Gaius leaned Merlin forward a bit and pounded on the boy's back several times. It took several tries before Merlin coughed harshly and choked up a bit of soup. He stared at Gaius, his wide innocent eyes full of confused horror.

"You had given him food, hadn't you?" Gaius questioned Arthur, who shrugged helplessly. "You should have told me this."

"What's wrong with giving him soup?" Arthur was indignant, however he continued to watch Merlin carefully as if any moment the servant might again stop breathing.

"His breathing is poor and if given a large amount of food or drink, his airway could become clogged. He'll be alright now, at least as far as choking. Here, Merlin, try to get some rest."

Gaius leaned Merlin against the back of the bed and arranged his pillow. Almost immediately, Merlin's eyes blinked closed once again.

"Try to let him sleep," Gaius told Arthur. "At this point, rest may be his best cure."

Arthur nodded, resting his chin on his knuckles and checking periodically to see if Merlin was breathing. Gaius went to study a book and about a half hour later, he heard a loud snore. Glancing up, a small smile lit his face. Arthur had fallen asleep, slouched in his chair. Gaius stood and draped a blanket over the sleeping prince; perhaps it wasn't so bad that Merlin had to be his servant.

Gaius then went back to studying, soft snores and wheezes filling in air as rain continued to pelt the window in a now almost calming tone. It would take time, but a good night's sleep could do Merlin a world of good.

MMM

Slowly, the rays of morning broke through the window, and Arthur awoke with a snort as he almost fell out of his chair. Shaking his head and muttering about aching muscles, Arthur tried to figure out why he wasn't in bed. It took several moments before Arthur realized he was in Gaius's chambers and then with a gasp Arthur's eyes searched for Merlin.

It was the second day that Arthur had snuck out at night to see if Merlin was alright; apparently Arthur had accidentally fallen asleep and stayed here all night again. Yesterday, Arthur had had to leave in the morning and practice with the knights, however Gaius said that Merlin had slept all day anyway. Today Arthur had arranged it so that the knights were practicing on their own, however Arthur doubted that his father was aware of his son's whereabouts.

After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Arthur spotted Merlin. There lay the servant, his skin a pallor shade that almost looked grey, however rather than sleeping like he should be doing, Melin was glancing peacefully toward the window. Arthur was quick to sit up and smooth his own ruffled hair before standing.

"I was wondering when you'd wake," Merlin croaked, his eyes meeting Arthur's playfully.

"Why are you awake? Shouldn't you be sleeping? You slept all day yesterday," was all Arthur could manage, and Merlin looked like he would have laughed had he been able. Instead he let out a half cough, which then led to an eruption of coughing and hacking which sent Arthur into a fit looking around for a cup of water. To his surprise, there was one next to Merlin, which the servant grabbed and brought to his lips. His hand was shaking so hard, however, that most of it ended up spilled all over the bedspread.

"Are you alright? That cough doesn't sound very good at all," Arthur asked once Merlin had finished coughing, and the servant shrugged silently. "Look, I… I really am sorry you were stuck out there for so long, especially in the rain. I don't even know how you managed to stay standing for so long."

"Didn't fancy choking," Merlin croaked out with a tiny smile.

"Yes, well, I think it's safe to say you're excused from you duties until you're feeling at least some better. I'm sure you're quite disappointed."

"I'll get bored, that's for sure," Merlin took a quick sip of water before he could start coughing again. "Gaius is out around the lower town all of today."

"I'll send that serving girl, er, Gwen, to keep you company," Arthur waved his hand in the air as he tried to remember Gwen's name.

"Thanks," Merlin choked out. "For getting me out and everything. Thank you."

"Yeah, well," Arthur shrugged. "It seemed the least I could do, considering. Gwen mentioned you don't like lightning. If you had to get stuck in the stocks, I'm sorry it had to be last night."

Merlin's face suddenly became a mask of emotionlessness, and this caused Arthur to frown.

"What is it?" Arthur asked.

"Nothing," Merlin answered quickly. 'Yeah, I don't like lightning too much. I got stuck alone in the forest in a storm when I was a kid. It's fine, though. It's over now."

Arthur nodded, guilt knotting his stomach for a moment. He almost apologized again, however instead he told Merlin that he'd go get Gwen to keep him company.

"Could you hand me the chess set on your way out?" Merlin asked Arthur, who raised his eyebrows.

"Chess set? You play chess?" Arthur laughed loudly, and Merlin shrugged.

"Gaius," he choked out. "Teaching me."

"You play chess?" Arthur gaffed again. "I'd like to see you try."

Merlin shrugged as Arthur handed him the chess set, and then Arthur grinned.

"You know, I don't have any royal duties for a while, perhaps you can try your luck against me. Believe me, you'll need luck!"

Shrugging again, Merlin agreed, and then Arthur placed the chess set on a table next to the bedridden lad. They played a silent game, considering Merlin had decided his throat wasn't up to any more talking, and though indeed Arthur won, he had to admit that Merlin had potential. Several hours later, a knight found Arthur chuckling as Merlin grinned lopsidedly and took Arthur's queen and waved it about the air in triumph.

"Your father's been worried about your location," the knight told Arthur, who merely shrugged.

"I'm busy today," Arthur told the knight. "Since you're here, by the way, go down to the kitchens and retrieve some soup- two bowls."

The knight huffed indignantly, however he hurried away and now it was Merlin's turn to smile.

"He's a knight, going to do servants things," Merlin forced out, and Arthur grinned a little at the idea. "For once it's not me you're ordering around!"

"It will be, as soon as you're well," Arthur warned him, and Merlin rolled his eyes.

"Maybe I should never get well, but then I'd have to sit around playing chess all day. Worse, I'll have to sit around playing chess with," Merlin coughed roughly. "With you. You know, I can't wait until I'm better!"

Arthur rolled his eyes, and then partook in yet another silent game of chess.

MMM

Later that afternoon, Gaius came in to see that Merlin had fallen asleep. Gaius checked Merlin's fever to see that it had gone down significantly. Clearly his magic was helping him to heal, for he'd gotten over that illness abnormally quickly. Gaius puttered around the room for a short while, before a wet cough caught his attention. Gaius turned to the bed to see Merlin watching him silently.

"How do you feel, my boy?" Gaius asked, and though Merlin merely shrugged, Gaius could tell that he was feeling much better.

"Here, drink some honey tea; it will help your throat," Gaius handed Merlin a cup. "I was worried the other night. You've made an amazing recovery."

"Perhaps magic does come in handy," Merlin voiced Gaius's thoughts, and the old man smiled.

"Speaking of which, I'm quite impressed you didn't use it to release yourself when you were out there. Although I regret to say it, good job my boy."

"Yeah, at first I figured magically escaping the stocks would look a little odd, but soon I wasn't thinking much of anything," Merlin admitted. "So, I take it Arthur didn't mean to leave me out there?"

"The man who was meant to release you was killed while out on a patrol," Gaius watched Merlin's face fall. "Don't worry yourself over it, Merlin, it is in no way your fault, and so it is not your concern. Such things happen to knights, they know that it comes with the position."

"But Gaius-"

"Don't 'but Gaius' me. Now drink your tea, it will soothe your throat."

"Thank you," Merlin said after taking a sip. "It is nice."

The room was quiet for several minutes, before Merlin caught Gaius's attention again.

"What is it?" Gaius asked, and Merlin gave a small smile.

"You know," he told the old healer. "Perhaps it isn't so bad being Arthur's servant after all."

"No, perhaps not," Gaius smiled, and then he watched as Merlin slowly fell asleep, a chess sitting peacefully beside his bed.

AN: So, how did you like the rather fluffy conclusion? Despite poor Merlin being stuck in the rain, this event seemed to make Arthur and Merlin better friends. Now, this fic may be over, but I have some things to say about future fics.

1. I will take requests for Merlin fics so long as they don't involve slash, so if any of you have any requests, just let me know. From this fic, you can probably tell that I don't have any problems with writing hurt/sick!Merlin (or Arthur). I look forward to hearing from you.

2. I have another semi short fic in my mind which would involve our two heroes being on a hunting trip and either Merlin or Arthur (I haven't yet decided which) steps in a hidden beartrap set out by less humane hunters. The two have to somehow make it back to Camelot, despite the fact one can hardly walk and they hadn't brought their horses. What do you think of this idea?

3. Lastly, if you liked this fic, you may like another one of my Merlin fics: I Used to Know. It is a hurt!Merlin story, a reveal story, and a sadly mislead Arthur story. (blame Morgana, because it's after she is evil) I'd love it if you checked it out :)

Anyway, thank you for following this fic to the end. Please review!