Arthur was staring at the jewelry shop praying his son and Merlin would be okay when, all of a sudden, he saw his son run outside. A policeman grabbed him quickly and ran off to the side. He was then quickly reunited with his dad.
XXX
Arthur and Mordred were both crying as Arthur held his son tightly in his arms. Morgana ran over and joined them with Uther soon following. Leon and the guys stayed back trying to give the four a bit of privacy.
Finally, Mordred pulled back a little so he could sign to his dad, "Merlin saved me. He jumped on the bad man so I could run away."
Arthur gave his son a small smile and pulled him back into his arms and held him tightly once again.
Leon told Gaius what Mordred had just told Arthur. Gaius then rushed back over to the other commanders.
A minute later, a gunshot was heard coming from inside the shop. Arthur froze and instantly paled and felt like his legs were going to give out at any second. Uther quickly grabbed Mordred from his son's arms.
Gwaine then rushed over and, not wanting the little boy to guess that something bad had just happened based on his dad's reaction, told Uther to bring Mordred over to the ambulance. Morgana went along with them. Since Uther had his hands full holding his grandson she signed to Mordred telling him that Gwaine wanted to check him out to make sure he wasn't hurt.
Mordred nodded his head indicating he understood and then clung to his grandfather.
Once they walked away, Leon, Lance and Percy came over to stand with Arthur. They were all extremely worried.
XXX
Moments earlier, Merlin threw himself at Valiant knocking him to the ground. From there, the two men started fighting each other. Merlin's only concern was giving Mordred enough time to get outside to safety.
The two men rolled on the ground trying to get control of the gun. Merlin knocked it out of Valiant's hand and kicked it a few feet away. Valiant was able to get an elbow to land in Merlin's face. It dazed him for a couple seconds and that's all the time Valiant needed to reach the gun. Merlin quickly recovered and again started fighting for control of it but Valiant was able to maneuver the gun so it was pointed at Merlin's side, where he wasn't protected by the bullet-proof vest. He pulled the trigger and Merlin's body went slack.
Cendred had woken up by this time and had slowly made it to his feet. Valiant quickly jumped up and looked around for the kid. Once he realized he had escaped, he turned back around and started kicking Merlin in the stomach.
Thankfully, the bullet-proof vest he had on prevented the kicks from doing too much damage but unfortunately it hadn't stopped the bullet.
XXX
As soon as Gaius and the other commanders heard the shot, along with knowing that Merlin had apparently attacked one of the gunmen, it was decided that they needed to storm the shop. They feared that Merlin may have been shot and this was the only real option they had to try to save him.
Within a matter of minutes, a group of ten heavily armed cops stormed into the shop. Almost immediately, gunfire was heard. Thankfully it stopped less than a minute later.
Someone was heard yelling for a paramedic. Arthur's heart instantly fell. Merlin was a paramedic so why were they calling for another one.
XXX
There were two additional ambulances with paramedics at the scene. One pair of them ran inside. Within moments the other pair went running in with a stretcher.
Arthur's worst fears soon became reality when the paramedics and several cops came running out with Merlin laying motionless on the stretcher. He was covered in blood and looked dead. Arthur fell to his knees and started sobbing. Leon knelt down beside him and told him Merlin was still alive and was being rushed to the hospital. As he said this, they heard the ambulance's siren blaring.
Gaius ran over to Arthur telling him to get to his police car so he could get him to the hospital faster than if he drove himself. Uther and Leon managed to get him to his feet and told him that Morgana would take care of Mordred. Uther rushed his son over to Gaius's car where the two quickly crawled into the backseat while Leon rushed back over to offer his support to his wife and nephew.
Gaius flipped on his lights and siren and went speeding away from the scene in the same direction that the ambulance had taken only moments before.
XXX
Arthur was pacing in the waiting room. He hadn't been told anything about Merlin's condition yet.
Soon, his sister and son came in. Mordred ran to his dad who scooped him up into his arms. Arthur carried him over and sat down by Uther. Morgana sat down on the other side of him.
Leon, Gwaine, Lance, Percy and the other guys on their crew were sitting around the waiting room as was Gaius.
It broke Arthur's heart when Mordred pulled back and signed asking where Merlin was. Arthur had no idea what to tell him so he signed, "he'll come see you as soon as he can." He left it at that and prayed that was the truth.
XXX
After an hour, Mordred fell asleep snuggled in his dad's arms. Morgana and Uther offered to take the sleeping boy home but Arthur refused. He just couldn't bare to let him go.
No one left the waiting room. They were all on pins and needles waiting for news about Merlin's condition.
Hunith arrived at the hospital about three hours after Merlin had been taken into surgery. It was obvious she'd been crying. As soon as she spotted Arthur, she ran over to him. She reached down and hugged him the best she could since Mordred was still asleep in his arms.
"Any news?" she asked him.
"No, not yet," he told her sounding totally defeated.
"He's a fighter Arthur. He'll pull through." She sounded so sure of this that it gave him hope. He gave her a small smile and nodded his head.
XXX
Earlier, the paramedics discovered that the two robbers were dead and that Merlin had been shot in the side, where the bullet-proof vest didn't protect him. As soon as he arrived at the hospital, a team of doctors and nurses were ready for him and he was immediately rushed into surgery. There it was discovered that the bullet did a lot of damage to his internal organs. After five and a half hours of surgery, he was finally wheeled into the intensive care unit where he was heavily sedated.
XXX
After almost six long agonizing hours of waiting, a doctor came out to the waiting room.
"Hi everyone, I'm Dr. Kaye. I was one of two surgeons who worked on Merlin. First, I'm going to say he's lucky to be alive. It's amazing he didn't bleed to death before he got to us. The paramedics at the scene did a great job. That being said, he has suffered damage to his small intestines, spleen, kidney and vascular structure, all of which we were able to repair but we still need to monitor him closely to make sure he doesn't suffer from any internal bleeding or infection. He's strong and a fighter otherwise he wouldn't have made it this far.
He's been moved to the intensive care unit where he'll stay for the next several days, assuming he has no further complications. We're going to keep him heavily sedated to prevent him from moving around and causing any more damage. The ICU has very restricted visiting hours but two of you should be able to go back to see him tonight. A nurse will come and let you know when they're ready for you. Now, does anyone have any questions?"
"How long do you have to worry about any complications?" Arthur asked.
"The next 24 hours are the most critical and then after he passes the 72 hour mark, he should be mostly out of the woods."
"Assuming he doesn't have any setbacks, how long will he be in the hospital?" Hunith asked.
"I'd say anywhere from seven to ten days but probably closer to ten," the doctor answered. "He'll then need several months of recovery time before he'll be able to return to work." Dr. Kaye looked around to see if there were any more questions. Seeing none, he told the group, "I need to get back but if you have any questions, you can ask the nurse and she'll let me know. Good night everyone."
"Thank you so much," Hunith told him.
"Yes, thank you," Arthur added before the doctor walked away.
XXX
About fifteen minutes after the doctor, left a nurse came over to the group. She explained that in the ICU, visiting hours were at noon, 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm for ten minutes each time.
"We have Merlin all set up in the ICU. I can take two of you back to see him but you'll only be able to stay for a few minutes. After that, you can come back tomorrow at noon," she told them.
Arthur gently handed Mordred over to Uther to hold while he went back to see Merlin along with Hunith. Mordred hadn't woken up since falling asleep hours ago.
XXX
When Arthur finally saw Merlin, he couldn't stop the tears from falling. There was his love, laying motionless on the bed with all kinds of wires and tubes attached to him, fighting for his life and there wasn't anything Arthur could do to help.
Hunith gently grabbed her son's hand and told him how much she loved him and that he needed to get better soon.
She then looked at Arthur, who was still standing there, barely in the room, just looking at her son. He looked so lost it broke her heart. It was clear how much he loved and needed Merlin. Hunith let go of her son's hand and turned to Arthur and said, "talk to him, hold his hand, tell him how much he means to you." She then pulled him into a hug and walked out of the room to give him a few minutes of privacy with Merlin.
Arthur walked to the bed where Merlin lay. He bent down and gave him a kiss on the forehead then gently took his hand. "Hey you, I need you to get better for me. Well, for me and Mordred. You saved him and I can never repay you for that but please, you need to get better so I can try. God Merlin I love you so much. Please keep fighting because I need you more than you know." He had to stop because he was too choked up to say anything else so he just leaned over and rested his cheek against Merlin's head.
"I'm sorry sir but I have to ask you to leave now. You can come back at noon tomorrow," the nurse quietly said to him.
He reluctantly stood and let go of Merlin's hand and, with one final look back, he walked out of the room.
XXX
Back in the waiting room, everyone was still there. No one had moved. Arthur looked at them and gave them a small sad smile.
Uther finally spoke up, "well, I think we might as well leave since there's nothing we can do here tonight."
Everyone slowly stood and gave Arthur and Hunith comforting hugs before they all slowly made their way outside.
"Do you want me to take Mordred home with us?" Morgana asked Arthur.
"No, I want to keep him close." He then took his son back from his father and walked outside with everyone else. Someone had brought Uther's car to the hospital and he climbed in with his son and Uther drove them home.
Mordred woke up on their way home and could apparently sense something was going on so he just snuggled close to his dad for the rest of the ride home.
That night, Arthur put Mordred in his bed with him, still not wanting to let his son go. Soon, they both fell asleep.
XXX
Noon the next day, Arthur was sitting once again at Merlin's bedside. Hunith had already been in to see him for a few minutes and again graciously allowed Arthur time alone with her son.
Hunith was holding up much better than Arthur. She kept reassuring him that her son was a fighter and he'd pull through.
XXX
A few hours later, when Arthur was once again alone with Merlin, he spent his time talking to him. He told him how much he loved him and how he wanted to marry him.
"I already have the ring. I was going to propose tomorrow evening. I had this whole romantic dinner planned and everything. You have to get better for me. I love you so much and I can't lose you."
XXX
Arthur refused to leave the hospital between visiting hours and Mordred didn't want to be separated from his dad so he stayed and spent his time playing games on Arthur's laptop. Morgana had offered to take Mordred home but her nephew refused to go. Arthur was relieved that his son wanted to stay because he selfishly wanted him with him.
The 6:00 visiting time passed much like the previous two. Hunith stayed for only a few minutes and then let Arthur have the remaining time alone with Merlin.
Afterwards, Hunith and Uther both insisted that Arthur take Mordred home so they could both get some rest which he reluctantly agreed to.
On their way home, they stopped by Merlin's flat and picked up Spot, who was excited to see them. Unfortunately, they had a few messes to clean up since the poor dog had been alone for over a day and a half.