hey guys! Here's a new chapter for you. I can only apologise for the lateness. I swear as soon as i put down in writing that my updates will be more regular, that plan goes out the window.

This chapter is just Arthur's point of view, as he just had too much to say! I wanted to keep the chapters roughly same length, so Merlin's point of view will follow in chapter 13

enjoy :)

Chapter 12

The darkness was close and complete. Arthur stretched out a hand and wiggled his fingers, but his eyes registered nothing. Every sound he made was muffled, deadened by the dark. Yet he wasn't scared, it felt warm and comforting, like a friend.

He turned slowly, but there was nothing. He walked several careful paces, but there was no sense of distance, there was nothing to tell him if he was walking miles, or treading on the spot. He stopped and sat down, all of a sudden feeling tired and weary. His lids felt heavy, and he let them close over drooping eyes.

He saw a blurry image, of bright lights and many faces towering over him.

His eyes sprang open. The darkness was still there, but lighter, more the blue of the sky before dawn, and less thick, as if it was melting away before his eyes. He reached out to touch it, and fuck, he could see his hand, but the blue dissolved like mist, leaving only a luminous white that hurt his eyes. Nope, he did not like this, he had no idea what was going on, and frankly, it scared him. He panicked, taking deep heaving breaths, and squeezed his eyes shut once again.

The bright lights and faces were clearer, and Arthur blinked several times to clear them away, but they remained solid. He tried to raise his arms to rub at his eyes, but they felt heavy and sluggish, and he could feel the strain in his muscles and bones. Sweat beaded out on his forehead, and he clenched his teeth, but It was no use. He sagged back down onto the uncomfortable white sheets.

White sheets? He looked down at himself and he raised an eyebrow in askance. He was covered in starched covers, tucked tightly around his body. His arms looked pale and feeble, and protruding grotesquely from the crease of his left elbow was a needle connected to a multitude of tubes, filled with clear fluid. A slow consistent beep played in the background of the otherwise silent room. He looked up and he could see, between the faces, a door and a row of windows that looked out onto a line of sleeping people in similar states as him, dressed in the standard cheap hospital gowns.

Ah. He was in the hospital then.

And suddenly everything that had happened over the past day came flooding back, all the emotions and turmoil hitting him, and he sat bolt upright with a gasp. A few of the people in the room took a hasty step back, and others rushed forward. As he drew his focus to their faces, he heard the monitor beep faster, and a painful pinch in his right arm, as one of the nurse crowded around him punctured him with a needle. He felt a sense of sluggishness creeping through his veins and his eyelids closed against his will.

…..

The second time Arthur awoke, the serene darkness faded a lot faster, and he had a better grasp of where he was. He took his time to open his eyes though, to let them know he was awake and aware, so he could gather his thoughts. He was in a hospital. Check. Merlin had been arrested, and he had no fucking idea where he was. Check. He didn't even know if it was still Sunday.

Arthur took a deep breath, and made a small stirring like he was just coming out of his deep anaesthesia induced sleep. He fluttered his eye lids sleepily, and remained as calm as possible, so he would be allowed to stay awake by the nurse checking his charts at the foot of his bed.

"He's awake, leave us now" said a commanding voice from the corner of the room. The nurse nodded slightly at the sound and scurried out. Arthur groaned internally.

"What are you doing here?" Arthur managed to rasp. His throat felt dry and scratchy. Unused.

"Now darling, is that any way to treat me after I've come to see my poor injured brother?" Morgana gave a mock pout.

"Half-brother" Arthur would never class that poisonous witch as his full sibling. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Well, let's see…." Morgana started to slowly count on her fingers, her long blood red nails perfectly shaped and polished. "Well, if you count Sunday, and Monday..." Arthur ground his teeth. He must not shout at her. "And today is Tuesday, then three days"

Three. Fucking. Days.

"THREE FUCKING DAYS?!" He tried to shout at her, but his throat burned. He gave a wracking cough that made his head pound and his muscles ache.

"Arthur, please"

She stood from her chair and crossed to his bed side to pour him a glass of water. She gently cradled the back of his head and raised the glass to hip lips. Arthur glared at her while he drank. Morgana just smirked.

He wanted to grab her by the shoulders and demand that she tell him where Merlin was and what the bloody hell was going on. He felt so lost and disorientated. She turned away from him to place the cup back on the dresser. He opened his mouth to speak, to question her frantically, but she threw up a hand in front of his face without even turning around. He scowled at the perfectly smooth palm.

"Now, now big brother, don't scowl too hard, you could do yourself an injury. Or another one I suppose" She walked back to her chair, and perched neatly on the edge, her lips pursed in distaste at the obvious lack of quality she was sat on. "Father sent me; he had had a call from the hospital when they had finally managed to ascertain who you were. I had to get the private jet to bring me here, father had already given the helicopter to one of his business partners for their personal use" She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, they had you set up out there with all the other people, like you were just anybody! I immediately got you placed somewhere more suitable, though not without a generous donation for a new wing of the hospital"

Arthur's jaw was so tensed; he was surprised his half-sister could not hear the bones creaking. She was 5 years younger than him, but she acted like she had seen everything and it was all so beneath her. He just wanted to scream at her to shut up, to think about the more important things, like where the hell was Merlin?

Though he knew from painful experience, that if he showed a desperate need for anything, then Morgana would make sure it would always elude him. He kept his jaw tensed and his teeth gritted.

"Father does send his apologies, he's in the middle of an important merger," Arthur sighed, why he had expected the man to change now he'd never know, "but he says he's signed you up to an inconspicuous alcoholics meeting, we wouldn't want the press to get wind of any more of your failures now would we" She raised an eyebrow.

"He wanted to wash his hands of you completely, and let the police deal with any of your future misgivings, but I managed to persuade him that that would reflect badly on him, so a meeting was the better option." She smiled dangerously. "Though if you do not attend, I will not stand in his way if he has you arrested."

Arthur growled softly. That bitch, she knew exactly which buttons of his to press. He prayed to any and every fucking deity there was that she would leave soon. He needed to find Merlin. He repeated it himself like a sacred mantra, hoping it would keep him from doing something stupid, something that would probably involve using supreme effort to get up and clamp Morgana's jaw shut.

"He has asked me to personally make sure you DO attend them. I'm sure father would be awfully disappointed if I let you slip back into your little habit." Her smile turned sardonic. " I would stay at the Hilton, as I am sure they have far better facilities than you. Unfortunately no sum of money could cause them to find me a free room at this short notice. So I suppose your house will have to do"

Of fucking course.

"Breath Arthur" he thought almost viciously. "Got to find Merlin, got to find Merlin. Got. To. Find. Merlin."

"You are to be discharged today, the nurse told me while you were asleep. I will wait around the front with the car at 4pm" She glanced at the clock, which read 2.45. She stood abruptly, dusted imaginary dirt off her immaculate black suit, and swept out of the room before Arthur even had chance to raise his voice in protest.

He had revered that moment with a special sort of hatred. His Father was still incredibly absent, as always, and Morgana was still a pretentious bitch, as always. He had lost Merlin, and he no idea how to get him back.

Morgana had ushered him out of the hospital and to his home, so quickly that the press hadn't managed to catch wind of his scandal. Even so, she had made Arthur wear dark sunglasses and a baseball cap, as if he was famous and couldn't dare be seen coming out of a hospital.

She had then proceeded to spend the week watching his every move like a hawk. He had asked repeatedly if she knew anything about the dark haired boy that had been arrested at the time he was taken to hospital. The most he had gotten out of her was a derisive shrug and her claim that she had no idea what he was talking about. He had rang the hospital, and they had referred him to the police station that had taken Merlin into custody. The policeman on duty had made some enquiries and had told him that they had released a Merlin Emrys on Monday afternoon, as there were no charges placed on him. They had apologised and explained they had no idea where he had gone after that, even after Arthur had ranted and asked them if they knew who the fuck they thought they were dealing with. In hindsight, it had not been the best way to address the police. Morgana had snatched the phone away and hissed obscenities at him for acting like such a child.

Arthur had then had a flash of brilliance, even if he did say so himself. He had managed to sneak out of the house while Morgana was having her legs waxed. He had closed the door on her heated cursing and had jogged down the street to the cash point, repeating his plan as he went.

Hire a private detective

Pay him an obscene amount of money to find Merlin, with the chance of double if he found him quickly.

Kick the drink

Tell Merlin how he felt

Live happily ever after

In his head, it had sounded like the perfect plan, and he had grinned childishly to himself as he slotted in his card and tried to take out a large sum of money. He had been tapping his fingers idly on the keypad, when the machine had beeped warningly and a sign had flashed up saying that his account had been deactivated. He had frowned at the screen and in the end, tried all 13 of his accounts. They had all been the same.

He had stormed home, furious, and slammed his way into the living room, where Morgana had been calmly sat in her robe, having a pedicure. She had looked at him over the edge of her magazine as he had fumed in the doorway.

She hadn't felt it necessary to tell him that their father had cut off his allowance, frozen his trust fund, and closed all of his accounts sooner. He had thought if Arthur was going to act like a child he should be treated like one. Because, Morgana had said, getting beaten up and robbed was so stupid of him.

That had scuppered his plans well and truly.

Morgana had escorted him to his meeting at the end of the week, after managing to forcibly drag him from his darkened room, where he had spent the rest of his week alternately pacing in anger and laying in lethargy. On the way she had told him how undignified he was being, repeatedly.

When they had pulled up he had had a sick pleasure in telling Morgana that he had in fact, already been attending this particular meeting for two weeks already. What he hadn't told her was he hadn't managed to be completely sober when he had attended. A week was a fucking long time to stay sober when you had demons to keep at bay.

But this time, this time was different. This time, he was going to speak about his problems, offload all the hurt and anguish that caused him to drink. Yes he would feel like an arse, but it was time he manned up and pulled himself out of his own pit of despair, because it wasn't just about him anymore. It was about Merlin too.