Chapter 23
"Right, Merlin. I don't care how long this takes. I am not sleeping down here and I am not carrying you upstairs. So you have to let me get you out the wheelchair."
"No," Merlin replied adamantly. Once again, he had wrapped himself around the structure of his wheelchair so Arthur couldn't lift him out of it and into the stairlift. It was late at night the day after the bomb scare and Arthur was desperate to get upstairs.
"Merlin, please. You don't want me to have to be uncomfortable down here all night, do you?"
Merlin hesitated but then said, "I'm not stopping you from going up. Please, feel free."
"And leave you down here by yourself? Not a chance."
"I can't, Arthur. You know why."
"Yes, but I promise nothing is going to happen to you. Alright, tell me- what are you scared of?"
"Falling."
"Why?"
"Because I fell last time."
"Alright. How did you fall?"
"Arthur!"
"Go on."
"Because I was standing at the top without my crutches."
"And what's going to happen at the top now?"
"You'll put me in the wheelchair."
"So can you lose your balance in a wheelchair?"
"No."
"Alright. What else?"
"Catrina was here."
"Is she here now?"
"No."
"Who is?"
"You, Leon and Morgana."
"Are we going to frighten you or cause a panic attack?"
"No."
"Good. What else?"
"You weren't there."
Arthur hesitated, slightly shocked.
"You were downstairs. You couldn't catch me."
Arthur pulled himself together, "And where am I now?"
"There."
"And where will I be when you're half way up the stairs?"
"There."
"And when you're at the top?"
"There."
"And what will I do if anything happens?"
"Catch me," Merlin sighed.
"Alright. Anything else?"
Merlin shook his head.
"Good. So. Do we think you can at least let me get you into that chair?"
Merlin bit his lip but then nodded. Arthur smiled victoriously, positioned Merlin into the seat and buckled him in.
"Alright?" he checked.
Merlin gulped, looking slightly pale and then nodded.
"I'm going to turn it on," Arthur said, "Don't close your eyes. I want you to watch. You don't have to look at the stairs or the floor, you can look at me if you want. But keep them open."
"Ok," Merlin said quietly.
Halfway up, Arthur stopped the lift and checked Merlin was alright before continuing to the top where his wheelchair was waiting.
"Wait," Merlin burst out after Arthur had unbuckled the seatbelt.
"What is it?" Arthur asked patiently.
Merlin whimpered in response but somehow Arthur understood, "You don't want to be without support at the top of the stairs? Ok, hang on. Leon!"
Leon popped his head out the door to the bedroom he and Morgana were staying in temporarily, "What's up?"
"This chairlift," Merlin mumbled, "That's the problem."
"Could you do us a favour with this last little bit?"
"Of course."
"Just stand on the top step please," Arthur requested, "And if I should somehow manage to drop Merlin as I'm helping him into this wheelchair, could you catch him?"
Leon nodded and took up a strong position, knowing he wouldn't really be needed but had to show Merlin he was completely safe.
"Ready now?" Arthur asked Merlin.
"Go on."
"I'm sorry for causing a fuss over nothing," Merlin said quietly as they lay in bed together half an hour later.
"It wasn't nothing," Arthur told him, "I understand why you're scared but we had to face it at some point."
"Please don't make me do it tomorrow," Merlin begged.
"If you really don't want to, but-"
"There's no point waiting, we need to face it, I know. But after yesterday and then coming up tonight. I'm exhausted. Emotionally and physically. And I'd really love to just stay here with you all day."
Merlin hadn't slept well while they'd been staying at Gwen's the night before. After everything that had happened during the day and then being in an unfamiliar bed, relaxing was very difficult, no matter how much he cuddled Arthur. When they'd been told the next day that Catrina had been caught and was in police custody, they'd all felt ready to faint with relief. Now, Morgana and Leon were staying with Arthur and Merlin until they found a new place to live and everyone else had returned to their own homes to rest and calm down. Arthur had been determined to get Merlin upstairs so he could sleep properly in their bed.
Morgana knocked on their bedroom door late the next morning and smiled, "I'm going to tell you something and it's definitely going to make you want to get up."
Arthur snorted, "I doubt it. Merlin decided yesterday he wasn't leaving this bed all day."
"I can change his mind," Morgana strolled across to the curtains and placed her hands on them. She grinned and then ripped them apart to reveal snow tumbling violently from the sky and covering everything in a thick blanket of pure, crisp white.
Merlin gazed at it longingly.
"What do you think, squid?" Morgana turned to him, "Worth getting up?"
"We can't build a snowman from up here," Arthur agreed.
"You said I won't have to," Merlin said to Arthur.
"I know. But you did it yesterday. I'll carry you if you really don't want to go in the lift but do you really want to sit in here watching it snow all day and not go out in it?"
Morgana was already digging around in Merlin's drawers to find him some warm clothes to wear as he bit his lip and said, "Ok."
They played in the snow for hours until Arthur started to worry about Merlin getting ill after he sneezed. Killi ran around the garden excitedly, jumping and yapping. At one point he got a bit too excited and his little yaps developed into full barks and Morgana had to take him inside before the noise upset Merlin. When he'd calmed down, they let him back out again but the first thing he did was bulldoze the beginnings of the snowman Arthur was building.
After a nice, warming lunch of soup and toast, prepared by Leon who was delighted to be cooking for more than two people once more, they received a phone call from Gwen.
"Guess what!" she all but screamed down the phone to Merlin who dropped the phone in surprise.
Morgana rolled her eyes and picked it up, "Calm down, Gwen, you nearly gave us all a heart attack."
"Sorry," she calmed for a second but then became excited again, "But guess what?"
"If you say 'it's snowing', I might just come over and punch you," Arthur threatened.
"No, it's not that. Although that is pretty exciting."
"Just tell them Gwen," they heard Lancelot say.
"We're having a baby!"
Everyone grinned and there was a general chorus of congratulation and joy.
"I'm pregnant!" Gwen said, as if they hadn't quite understood.
"That's amazing," Morgana laughed, "Congratulations!"
"We're inviting everyone out for dinner tonight to celebrate if you all want to come."
"That sounds great," Arthur said.
Over the months of Gwen's pregnancy, Merlin made loads of progress. When his fractured leg healed, he enjoyed many evenings in the hot tub with Arthur. He hadn't managed to convince himself to use his crutches again yet. The physios at the hospital tried endlessly to convince him to stand up but he was still too terrified after the incident on the stairs. But he would now let Arthur put him in the stairlift without complaint.
Morgana and Leon's wedding was a beautiful event which everyone attended and it gave them a chance to forget about the upcoming trials of Catrina and her family. Merlin did have a slight panic that morning that he would look silly in all the photos if he was sitting down so it had been decided that any picture was going to be on, there would be other people sitting on chairs next to him as well.
Catrina, Morgause, Nimeuh, Mordred and Cenred were all found guilty and sentenced which was a great relief to everyone. Uther had dealt with a large majority of the legal work to save Arthur and Merlin from the stress. They were extremely grateful for his efficient ways of working and his ability to save the younger adults from so much time wasted in court or in police stations.
The group's plans for their first hotel was well into being a reality. Everything had been approved, they'd found a property where they were going to build and construction was starting.
Most of them had bought newer houses closer to the property. Merlin and Arthur were in the process of buying one right next to where the hotel would be and Morgana and Leon had already moved into one a little further away after their wedding. Gwen and Lance were considering moving closer as well but they had only recently left their old flat.
One day, when Arthur and Merlin were on site, looking over the building works, Arthur's phone rang. Merlin looked up at his excitedly, knowing exactly what the call meant.
"Lancelot?" Arthur answered his phone with a smiled.
"How far away are you from the hospital?"
"Just over an hour," Arthur said, "We were about to leave the site. Why?"
"There's a new little human who wants to meet you. Gwen's had the baby."
"Congratulations, mate," Arthur said, "We'll be there soon."
Arthur lifted Merlin into the car and packed the wheelchair away in record time.
"Boy or girl?" Arthur said as he drove.
"What do I get if I'm right?"
"I'll buy you a takeaway for dinner."
"We have the same bank account. It makes no difference who buys it."
"Alright. You choose dinner if you're right, I choose if you're wrong."
"Do we get pudding?"
"If you're right and you want pudding."
"Ok. Boy. And when I'm right, I want a barbeque chicken pizza with chips for dinner, strawberry ice cream for pudding and a gingerbread hot chocolate before bed."
"Fine. But when you're wrong, we're having curry for dinner, and fruit for pudding."
"That's not fair! At least I chose something we both like!"
"You'd better hope you win, then."
The traffic was awful on the way to the hospital. Long ago, they'd both said they never wanted to be near one ever again. They'd both had their fair share of admissions in the past year and if Merlin never had to sit on a hospital bed for the rest of his life, it would be far too soon.
But for this, they didn't mind. They'd be nowhere near A&E or ICU and for once, it wouldn't be people visiting them. They would be visiting someone else. And the person they'd be visiting would not be seriously ill or dying. Everyone would be healthy and happy.
And so, naturally, it was these thoughts that jinxed them and sent a van spiralling into them so that Arthur's little car ended up flying off the road and down into a ditch.
"How far away did they say they were?" Gwen asked, watching Gwaine closely as he held her new born baby.
"Arthur said they were leaving the building site and they'd be about an hour," Lancelot told her.
"How long ago was that?"
"Three hours."
"The traffic is awful," Elyan pointed out.
"I've tried calling Arthur again and I tried Merlin. Neither of them answered. If they were stuck in traffic, they'd have plenty of time to answer their phones."
"Merlin never brings his phone anywhere," Gwaine pointed out, "Maybe Arthur's died."
"That still doesn't explain where they are, though," Lancelot challenged.
"Maybe they're lost," Gwen suggested hopefully.
"Are you joking?" Elyan snorted, "They've been to this hospital enough times to know exactly where it is. They've spent more time here than at home in the past year. Arthur could drive here in his sleep from Europe."
"Check the local news, Lance," Gwen said, "See how the traffic's doing."
Lancelot got his phone out and opened the news page, "This says rush hour's mostly cleared up. There's just one road that's still jammed because of an accident."
"Which road?" Gwen's voice shook.
"Come on, Gwen, surely you don't think that-"
"Which road?" she demanded.
Lancelot sighed and looked down to his phone again. His face blanched.
"No," Elyan stood up straight, "Not today. They've been fine for months. Nothing's happened for ages!"
"They also have the worst luck in the universe," Gwaine said, "I'm fairly sure they're destined to spend their lives in here. I'm serious, we've had about twelve welcome home parties for Merlin after he's been discharged from hospital."
"Gwaine, that's not helping," Elyan snapped, "Is there any way of knowing for sure?"
"Let's not jump to any conclusions," Lancelot said calmly, "We know they'd be on that road, but there are hundreds of cars on that road all the time. They might just be caught up in the aftermath."
"Two hours later than they said they'd be and when they're not answering their phones," Gwen mumbled, taking the baby back from Gwaine to hold.
"When was the accident?" Elyan asked.
"A few hours ago," Lancelot said quietly.
"And they're still clearing up now?" Gwaine whistled, "Must have been bad."
"Gwaine!"
"We don't know it's them," he argued, "Let's not worry about something that might not have happened. You've just had a baby, Gwen, we should be celebrating."
"It's pretty hard to celebrate when your two best friends are missing and could have been in a car crash."
"Could have been," Gwaine repeated, "Not have been."
"Where's Morgana?" Elyan asked.
"She'll be here soon," Lancelot said, "We invited you all in in groups. She and Leon were going to come in after Arthur and Merlin left."
Percival chose that moment to return from the toilet, "What's wrong?" he looked around at everyone, "You look like someone's died."
Lancelot quickly and quietly told him about why they were all so worried and his face fell, "Surely not," he scoffed, "I mean. No one has luck that bad. Do they?"