TW: Any medical stuff in this chapter is completely made up, not at all legit and there may be a bit of bloody stuff but it's not terribly graphic. I have no rights over Merlin, only him over me.
In The Line Of Duty
Chapter 14
After retrieving all that he thought he would need from the cupboards Merlin carried it all to the table and looked at Tyrion imploringly.
"Hot water, please." He stated, pointing at the pot full of the cool liquid.
"Just lukewarm." He added when the self-proclaimed warlock turned to the pot. Tyrion gave a tiny nod, muttered a spell and the water began to boil immediately. Merlin poured some of the water into a bowl with a ladle and took it to the bedside table. He added a few powders and potions to the warm water and stirred it. Then grabbed several leafy herbs, all from his medicine bag.
Pulling a white handkerchief-like rag from his supply, he dipped it in the water then twisted the linen cloth to get the excess water out. Laying it out flat on his left palm, he placed the herbs in the center of the rag and tied the opposite corners together, making a poultice out of it. Turning Arthur's head to the left he applied slight pressure on the bump on his temple with the poultice. After rubbing it a bit on the affected area he left it there and moved on to the stab wound. That poultice should bring down the swelling.
Merlin brought out another rag just like the one before and dipped it also in the water. As the cloth soaked in the mixture of the cleansing powders and potions in the water, He grabbed a plate.
He took out the second rag too and twisted the dripping water out of it and started cleaning the knife wound. He first cleared away the dried blood on the surrounding areas to the wound then got another rag and did the same cleansing procedure as before, dropping the bloodied rag on the plate. It took him four rags to clean all the blood. When the wound was all cleaned up, he took a proper look at it to assess for infections and internal damage.
Thankfully, no vital organs were damaged, Merlin had subtly checked with his magic, and whatever was damaged would certainly heal up properly. It seemed the knife had cut him vertically, leaving a long gash but not cutting too deeply. There was also no sign of any infection setting in. Maybe some of his frantic spells in the cell worked after all. It was, in other words, a miracle. Arthur would only need a few stitches and a dressing for the wound.
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Merlin and Arthur had finally found the lost dishes. As Merlin cleaned them up in the stream, Arthur sneaked up to their previous camp to see if any of their things could be retrieved. He was quite pleasantly surprised to find that all their supplies had been left there. But the horses were gone.
Arthur thought it strange that it looked as if the bandits had left in a hurry and had carelessly gotten rid of all their bags that had been weighing down the horses. But it was a good thing all the same.