Arthur walked into Gwen's office and handed her the envelope which he had collected from downstairs. "Can't stop, my dinner is waiting," he grinned.

"Lucky you! I haven't got mine yet," Gwen grimaced an expression of longing on her face.

A voice came from the inner office: "And whose fault is that? I told you to go ages ago," Balinor called, sounding exasperated; his head poked around the door. "Better still, ring Mary. She will send something up for us."

Arthur grinned, "Tomato soup looked good and smelt even better." Then he added, "I told Merlin we should ask her to set up a delivery service."

"She will if you ask," Gwen replied. "But she is often short staffed, so I don't like to." Turning to her boss she grinned, "I'll phone and ask her to keep some hot of us and then head down in ten minutes."

Arthur left them to it and headed back to Merlin and his dinner. He entered his outer office and heard a noise coming from Merlin's. Confused, he peaked around the doorway only to find Merlin on the floor. His skin was blue tinged and covered in hives. Suddenly, the raven haired man gasped a short breath before going still once more. Arthur dropped to his side. Then, realising what had happened, looked at the desk and saw the remains of the soup and the draw contents over the floor. Grabbing for Merlin's briefcase he opened it and tipped out the contents. Not finding an EpiPen there,he ran to his desk and went to get the one he kept, desperately shouting for one of the other offices: "Call an ambulance! Merlin's in anaphylaxis!"

Rushing back, he flipped the case open, tipped out the EpiPen and flipped off the cover before holding Merlin's leg to keep it still and injecting him, not even waiting to pull down his trousers. Checking the adrenaline had gone in, he tossed the used device to one side.

"Come on Merlin, damn you, breathe!" He begged and turned as he heard someone enter the room. "Get Gwen and find out if she has another pen" the urgency in his voice made the person run.

Arthur made sure Merlin's airway was open as he heard voices arranging for the Paramedics to be directed upstairs when they arrived. Balinor entered the room at a sprint, handing Arthur another device.

"How many you given?" he demanded tightly..

"Only one, his appears to be missing," Arthur looked at his watch. "If it doesn't work he'll need this one as well."

Balinor went white as he held his son in a good position to get any air into his lungs. "What did he have?"

"The normal drink and soup. Mary said it was safe."

Arthur righted the container and put the lid on the small amount left as well as the cup.

Balinor watched him, "I'll take those with us. If someone's been negligent..." worry clear in his voice. "You gave him the right drink?"

"I always have something different for just that reason," Arthur responded.

The ambulance seemed to be taking forever. Arthur looked at his watch and quickly administered another dose of adrenaline. Merlin remained blue and unresponsive with only the occasional small gasp, it was clear his airways were not recovering. As the Paramedics entered, Balinor reluctantly stepped back.

"My son has a severe nut allergy and is Lactose intolerant. No other health issues. He has just been given the second Epipen," he quickly informed them.

Oxygen was soon administered and a drip set up by one paramedic while the second tried to intubate him, to help with the breathing. Balinor and Arthur refused to leave while Gwen made everyone else get out and back to work.

Arthur wished he left the room when he saw from his vantage point what the paramedic was doing. Unable to pass a normal tube he was making an incision into Merlin's neck. Soon the young man was breathing through a cricothyroidotomy directly into his throat. Arthur noticed Balinor was also paler than normal.

The paramedic looked up "I asked you to leave," he said. "Look, we need to get him to A&E and you will have to come in a car. We need the space to work in the ambulance," He gave them a small reassuring smile. "We have him breathing now, try not to worry." As he spoke his partner was putting monitoring equipment on Merlin's chest. The beep beep of the heart trace gave relief to both men.

Once the ambulance had gone, Gwen drove the two men to the hospital before she went to collect Merlin's mother and sister. She looked as upset as the men. In some ways, it didn't seem long before the women arrived, but, in other ways, it seemed like hours. They had been placed in a waiting room while Merlin was being tended to. Balinor gathered his family into his arms as soon as they entered the room. After a few moments, Freya's tear stained face looked up and saw Arthur, she pulled out of her father's arms and ran to Arthur and struck him across the face. He stepped back in surprise.

"You were supposed to look after him," she screamed. "What did you give him?"

Arthur was too shocked to speak, he was already feeling responsible enough.

Balinor pulled his daughter back and held her. "Now girl, calm down. These things happen and I'm sure it wasn't Arthur's mistake. This won't help anyone."

With that the door opened and a doctor walked in. "Mr Emrys? My name is Dr Brown" he said as Balinor met his gaze.

"Yes, what's the news?" Arthur had never heard Balinor sound so shaky. "This is Merlin's mother and sister, and Arthur is his P.A. So please... the news."

The doctor nodded, "Your son will recover, we have him breathing but we have kept him ventilated until his throat swelling goes down. It was a very severe reaction, and I understand he was alone when it happened so the administration of the adrenaline was delayed. It was very fortunate that the paramedics were able to get a breathing tube in," the doctor smiled reassuringly.

There was a collective release of tension from the group.

"Can I see my son?" Hunith's voice cut in, quivering with emotion.

"You can, but family only I'm afraid. He is being kept in intensive care whilst ventilated. He won't be aware at the moment however we hope to extubate him tomorrow."

Arthur and Gwen nodded, fully understanding. "We'll go, now we know he's alright. Will you let us know when we can visit?" Arthur asked,for both of them. He would have liked to see his boss but understood why he couldn't.

"I will, son," Balinor said. "And thank you for saving him, your quick actions made all the difference. We are forever in your debt."

As the family followed the doctor, Gwen and Arthur turned to leave. It had been a long, emotionally draining wait and they felt exhausted.

In the Intensive care unit, the family gathered around Merlin who lay on the crisp white sheets looking pale and sickly. Hunith broke down in tears at the sight and was soon joined by Freya. It wasn't until much later that Balinor started to think and was puzzled. His son always kept an EpiPen in his desk and another in his briefcase, why then hadn't he managed to use them? He would need to ask him what happened when he was well enough. In the meantime, he would ask Arthur next time he saw him.

Arthur and Gwen went back to the office and cancelled the next day appointments for Balinor and Merlin's for a week, they could do more if needed. The next morning, before Arthur had even left for work, the police arrived at his door. Morgana opened the door as Arthur came into the room. The policeman looked at Arthur, "Mr Arthur Pendragon?" he asked.

"That's me, can I help you?" Arthur was puzzled.

"Would you please accompany us to the station, Sir? We need to ask you some questions concerning the events of yesterday." He then went on to caution Arthur and ask if he wanted a solicitor.

Arthur was stunned but it was Morgana who demanded, "What the hell is going on?"

The second policeman looked at Morgana, recognising her from the control room. "Sorry Ms La Fey, but we need your brother to answer some questions as it appears Mr Merlin Emrys was deliberately given a substance he was known to be severely allergic to and your brother was involved in procuring the food in question. It's a matter of routine," he answered apologetically.