Arthur didn't remember anything. A moment ago he was being led into François quarters, now he found himself nestled against François' chest in the captains bed, with a bloody bandage over his ear. Or, what was left of his ear, anyway. He had quickly put his hand over the bandage, only to discover that his ear was gone, completely. Like someone had taken a butchers knife and whacked it off.
He bolted up from the bed, then, hurriedly, began to pull the bandage off, eyes watering heavily.
"No, no, no, please, no," he muttered to himself, feeling at the bloody stump where his ear used to be. He found that he could hear from it, but just barely. He felt his heart racing, a cold sweat breaking out on his back, before he felt a sturdy hand on his shoulder.
"I thought you'd never wake up, cher," François practically purred in his good ear. The Frenchman rested his head on Arthur's shoulder, smirking just a bit.
"It was amazing, cher. You were begging for more. Don't try to walk."
Arthur took a deep breath, trying to relax his breathing. He wasn't going to admit to François that he was frightened. He kept his hand over his ear, looking down.
"What did you do? I asked you to kill me, I-"
"You begged me not to. You were rambling on and on, about that Ivan, about how you needed to see your brother before you died... Boring stuff, really."
Arthur's breath hitched at the mention of his brother, and he covered his mouth with a hand so that he wouldn't start sobbing.
"So I didn't kill you, but you grabbed the gun... And voilà. Shot your ear clean off. You would have bled out, if Antonio got there late. You should thank him. Honestly, you're mad when you're drunk."
François chuckled softly as Arthur lurched forward.
"You got me drunk?!"
"You begged for a drink before you died, so I brought you some wine. You practically inhaled it, cher."
Arthur sat on the bed quietly as everything François said sunk in. François got out of bed, went to the door, turned to look at Arthur, and winked.
"Antonio will be coming to check on you soon. I recommend you put the bandage back on; he's a devil when he's angry."