Can you guys say... NEW CHAPTER?! 'Cuz here it is, and its the longest one yet! enjoy, my lovelies. disclaimer: neither myself, nor my co-writer or co-editor own any of the characters here. Read and review and we love you!
The next morning Merlin woke up to find a new pair of contacts and their directions sitting on his bed side table. Sherlock was already up and Merlin could hear the sounds of one of Sherlock's favorite pieces being played on the violin in the living room. It took Merlin an extra five minutes to get dressed, figuring out how to put his new contacts in without aggravating his bruised eye. Merlin thought he looked odd, not wearing glasses, but he liked it, overlooking the black eye of course. So far so good.
Merlin went into the kitchen to find Sherlock, playing the violin while looking out the window and John reading the newspaper and eating his cereal. A perfectly normal morning.
"How are your contacts working?" John asked looking up from his newspaper.
"Their great so far, thanks. I've got to go though or I'll be late, sorry." Merlin said as he dashed from the room. Getting to the stop just in time Merlin climbed into the bus elated with the feeling that today was going to be a great day.
The moment Merlin walked into his school he knew something was different. Everyone was looking at him and he could have sworn he saw a group of girls pointing and giggling. At first Merlin had chalked it up to a combination of not having glasses and a black eye but nobody asked him any questions about his appearance and Merlin failed to see the hilarity in that anyway.
"You know it's funny," Someone said from behind him. Merlin turned around to see it was Morgana, surrounded by her normal henchmen, "you'd think I'd know, living with the guy and all, but people surprise you all the time, don't they Merlin." All of Morgana's friend's laughed and Merlin, too confused to say anything, was quiet.
Merlin was getting his books from his locker when Gwen sidled up to him, "So when were you going to tell us?"
"Tell you what?"
"That your..." Gwen never got to finish.
"Hey Merlin, can I talk to you?" Percival asked. Merlin could see that Percival was nervous which was strange because Percival, although quiet, was very brave.
"Sure, uh Gwen could you hold on for a sec. What is it Percival?"
"So... um on behalf of the team, I just wanted to say that we... um we are surprised... um. But that we still accept you and we still all want to be friends with you." Percival looked relieved, like he had gotten a huge load off his shoulders.
"Wait, what?" Merlin said, even more confused.
"What I'm trying to say it that we don't care."
"About what."
"Thatyourgay." said Percival quickly.
"What."
"The team doesn't care that your gay." Percival said slowly.
"But I'm not."
"You're not gay?" Percival looked confused.
"Nope."
"You're sure."
"I'm pretty sure."
"Oh." Percival looked more relived then ever, then he looked really embarrassed and before Merlin could say anything else he darted off down the hall and to his next class.
Then Merlin turned back to Gwen. "I'm not gay."
"Oh." she said it the same way Percival had.
"Why does everyone think I am?"
"Somebody saw you and Arthur Pendragon leaving the school together. Something about him walking you home?"
"Well that part is true. Greenburg punched me in the face and broke my glasses and Arthur offered to walk me home because, somehow, he knew I'm blind as a bat. Is he getting any of this?" Merlin asked gesturing to the crowed of giggling girls passing them.
"Well no, he's not." Gwen said starting to blush a little.
"Why not."
"He's gone here for a while, and you just got here..."
"So I'm obviously the gay new kid." Merlin said sarcastically.
"Obviously." Gwen said trying not to laugh.
"Does anyone even notice the black eye and lack of glasses?"
"You may be new but everyone knows you're the clumsiest person ever and as for the glasses, no. But it looks good."
"So I'm the clumsy possibly gay new kid."
"But now you're the clumsy possibly gay new kid without glasses."
Merlin laughed but it turned into a harsh cough. When he was done trying to bring up a lung Merlin took a moment to check his breathing, something he always had to do when he thought he was starting to get sick because of his asthma. He thought his breathing felt a little more tight than normal. But I'm sick that's what happens when you're a sick asthmatic. I have a game today anyway I won't be doing much, I never do. As the day continued less and less people were pointing at Merlin. Merlin figured the rumor had gotten old or the news that Merlin wasn't gay was starting to make its way around. Merlin hoped it was the latter. But he also felt sicker and sicker as the day continued. What started out as a good day was not living up to his expectations. Then Arthur confronted him at lunch.
Merlin had just sat down with his food, after Gwen and Freya forced him to get something from the cafeteria (seriously who wants to eat when their sick?) when Arthur marched up to him looking livid.
"Holmes!"
"We're not on the field Arthur you can call me by my first name..."
"Holmes, listen to me."
"Merlin just say it, there aren't that many Merlins it's not like we'd get confused over who you're trying to talk to."
"Don't get smart with me." Arthur yelled. "You think I like being pranked. You must think you're a real laugh don't you."
"What? Arthur.. Ididn'ttellanyoneweweregaytogether." Merlin blurted out.
"What." Arthur asked taken aback.
"I didn't tell anyone we were gay."
"Oh, I knew you weren't gay."
"Seems like you're the only one. Anyway, continue raging on about whatever you were mad about before."
Arthur glared at Merlin and Merlin just smiled back knowing he had distracted Arthur from his anger and it was going to be nearly impossible for him to get it back now.
"You sent your brother after me. Or at least someone who says he's your brother, something I highly doubt since I met him and he looks nothing like the guy who kidnapped me."
"I have two brothers."
"Wha- Who- Uggh- That doesn't explain why one of your brothers kidnapped me!"
"Mycroft, he does that to all my friends. Don't feel too special. He did it to John when he first met Sherlock and to Freya and Gwen." Merlin said gesturing to his two friends on the other side of the lunch table.
"And your alright with that?" Arthur asked.
"Well no, it was really annoying but he's just protective."
"Why would he be protective of you?"
Merlin's face dropped and his breathing got a little faster as he thought about Moriarty. Don't think about him. Don't say his name. "He has his reasons. He works for the British government. If you had to deal with the people he's dealt with you'd be paranoid too."
"So? My dad works for the government too but he doesn't kidnap all my friends and interrogate them."
Merlin couldn't help but smile at this "Your father works for the British government, my brother is the British government." Then Merlin turned his attention back to his lunch. Arthur was about to go back to his own lunch table when Morgana walked by.
"How's it feel, Freya finding out your crush is gay?" Morgana said loud enough for Gwen, Freya, Merlin, and Arthur to hear. It was as if she had dropped a bomb on them, nobody spoke and nobody knew where to look either. Freya stared at her sandwich as if it was the only thing in the room she could look at without being frightened and everyone could see tears forming in her brown eyes.
"Hey don't talk to her like that!" Merlin yelled.
"Come back here and apologize!" Arthur yelled at the same time Merlin did. Morgana just laughed loudly and dumped her trash in the trash can and made her way out of the cafeteria. Both Arthur and Merlin made to run after her but then Gwaine stopped Merlin.
"Better let the siblings fight this one alone." he said and Merlin nodded. He was trying to get his breathing under back control anyway. Merlin went back to his lunch table only to find it empty.
"Gwen and Freya left, Freya was pretty upset." Elyan informed him, after coming to stand next to Gwaine. "You wanna sit with us?" He asked, gesturing to the lunch table of all football players.
Merlin looked around, nearly everyone in the cafeteria was staring at him. "No thanks Elyan. I'll see you later." Merlin says and then left the cafeteria pretending to be unnoticed. Merlin spends the rest of his lunch period staring at his history notes in an attempt to study. He was still trying to wrap his head around the days events. Why didn't anyone question it when the rumor started that I was gay. Do I seem gay? Do I act gay? Do I smell gay? Wait do gay guys smell any different then straight ones? Why would Freya care if I was gay? Why did she react when Morgana said that? What did Morgana mean? Why is my asthma so bad today? It's never been this bad before, not without some sort of exercise first. It can't be this bad just because I'm sick, right? Merlin was so lost in thought that he jumped when the bell rang for the end of lunch. Merlin packed away his, unstudied, history notes, grabbed his biology binder and book and went to biology class.
The room was empty when Merlin got there, not even the teacher was there. Knowing Ms. Hunith wasn't picky about students being in her room before she got there Merlin entered, turned on the light, and went to his desk. Merlin put his back-pack on the floor and was about to sit down in his desk when he noticed a white dust coating it. Must be from the lab Mrs. Hunith said she was going to do with the other class. If they left it on the desk it's probably harmless. Merlin, in one swipe took most of the powder off the desk and sent it into the air. Then the smell hit him. It wasn't a particularly bad smell, but it wasn't a good one either and it reminded Merlin of something.
"Ah, look Merlin, we have visitors"
"Just imagine what poor panicked Merlin must be going through, slowly choking as his esophagus closes in on itself and his lungs struggle for air."
"What a terrible way to die, your own body smothering itself."
It smells like that stuff, whatever it was Moriarty made me breathe. So that I would...
"He was a little reluctant to accept my hospitality but I insisted."
Why can't I forget him for two seconds? Why can't he leave me alone? I'm better than this, why can't I forget this...
Why can't I breathe?
Merlin couldn't breathe. Well he could but not well, he couldn't get enough air. It was just like when Moriarty kidnapped him. He closed his eyes and he could feel Moriarty's henchmen hand holding his nose closed and forcing his mouth open to breathe whatever it was that brought his attack on and Moriarty's men holding his arms, forcing him to stay in the chair. Merlin wheezed and struggled to orient himself enough to get to his back-pack to get his inhaler. This is how Ms. Hunith found him.
"Hello Mer... Merlin what's wrong." She dropped her file of papers somewhere behind her desk not caring where it landed and rushed to Merlin's side. Before he could answer Arthur, and Gwaine entered.
"Merlin... Oh crap your having an asthma attack!" Arthur said as he and Gwaine quickly dropped their back-packs and rushed to Merlin's side as well.
"The headmaster usually tells me when a student has a bad case of asthma."
"That's because it's not. I only know because I'm captain of the football team." Arthur explained quickly as he madly searched Merlin's back-pack for his inhaler. "You do carry an inhaler on you right?" Merlin nodded.
More people were entering the classroom. Will, George, and Percival, followed closely by Freya. Gwaine kept the other students away from Merlin and Arthur, Ms. Hunith got all the students except for Merlin and Arthur out of the room and had Mrs. Ygrain, the other science teacher watch them and then she called the office over the school inter-com to ask for some sort of medical help.
"Ok." Arthur said finally finding the inhaler, only then realizing he only vaguely knew how to work it and definitely didn't know how to administer it to someone. He didn't need to worry though because all he had to do was hold it up and Merlin took it from him.
He took a puff from it, waited but it did nothing, then again, then waited again and it did nothing, he did it one last time and got the same result. He could barely hold the inhaler his hands where shaking so badly but Arthur didn't want to take it from Merlin since Arthur had no idea how to work it. Then Mr. Gaius entered the room. Without needing to be told what the problem was he rushed to Merlin said.
"Didn't we ask for medical help?" Arthur said.
"The school nurse wasn't in her office, and I was once a nurse." Mr. Gaius explained as he began to asses the still loudly wheezing Merlin. "How many puffs had he taken?"
"Three." Arthur answered.
"Let's try it one more time." Gaius took the inhaler from Merlin's jittery hands, shook it, held it up to Merlin's mouth and then pressed down on the canister. "It should work immediately." But it didn't, Gaius waited a few moments before speaking up, "We need to take him to the hospital." He said urgently "Does anyone have a car."
"Shouldn't we call an ambulance?" Mrs. Hunith asked.
"No it'll take too long, we don't know if he has time to take two trips." Gaius explained as he packed up Merlin's things and slung the back-pack on his own back. Merlin, completely aware of the conversation and it's topic started wheezing louder obviously frightened at the idea of having to go to the hospital. He started frantically gesturing as he struggled to communicate something. "Merlin, it's alright, you're going to be alright." Gaius said soothingly as he helped Merlin stand from the chair.
"Hardly any of the students, or teachers for that matter have a car, we're in London." Mrs. Hunith answered, clearly distressed.
"I do, well I have a chauffeur at least." Arthur offered quickly.
"That'll have to do." Gaius said as he put one of Merlin's arms around his shoulder and started to move toward the door. "Are you coming?" He called back to Arthur. Arthur quickly jumped into action grabbed and Merlin's other arm and putting it over his own shoulder. "Your chauffeur is here right?"
"He's not supposed to leave after he drops Morgana and I off." Gaius rolled his eyes, why children would need an all day chauffeur when they spent he whole day in school was beyond him, but he decided to be thankful instead of sarcastic.
Arthur and Gaius climbed into the car, manhandling Merlin in also. Merlin was surprisingly coherent in Arthur's opinion but still quite weak and jittery. The chauffeur looked up confused when they entered the car and quickly dropped the book he was reading. Arthur caught a glance of a girl and guy on the cover and rolled his eyes, How does he not know that Morgana and I have figured out he reads those stupid romance novels.
"We need to get to the hospital!" Gaius told him, the chauffeur didn't need to be told twice and sped out of the school parking lot. Gaius rummaged through Merlin's book-bag and pulled out Merlin's phone. "Call the hospital, tell them we're coming within five minutes and with an asthmatic experiencing a bad asthma attack. We'll be taking him to St. Bart's." Arthur took the phone and dialed 999 while Gaius went back to giving Merlin his inhaler (although Arthur failed to see how that would help) and trying to calm Merlin down.
After a terrifyingly fast drive through London, courtesy of their chauffeur, Arther, Mr. Gaius, and Merlin got to St. Bart's. Merlin's breathing was not getting any better, his wheezing was worse than ever. He looked so tired, every breath taking more out of him then it had any right to. Arthur helped Merlin out of the car and Mr. Gaius grabbed Merlin's bag. Merlin looked so scared, he was starting to scare Arthur. Arthur half carried-half pulled Merlin into the hospital. The moment they entered Mr. Gaius started shouting out medical terms that made no sense to Arthur and a bunch of nurses rushed forward with a cot they had prepared. In a rush of blue and green scrubs and grabby hands they took Merlin from Arthur and left him standing, feeling useless in the emergency room waiting room. He saw Mr. Gaius sitting in on of the chairs and joined him.
"I would send you back to school," Mr. Gaius began, "But I don't think you'd learn anything."
With Arthur's mind being as addled as it was, it took him a moment to grasp that Mr. Gaius was letting him off. "Thanks. What do we do now?"
"Now we wait." Mr. Gaius said.