"Arthur! Arthur no! Don't fight, it's a trap!" Merlin tossed and turned in his sleep, face contorted into an expression of agony. "Arthur!" he shouted again, and then mumbled something incoherent.
Gwen quietly closed the door to the front room and tiptoed back to her own room. Rhys sat on the bed, a frown on his face.
"He's asleep. Poor boy, he's been through so much."
"Who is he, Gwen?" Rhys lay back on the bed.
"Jack's nephew. I said I'd look after him for a few days whilst Jack sorts some stuff out. Merlin was just dumped on him with no warning."
"What are you going to do about work? We can't leave him in the flat alone."
"No, Jack said it was okay to have him in the hub."
"…Ok, it's not really for me to say." Rhys yawned. "As long as he's not one of those ASBO kids it's okay with me."
"Hey, he's a sweet boy from what I've seen." Gwen lay down next to Rhys. "Slightly strange but polite."
"Mmmm, he looked terrible when he came in." He paused. "Like you"
"Hey! That's not nice!" Gwen laughed and hit Rhys with a pillow.
"Ouch! I was only kidding!" Rhys chuckled and lay back down. "I'm shattered."
"Me, too. We should sleep."
Arthur rode lopsided on his horse; he hadn't stopped all night for fear of confronting more bandits. The wound in his side was still bleeding, the blood seeping through the material he'd wadded against it as a makeshift bandage and it was becoming more and more painful and uncomfortable as the forest rolled on by. He was still miles from Aealdor and he knew he wouldn't make it there. He could turn around and head back to Camelot, but he couldn't return without Merlin. He'd promised Gaius he'd find him. He sighed painfully and took a swig of water. Looking around, he noticed certain things about the forest. The trees stood in fairly uniformed rows, darkening into shadows ahead. Dappled broken spots of light filtered in through the canopy and birds sang in the trees. The forest was calm, and beautiful. Arthur shook the dizzy feeling from his head and spurred his horse forwards. The pain in his stomach throbbed in time with the pain in his head.
A few hours passed, and Arthur was deteriorating slowly. Thirst was starting to get to him; he'd drunk the last of his water, and was starting to get tired and hungry. As he passed the small opening of a cave, he noticed a strange light glowed from it. It had a golden colour, and throbbed, sending waves of energy out with each pulsation. Arthur's horse whinnied and began to back up, ears flat against its head. "Whoa" Arthur murmured under his breath. "Steady, boy." Slowly, he eased himself out of the saddle and tethered the horse to a nearby tree with a shaky but sturdy knot. Drawing his sword, he gingerly approached the cave, the pulsations getting stronger as he got closer. He could feel a strange energy encircling him and immediately tried to pull back, but was drawn closer by an invisible force. He looked to the ground and spotted a strip of blue material. His heart leapt as he picked it up. Was it evidence of Merlin? He kept hold of it and stepped into the mouth of the cave. It was dark, and cool in the cave, but from deep within the golden light seeped out. It was pulling Arthur closer and as he tried to pull away it pulled him towards it with more force. Suddenly, Arthur felt himself falling and managed to let out a frightened yelp of "No!" before he blacked out and fell into the golden light.
Arthur hit the asphalt with a heavy thud. He groaned, shakily got to his feet and looked around. Everything was dark and bathed in an eerie orange glow, and the place was alive with noise. Awful pumping music could be heard from the walls of a nearby nightclub, and every so often a car sped past on the road. Arthur couldn't comprehend what had happened, or where he was. He took a few shaky steps forward and used a wall for support, sucking in deep breaths in an attempt to control his breathing. After a few minutes, he straightened up and walked down the long road he was standing in.
Arthur didn't know how far he'd walked when it happened. He was scared and lonely and looking for Merlin. He knew Merlin was here, he could feel it. Without looking, he crossed the road.
Suddenly, he was enveloped in a blinding white light. Squinting, he tried to move but found his legs paralysed with terror. An awful high pitched screech filled the air, drowning out Arthur's yell of fear. Arthur felt his head colliding with something hard with an almighty crack, and then everything went black.
"Jack? Jack what is it? I'm almost ready to come in!" Gwen spoke urgently into the phone, taking sideways glances at Merlin, who was tucking into a bowl of cereal whilst Rhys explained the fundamental rules of Rugby to him. She sighed and listened to Jack's voice on the other end of the line. She paused. "I see. Yes, yes. What shall I do about Merlin?"
Merlin looked round at the mention of his name and smiled before turning back to the TV and listening to Rhys. "I can't bring him." She said it quietly so Merlin wouldn't hear. She paused again and listened to what Jack had to say, "Oh…I see. Yes, yes. We'll be over in about fifteen minutes. Where abouts are you? Oh…is it that bad? Oh my God, okay, yep, yep, see you in a minute. Bye." Gwen hung up and looked back across at the young boy, dressed in pyjamas that were several sizes too big for him and eating coco pops with great gusto. "Merlin" she called over.
Merlin turned around again, mouth full of milk and cereal. He chewed quickly and swallowed. "Yes?"
"Jack just called. We need to go out to meet him. Have you finished your cereal?"
"Almost" He hastily shoved another spoonful into his mouth.
"Ok, you finish that and I'll get your clothes." Gwen smiled and went into the bathroom, where Merlin's clothes were drying on the radiator. She picked them up and took them back into the sitting room. Merlin stood up and put the bowl on the side before taking his clothes.
"Thank you." He set the clothes down over the back of the sofa and proceeded to take his pyjama shirt off. Gwen stifled a gasp at how skinny he was. He put his red shirt back on and smiled. "It's warm!" he exclaimed.
"Yes, it's been on the radiator. I washed it last night, your trousers too."
"You have been so kind." Merlin smiled again. "Thank you." He pulled off the pyjama trousers and pulled on his own with a smile. Gwen smiled back.
"Are you ready?"
"I think so. Where are we going?"
"To the hub, like yesterday" Gwen lied and then felt bad. "But first we need to go to the hospital."
"Oh, okay." Merlin followed Gwen to the door barefoot and pulled on his boots.
"Bye, Rhys!" Gwen called and Rhys stood in the doorway.
"Bye, love you!"
"Love you too! See you later." She blew a kiss and left the flat, Merlin in tow.
Arthur swam up through a haze of darkness. As he opened his eyes he was confronted by a bright light and muffled sounds of voices and the beeping of a machine. Someone was talking to him.
"Can you hear me?"
"Merlin?" Arthur let out a painful moan as he felt something stinging his arm. "What…happened?"
"You had an accident; you're in Cardiff General Hospital." The voice was calm and reassuring, but spoke with an unfamiliar accent he couldn't recognise.
"Merlin?" He tried to raise his head but found it restrained by a contraption which had been strapped around his neck. There was a tube in his nose. Arthur tried to pull it out but found his hand restrained.
"No, that needs to stay where it is; you're in a very bad state."
"Merlin! Danger!" Arthur tried to fight back but just didn't have the energy. He felt a sharp pain in his arm and darkness sucked him down again.
Gwen and Merlin walked through the entrance of the A&E, Merlin bemused by the electronic doors. Jack stood by the doors off the side of the main A&E area and nodded to them both, a serious expression on his face.
"Gwen, Merlin" He nodded. "Ianto's in with him at the moment, he says he's in a pretty bad state. It looks serious."
Jack looked down at Merlin. "You okay, kid?"
Merlin nodded, a sick feeling forming in the pit of his stomach; He had an awful feeling Arthur was the one they were in this place for.
"Good. Come with me." Merlin followed. He didn't like the serious Jack, he was intimidating and imposing and nothing like the kind captain he had seen yesterday. The three of them walked through the doors and down a long narrow corridor filled with staff in green or blue uniforms. At the end there was another set of double doors marked 'ICU'. Merlin still didn't understand what was happening until he was lead into a small room off the side. Gwen squeezed his hand and gave him a sympathetic look before they went in.
Merlin's heart dropped when he saw him. "Arthur!" he yelled and ran forwards to the side of the bed. "Arthur, Arthur, no!" Tears welled in his eyes and blurred his vision.
Arthur lay unconscious in the bed, a tube in his nose looked barbaric, and his head was secured in place by a neck brace. An IV drip hung on each side, one filled with what looked like water and the other with thick red blood. He looked desperately pale and broken, and had a large dressing on his head. He was wired up to a heart monitor, which beeped rhythmically and showed a squiggly line with each beep and a number displayed at the end of the line, displaying the heart's speed. He looked up at Ianto. "What happened?" He looked down at Arthur again and clasped his hand in his own, being careful not to dislodge the bandage and IV line that had been placed there.
"He fell through the rift, like you. He had an accident with a bus though."
"Oh, Arthur" Merlin breathed, struggling to keep his voice steady. "This was my fault. You were looking for me." He looked back up at Ianto, tears running down his cheeks. "It was my fault!"
"No, don't think that. It was nobody's fault." Ianto walked over and put an arm round Merlin's shoulders.
"Is he going to die?" Merlin looked from Arthur to Ianto and back again. "Please, save him. He can't die! It's my destiny to protect him!"
"The doctors say he's in a stable condition." Ianto gave Merlin's shoulder a sympathetic squeeze. "They nearly lost him, but he's stable now."
The door opened and a nurse popped her head round the side. "Mr Jones, he needs to rest, visiting time finishes in ten minutes"
"Thank you, we'll leave in a minute" The nurse nodded and closed the door with a soft click. Ianto turned to Merlin. "We need to leave now, but we can come back tomorrow."
"No, I can't leave him, not like this." Merlin stood as close to the bed as he could get.
"He's in good hands here; the doctors will look after him."
"They don't even know who he is!" Merlin tried to keep his voice low; he didn't want to wake Arthur.
"Merlin, he needs to be cared for properly."
"I'm not leaving." Merlin put a hand on Arthur's bruised looking forehead. "Arthur, it's okay, I'm here and I won't leave you again." He leaned down and kissed it softly.
"Merlin?" His voice was barely a whisper. Merlin looked down in time to see Arthur's eyes flutter open. They were scared, Merlin could see it.
"Arthur, I'm here, it's okay now, and everything's going to be alright."
"Merlin, I knew you were here." He smiled and then noticed the tube in his nose. He reached to pull it out and Merlin restrained his hand.
"No, leave that, you need it." He looked towards Ianto for help.
"It…hurts." Arthur's words were becoming slurred. "The light...It was sorcery….We need to tell…..Uther" The gaps between his words were becoming longer.
"Merlin….." Arthur didn't get to finish his sentence and it trailed off as unconsciousness pulled him down once more.
Merlin stroked Arthur's hand and the sob he had been holding back erupted from his chest. Ianto pulled Merlin into a hug and let him rest his head against him, rocking him gently as he sobbed.
"Shhhh, it's okay, Arthur's going to be okay." He knelt down to Merlin's eye level. "Merlin, he's going to survive. Come on; let's go back to the hub."
This time, Merlin just followed Ianto out of the room, taking one last look at Arthur's unconscious body before turning away and stepping out into the bright corridor. He looked up at Gwen, tears still streaming down his cheeks. Everything didn't seem real anymore. Merlin's legs felt wobbly and as he sucked in deep lungfuls of air he felt like he wasn't getting enough oxygen. Blood pounded in his ears and he fell forwards, caught by Jack, he passed out.