I have been advised by the author to give a warning about this chapter as it contains what some people may say as a graphic description of a house fire. So if you get triggered by house fires then you are warned to skip this chapter!
The following morning Merlin had got up bright and early to visit Arthur at the hospital.
Arriving at the hospital it was jam packed with nurses wheeling hospital beds around the corridors as well as visitors and patients sitting in the waiting room looking sorry for themselves or rushing towards different wards.
The atmosphere was overwhelmed by the sounds of babies crying, phones ringing and people talking in the background along with doctors and nurses carrying hospital equipment.
After asking one of the nurses where Arthur's ward was he walked down the corridor, carefully dodging other nurses racing down the corridors with different kinds of equipment in hand. Also there were the visitors who were heading towards the same direction, desperate to be with their loved ones in the wards.
Opening the door to the ward where Arthur was being kept he soon saw that Morgana was already in the room, her hand covering Arthur's with her thumb rubbing against the back of Arthur's hand.
"Merlin" Morgana said, seeming to be only half surprised at Merlin's sudden appearance.
Merlin walked carefully towards Arthur who was lying down with his eyes closed, covered in wires which looked as if they were snakes coiled around its prey. Also there was an oxygen mask placed into his mouth along with being connected to a machine that made a noise whenever Arthur breathes .
"How is he"? Merlin asked once he had sat down on the plastic chair that was uncomfortable enough to make visitors come for a short amount of time.
"There's been no change since he was brought here" Morgana replied, her voice wavering as she spoke.
They both sat in silence for the next five minutes before Morgana looked at Merlin straight in the eye, "Why did you come here"? She then asked innocently.
Merlin blinked and sighed before answering her.
"I wanted to come and see how Arthur was doing so I could tell your father the news" Merlin replied in a quiet and honest voice.
All Morgana did was look at Merlin then Arthur as if she was constantly checking to see if Arthur was about to wake up. Merlin gut instincts instantly told him that he was more than certain that this was what Morgana was doing last night instead of staying at Gwen's house.
They sat through another patch of silence until Morgana broke it the silence which seemed to be deafening apart from the noise that the machine was making.
"Merlin my father told me that you spent the previous night with him at my house, is that true"? She asked gently.
"Yes" Merlin answered, "He asked me to come round, he was petrified" Merlin added.
Morgana sniffed, "he's been like that since we moved away from our last village".
That little sentence had brought all his questions and guesses to why the Pendragons had moved here all back into Merlin's brain but this time those thoughts all seemed to be glued into his mind. Causing Merlin to be driven mad by them even if his facial expression didn't show it.
However Merlin's mouth seemed to make his decision for him as he uncontrollably blurted out, "Why do you move away from your last home to here"? At that moment Merlin wanted to kick himself several times so he could feel the pain that Morgana would now feel as a result of Merlin's question.
To Merlin's surprise Morgana's facial expression showed no anger or embarrassment, instead she just looked at Merlin in a calm way as if she was expecting that question to be asked at some point in the conversation.
"You're really interested to know aren't you"? Morgana said softly.
"Yes" was all Merlin could say who was now unable find anymore words that would be helpful.
Morgana let out a heavy sigh before giving Merlin full eye contact while explaining the huge and important story.
"Well at our last school we were hated just as much as we are here but at that time we didn't have any friends like you and Gwen to back us up, so we had to face everyone just us against them" Morgana started.
"What happened"? Merlin asked while gently getting hold of Morgana's hand which she accepted and held Merlin's hand in return.
"One evening after school we were all at home and we heard a bang at our door, at first our father thought it was just some drunk who had stumbled on to our front door".
Morgana cleared her throat awkwardly before continuing.
"It soon turned out that it wasn't the case when our mother shouted hysterically that she could see our front door burning right in front of her".
Merlin squeezed Morgana's hand and simply said that she could stop if she needed too, despite this Morgana kept on talking as if for once in her life she had no control over her mouth.
"Before we could save any of our precious belongings we all had to run towards the back door and in our rush to unlock the door they key to it snapped so we had to make our way upstairs as the fire was making its way through the house".
Morgana paused to take a deep breath.
"We had to make an exit through my father's bedroom window, me Arthur and my father all got down safely however our mother"... Morgana trailed off, now looking at Arthur as if she expected him to tell the rest.
Merlin just looked at Morgana, sorrow and deep sadness spreading across his facial expression.
"She panicked when it was her turn to climb out from the window, although we were all shouting for her to come down she was just frozen in her position".
There was a little pause.
"Our father was about go up and save her until she did decide to save herself". Morgana said her voice trembling before adding in almost a whisper, "By then it was too late, the fire had already reached the bedroom and before we could say or do anything our home collapsed along with the happy memories of being a whole family". Morgana finished, her voice at the highest it could go with tears rolling down her cheeks.
Merlin felt his own eyes stinging painfully just by listening to Morgana's tragic story.
Once Morgana had calmed down a bit she whispered something while looking at Arthur which Merlin was just about in hearing distance to understand what Morgana was saying.
"He was lucky in a way, he couldn't see the horrors which me and my father had to watch and face".
Merlin squeezed Morgana's hand again which got her on to her next sentence.
"Since then our father has changed to a frightened, vulnerable and bewildered man who is now convinced that everyone is out to kill us"
Morgana paused for the third time but this time it was for a shorter amount of time.
"Now that this has happened has not only affected my father but its affected me in such a way that nothing has ever done before".
Merlin was about to tell Morgana to stop when she let out her final sentence, "Merlin before this happened Arthur was the only thing me and my father treasured and now Arthur's life has been put in danger, it's like the fire event all over again but this time if we lose Arthur then my family will fall on its knees until there is nothing left of us". Morgana whispered as if she was in great pain.
At this point Merlin went over to where Morgana was sat and gave her a long hug while she cried into his shoulder. Merlin let her tears roll from her eyes on to his shirt, not caring about the amount of warm tears which were getting soaked into it.
"Thank you "Morgana said in between sobs before breaking the hug. "You're a loyal friend" she added which made a faint smile appear on Merlin's face.
They were soon interrupted by a nurse who didn't look particularly happy about doing an early morning shift which was shown when she told them that they needed to leave so she could check on Arthur properly in a less than polite way.
When Merlin and Morgana both stood up to leave, Merlin pulled a face behind her back which received a chuckle from Morgana and a huff from the nurse.
Before leaving to go back to their homes Merlin said something quietly so no one else could hear.
"If you ever feel that everything is too much to handle then come to me, I'll always be there to help "Merlin said which made Morgana smile for the first time since Arthur's accident.
"You didn't have to say anything Merlin" she replied before adding "you have already proved that by being more than considerate to Arthur as well as being willing to look after my father".
With that Morgana turned around and made her way out of the hospital , while Merlin decided to carry on with his duty to Arthur by waiting just outside Arthur's ward ready to race in the moment the nurse lets him.