CHAPTER 9 : AN UNPLEASANT INTERRUPTION
To say that the shit hit the fan would be an understatement…
Uther charged across the room ripping Merlin away from Arthur. He threw him against the wall. A nurse rushed in with the doctor on duty as Dr. Mooney stood baffled at how minutes ago, a sane conversation could have suddenly erupted into bedlam with a stranger at the midst of it.
The nurse said, "Mr. Pendragon, please!" She gestured to the person who had been in the room when he had burst in, "That is Dr. Mooney he's Arthur's counsellor. Please you're upsetting your son."
Arthur had half risen from the chair trying to reach Merlin who was crumpled against the wall. Sheila was the next into the room and she immediately went to Arthur.
Security was the next to arrive, as the sight of a doctor and a nurse charging down the hallway had alerted one of the nurses who had realised what had happened and had made a judgement which proved to be the key as she had called for Arthur's nurse Graham, who in turn had asked her to get Security on standby.
Graham walked in and shouldered Uther out of the way, his main concern was Arthur.
Uther kept yelling pointing at Merlin, "Get that man away from my son! He's a gold digger."
"Mr. Pendragon, please!" said the doctor on duty but Uther was beyond listening to anyone. "Mr. Pendragon, I will have to ask Security to remove you from this floor if you don't stop this behaviour."
Uther had moved over to Merlin who was sitting on the floor clutching his shoulder as his collar bone had obviously been broken. He kicked out making contact and said in a hushed tone, "Keep away from my son, you faggot!"
The duty doctor nodded at Security and the two men stepped forward hemming Uther in and escorted him from the room. He could be heard threatening them as he walked down the hallway towards the lifts. Graham went over to Merlin and with Dr. Mooney managed to get him sitting on the bed.
Arthur appeared in shock staring blankly in Merlin's direction.
Dr. Mooney said to the duty doctor, "This is enough to put him back three weeks!" He turned to Arthur saying, "Arthur, can you hear me? Merlin is all right."
The duty doctor said, "Graham, can you help Arthur so that he is lying on his bed." He walked over and checked Merlin. "Sorry old chap," he said, "I think you have a broken collar bone. We can get it fixed with no problem. Can you walk?"
Merlin nodded, he had figured what had happened when he had heard the snap, felt the pain and realised he couldn't hold his shoulder back, having a mother a nurse had given him some knowledge. Besides the pain in his shoulder, he had a sore thigh where Uther had kicked him. He knew he would be sporting a bruise for a couple of weeks. However, his main thought was Arthur so he said, "My shoulder can wait; I need to talk to Arthur."
Dr. Mooney asked for everyone except Graham to leave. He then perched on the edge of the bed and looked at Arthur, "Arthur, it's Dr. Mooney. Can you hear me?" There was no response so he turned to Merlin.
Merlin took Arthur's hand in his good one and said, "Arthur, it's me Merlin. I came to visit you…"
His voice seemed to penetrate Arthur's mind and he started to shiver uncontrollably. He looked directly at Merlin and his eyes filled with tears and he dropped his head back onto the pillow.
"Leave the two of them together for a little while," said Dr. Mooney. "Graham, stand at the door and let no one into the room. Regardless of whom they are!" He didn't trust that Mr. Pendragon would not try to slip back onto T5 once he was escorted outside by the guards.
The duty doctor had remained in the hallway. As they walked along to the nurses' station together, Dr. Mooney said, "Honestly, Dave, sometimes family members can be the biggest handicap to my patients! What in heaven's name happened there? There'll be extra reports to write tonight."
-0-0-
There was silence in Arthur's room, Merlin kept hold of his hand and whispered, "It's just us, Arthur! Just you and me, I know you probably don't feel like talking so, you'll just have to listen to me. I'm all right, honestly, your father didn't really hurt me. I'll have a few bruises but I will survive. Squeeze my hand if you can understand me…"
Arthur turned toward him still keeping his eyes closed and said in a quiet voice which had Merlin straining to hear him. "Everything I do seems to go wrong. I just cause so much trouble for everyone. I tried to help Rupert and look what happened… Are you really all right?"
"Yes, Arthur, I promise I will survive. You'll not get rid of me that easily and you will still be my favourite person to visit." He noticed that Arthur seemed to be dropping off; he motioned to Graham to come in. Still holding Arthur's hand he said for Arthur's sake, "Graham, I think Arthur's ready for a little rest."
"I'm not!" mumbled Arthur's voice from the bed but he didn't try to lift his head or open his eyes.
"Don't worry, Arthur, I'm not leaving. You can have a rest and then I'll be back when you have supper." He tried to straighten up and Graham noticed the pain which crossed his face.
"I think that we should have that collar bone seen to now. I'll get someone to take you to the treatment room on this floor and they'll give you something and strap it up. Arthur, he'll be as good as rain in a few minutes…" but Arthur was miles away. He sighed and settled deeper into sleep and Merlin looked at Graham and nodded.
"He's had a busy day," he said sadly.
Graham nodded, that was an understatement as Arthur had learned that his friend had been killed in the accident, his father had stormed in, attacked Merlin and had been removed by Security…and people thought that being a private nurse was boring. He phoned the nurses' station, Sheila came to the room so he asked her to take Merlin to have his collar bone seen to and walked over to the bed and straightened out Arthur's covers.
Arthur felt the movement and murmured, "Merlin…?"
"He'll be back in a little while," Graham said quietly so as not to fully waken his patient.
-0-0-
Merlin sat on the table in the treatment room. As long as he didn't move, he could cope with the pain. Without the collar bone holding it rigid, his shoulder had slipped forward. The doctor gave him some painkillers explaining there would be an x-ray and if it were a clean break, the ends would be realigned, strapped into place and it would stay that way until the break had healed. He was taken to x-ray and after a wait had it looked at. He returned with his x-rays, and the doctor satisfied, had him sit up straight and then carefully pulled his shoulder back so that the two ends of the collarbone were back into position. He was fitted with a sling and given a sheet of instructions and a prescription for more painkillers.
Ice packs and painkillers for pain and swelling
Extra pillows at night to keep yourself upright if sleeping uncomfortable
Try to move your elbow, hand and fingers regularly, as soon as it feels comfortable
No contact sports for at least 10 to 12 weeks.
Merlin had laughed at the last instruction. Then the doctor had added, "Do not drive yourself home, call a friend or a taxi."
Merlin had no intention of going home. He was going back up to Arthur. He checked his watch he'd been downstairs for two and a half hours. Arthur should be awake by now.
Once he left the department, he was feeling a little sorry for himself. He made his way upstairs as he needed to be there for Arthur.
As he got off the lift, the first person he saw was Bridie. "So been to the wars, I hear!" she said with a big smile, "Are you all patched up?" Merlin nodded. "Reports have gone downstairs about the assault."
Merlin's head snapped up, hurting his shoulder, "Assault?"
"Yes, you were deliberately shoved across the room and subsequently injured. Security has to report any disturbance and then an entry is made in the day's log for any injury sustained by a visitor in the hospital. If you were living in the States, you would probably sue for damages."
"I couldn't do that! It was Arthur's father and I guess he was really pissed off!"
Bridie smiled, "Obviously, not lost your sense of humour! Look after yourself, Merlin, at least we can keep an eye on how you are doing when you visit."
"How's Arthur?"
"Confused! He woke up thinking that his father had absconded with you. Gawaine's with him. I took the liberty of phoning him as I knew you would need a lift home and that you would be down in A&E for some time. Arthur needed to see a friendly face when he woke up."
Merlin felt then and therethat if he had liked women, he would have been only too happy to have called Bridie his girlfriend. She was not only pretty but more importantly so sensible and caring. Gawaine was lucky and Merlin intended to remind him about that later on. "Thanks, Bridie, you'll make someone a lovely mother," he said with a cheeky grin.
"Go away with you! I have my hands full enough as it is. Mind you, maybe in the future…"
They reached the door to Arthur's chamber and parted company. Merlin peeked in, Arthur was still in bed. "Would you mind having another visitor, Arthur?" he asked walking in.
"Merlin! I was so worried. My father went and then I must have fallen asleep and when I woke only Graham was here. I was so sure that he'd taken you with him." He smiled but the smile didn't reach his eyes, "I know it sounds silly but I honestly did think that he had for a few minutes. How is your shoulder? Graham said that they were working on you. Luckily, Gawaine dropped by and waited with me."
Merlin pointed to the sling and rattled the bottle with the pills, "The pills are taking care of the pain at the moment and I'll be fine, sadly however, no contact sports for at least the time being."
Gawaine laughed as Merlin was more likely to be found with a book than on a playing field. "You heard that, Arthur, you mustn't push him around or hurt him. He can be at your beck and call but no heavy lifting!" He grinned in Merlin's directions as Arthur burst out laughing.
Arthur had laughed but it was more in relief than in finding what Gawaine had said amusing. How could anyone think that he would ever hurt Merlin?
They could hear the food trolley making its way around. Merlin was hungry; he'd had no lunch only water. Gawaine offered to go down and pick up some sandwiches in the snack bar and Arthur said that he was dying for chips.
Gawaine left and Arthur again said, "I was really worried. I think I was given something to help me sleep but I had awful dreams. Merlin, I must apologise for my father's behaviour. He and I do not really see eye to eye on a few things. I can only hope that as time passes, he will realise that he was in the wrong. I felt so helpless, before the accident I would have been out of the chair to catch you so before you hit the wall. But now…" he looked helplessly at his legs.
Merlin was conscious of the tenderness on his thigh and he remembered the hurtful thing Mr. Pedragon had said only for his benefit. He didn't like or trust the man and felt so sorry that he was Arthur's father.
"Arthur, you weren't to know what he was going to do. I'm a little shaken up and bruised but I'm stronger than you think." He paused before continuing, "It makes me feel better to know that you would have tried to help me…you're my Guardian Angel on T5."
Arthur thought, 'Merlin, if only you realised. I could happily be your best friends, your knight in shining armour, your...'
They sat in amiable silence. Arthur in bed and Merlin in the chair pulled close. Merlin rested his arm on the bed and Arthur stretched out worrying about touching his hand should it cause further pain but he lightly stroked his fingers along the back of Merlin's fingers.
Merlin took it as permission to touch and shifted himself so that with his good hand, he was able to hold Arthur's. He glanced up and Arthur was looking at him so he smiled and dropped his eyes blushing slightly. His heart was racing not so much because they were again holding hands but because of the look in Arthur's eyes.
"Anyone who's ready to eat…!" Gawaine announced as he entered the room breaking the mood but not before he had noticed Arthur holding Merlin's hand. 'Yes!' he said to himself as he put Costa coffee, a selection of sandwiches and freshly cooked chips, on the overbed table which he rolled over Arthur's knees. "Had to go out to get the coffee as I can't drink the hospital stuff. Also, dropped some off for the nurses.""Egg and Cress, Red Leicester with Mango Chutney, Tomato and Lettuce and Prawn Mayonnaise sandwiches, as well as one extra large chips as I certainly intend to share, as does Merlin I am sure."
"Gawaine, you could get a job here, taking orders for those confined to their rooms as you do it with such flair? Been watching too many cooking shows on TV? You've brought enough to feed the whole floor," said Merlin with a grin.
Arthur nodded and said something unintelligible as his mouth was crammed with a mayonnaise dipped chip.
"Hey!" said Gawaine, "We were supposed to be sharing those and you're getting a head start. I remembered Belgium and the mayonnaise." He turned to Merlin, "A group of us went to Bruges and Arthur scoffed at those who dipped their chips into the mayonnaise preferring the tomato sauce but by the end of the second day he was a 'mitt mayonnaise' guy like the rest of us."
"Honestly, Merlin, you should try it. Don't ask me why but it tastes delicious!" Arthur said, licking a blob of mayonnaise from the corner of his lips and Merlin felt the nerves in his stomach clench.
-0-0-
All too soon Arthur's meal had been delivered and they had all finished eating. "I rather like picnics," said Gawaine while the other two rolled their eyes. "Something to do with the company, I guess!"
Merlin left promising to return after work the following day. Arthur said, "Look after yourself; I'd rather you had someone with you overnight besides Spot!"
"I do, I have my own private nurse as my mother is here until Saturday. If it's all right with you, we could both come tomorrow," suggested Merlin hopefully.
"That would be great!" Arthur said with a smile, "I'd like to meet your mother." Suddenly, he felt worried, what if Mrs. Emrys didn't like him that would nip the whole situation in the bud.
Merlin followed Gawaine out the door turning once to smile at Arthur. He really did want his mother to meet the conscious Arthur, he felt sure that she would like him. Well, he hoped she would after he explained his injuries were due to Arthur's father's unexpected arrival. He hadn't liked the way Arthur's eyes had frequently glanced towards the door apprehensively. He knew he was safe there but did Arthur feel safe.
-0-0-
Merlin's mother's face dropped when she opened the door. Merlin was standing there looking paler than ever with his arm in a sling with Gawaine standing beside him supporting her son's other elbow.
"Mum, I'm all right. Just that Gawaine insisted on seeing me to the door." Hunith held open the door and motioned for Gawaine to come in as well.
"What every happened to you? I warned you about not checking carefully before crossing the street. Did you fall?"
When Merlin said nothing, Gawaine offered. "Mrs. Emrys, he slipped at the hospital and hit his shoulder and broke his collar bone."
"Come in, sit down and tell me the truth!" Hunith knew a sanitised version of a story when she heard one. She went into the kitchen and put on the kettle and left the two of them to get settled in the living area. Spot got off the window sill and walked over to Gawaine giving him a thorough going over before pushing herself against Merlin and curling up on his knees.
"You'd better tell her the truth," Gawaine cautioned, "She's going to get it out of you anyway."
Merlin smiled, "True but it's a bit difficult explaining that my employer did it. How will it reflect upon Arthur?"
"Once your mother meets Arthur, she'll realise that he is very different from his father. The only time Arthur gets physical is when he's on the pitch and even then not enough to get a red card."
Merlin grinned because he knew from where Gawaine was coming as after all, he was the champion holder of red cards on Arthur's team.
Hunith came in with tea and some ginger snaps. "All right, who wants to go first?" Gawaine gave Merlin a none too obvious dig with his knee.
Merlin looked at his mother and said, "You won't get mad if I tell you the truth, will you?"
A worried mother looked at her son and said, "…that depends upon what the truth is."
Merlin swallowed, looking at Gawaine who nodded in encouragement. He took a deep breath and said, "It was an accident I sort off got pushed against the wall by Mr. Pendragon…"
"Sort of pushed against the wall? Hard enough to break a collar bone? Whatever was he thinking?" Hunith turned towards Merlin and put her arm around his good shoulder. "Did anyone see what happened? Did you Gawaine?"
Gawaine seemed flustered as he said, "No, Mrs. Emrys, Bridie called me and told me that Merlin would need a lift home but there was a witness."
Hunith nodded then turned back to Merlin. She put her hand under his chin and turned his head until he was looking at her, before saying, "There's more to this I know, so I'll give you time to reconsider and then maybe you can tell me the truth."
It all burst forth from Merlin as he said, "Mr. Pendragon was furious because I had my arms around Arthur. He had just remembered that his friend Rupert had been killed in the accident and he was crying. Dr. Mooney was in the room with us but Mr. Pendragon went ballistic, he grabbed me, pulled me up and threw me against the wall. I heard the bone snap and I slid down to the floor."
Gawaine watched in amazement as Hunith changed in a split second from the sadness of a caring mother into an avenging one. She pulled Merlin to her but from Gawaine's view, he could see that she was furious.
"I'm very cross, Merlin, but thankful that you are all right and that I am here in London." Suddenly, she pushed Merlin away and looking at him said, "How's Arthur taking it?"
The abrupt change of direction took Merlin by surprise as he felt his eyes fill with tears. "He was very upset but he was also mentally exhausted from the counselling session…they took Mr. Pendragon away and Arthur seemed dazed. I was then taken downstairs and by the time I got back about two hours later, Gawaine was with him. I knew he was upset but I told him that I was all right." He lied as he said, "We never mentioned anything about it after that but I doubt that he will sleep well tonight."
"I'm sorry, Son, that you had to go through that and Gawaine thanks for being a good friend."
Gawaine took that opportunity to leave. He said, "Merlin, if you don't feel up to work tomorrow just let me know. I'll take care of it from my end." He turned to look at Hunith and said, "Mrs. Emrys, your boy is one in a million. I'll let myself out…" Spot jumped off Merlin's knees and escorted him to the front door.