They managed to get Merlin's heart beating once more before continuing with the rest of his care. Due to his previous panicked state and general condition the decision was made to ventilate him so he could be safely sedated. Now he was in a safe environment analgesia was started along with drugs to support his cardiac output.
They cut though the metal shackles to remove them and he was cleaned and his wounds dressed before having x-rays, a CT scans and numerous blood tests. A full set of photographs of all the injuries were taken both for the medical notes and the police records for any future court case. A naso gastric tube was also passed so he could receive appropriate feed and a catheter was also decided upon.
After all this was done he was transferred to the intensive care unit, where Merlin was hocked up to a plethora of machines to closely monitor his condition. He was not expected to survive but if he didn't it would be for lack of trying. Due to a high risk of infection and the possibility of cross infection to other patients he was put in a side room. Two policemen had arrived and would be ensuring that Merlin was safe, he was after all their only witness.
As soon as the police car arrived at the hospital Arthur ran into the A&E Department followed by Leon and Kay while the driver found somewhere to park.
Arthur approach the reception and without further preamble demanded "Where I can find Mr Merlin Pendragon"
"Are you a relative of Mr Pendragon?" the receptionist asked without looking up as she typed Merlin's name onto her computer. The department was very busy and the waiting room was full.
"I'm his husband. Now where is he" Arthur was beginning to lose it.
At this the detective pushed forward and flashed his warrant card under the receptionist's nose.
"We have just driven from London on a blue light and I would appreciate it if you could tell us where Mr Pendragon can be found."
The receptionist looked up and seeing Arthur's obvious distress she changed her tone. Suddenly realising who the irate man had asked for, she immediately realised the reason for his behaviour. Looking at Arthur she gave a reassuring smile.
"He has been taken to the intensive care department, go through those doors take a left turn 25 yards to the lifts or stairs to the second floor and it is then sign posted. Ring on the bell and someone will let you in"
As soon as they had left the receptionist picked up the phone and rang though to ITU to tell them that Arthur was on his way. The three men followed the directions and on finding the Intensive care unit rang the bell for entry. After a few moments the door was opened by one of the nurses.
"I'm Arthur Pendragon I understand that my husband has been brought here"
"He's just being settled in Sir. If you follow me I will get a doctor to come and have a word before you go through to see him" She pointed at a small room to one side. It was a small reception room with comfortable chairs and a coffee table.
"My name is Claire would you all like a tea or coffee after your journey?" the nurse asked.
Leon turned and asked for 2 strong coffees for Arthur and himself and Kay asked for a tea.
"I will tell the doctor you are here and then bring you your drinks"
Leon looked at Arthur expecting him to be impatient to get to Merlin's bedside, but was surprised to see his friend sat down with his head in his hands. Now he had arrived the adrenaline, that had been holding him together, had faded and he no longer knew what to do or think.
"You ok Arthur?" Leon asked as he place a comforting hand on Arthur's shoulder
Arthur looked up at his friend "I'm scared Leon what if he dies" the blond man was obviously scared as to what he would find.
"I can't carry on without him" his voice broke under the strain
"He's in the best place now Arthur you just have to have faith. You know how stubborn and determined Merlin is he's held on this long, and they will do all they can for him" Leon sat down on the seat next to Arthur and out his arm and put his arm round his friends shoulder.
With that a doctor entered the room. She was obviously looking for them and had an air of importance about her.
"Hello my name is Nimueh O'Connor I am one of the Consultants looking after Mr Merlin Pendragon. Which one of you is Mr Arthur Pendragon?" The doctor appeared to be slightly uncomfortable, but Leon figured that it couldn't be easy giving relatives unpleasant news.
Arthur looked up and standing held out his hand "I'm Merlin's husband this is my brother in law Leon and this is Kay Brown one of the detectives investigating my husband's case"
"Hello Mr Pendragon, before you see your husband I need to discuss his condition, do you wish both of these gentlemen to remain?"
"Yes please. Do you know if Merlin's mother has arrived yet?"
"Not to my knowledge don't worry I will speak to her once she arrives." With that she turned and closed the door before taking a seat opposite Arthur.
She waved in the direction of the other chairs indicating that the others should sit. She then took a deep breath before continuing.
"There is no easy way to tell you this but I'm afraid to say Merlin's condition is critical. Just after he arrived in our A&E his heart stopped beating and we had to resuscitate him." She paused before continuing
"He is extremely malnourished bordering on starvation his body weight is very low is less than two thirds of what he should be even taking into account, as we understand, that he was of slight build before his kidnap. This effects what we are able to safely do for him."
Arthur and Leon both gasped they hadn't realised Merlin had lost so much weight. The doctor continued
"Unfortunately he has several other injuries that we will be unable to treat until we can build up his reserves so our first priority will be to optimise his nutrition and stabilise his vital signs. He has been started on the appropriate drugs to maintain his cardiac output and help with the pain he has been experiencing. Intra venous fluids are being given to that contain trace elements and a blood transfusion has been started as the patient is very anaemic."
She paused once more to allow the men to take in what she was saying
"The decision was made to ventilate him so we could better manage his care. When we did that we also put a tube down his nose into his stomach so we can feed him via a naso gastric route with a high protein feed." The doctor paused and looked at Arthur before continuing.
Arthur just looked at her hoping she would have something good to tell him.
"His nutritional state is such that he has lost several teeth and many more are loose he has advanced gingivitis. He high susceptible to further infection, he has infected several pressure sores over his bony prominences, probably due to lying on damp concrete floors. His wrists also have significant skin loss from the shackles he was wearing. Both his eyes have infections and his left ear has become so highly infected that it is highly unlikely that he will have any hearing in that hear in future. He also has a urine infection that is compromising his kidney function" again she paused looking at Kay who was taking notes.
Arthur couldn't take in all he was being told, Leon was trying to remember it all but couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Merlin has suffered from beatings over a long period of time that appears to have been inflicted with a bar of some kind and well as multiple bruises that suggest he has been kicked with significant force. This has resulted in some skin trauma, that appears to have been very crudely stitched in places and some of these have broken down. Merlin has also suffered from several broken bones that are at various stages of healing" she paused as if making sure she was remembering everything.
"This includes several ribs some of which have mended, a broken left leg which appears to have been set wrongly and his left wrist that was never treated and has set at a ninety degree angle bent down towards his inner wrist" she stopped once more and looked with sympathy at Arthur
"I'm afraid he has also suffered from prolonged sexual abuse. So you must appreciate that although we will do everything we can his chances of survival are low at this stage."
Whilst he listened Arthur became more and more withdrawn and Leon listened with increasing horror.
"I'm sorry I know it seems cruel but it is best that you know everything at this stage. We have put him on high doses of antibiotics and will rehydrate and feed him. If he survives and begins to gain weight we can then look at the skin loss and broken bones. We are also unable to tell you what psychological damage has been caused at this stage, except to say he was in a highly agitated state when rescued and on arrival at A&E. He will be given appropriate psychological support as needed. I understand he has been kept in captivity for nearly two years so this is understandable" the doctor looked at Arthur and could see he hadn't been able to process all she had said.
"We are here to support you so don't be afraid to ask as many questions as you like. Someone will always talk to you, or if you wish to speak to me we can arrange it for you" she sat in silence for a few minutes before talking to Arthur once more.
"Now I suggest you come and see your husband. We do require that visitors are kept to a minimum at present due to Merlin's low resistance but at the same time since he has been away from you for so long. His closest friends can have one short visit each and close family have open visits but not if they have any infections"
Arthur looked at her and finding his voice asked "What are his chances"
Nimueh looked at Arthur with sympathy
"Well as I said he is critical, if he survives the next couple of weeks then his chances will improve but if I'm totally honest with you at the moment his chances are in the region of about 10%. But as I said we will do everything we can"