Once the New Year was over and life went back to normal for the two men they gradually fell back into their routine. Their lives were as separate as they could be unless they went out or had people staying over. Merlin didn't repeat his New Years behaviour; it was causing him too many wet dreams as it was. He as only glad that the room he slept in was the one furthest for Arthur's room. When they did sleep together Merlin found he mostly had sleepless nights, worried he would give himself away. Arthur was also having problems with dreams and also now dreaded the times he shared a bed with Merlin. As a result he seldom asked people to stay. He had even gone as far as considering going to a gay bar and picking someone up to get rid of his sexual frustration but two things stopped him. One the fear of being recognised and two, if expected Merlin to be abstain then he had to as well.
As winter turned to spring it was soon time for Merlin to start back at medical school, this helped him as it gave him something to focus on and he studied hard. Merlin's evenings were full of books and assignments. The two men found the spent many evenings in quiet companionship in the home office. Merlin got more confident as his life got back purpose and he had a target to aim for. Although he knew he still wasn't eating as much as he should, due mainly to the constant guilt of deceiving his mother. She seemed so happy to have his settled and she really liked Arthur. This came to a head one day when the couple went out for an evening at Morgana's. It was yet another party. As the couple danced the music changed from a faster tune to a slow one so Arthur gathered Merlin close. As he did so he noticed that he could feel Merlin's spine, the younger man had always been slender, but never before had Arthur felt Merlin's spinal processes quite so pronounced. He said nothing waiting until the next day.
It was a Sunday and Arthur carefully watched how much Merlin was eating but the end of the day he could keep quiet no longer. "Merlin why aren't you eating enough?"
Merlin looked at Arthur in surprise "I am you've saw me have three meals today"
"No Merlin you ate part of three meals, last night when we were dancing I could feel how thin you've become." Arthur had real concern in his voice. "Are you ill?"
"No, I just haven't got much appetite" Merlin admitted.
"Well I think you should see a doctor, I'll make you an appointment with mine"
"No way! I told you I'm fine I've always been thin." Merlin protested.
"It's either that or I speak to Hunith and I'm sure you don't want her worrying about you." Arthur threatened.
So the next day after his studies had finished Merlin found himself at the doctors. Even he was surprised to find how much weight he had lost. After taking blood samples and checking Merlin from head to toe the doctor asked him to keep a food diary and drink supplements. He was to go back in three days when the results would be in. It was clear to Merlin once he looked at his food diary that he hadn't been eating enough so he forced himself to eat more. His blood result came back and the doctor told him he just wasn't eating enough. They had a long discussion on eating disorders but Merlin convinced the doctor that it wasn't the trouble in his case. He didn't have a problem with it he knew it was his mental state that was causing him not to look after himself. From that point Arthur kept a closer eye on Merlin and made sure the younger man ate a good breakfast and evening meal, even if he couldn't be there at lunchtime. He also made sure Merlin had regular checkups for awhile until the weight started to go back on again. The incident had scared Arthur, he didn't want to think that their marriage was upsetting Merlin so much that it was affecting his health he would rather give up the company than have that happen. The strength of his feelings surprised him. He knew the raven haired man had entered his heart but hadn't realised just how entrenched he had become, and it frightened him.
Merlin tried to make friends on his course thinking the extra friendships would help, but he was having the opposite problem from when he was at Harvard. There it has been hi low social standing. Now he was perceived to be wealthier than most, he was also married and didn't socialise the same way. But he did become friendly with a girl called Freya and they had lunch together. Freya even came to Arthur's a few times to study with him. Arthur was glad Merlin seemed to be settling in. Inviting Freya out one evening Merlin was surprised to find that she struck up a friendship with Gwaine. What's more Gwaine was treating Freya properly and for the first time since Merlin had know the man he was exclusive in his relationship with a woman.
By the Autumn Merlin was really settling into his studies and had started his third year. His relationship with Arthur was still tense at times and both men were still refusing to let the other know their feelings, but at least the awkwardness had decreased. Arthur was finding some happiness in seeing Merlin happier. At least he was feeling less guilty about tying Merlin to his for five years. Both men still had strong feelings for the other, Merlin's were still mixed with the guilt he felt for deceiving his mother.
But both of them hadn't considered what Arthur's uncle was doing. Agravaine and Morgause had decided to play the waiting game, but it was becoming clear to them that if they didn't do something they would lose the company. From the display at New Year they now thought that if the couple had married for convenience in the first place it was now a love match. If they took out Merlin Arthur would be so heartbroken he wouldn't even think about marrying again. In fact Morgause wasn't even sure if he did that that would stop them getting the company as the will had been quite specific that Arthur had to marry and stay married. So Morgause started to make definite plans and was watching Merlin and learning his normal pattern of behaviour. He was very predictable. What surprised Morgause was Merlin's use of public transport. She would have expected him to make more use of the money he had access to. Little did she know the arguments that very subject had caused between the pair. Arthur wanting Merlin to use taxi's more often but Merlin being quite happy to use the underground system and his oyster card to get to and from Medical School.
But she wasn't complaining it would make her life easier. Morgause had been a figure skater in her younger years and had very good balance. This made her decide on how she would bring about an accident. Morgause told her husband to leave Merlin alone, Morgause wanting to have herself after Agaravaine's failed attempt in New York. It was obvious to her that whatever she did needed to be permanent.
Then one day Morgause decided she knew enough to put her plan into action. Merlin always left to go home at four o'clock. He would walk to the tube station crossing a busy junction on the lights. This was where she would wait each day until the conditions were just right. It was Thursday before everything fell into place. As Merlin approached the junction he got there just a fraction before the crossing lights changed he had just come to a stop to wait for the lights to go green once more. This was Morgause's chance. She was on rollerblades with her long blond hair hidden under a woolly hat. She had on a baggy coat and leggings. With large dark glasses on no one would recognise her. She moved quickly along the pavement towards Merlin when she got close enough she 'bumped' into him as hard as she could before swerving off and away along the pavement, she was soon lost in the crowds.
Merlin felt the bump in his back and lost his footing and fell straight into the fast moving traffic, he didn't stand a chance. He hit the bonnet of a car and was thrown over into the next lane and hit by another car. As he hit the road everything went black.
Morgause kept going until she went down a side alley. She quickly opened her coat and a long skirt fell down to cover her leggings, removing her hat,her long hair fell down to her shoulders. Getting a carrier bag from her pocket she placed the roller blades into it and reversed the jacket so it was a different colour before walking out of the alley and back towards where she had pushed Merlin.
There was mayhem in the street, the cars had all stopped and someone had clearly called an ambulance and the police had just arrived. She heard someone giving a description of a 'young person on rollerblades as she stopped to see what was happening. She could just make out a body on the road and she was confident if Merlin wasn't dead he soon would be, no one was that lucky. As the ambulance arrived Morgause waited as close as she could to the road. The ambulance men's actions suggested Merlin had survived but their comments suggested that he wouldn't last much longer.