"Heavens I'm tired." Arwen announced as she and Gaius sat at the table in the physicians' chambers later that evening, Arwen capping the last of the potions she'd left to breathe as the recipe called before they'd left for the feast, knowing they'd be in high demand among the court and knights the following morning.
"Go get some sleep, my dear. We can clean all of this up come morning." Gaius reassured her with a small laugh, making Arwen nod in agreement as the idea of doing it now alone seemed to drain her energy even more.
"Maybe Merlin will be kind enough to think to do it when he comes back for the night after putting our drunken prince to bed." The younger of the two physicians suggested optimistically, both giving her words some thought before laughing in amusement realizing such a thing was very unlikely.
"If he doesn't, we'll make him do it." Gaius announced with a conspiratorial smile on his face, making Arwen laugh as she shook her head in amusement at the joke. "Good night, my dear. I'll see you-"
Gaius never got to finish his words as the door to the physicians' chambers suddenly sprung open, the guard not even wasting time to knock as he rushed inside, his demeanour enough to tell both physicians something was seriously wrong even before he spoke. "Gaius, Arwen, you are needed at once. The king has been injured in an assassination attempt."
The announcement had the duo sharing a panicked look between themselves, only seconds passing before they were both moving, swiftly picking up their medical bags and rushing through the door and out into the halls of the castle. Swiftly they crossed the distance no matter how long to reach the King's chamber where, upon entering, they came upon the sight of Uther being lifted onto his bed by a set of guards while Arthur helplessly stood off to the side.
"Give me room to work." Gaius announced to the guards, both swiftly moving along to the side as he stepped up next to the bed, but not before motioning for Arwen to turn her focus onto the Prince who stared at his father's unconscious form with a broken expression on his face.
"Arthur, hey, look at me." Arwen called out to him gently as she stepped up in front of him, eyes scanning him over before reaching up to turn his head and shift his focus, somewhat snapping him out of the trance he'd been in until that moment. "You're injured." She said, seeing not only all the blood covering his hands but also the gash on one of his palms which let her know at least some of it was his own.
"It's nothing." He said in a desponded tone, shaking his hand through the air as if he could feel the pain only when she'd mentioned it. "I need to help him." He said, trying to step towards the bed only to have her place her hands on his shoulders to keep him back.
"There's nothing you can do for him right now. Gaius is helping him." She reassured him softly, knowing it wouldn't be worth much, but hoping he'd listen to her, nonetheless. "Please, let me help you." She asked.
Arwen waited until he nodded his head in acceptance, the pained expression reappearing once more as he hated the idea of being unable to do anything while he let Arwen lead him in the direction of the table, forcing him to sit down as she got to work on cleaning the blood off his hands while his own eyes remained focused on his father. All the fear and worry shining through the tears which pooled in them as he watched him continue to slip away.
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