Merthur/Merlin one shot

An unknown illness

Merlin wasn't sure when it started but at some point, there was a change. The change at first there was a small one. With him feeling constant headache. A headache which was something that he brushed aside, thinking that it came from him not sleeping enough. That he was simply exhausted and that it would get away. This was going on for a week and the next week a new change felt, sometimes his voice would cut out. It was still not something that would make him think that he should go to Gaius with this.

Like it was probably nothing and two days later he started to feel weakened and then dizzy spells came. With the dizzy spells came the faintness. Which was why he ended up at some point having to lean onto the wall as he felt breathless. The next thing he noticed was that he blacked out...

---

His eyes opened and he saw two pairs of eyes stare at him. One was brown and another one was blue. The same blue his eye color had. Both had concerns in their eyes and expression. His head tilted to the side as he looked puzzled at Gwaine and Gaius.

"What?"

Nothing. No voice came all that was silent. Eyes furrowed now at this and he felt a panic bubble in him. None -sans Gaius- knew about his magic, so how will he manage to communicate to anyone?

"Merlin?"

His head turned now to Gaius and a helpless, yet panic look overcame him. This made the other male realize something wasn't right.

I can't talk. Like there is no voice.

In his panic, he had sent both instead of one of his thoughts. Gwaine stared at him first and soon he let out a sigh.

"Now everything made sense you are a sorcerer."

His lips turned into a thin line and he looked at Gaius for help and the male let out a sigh. Gaius started to explain what he was, and he felt relieved at this. But now he was wondering what does he have? Like this was odd and he couldn't help but feel really panicked.

"Okay, I need you to tell me through your mind what your symptoms are. And then I will have to go through books."

He nodded at this and started to tell what he felt in the past 1 week and two days now. The two had eye contact and now he knew that he would get an earful. How could he have known that this was serious?

"I won't even try to scold you. For now, you will need bed rest. Gwaine you tell Arthur that Merlin got caught up with my work."

But the other male let out a sigh and had a look that told him 'are you serious?'. This made him nervous.

"Sure, but next time when you feel like this get to someone, you moron."
 
Gwaine nodded and he felt his hair being ruffled. There was again that weird dizzy spell that hit him. A frown went over him, and he had to close his eyes, but this made it just worse. And once again a faint spell started to be felt and he blacked out again.

---

So, Gaius hadn't found out the second day and they decided to tell Arthur that he just had a sore throat and that he couldn't talk. It wasn't his mentor's idea, but his. He just wasn't wanting to worry his king. So, that now on the third day he was working again.

Sometimes he felt short on breath and had to take a break. His body still felt weaker and the dizziness and faintness weren't helping either. Not to mention the almost constant headache was not making it easier. Sometimes it was almost away and sometimes it hit him rather hard. This wasn't the worst part, but the part where he couldn't talk. His muteness was what made it difficult. This continued the entire week and so far, none had found out. And so far this all went well, until a week later...

Merlin was just right now polishing his armor. At first, the headache grew, then his dizziness came again and next was that he felt faint. His body swayed a bit and with a loud clink sound, everything turned back...

---

"Why didn't you inform me of this Gaius!"

A loud voice of a male was heard. The male sounded both upset and concerned. His brain just slowly registered that he was now on something more comfortable. This made him open his eyes instantly.

"I am sorry Sire, but Merlin didn't want to worry you. He specifically wanted to hide this...."

There was a pause and he still was a bit too out of it to realize that the two were arguing about him and his health.

"I can't find what the cause is from this illness. I tried to find anything, but none of my medical books has a sickness like this. Maybe the druid would know something but not sure that they would be willing to help."

His eyes widen, and he bit his lips. This sickness would end up staying with him the entirety of his life. Now he felt emotional and lips quivered.

"Ah, your- Merlin?"

He felt by now something wet rolling down his cheeks and with this he realized that he was crying. And when he realized that he cried the tears rolled even more and now he was at a full-blown crying. A silent sob wracked through him and Arthur suddenly pulled him into a hug. He cried even harder now and slowly hugged back.