Chapter 6
"Arthur?" Merlin whispered after a while, but he only got a sleepy groan as a response. "Do not fall asleep on me yet, you dolloped, I have to take care of your wound"
"It doesn't matter" Arthur sleepily murmured, but Merlin knew he was dismissing him out of guilt –as he didn't feel he deserved to be healthy if young Gilow couldn't– and not just out of laziness.
"Well, it matters to me, so yes, I'm taking care of you" Merlin insisted, extricating himself from Arthur's embrace to sit up. "Will you let me take a look?" Merlin pleaded, looking at Arthur the way he knew always got him his way with the King. And that time was no exception, Merlin thought with a smile, as Arthur sat up in the bed too and tried to remove his tunic, hissing with the pain caused by the movement of the injured arm. "Here, let me help you" Merlin offered, doing the rest of the work until Arthur's upper body was exposed.
The young warlock wasted no time in getting closer to Arthur's shoulder so he could thoroughly inspect the wound, and a sympathetic hiss left his lips before he was able to help it at the sight of such an offending injury in his lover's body.
"It's not that bad" Arthur said, knowing what Merlin must have been thinking without even looking at him.
"Isn't it? How you are not writhing in pain right now is beyond me. And you thought I would let you go away with this without treatment? It's quite a serious gash"
"It surely bled a lot" Arthur admitted, groaning when Merlin's fingers caressed the wounded skin, however careful he was.
"Oh, I'm sorry, love" Merlin apologized. "It will have to be stitched. I'll go get Gaius"
"Gaius must be busy with the wounded knights, who were far worse than I am, I don't want to take him away from them. Can't you do it?" Arthur pleaded, and he could see Merlin doubting before answering.
"Are you sure? I guess I could, but it's not going to be as good as it would be if Gaius did it"
"Well, I trust you entirely" Arthur answered in all honesty, and Merlin felt the familiar jab in his heart whenever his lover placed all his ignorant trust in him.
"Alright, let me get the supplies I'll need" Merlin announced, placing a gentle kiss on Arthur's shoulder, next to the wound, and jumped from the bed to go to Gaius' and pick everything he would need.
After Merlin quickly checked with Gaius that he had everything under control with the wounded men, and Gaius advised him how to take care of Arthur's injury correctly, the young warlock picked everything he needed to sew the King's shoulder. He debated giving Arthur a potion for the pain, as it was definitely going to hurt, but he knew it would take some time to take effect, and it would not be as effective as a little spell. He couldn't know, of course, Merlin would make sure of that, but there was no way he was going to let his lover suffer if he could avoid it. So he picked a little empty jar from Gaius' shelf and filled it with water and a little bit of colorant, intending to trick Arthur into believing it was the remedy what was taking his pain away. Arthur would never know, Merlin thought with a smile, but he wouldn't have to suffer.
It was less than five minutes later that Merlin was back at Arthur's chambers. Arthur had not moved from his place in the bed, and Merlin left everything next to him to take Arthur's hand and make him move to the foot of the bed, where it would be easier for Merlin to work.
"This is going to hurt like the devil" Merlin warned him, placing the jar on his hand. "Here, take this, it will alleviate some of the pain"
Arthur took the vial from Merlin's hand and swiftly took the cork off it and drank it all in one go. Merlin took the chance as Arthur drank to pull a little spell on him that would take away most of the pain without him noticing, and retrieved the bottle from Arthur's hand, now empty of the plain water it had contained.
