Code Blue
Author: archaeologist_d
Title: Code Blue
Rating: PG
Pairing/s: Arthur/Merlin
Character/s: Arthur, Merlin
Summary: Merlin waits by Arthur's hospital bed.
Warnings: Major character death, thoughts of suicide
Word Count: 100
Prompt: 156 - Intimidating
Disclaimer: I do not own the BBC version of Merlin; They and Shine do. I am very respectfully borrowing them with no intent to profit. No money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Sorry about this. My friend is in the hospital, and while I'm sure she'll be fine, the circumstances remind me of the fragility of life.
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Sharp acrid smells of antiseptic and vomit, of urine, of congealed blood. Hurried feet rush towards a code-blue. Shivering cold, piling blankets over wires and tubes as the endless beep-beep-beep of electronics signals life. Fluorescence lights overhead cast a ghoulish glow to pallid cheeks.
All intimidation as regret and fury battle with fading hope and the eternal knife's-edge of life or death.
But nothing compares to the terror of a limp hand, unmoving in his.
He'd lost Arthur once; a thousand years later, with magic's failures, he is losing him again.
Merlin wouldn't wait for a third chance at happiness.