No Emergency Exit; Merlin Modern AU
Title: No Emergency Exit (18/21)
Authors: mydoctortennant
Pairings: Arthur/Gwen, Merlin/Morgana
Warnings: None for this chapter.
Disclaimer: Not real. Despite birthday wishes and night time prayers to Santa (all Hail Amy Pond!) Merlin still isn't mine!
Rating: Previous chapters make it NC17
Summary: Sometimes relationships just don't work in order. Or so they find out when one mistake leads to a life altering experience.
Author Notes: For the lovely noodlesishere; this is a modern AU based loosely off of the Abby/Luka storyline in ER series 12/13. Some medical info I have taken from ER, so it's totally their fault if it's wrong! Other stuff I researched myself, which may not be 100% correct but I tried my hardest =]
Also; totally OUT of my comfort zone with this, so I worked extra hard. Hope it pays off.
Thanks to mustbethursday3 for reading over it for me (and suggesting Costa should sponser me for mentioning it so much XD) and purely_distel for the name =]
My Merlin Prompts Table
| Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17
Part Eighteen
All the machines in the room bleeped out of sync to each other in an annoying odd pattern that was already driving Arthur insane. There were several other pairs of parents and some on their own, watching over their children as they battled their way through. There were those who had been there for weeks, those who had only been there a day. Some had hope and were looking forward to leaving the department with their newborn and others who were worrying and not so likely to be lucky.
Arthur stood watching the rise and fall of his daughter’s chest. He logged every small movement and committed them to memory. He knew how her machines were sounding out. He knew every vital about her. He knew how big she was (a tiny, yet relatively healthy, weight of 4lbs and 7oz) and exactly what they were pumping into her (100% oxygen).
He held up his Blackberry, recording the small movements ready to show Gwen when he saw her. Every moment, every small breath all to show her when she woke up. He panicked whenever she held her breath a millisecond longer than she had before or if he didn’t notice her chest move.
The doors of the department opened, a nurse greeting whoever had arrived. Arthur slipped his phone back into his pocket; turning to see who it was that had just entered assuming that it would be another parent come back on ‘duty’ his brow furrowed when he clapped eyes on a familiar face, “Dad?”
“How is the baby?” Uther enquired. One of the healthier babies started to cry over in one of the corners and each shriek stung Arthur more. When she’d first been taken to the small table she’d not cried. There were minutes when Arthur thought that he might lose her. They’d given her air via a bag, pumping at her small heart.
It stretched for forever then they’d carted her off into the NICU, “She’s okay. They’re concerned about prolonged hypotension,” the tears that he hadn’t cried for the past hour whilst he’d stood watching her brimmed threatening to fall, “She’s on one hundred percent oxygen so there is a risk of toxicity,” he choked on his own breath, the tears breaking over and down his cheeks.
Uther pulled his son into his grasp. Arthur fisting his hand in the back of his father’s shirt and letting himself cry, “She’ll be okay,” Uther soothed, “I promise you.”
As Father and Son, the pair of them hadn’t been the closest of people as Arthur had been growing up. Uther had been busy working, leaving Arthur in the hands of nannies and household staff rather than spending quality time with him. It wasn’t until recent years that they had finally seen eye to eye.
“You can’t know that,” Arthur said pulling away from his father to look at her; the small tag around her tiny wrist reading ‘Baby Pendragon’. An acute feeling of pride swelled in Arthur’s gut when he read it. He’d stared at it for a long time letting it sink in that it was all real. He was a father. He was engaged to be married to the only women he had ever cared about.
“Go, you should be with Gwen when she wakes up,” Arthur knew Morgana was sat with her now. He’d seen her on the way out of the theatre and asked her to stay with her, and if Morgana wasn’t there then Merlin would be. He could afford to stay here like Gwen had told him to, she had people around her, Alexandria didn’t.
“She doesn’t want her to be alone,” Arthur stated, reaching out a hand to trace a faint line down her short leg, about the only thing not covered in tubes and lines.
“She won’t be,” Uther placed a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder, “Go on,” Uther urged. He was ready to set himself down for the next few hours keeping watch on his granddaughter.
The younger man sighed, “I should call Tom,” Arthur said withdrawing from his little girl and looking around for the nearest phone.
“Gwen’s father?” Uther enquired and Arthur clocked that their parents had never actually met. Now was as good a time as any he supposed.
“Yeah, he’s going to want to be here.”
“Merlin, is it? Morgana’s nurse boyfriend; has already phoned him. He’s on his way,” Arthur nodded. Of course he had. He made a mental note to thank him later. There was only so much brain power Arthur could give to other things in his life right now. His mind was overrun with thoughts about his daughter, his fiancée and the impending doom that shadowed over him that he just couldn’t shake.
He was grateful that Gwen had been given the all clear before he had even dared leave the theatre. The operation had gone according to plan, everything ran smoothly. There had been no outright panic, apart from the long minute where Arthur had stood watching the doctors and nurses work to ensure that their baby was okay.
“Okay, are you sure you want to stay here?” Arthur asked looking between his two living blood relatives, reluctant to leave.
“I’m positive,” Uther tentatively smiled guiding his son away from the cot and towards the door, “Now go, she’ll be waking up soon.”
x
Arthur slowly made his way back down the corridor towards where the nurse had informed him that Gwen had been taken in the brief period between the operation and the room she would reside in for a few days.
He entered the room to see Morgana leaning on her hand with a book in her hands, blankly turning the pages without actually reading a word. She was watching her best friend more than she was actually looking at the book. Gwen was still under but she’d be waking soon enough.
“Hey,” he greeted shutting the door behind him.
“Okay?” Morgana asked open ended, she smiled at him having heard from the nurses that the chances of her niece making it through the night were high, and beyond then the outlook was positive. Though the panic etched on his face told her otherwise, unsettling the butterflies in her stomach.
“Dad’s with her,” he smiled briefly, he looked from Morgana to his sleeping fiancée, “She’s so beautiful.”
“You’ve only just noticed? I thought that was what you thought the first time you saw her,” Morgana joked in attempt to lighten the mood.
“Must be a bloodline thing. She’s going to break hearts one day,” he smiled to himself fo the first time since Gwen had fallen. She was his little girl, and she looked just how he imagined Gwen did when she was a baby, and if her mother was anything to go by, Lexie would to cause any male’s jaw drop as she walked by, “She looks just like her.”
“Oh thank God,” Morgana grinned as she exaggeratedly wiped her brow, “I thought she was going to be cursed with your ugly mug.”
“Thanks, Morgana.”
“I mean it, eesh, I don’t know how Gwen puts up with it,” she nudged him as she stood up next to him and they both laughed, “I’ll leave you alone. The nurse said she’d be back in about five minutes. I’d best go make sure Leon and Merlin haven’t blow up the department or something.”
“Pass on the news?”
“You couldn’t stop me if you wanted to,” she smiled. She pulled her step-brother into a tight hug, “Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” he replied holding her the closest to him that she had ever been.
“You can let go now,” she said seriously into his ear and he moved away. She cracked a smile at him and headed to the door, “I’ll be back in a few hours. I’ll bring you guys some clothes.”
“My keys are-“
“In your locker. Your lock combination is 4936*, which, by the way, is really cute,” the tops of his ears tinged as his sister grinned at him, “If a little stalkery.”
x
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
“Gwen?” she could hear somebody calling her name. They sounded so far away, “Gwen?” she slowly opened her yes blinked a few times. The world around her coming into focus, “Gwen?”
“Yeah,” she answered clearing her throat, her mouth incredibly dry. She turned her head to look at the source of the voice. The blurred outline of her nurse came into focus.
“Welcome back,” she smiled. Gwen tried to read her expression for the outcome of the procedure. She didn’t look remotely solemn and the smile on her face told her that it was okay. So far so good.
“Guinevere?” she looked around to the end of the bed and spied Arthur sat in one of the uncomfortable chairs the hospital provided.
Her gut churned.
“How is she?” she asked, worry in her voice. If Arthur was with her then maybe it hadn’t been a positive outcome, but he didn’t look distressed or remotely downhearted, he looked hopeful and pleased. She knew there would be issues and hard times ahead of them, but the hardest part was over.
“Fighting. Dad’s with her, so she’s not on her own,” he informed, walking up to stand next to her. He took her hand in his and raised it to his lips, “How’re you feeling?”
“Like I just had a baby two months early,” she admittedly truthfully with an amused smile on her face, she still felt a little drowsy. One arm was resting on her stomach, it had lost the prominence it had had before, “And like I got hit by a bus.”
“That would be the anesthesia,” Arthur replied. The nurse, now finished with her data logging, offered Arthur the chair he had been sat on before, moving it beside him. He thanked her and accepted it.
“Are you sure she’s okay?” Gwen asked as the nurse left the room. She couldn’t help but worry, but she knew that Arthur would be truthful with her; it wasn’t in him to lie about these things.
“They have her on a breather. One hundred percent oxygen. She was stronger than they had expected, but she’s not out of the woods yet,” he admitted, knowing full well that if he lied she’d never forgive him, “She’s got a fight on her hands but, although incredibly small, she’s strong. I promise you.”
“Pumpkin?” both new parents looked towards the door. Gwen smiled, pushing herself up weakly to greet her own father, “Merlin called. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” she reassured, “Can you put the bed up a bit?” she asked Arthur who obliged grabbing the buttons for the bed and adjusting it as she wanted. She relaxed back into her crushed pillows trying to make herself comfortable.
“How’s the baby?” Tom asked looking between the pair of them, worry evident.
“She’s okay,” Arthur answered, “Still got a long way to go, but she’s fighting.”
“I don’t know about Arthur, but that’s certainly something she gets from you, sweetheart,” Tom said to his daughter, he picked up her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“I’d say definitely. I’m a complete wimp,” Arthur replied pressing a kiss to her temple, “If your Dad is here I’m going to go down to the NICU, okay? Just make sure everything is alright and I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Okay,” Gwen agreed. She raised her hand up to wave, still feeling slightly weak from the anaesthetic.
“I love you,” he said from the doorway, not caring that there were other people around. He could see Tom smile at him out of the corner of his eye.
“I love you too,” Gwen replied a small smile on her face. She was utterly exhausted, but all she wanted to do was see her daughter.
“She’ll be okay,” Tom assured her as Arthur left. He noticed the rim of tears in her eyes, “May I?” he gestured to the edge of the bed to sit down. Gwen silently agreed. “Everything will work out alright, love,” he confirmed as he sat down. He reached out and gently squeezed her shoulder. He nudged her forwards and pulled her into a careful hug.
“Thanks Dad,” she whispered into his ear clutching to him like he was life support.
“You’ll both be fantastic parents. Lex is lucky to have you.”
“Don’t call her that in front of Arthur,” Gwen joked through her now fallen tears, “He’ll be gleeful that he won the Superman name.”
“You never noticed that before?”
“I did, but I don’t think Arthur did,” she laughed pulling back from her father and slowly collapsed back into the hardened pillows in her exhaustion.
“Give him time.”
x
It didn’t take long for the nurses to admit that Gwen was doing well after her procedure and moved her into a different room so she could be fed IV fluids by a drip for the next twenty-four hours.
She was restless. Now the anaesthetic had worn off she didn’t have drowsiness keeping her from wanting to jump out of bed and run down the corridor to the natal ward. The only thing keeping her in bed was the shooting pain she felt whenever she moved too vigorously. They’d given her pain medication, but she could still feel it.
Arthur had returned relatively quickly previously, and had traded places with Tom who headed down into the ward to give Uther a break from ‘Lexie Watch’. The older Pendragon had popped his head in the door to check on her, but since departed to leave the new parents alone.
They’d sat in silence for a while, with nothing to say apart from a repetition of the same information over and over again. Arthur had ended up squeezed onto the side of the bed next to Gwen with her head resting on his chest with his arm around her, gently massaging her arm.
“I’ve not even held my baby,” she said into his shirt. There wasn’t already a small damp patch from where she’d been unable to stop herself from crying. “I don’t know what colour her eyes are, what she looks like.”
“They’re blue,” he said quietly into her hair, “And she’s got dark hair and it’s kind of curly.”
“See! You know. They won’t even let me leave my bed. I have to pee in a cup!”
“I’ll talk to them, get you a wheelchair.”
“Don’t you have some sort of overriding power?”
“It’s not my department,” he chuckled into her hair. He reached into his trouser pocket and produced his Blackberry; he clicked through a few menus and held it out in front of her.
She took the device from him with an eagerness she’d not had all night. She should have been sleeping, really, both of them should be, but she was mesmerised by the small movements of her hour old baby on the small screen.
She ran her finger gently over the screen, knowing that it wouldn’t make a difference, but she couldn’t help but feel the need to touch.
“Get some sleep,” Arthur said quietly, pressing a kiss to her temple, “I’ll wake you up in a few hours. In that time I’ll try and locate a wheelchair, okay?”
“Thank you,” Arthur moved to stand; Gwen reached out her hand to give him back his mobile.
He shook his head, “Keep it. If you can’t sleep maybe it will help.”
Gwen settled back down in the bed. Arthur bent over and pressed his lips to her forehead, sweeping the tendrils on her face away, “Sleep well. I’d best relieve your Dad of his duty.”
-
When Arthur arrived back in the NICU he was surprised to see Merlin sat beside his future father-in-law. The pair of them were quietly sat watching the screens before them, concentrating so hard on making sure that nothing bad happened that neither of them noticed Arthur come in, even when he was stood beside them.
“Shouldn’t you be working?” Arthur said with a small smirk on his face. Both men jumped slightly. Every other parent in the room was sleeping and all others had gone for the night to come back first thing after a night’s sleep. Arthur knew he wouldn’t be able to get a wink, let alone a whole night.
“It’s dead, Morgana sent me up for an update. I got a bit side tracked,” Merlin made to move to let Arthur sit down.
“You’re alright,” Arthur said. The three men all looked at the small girl before them.
“She’s so small,” Merlin commented with a small smile on his face.
“She’s eight weeks early, Merlin, she was hardly going to be huge,” Arthur smiled as he leant his hand on the edge of the cradle she was sleeping in. He ran his index finger over her exposed leg again and watched as she kicked out slightly at the ticklish touch.
“I know, but she’s tiny,” Merlin stood beside his boss and friend and stared at the child before them.
“Yeah.”
“She’s like, a really tiny Gwen.”
“Yeah.”
Tom stood and came to the other side of Arthur, looking down at his granddaughter, “She looks just like Gwen did when she was born,” he said with a reminiscent smile on his face.
“Really?” Arthur asked with the hint of a grin traced on his face.
“Yeah.”
“Even then she was perfect,” the blonde mused, grinning and finally feeling positive.
“Yeah.”
“On that note, I’m going,” Merlin announced, “I’ll tell Morgana everything is perfect and her brother is the biggest sap in the world.”
“Umhmm.”
“Bye, Arthur,” Merlin laughed as he approached the doors of the department, “See you soon, Tom.”
“Yeah, bye Merlin, thanks for calling by.”
-
When Gwen woke up in the early hours of the next morning, she hadn’t expected to be greeted by her grinning other half, “Arthur?” She wiped her eyes
“Morning,” he stood up and kissed her forehead and ran his fingers through her hair with one hand behind his back.
“What time is it?” she asked still sleepy. She didn’t feel particularly awake yet, but if her maths was correct she’d only had five hours actual sleep after a hectic and fearful day.
“About six,” he stated still with a smile on his face, he leant forwards on the bar of the bed and grinned. Gwen frowned at him, he was starting to scare her with his joyous mood.
“Are you feeling alright?” she asked sitting up in her bed with a slightly wince, “Have you slept?”
“Nope.”
“How are you this awake?” she asked leaning back into her pillows and looking up at him.
“Costa,” Merlin, Morgana and Leon had kept him supplied with fresh hot coffee every half an hour. Tom had placed an order but fallen asleep shortly after so Arthur had swiped his as well and now the caffeine was well and truly going to his head.
“Ah, right, should have known.”
“Here,” he handed her a cup from the coffee shop and smiled. She picked the lid off and smelt it. Hazelnut chocolatey goodness filled her senses and she grinned. She needed this.
“I love you,” she stated shallowly with a grin on her face. He kissed her briefly, when he pulled away he still had a grin on her face.
“I know. You’ll love me more when you realise that I have a wheelchair and a free pass to the NICU for a certain nurse within close proximity right now,” Gwen paused, her cup by her lips and she looked over the top of the cup towards him.
“Really?” a smile broke out over her face as he nodded at her.
“Really,” he dropped the side of the bed and bought the wheelchair to the side of the bed for her to climb into it. She settled into the chair and cradled her hot chocolate as Arthur guided her towards the door. She nervously chewed the inside of her lip in anticipation. She finally got to see her daughter after waiting a long nine hours since she’d been taken into surgery.
Next Part
END NOTE: So, not gunna kill me? Just yet, anyway?
* There is a special prize (HOMG!) for anybody who can figure out why his code is 4936…
Authors: mydoctortennant
Pairings: Arthur/Gwen, Merlin/Morgana
Warnings: None for this chapter.
Disclaimer: Not real. Despite birthday wishes and night time prayers to Santa (all Hail Amy Pond!) Merlin still isn't mine!
Rating: Previous chapters make it NC17
Summary: Sometimes relationships just don't work in order. Or so they find out when one mistake leads to a life altering experience.
Author Notes: For the lovely noodlesishere; this is a modern AU based loosely off of the Abby/Luka storyline in ER series 12/13. Some medical info I have taken from ER, so it's totally their fault if it's wrong! Other stuff I researched myself, which may not be 100% correct but I tried my hardest =]
Also; totally OUT of my comfort zone with this, so I worked extra hard. Hope it pays off.
Thanks to mustbethursday3 for reading over it for me (and suggesting Costa should sponser me for mentioning it so much XD) and purely_distel for the name =]
My Merlin Prompts Table
| Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17
Part Eighteen
All the machines in the room bleeped out of sync to each other in an annoying odd pattern that was already driving Arthur insane. There were several other pairs of parents and some on their own, watching over their children as they battled their way through. There were those who had been there for weeks, those who had only been there a day. Some had hope and were looking forward to leaving the department with their newborn and others who were worrying and not so likely to be lucky.
Arthur stood watching the rise and fall of his daughter’s chest. He logged every small movement and committed them to memory. He knew how her machines were sounding out. He knew every vital about her. He knew how big she was (a tiny, yet relatively healthy, weight of 4lbs and 7oz) and exactly what they were pumping into her (100% oxygen).
He held up his Blackberry, recording the small movements ready to show Gwen when he saw her. Every moment, every small breath all to show her when she woke up. He panicked whenever she held her breath a millisecond longer than she had before or if he didn’t notice her chest move.
The doors of the department opened, a nurse greeting whoever had arrived. Arthur slipped his phone back into his pocket; turning to see who it was that had just entered assuming that it would be another parent come back on ‘duty’ his brow furrowed when he clapped eyes on a familiar face, “Dad?”
“How is the baby?” Uther enquired. One of the healthier babies started to cry over in one of the corners and each shriek stung Arthur more. When she’d first been taken to the small table she’d not cried. There were minutes when Arthur thought that he might lose her. They’d given her air via a bag, pumping at her small heart.
It stretched for forever then they’d carted her off into the NICU, “She’s okay. They’re concerned about prolonged hypotension,” the tears that he hadn’t cried for the past hour whilst he’d stood watching her brimmed threatening to fall, “She’s on one hundred percent oxygen so there is a risk of toxicity,” he choked on his own breath, the tears breaking over and down his cheeks.
Uther pulled his son into his grasp. Arthur fisting his hand in the back of his father’s shirt and letting himself cry, “She’ll be okay,” Uther soothed, “I promise you.”
As Father and Son, the pair of them hadn’t been the closest of people as Arthur had been growing up. Uther had been busy working, leaving Arthur in the hands of nannies and household staff rather than spending quality time with him. It wasn’t until recent years that they had finally seen eye to eye.
“You can’t know that,” Arthur said pulling away from his father to look at her; the small tag around her tiny wrist reading ‘Baby Pendragon’. An acute feeling of pride swelled in Arthur’s gut when he read it. He’d stared at it for a long time letting it sink in that it was all real. He was a father. He was engaged to be married to the only women he had ever cared about.
“Go, you should be with Gwen when she wakes up,” Arthur knew Morgana was sat with her now. He’d seen her on the way out of the theatre and asked her to stay with her, and if Morgana wasn’t there then Merlin would be. He could afford to stay here like Gwen had told him to, she had people around her, Alexandria didn’t.
“She doesn’t want her to be alone,” Arthur stated, reaching out a hand to trace a faint line down her short leg, about the only thing not covered in tubes and lines.
“She won’t be,” Uther placed a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder, “Go on,” Uther urged. He was ready to set himself down for the next few hours keeping watch on his granddaughter.
The younger man sighed, “I should call Tom,” Arthur said withdrawing from his little girl and looking around for the nearest phone.
“Gwen’s father?” Uther enquired and Arthur clocked that their parents had never actually met. Now was as good a time as any he supposed.
“Yeah, he’s going to want to be here.”
“Merlin, is it? Morgana’s nurse boyfriend; has already phoned him. He’s on his way,” Arthur nodded. Of course he had. He made a mental note to thank him later. There was only so much brain power Arthur could give to other things in his life right now. His mind was overrun with thoughts about his daughter, his fiancée and the impending doom that shadowed over him that he just couldn’t shake.
He was grateful that Gwen had been given the all clear before he had even dared leave the theatre. The operation had gone according to plan, everything ran smoothly. There had been no outright panic, apart from the long minute where Arthur had stood watching the doctors and nurses work to ensure that their baby was okay.
“Okay, are you sure you want to stay here?” Arthur asked looking between his two living blood relatives, reluctant to leave.
“I’m positive,” Uther tentatively smiled guiding his son away from the cot and towards the door, “Now go, she’ll be waking up soon.”
x
Arthur slowly made his way back down the corridor towards where the nurse had informed him that Gwen had been taken in the brief period between the operation and the room she would reside in for a few days.
He entered the room to see Morgana leaning on her hand with a book in her hands, blankly turning the pages without actually reading a word. She was watching her best friend more than she was actually looking at the book. Gwen was still under but she’d be waking soon enough.
“Hey,” he greeted shutting the door behind him.
“Okay?” Morgana asked open ended, she smiled at him having heard from the nurses that the chances of her niece making it through the night were high, and beyond then the outlook was positive. Though the panic etched on his face told her otherwise, unsettling the butterflies in her stomach.
“Dad’s with her,” he smiled briefly, he looked from Morgana to his sleeping fiancée, “She’s so beautiful.”
“You’ve only just noticed? I thought that was what you thought the first time you saw her,” Morgana joked in attempt to lighten the mood.
“Must be a bloodline thing. She’s going to break hearts one day,” he smiled to himself fo the first time since Gwen had fallen. She was his little girl, and she looked just how he imagined Gwen did when she was a baby, and if her mother was anything to go by, Lexie would to cause any male’s jaw drop as she walked by, “She looks just like her.”
“Oh thank God,” Morgana grinned as she exaggeratedly wiped her brow, “I thought she was going to be cursed with your ugly mug.”
“Thanks, Morgana.”
“I mean it, eesh, I don’t know how Gwen puts up with it,” she nudged him as she stood up next to him and they both laughed, “I’ll leave you alone. The nurse said she’d be back in about five minutes. I’d best go make sure Leon and Merlin haven’t blow up the department or something.”
“Pass on the news?”
“You couldn’t stop me if you wanted to,” she smiled. She pulled her step-brother into a tight hug, “Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” he replied holding her the closest to him that she had ever been.
“You can let go now,” she said seriously into his ear and he moved away. She cracked a smile at him and headed to the door, “I’ll be back in a few hours. I’ll bring you guys some clothes.”
“My keys are-“
“In your locker. Your lock combination is 4936*, which, by the way, is really cute,” the tops of his ears tinged as his sister grinned at him, “If a little stalkery.”
x
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
“Gwen?” she could hear somebody calling her name. They sounded so far away, “Gwen?” she slowly opened her yes blinked a few times. The world around her coming into focus, “Gwen?”
“Yeah,” she answered clearing her throat, her mouth incredibly dry. She turned her head to look at the source of the voice. The blurred outline of her nurse came into focus.
“Welcome back,” she smiled. Gwen tried to read her expression for the outcome of the procedure. She didn’t look remotely solemn and the smile on her face told her that it was okay. So far so good.
“Guinevere?” she looked around to the end of the bed and spied Arthur sat in one of the uncomfortable chairs the hospital provided.
Her gut churned.
“How is she?” she asked, worry in her voice. If Arthur was with her then maybe it hadn’t been a positive outcome, but he didn’t look distressed or remotely downhearted, he looked hopeful and pleased. She knew there would be issues and hard times ahead of them, but the hardest part was over.
“Fighting. Dad’s with her, so she’s not on her own,” he informed, walking up to stand next to her. He took her hand in his and raised it to his lips, “How’re you feeling?”
“Like I just had a baby two months early,” she admittedly truthfully with an amused smile on her face, she still felt a little drowsy. One arm was resting on her stomach, it had lost the prominence it had had before, “And like I got hit by a bus.”
“That would be the anesthesia,” Arthur replied. The nurse, now finished with her data logging, offered Arthur the chair he had been sat on before, moving it beside him. He thanked her and accepted it.
“Are you sure she’s okay?” Gwen asked as the nurse left the room. She couldn’t help but worry, but she knew that Arthur would be truthful with her; it wasn’t in him to lie about these things.
“They have her on a breather. One hundred percent oxygen. She was stronger than they had expected, but she’s not out of the woods yet,” he admitted, knowing full well that if he lied she’d never forgive him, “She’s got a fight on her hands but, although incredibly small, she’s strong. I promise you.”
“Pumpkin?” both new parents looked towards the door. Gwen smiled, pushing herself up weakly to greet her own father, “Merlin called. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” she reassured, “Can you put the bed up a bit?” she asked Arthur who obliged grabbing the buttons for the bed and adjusting it as she wanted. She relaxed back into her crushed pillows trying to make herself comfortable.
“How’s the baby?” Tom asked looking between the pair of them, worry evident.
“She’s okay,” Arthur answered, “Still got a long way to go, but she’s fighting.”
“I don’t know about Arthur, but that’s certainly something she gets from you, sweetheart,” Tom said to his daughter, he picked up her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“I’d say definitely. I’m a complete wimp,” Arthur replied pressing a kiss to her temple, “If your Dad is here I’m going to go down to the NICU, okay? Just make sure everything is alright and I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Okay,” Gwen agreed. She raised her hand up to wave, still feeling slightly weak from the anaesthetic.
“I love you,” he said from the doorway, not caring that there were other people around. He could see Tom smile at him out of the corner of his eye.
“I love you too,” Gwen replied a small smile on her face. She was utterly exhausted, but all she wanted to do was see her daughter.
“She’ll be okay,” Tom assured her as Arthur left. He noticed the rim of tears in her eyes, “May I?” he gestured to the edge of the bed to sit down. Gwen silently agreed. “Everything will work out alright, love,” he confirmed as he sat down. He reached out and gently squeezed her shoulder. He nudged her forwards and pulled her into a careful hug.
“Thanks Dad,” she whispered into his ear clutching to him like he was life support.
“You’ll both be fantastic parents. Lex is lucky to have you.”
“Don’t call her that in front of Arthur,” Gwen joked through her now fallen tears, “He’ll be gleeful that he won the Superman name.”
“You never noticed that before?”
“I did, but I don’t think Arthur did,” she laughed pulling back from her father and slowly collapsed back into the hardened pillows in her exhaustion.
“Give him time.”
x
It didn’t take long for the nurses to admit that Gwen was doing well after her procedure and moved her into a different room so she could be fed IV fluids by a drip for the next twenty-four hours.
She was restless. Now the anaesthetic had worn off she didn’t have drowsiness keeping her from wanting to jump out of bed and run down the corridor to the natal ward. The only thing keeping her in bed was the shooting pain she felt whenever she moved too vigorously. They’d given her pain medication, but she could still feel it.
Arthur had returned relatively quickly previously, and had traded places with Tom who headed down into the ward to give Uther a break from ‘Lexie Watch’. The older Pendragon had popped his head in the door to check on her, but since departed to leave the new parents alone.
They’d sat in silence for a while, with nothing to say apart from a repetition of the same information over and over again. Arthur had ended up squeezed onto the side of the bed next to Gwen with her head resting on his chest with his arm around her, gently massaging her arm.
“I’ve not even held my baby,” she said into his shirt. There wasn’t already a small damp patch from where she’d been unable to stop herself from crying. “I don’t know what colour her eyes are, what she looks like.”
“They’re blue,” he said quietly into her hair, “And she’s got dark hair and it’s kind of curly.”
“See! You know. They won’t even let me leave my bed. I have to pee in a cup!”
“I’ll talk to them, get you a wheelchair.”
“Don’t you have some sort of overriding power?”
“It’s not my department,” he chuckled into her hair. He reached into his trouser pocket and produced his Blackberry; he clicked through a few menus and held it out in front of her.
She took the device from him with an eagerness she’d not had all night. She should have been sleeping, really, both of them should be, but she was mesmerised by the small movements of her hour old baby on the small screen.
She ran her finger gently over the screen, knowing that it wouldn’t make a difference, but she couldn’t help but feel the need to touch.
“Get some sleep,” Arthur said quietly, pressing a kiss to her temple, “I’ll wake you up in a few hours. In that time I’ll try and locate a wheelchair, okay?”
“Thank you,” Arthur moved to stand; Gwen reached out her hand to give him back his mobile.
He shook his head, “Keep it. If you can’t sleep maybe it will help.”
Gwen settled back down in the bed. Arthur bent over and pressed his lips to her forehead, sweeping the tendrils on her face away, “Sleep well. I’d best relieve your Dad of his duty.”
-
When Arthur arrived back in the NICU he was surprised to see Merlin sat beside his future father-in-law. The pair of them were quietly sat watching the screens before them, concentrating so hard on making sure that nothing bad happened that neither of them noticed Arthur come in, even when he was stood beside them.
“Shouldn’t you be working?” Arthur said with a small smirk on his face. Both men jumped slightly. Every other parent in the room was sleeping and all others had gone for the night to come back first thing after a night’s sleep. Arthur knew he wouldn’t be able to get a wink, let alone a whole night.
“It’s dead, Morgana sent me up for an update. I got a bit side tracked,” Merlin made to move to let Arthur sit down.
“You’re alright,” Arthur said. The three men all looked at the small girl before them.
“She’s so small,” Merlin commented with a small smile on his face.
“She’s eight weeks early, Merlin, she was hardly going to be huge,” Arthur smiled as he leant his hand on the edge of the cradle she was sleeping in. He ran his index finger over her exposed leg again and watched as she kicked out slightly at the ticklish touch.
“I know, but she’s tiny,” Merlin stood beside his boss and friend and stared at the child before them.
“Yeah.”
“She’s like, a really tiny Gwen.”
“Yeah.”
Tom stood and came to the other side of Arthur, looking down at his granddaughter, “She looks just like Gwen did when she was born,” he said with a reminiscent smile on his face.
“Really?” Arthur asked with the hint of a grin traced on his face.
“Yeah.”
“Even then she was perfect,” the blonde mused, grinning and finally feeling positive.
“Yeah.”
“On that note, I’m going,” Merlin announced, “I’ll tell Morgana everything is perfect and her brother is the biggest sap in the world.”
“Umhmm.”
“Bye, Arthur,” Merlin laughed as he approached the doors of the department, “See you soon, Tom.”
“Yeah, bye Merlin, thanks for calling by.”
-
When Gwen woke up in the early hours of the next morning, she hadn’t expected to be greeted by her grinning other half, “Arthur?” She wiped her eyes
“Morning,” he stood up and kissed her forehead and ran his fingers through her hair with one hand behind his back.
“What time is it?” she asked still sleepy. She didn’t feel particularly awake yet, but if her maths was correct she’d only had five hours actual sleep after a hectic and fearful day.
“About six,” he stated still with a smile on his face, he leant forwards on the bar of the bed and grinned. Gwen frowned at him, he was starting to scare her with his joyous mood.
“Are you feeling alright?” she asked sitting up in her bed with a slightly wince, “Have you slept?”
“Nope.”
“How are you this awake?” she asked leaning back into her pillows and looking up at him.
“Costa,” Merlin, Morgana and Leon had kept him supplied with fresh hot coffee every half an hour. Tom had placed an order but fallen asleep shortly after so Arthur had swiped his as well and now the caffeine was well and truly going to his head.
“Ah, right, should have known.”
“Here,” he handed her a cup from the coffee shop and smiled. She picked the lid off and smelt it. Hazelnut chocolatey goodness filled her senses and she grinned. She needed this.
“I love you,” she stated shallowly with a grin on her face. He kissed her briefly, when he pulled away he still had a grin on her face.
“I know. You’ll love me more when you realise that I have a wheelchair and a free pass to the NICU for a certain nurse within close proximity right now,” Gwen paused, her cup by her lips and she looked over the top of the cup towards him.
“Really?” a smile broke out over her face as he nodded at her.
“Really,” he dropped the side of the bed and bought the wheelchair to the side of the bed for her to climb into it. She settled into the chair and cradled her hot chocolate as Arthur guided her towards the door. She nervously chewed the inside of her lip in anticipation. She finally got to see her daughter after waiting a long nine hours since she’d been taken into surgery.
Next Part
END NOTE: So, not gunna kill me? Just yet, anyway?
* There is a special prize (HOMG!) for anybody who can figure out why his code is 4936…