The men stopped reading, swearing to question Merlin on these findings when he was well enough to create a coherent sentence. They looked over, to see the boy unconscious, his head lolled the side and the mop of black hair in a wild mess, his hair was longer than any of the men were used to, his fringe covering his left eye completely while on the verge of covering his right, most of the hair shoved to the side.

Someone at one point, someone had removed his neckerchief, most likely Percival, as the tender giant man likely needed to remove it to get to the servants injury. His porcelain pale skin was flushed a tinted pink which spread to his cheeks, neck and ears. His eyes closed and lips parted in a probably pain induced sleep, no one dare disturb him until needed.

It was rare for Merlin to sleep before the others went to bed, Arthur almost always having the servant on watch first on hunting and camping trips alike, and even then, when it was time to switch shifts, the men often found that Merlin would often stay awake with the Knights, talking with each of them so, in general, it was quite rare to see Merlin sleep at all. But, even with knowledge at this fact, Merlin never had bags under his eyes, never seemed tired day to day, his voice never cracking from needed sleep, never showing any signs of exhaustion at all.
The men found it odd.

They sighed and Gwaine suddenly stood, taking the journal with him, he walked over and carefully stuffed the journal into Merlin's thin brown jacket, which was resting on the ground with Merlin's tunic, which had been a bright vibrant blue before the trip, it was now a dirty, mucky brown color on the shoulder, where Merlin had been injured.

Speaking of which, Gwaine walked over and sat down next to Merlins' unconscious form. He carefully peeled away the dirty white bandages, which were starting to bleed through, the dirty red staining. Once the bandage was pulled back fully, Gwaine winced.The injury on his shoulder was ripped to shreds and would almost defiantly scar, the skin around it hot to the touch and a bright pink, soon to turn into the tell-tale blistering red of a dangerous infection. Gwaine turned, his hair swishing as he did, and yelled for the others. The other men quickly rushed over, only to show their hidden suspicions to be true.
The wound was, or would be soon, infected. Severely.
Arthur suddenly stood and said, the obvious emotion in his voice,

"At dawn, we ride to Camelot. It's a little over a days ride left but Merlin's injury is getting worse. We must hurry. "

Hours passed in silence, all eyes on Merlin as if he would jump up from his spot and yell,
"It was a joke! A prank! I got you lot, didn't I?" That adorable smile that everyone had grow to love and enjoy seeing on his face as he spoke. But alas, nothing such as that happened. But, that is exactly what the men did, they waited for the moment dawn cracked, their camp already packed. They claimed onto their horses, Gwaine helping Lancelot lift the Raven haired boy onto the horse and so, Merlin was on a horse with Lancelot, Percival had Merlin's horse by the reins as to not lose the steed. Merlin's head had lolled to the side at some point during the many hours of riding, it now resting on Lancelots shoulder where the knight could feel the obvious heat from Merlin's face on his neck, the fever part of the infection setting in.
The men rode for hours and hours on end, the thought in their minds being, 'will we make it in time?' They only stopped once, to allow the horses the rest they deserved and to shift Merlin, to change his bandages and to get him to drink water, which in his now feverish state was all but impossible.
When the men, finally arrived at the glorious kingdom of Camelot, more specifically when they arrived in the courtyard, Percival lifted Merlin's feverish and somewhat unconscious body from Elyan, whom had offered to hold onto Merlin for the remainder of the trip, making that offer when the group stopped beforehand.
Gwen and Gaius were waiting at the main entrance to the palace of Camelot, the smiles on their faces vanishing in a swift flutter of an eye when their eyes fell onto Merlin's, who's condition was worsening with the moment, the raven haired boy paler and more tired looking than he ever had in the past. Gaius quickly rushed down the stairs, immediately pressing a hand to Merlin's forehead, only to draw it back quickly, a slight hiss of pain escaping his lips.

"He has a severe fever, what happened?" The physician asked, looking from Lance, to Gwaine, to Arthur. Gwaine swallowed before answering,
"Bandits, Merlin was shot in the shoulder and we're certain an infection has settled in. Can you help him?" Gaius pulled back Merlin's loose shirt, revealing the bandages injury, the dirty white bandages not able to hide the now blistering red that surrounded the wound. The older man turned and yelled to Gwen,

"Gwen! I need you to go to my chambers and set up a fresh cot, I need several clean rags and several bowls of water, everything else I can handle." Gwen nodded once, her eyes falling on the obvious bandaging on Merlin's shoulder, a faint gasp escaping her before she turned and rushed into then palace, her dress flowing slightly as she moved.

Percival moved through the halls of the palace, the dear friend to all. Everyone watched as the gentle giant of a knight carried Merlin, everyone cared for Merlin so as they passed, they worriedly watched him in Percival's arms, his head had lolled over again at some point, resting on the point where Percival's neck met his shoulder. The gentle giant of a knight could feel the heat through his sleeveless chain mail, worrying him even more than before as Merlin's fever seemed to be rising.

By the time the group reached Gaius's chambers, everyone asked of Gwen had been done. Fresh cot, clean water and a pile of dirty white but clean bandages. Quickly, the older physician moved past everyone, ordering Percival to carefully set Merlin on the cot, as of Percival needed to be reminded of Merlin's state and the carefulness needed to keep from aggravating his wound.

Once Merlin was set on the cot, Gaius and Gwen set to work. Gwen removed Merlin's tunic without a second thought, momentarily shocked when she saw the scarring that littered his torso and body, before she set the tunic aside and began to peel away the bandaging from before, revealing the would was defiantly infected, the blistering red and the forming pus tell tale signs. Gaius appeared again, holding a glass vial with bright blue liquid inside, the liquid itself was such a bright color that everyone was rather concerned for Merlin's health.
Gaius carefully opened the vial, an incredibly strong smell of something floral mixed with a strong amount of mint, it smelled oddly good. Slowly and carefully, Gaius poured the blue liquid onto a bandage, which had been folded over on itself, Gaius poured the blue liquid onto the golden bandages before pressing it to Merlin's wound. A wrenched gasp of pain escaped Merlin the moment the liquid drenched bandage touched his injury, though everyone doubted he was anywhere near consciousness.
After some time, Merlin was just between unconsciousness and consciousness, shirtless as Gaius needed continuos access to the injury.
Leon, Elyan and Percival had gone to bed at this point as the moon had fully risen, meaning it was somewhere around the literal middle of the night and they had only left after getting several direct orders from Arthur and a groggy, almost unintelligible order from Merlin, the only thing they heard and could understand was a slurred,
"Go to bed, ya idjits." Which earned a weakened and tired chuckle from everyone, before the three Knights left the physicians chambers, a lingering look on the now unconscious Merlin. When Arthur ordered Gwaine and Lancelot to head to their chambers, the king received two very heated glare and Gwaine, of course it was Gwaine, stood slightly before saying,

"I am not going anywhere. I'm certain Lancelot isn't going anywhere. Until Merlin can talk without a slur and until Merlin can move without the obvious grimace of pain masking his face, I'm not going anywhere." Lancelot nodded, one of Merlin's hand in his own. Gwaine returned to his seat, Lancelot was sitting on the left side of the cot with Merlin's left hand in his own, the raven haired boys hand sandwiched between the Knights. When Gwaine returned to his seat, he took Merlin's other hand in one if his. Merlin's left hand sandwiched between Lancelot's hands while Merlin's hand rested at his side, Gwaine was leaning in a seat quietly, he took on of his hands and interlocked his fingers with Merlin's, often running his thumb over Merlin's hand.

Arthur suddenly felt like he'd a kick in the stomach, seeing how caring the two Knights were towards Merlin. He suddenly realized how much everyone, the Knights, himself, the subjects of Camelot, how much everyone cared for Merlin.

Arthur turned slightly, his back turned to his servant and Knights. He licked his lips weakly before turning to the door, walking to it slowly and quietly. Once he reached the door, he opened it silently and turned, looking at the Knights and servant again, this time however, there was a strong tug at his chest and a pit that rested in his stomach. Lancelot had his head bowed and it rested near Merlin's chest, his eyes closed while Gwaine had leaned forward, his face buried in Merlin's hair, the king could hear Gwaine whispering something into Merlin's hair. The king saw Gwaine whisper something again before he pressed his lips to Merlin's temple. Both Knights sighed shakily, before they locked eyes and nodded, Arthur noticed the unsaid bond and the unsaid agreement between Gwaine and Lancelot, a seeming agreement to forever protect the Raven haired boy that lay unconscious on the cot.

Arthur sighed silently, a voice in the back of his head screaming at him to stay, to keep an eye on his friend, to make sure that Merlin was here, that he was alive, that he was going to be fine. But he ignored that voice, as he left the chambers, closed the door quietly though the small click the door made when it latched seemed to echo throughout the palace, seemed to ring in Arthur's ears.

Arthur sighed again, aloud this time, it sounded broken and sad for some reason, before he walked down the hall, his boots tapping on the floor with a small 'tap' 'tap' 'tap'.

Sorry for the delay guys, I know I'm a piece of trash more to come! 😂😅