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It had been his own fault really, he should have been looking where he put his hands when he stopped for a second to breathe. He'd been running around the castle like a headless chicken for most of the day as Arthur had been a clotpole and given him a list of chores longer that his arm.
He'd stopped for a few seconds break when he felt it, the door to the servants corridor slamming closed on his fingers, which isn't the first time it's happend, but it is the first time he's heard a sickening crunch seconds before a pain worse than a serket sting makes itself known.
He must make some sort of noise, hell hes pretty sure he screams, because the door swings open much faster than it closed, a guilty looking Ralph popping his head in, before a genuine look of concern and horror grows on his face, which tells Merlin exactly how bad things must look because Ralph is one of the calmest servants in the castle, second only behind George.
He slowly opens his eyes to look, when had he closed them? He grits his teeth, because, fingers are definitely not supposed to look like that and he's in too much pain to remember what Gaius taught him to do about clearly broken fingers, so he pulls his hand to his chest protectively, takes a deep breathe in because fuck that hurts like a bitch and heads in the opposite direction to where he was supposed to go.
Arthur finds him when he's half way back to Gaius's chambers "avoiding work again are we merlin?" The king asks as he sidles up to his side, yet Merlin can't respond, he's putting all of his energy into not yelling every curse word he knows from Ealdor or bursting into tears as the pain seems to get worse with every step he takes.
Arthur raises an eye brow at his friends silence, knowing instantly that something isn't right when Merlin doesn't take the opportunity to joke back or roll his eyes and come up with a strange excuse "Merlin?" He asks again, pulling the man to a stop and turning him to face him, concern growing with every second Merlin doesn't say anything and seems to fold in on himself protectively.
The king looks him up and down, knight training kicking in to check for injuries, his eyes locking on the way Merlin cradles his hand to his chest now that he's able to look at him properly as well as the way he's doing the slow breathing technique he and the knights taught him about years ago.
He carefully pulls Merlin's arm away from his chest to see what they're dealing with, grimacing when Merlin lets out a hiss of pain, before letting out a hiss of his own when he sees the state of Merlin's fingers "how in the god's name did you manage this?" He asks incredulously, because he knows Merlin is clumsy, has seen it first hand, but he's not this clumsy!
It takes Merlin a few seconds to answer as he's desperately struggling not to cry now "accident with a door" he grits out and Arthur winces in sympathy because the doors in this castle are heavy, he and Morgana did similar things to this when they were young, but never to this serverity.
He leads Merlin to Gaius's chambers as it would make the journey faster and easier, because people move out of Arthur's way, especially when they see he's got that certain protective look on his face and they see that something is wrong with Merlin, which actually has people moving quicker.
Gaius sighs when he sees the two coming in, probably thinking something is wrong with Arthur, because if Merlin is barging in during the middle of the day with the king then something is going on.
When Merlin doesn't immediately start rambling like Gaius expects him too and instead plops himself down on the patient cot with a stifled whimper of pain, Gaius looks to Arthur for an explanation, because even when Merlin has been in the middle of dying, the man still complains or rants about what happened.
Arthur gets Merlin settled before he speaks "I found him on his way here, apparently he trapped his fingers in a door and I believe they're broken" he says, looking to Gaius when Merlin lets out a groan of agreement.
Gaius gets to work immediately, pulling Merlin's hand away from his chest much like Arthur had earlier "this is going to hurt, my boy" he warns, before gently pressing his fingers over each of Merlin's so he can understand the severity of his wards injury.
Merlin screams, the sound echoing around the room, startling Arthur as he's never heard such a sound from his friend before. Merlin tries to pull his hand away, but Gaius's hold is steadfast even as his ward begs through tears for him to stop.
By the time Gaius has finished and figured out Merlin has indeed broken 3 fingers, Merlin has grabbed onto Arthur and is clinging on for dear life as the king whispers reassurances to him, as he's not quite sure of what else to do, having never seen his friend in so much pain before, not even while recovering from the doroca.
Merlin passes out while Gaius splits his hand "he'll wear it for at least two months, sire. I doubt he will be able to work much in that time" the physician explains as Arthur has stayed, dispite the fact that he's no longer being held hostage by Merlin's surprisingly strong hold.
The king nods quietly, giving Merlin a look of concern "of course, I wouldn't expect him too. It's my fault he's like this in the first place" he responds as he really had been overworking his manservant recently as they have an upcoming tournament and he wants things to be perfect.
Over the next two months, dispite the fact that he shouldn't be working, Merlin still finds things to do, much to Gaius's increasing annoyance as the boy really doesn't know how to stop and rest even with one hand out of action. Instead he finds ways to hang out with Gwen as they haven't had much time together since she became queen.
Arthur often finds Merlin and Gwen together in his chambers, Merlin folding clothes or socks one handed as he shares gossip from the servants with her now that she can't get it herself and Gwen shares gossip from the court, something that amuses Arthur endlessly any time he comes in during the middle of it as the two get so passionate during their story telling he has to pretend he isn't interested.
Once Merlin's fingers are healed and mostly back in working order, he's back to causing his usual chaos around the castle, but makes sure to actually look at where he puts his hands during brief moments of down time.