So we meet again... (a merthur au)

Most Prized Possessions

Once Emrys had woken up again, Arthur was in a wheelchair speaking with the doctor with a serious look on his face as he listened to her instructions.

"Arthur, you're up... Are you ready to go?" Emrys asked, rubbing his eyes to try to rouse himself awake. The bad dream he had awoken from was one he would not like to think too much about, so he forced himself onto his feet and stretched as the joints popped in his shoulders.

Arthur looked to Emrys and nodded, "Just some paperwork for me to sign and my release agreement for you to sign. And a lecture from the good doctor here on how to babysit me."

The doctor rolled her eyes, amused, before handing Arthur the paperwork for him to sign while she explained to Emrys.

"It's not babysitting, per se, however you will need to remain close by for the next few days to keep an eye on him. I will be explaining to you how you need to be conducting the unofficial check-ups every few hours."

"I'm going to go to the desk," Arthur told Emrys, "I'll meet you there in a while."

"Alright," Emrys was attentive to what she had to say, asking for clarification when needed.

After she had finished with her informational speel, she stood to shake his hand. "I appreciate you taking this on, while he shows no major red flags I feel that I can't be too careful with his case. The way he fell, based on how you described it to the medics, should have done much more damage. Having not much more than a bump on the head is nearly miraculous odds."

"You can't watch over them every minute, I understand. You feel responsible for them, it's admirable." Emrys nodded, with a knowing and far away smile.

"Call this number if there are any changes," she handed him a card listing the ward's direct line. "We'll rush an ambulance and pick him up."

"Thank you," Emrys whispered somberly, leaving the room to join Arthur.

.....

Arthur was seated in the wheelchair, a few belongings in his lap with a stapled checklist to refer to when he would be checking up on Arthur. Emrys walked up to him and smiled fondly when he saw Arthur semi-arguing with a nurse about not wanting to use the wheelchair.

The woman tried to assure him that while she believed him when he said he could walk on his own, it was protocol to walk him out in a chair. Emrys touched the irritated woman's shoulder with a tap and with a reassuring smile affirmed aloud that Arthur would leave in the chair whether he liked it or not.

Arthur began to argue when Emrys said that, beginning to get up. Emrys, all smiles, pushed him gently down into the chair and began pushing it towards the nearest elevator.

"I do not need to be pushed, I feel fine!" Arthur snapped, to which Emrys stopped suddenly in the center of the hallway and moved to stand in front of Arthur with a steely glare.

"It is protocol for you to remain in this chair until we leave grounds, therefore you will sit in this chair and you can complain about how embarrassing it was later. For now, hush your yowling until we leave this floor, there are people sleeping."

Emrys did not look at Arthur's expression after he spoke, but radiated self-satisfied energy as Arthur grumled quietly in his wheelchair. He was baffled that Emrys had challenged his decision, albeit in an almost-intimate way that was so out of place for near-strangers that it felt odd for not having known each other long. Stranger still, he didn't mind being overruled. Coming from the man who made a point to control nearly every portion of his life after he moved from his parents' home-- he was at a loss.