Hey! So thanks for the reviews on 'Dear Arthur'! I thought I'd take some of your suggestions and write a sequel to it, although this could be read alone.
Please review of what you think of the chapter, and whether or not I should continue!

Disclaimer: Although I would really love to; I do not own Merlin.

Grass stiff with morning frost crunched underfoot as Arthur Pendragon jogged along the shoreline of the glass-like lake. His measured breaths came out in small clouds of swirling mist, which rose towards the crisp, blue morning sky. His heart was beating a steady rhythm in his chest, pumping warm blood around his body that fought away the biting cold. Headphones in his ears blasted out music, trainer clad feet beat the ground in time with the song. Around him the world was silent, frozen in the watery morning light.

Arthur had always liked early mornings. They held a magical quality to them, as if it were a time when the world was most alive, enjoying its time of piece before the messy humans rose for the day and clogged the clear air with their car fumes, and disrupted the peaceful silence with loud voices and worried minds. By the lake in the morning, Arthur could almost forget that other people existed; the place was desolate, forgotten, untouched by the human hand. No one ever came here, Arthur could not understand why, but he was happy for it. He felt like the place was his somehow, and that any other person would be an intruder to its secluded silence. Here, the worries of his daily life that cluttered his mind throughout the day were left behind, and his mind felt clear and sharp.

In his pocket, Arthur's phone vibrated, and sighing he slowed to a walk. He took a moment to ease his breathing, and then fished the still ringing phone out.

"Hello?" He said, slightly irritably; annoyed that someone would disturb him on his morning run.

"Arthur?" Spoke a woman's voice, sounding uncertain, and Arthur couldn't help but smile.

"Hello, Gwen."

"Oh good," She said sounding relived, "I wasn't sure I was going to be able to reach you… Sorry about calling so early,"

"Its fine," Arthur said, "I was up anyway, couldn't sleep."

"Oh, good- No, sorry, I mean; It's obviously not good that you couldn't sleep, but good that I didn't wake you up."

Arthur laughed, "I knew what you meant. So what's up?"

"Oh sorry, it's… Well Arthur, it's about your father." Arthur felt worry creep into his chest, along with slight disappointment. Of course Gwen wouldn't just be calling him at this time for no reason; she was probably covering an early shift at the hospital.

"Is he okay?" He said warily, afraid of what might come next.

There was silence for a second, then an excited laugh. "He's awake."

Arthur's eyes widened and he clutched the phone tightly to his ear. "I… He's… What?" Arthur couldn't process the situation. I must be dreaming, he thought.

"He's awake, Arthur." Gwen repeated, and Arthur could tell she was smiling. His mind processed that fact slowly, not quite taking it in.

"Is… Is he okay?" He managed to ask, the simple words causing his tongue to stumble in his haste to get them out.

Gwen's voice took a formal tone, probably reading off a chart, he thought. "Well, he's a bit weak and confused, but that's only to be expected. He's drinking and eating already, and talking. It really is remarkable Arthur, he seems completely normal."

Arthur stared out over the lake, and mentally thanked every god he could think of. His father was awake, and not just that, he was going to be fine. He shook his head at the ludicrously of it, almost laughing out loud with relief.

"Arthur?" Gwen questioned, and Arthur realized that he hadn't spoken for a while.

"Sorry, I just… I'm so relived Gwen… For a while I thought…" Arthur trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. He felt guilty for it now, but he had all but given up hope on his father awakening.

"I know, Arthur." Gwen said understandingly, there was a brief pause, "He's been asking for you."

Arthur smiled, "Can I come down now?"

"Well, they're still running him through some tests, but I'm sure I can pull a few strings."

"Thank you," Arthur said gratefully, "Tell him I'll be there in about ten minutes?"

Gwen agreed, then rung off. Arthur slid his phone back into his pocket with a smile on his face, and with much more haste then before, jogged back the way he had come.

The hospital was a several miles from Arthur's apartment, located just outside the busy town. On a normal day you were lucky to get there in under half an hour, the main road filled with a constant barrage of cars and trucks, eager to get to their various destinations and taking no notice of the countryside around them. Thankfully, this early in the morning only a few cars graced the road and Arthur managed to get to the hospital in the promised ten minutes. Pulling into the near empty car park he locked his small, battered car and strode confidently towards the entrance. The hospital itself was a large, foreboding building; the white paint, dirty with time, gave the building an abandoned feel. Despite the neglected outside, the interior was warm and welcoming, if you could ignore the ever lingering smell of disinfectant. Arthur strode into the reception area and up to the tired looking blonde on the front desk. She looked at him expectantly, hands poised on the keyboard of her computer, and smiled sweetly.

"Good morning sir, is there anything that I can help you with?"

"I'm here to see my Father, Uthur Pendragon?"

The blond tapped at the keyboard, studying the screen in front of her. "Yep," She said after a minute, "He should be in the Day Room, up on floor seven. Do you know the way?"

Arthur nodded and assured her that he did, and then made his way towards the double doors on his left. Passing through them he walked down a long hall way, and finally hopped into the elevator at the end of it. He pressed the button for floor seven, and watched as the doors slid shut. He tapped his fingers against his thigh impatiently, eager to reach his destination.

It had been three months since Arthur had last spoken to his father. Three months since he had opened the door to two policemen who looked at him with fake sympathy as they told him of the car crash that had endangered his father's life. Three months Uthur had been in a coma, and for three months Arthur had done nothing but worry. The doctors had told him to accustom himself to the fact that his father may simply not wake up, and he had followed their advice. He felt guilty for it now, but if Arthur was being honest with himself, he had given up hope.

The elevator doors slid open, and Arthur stepped out into the long hallway. The walls were covered in colourful artwork, and the odd child's drawing was pinned up here and there, Arthur smiled at the brightly coloured stick-men, and lopsided houses. He walked down the hall on autopilot, the hospital as familiar to him as walking around his own house. Soon he passed through a set of double doors, and into a large, airy room. There were two large windows set in the wall to his left, looking out onto the small garden below. Overly large armchairs and sofas were dotted around the room, some facing the window, some facing the flat screen TV that adorned the wall. Only a few of the chairs were taken at the early hour, filled by patients well enough to be out of bed, but still under observation by the various nurses that scurried around the room, handing out drinks and trays of food. He scanned each of the faces, searching for Gwen. He found her over on the far side of the room, handing a cup of coffee to an elderly man who had his eyes trained on the TV, and seemed to be riveted by an episode of Countdown. Arthur walked over and coughed slightly, making himself known.

"Arthur!" She said spinning around, a large smile appearing on her face. She looked at her watch and raised an eyebrow, "You got here quickly.

"There wasn't much traffic." He said with a shrug. She shook her head at him, soft brown curls bouncing around her shoulders, knowing perfectly well that he had probably broken every speed limit in his haste to get to the hospital. Arthur could help but notice that despite the early hour, and the unflattering blue scrubs, Gwen still managed to look stunning.

"You're fathers still being put through some tests, but he should be out soon." She smiled, "Unfortunately, I've got to go check on the patients in private rooms… But you're quite welcome to wait here for him." Arthur nodded with a smile, and watched with slight disappointment as she left.

Arthur had met Gwen on that first awful night at the hospital. He had been left sitting in an uncomfortable waiting room as they took his father in for surgery. Every now and again a random nurse would come along and ask Arthur if he was okay, to which he assured them he was. Still, he must have looked awful, or lied badly, because after half an hour of almost unbearable waiting for news about his father, Gwen had come along and sat with him. She supplied the sympathy and endless cups of tea that Arthur desperately needed. Since then, every time Arthur visited his father in the hospital he sought out Gwen; his mood always brightened her by her warm smile, and easy talk. He had tried, on countless occasions, to summon up the courage to invite her out one night, but it always failed him at the last moment.

Thoughts returning to the present, he looked at the room around him awkwardly, not sure where to sit. Finally he chose a chair near the window, far enough away from the other occupants of the room that he wouldn't be forced engage in any awkward conversations. Lazily he watched the TV out of the corner of his eye, eyebrow raised in wonder that anyone could find the slow paced program interesting. A nurse came along and offered him a cup of tea, which he accepted, grateful for the distraction. A ball of nerves was beginning to grow in his chest. He knew it was odd, being nervous about seeing his own father, but he couldn't help it. He and Uther had never had the best relationship, not that they disliked each other or anything, but Arthur found talking to his father difficult. Uther was a very driven person; he knew what he wanted in life, and he would stop at nothing to get it. And what Uther wanted, was power. Arthur had always resented the fact that his father was never totally happy unless he had complete control over everyone and everything, including his son. His 'talks' with Uther, usually consisted of his father droning on about everything Arthur was doing wrong in his life. 'By the time I was your age,' Uther would say, 'I had already made my first million.' There was never anything Arthur could say to that, apart from point out the fact that he did not have the mind for business that his father had. He wasn't even sure exactly what his father did for a living… He was afraid to ask, sure that the question would lead to a long and overly detailed explanation that would eventually make him want to jump out a window just to distract from the boredom.

The doors behind him squeaked, and Arthur quickly twisted round in his chair to see who it was. To his disappointment, he saw that it wasn't his father, but a tall, dark haired boy, accompanied by a nurse. Arthur frowned; surprised to see that the boy was about his own age, usually they kept the younger patients on the lower floors. The nurse led the boy over to a chair on the other side of the room, his eyes never leaving the floor, and sat him down. She fussed over him for a bit, crouching down by the chair and talking in a soft tone that Arthur couldn't quite hear, then she left, calling over her shoulder that she would be back in ten minutes, the boy didn't respond. Arthur watched him, more out of boredom then any real curiosity. He was tall, probably about the same height as Arthur, if not slightly taller, but unlike Arthur he was painfully skinny; his overly pale skin looked stretched out over his high, jutting out cheekbones. The rest of his boy was covered by overly large worn clothing, but Arthur suspected that underneath his ribs would be clearly visible. He wondered for a moment if the boy was anorexic. He certainly looked it.

Behind him the door could be heard opening again, and Arthur turned to see Gwen walking in the room, she looked around for a moment, then spotting Arthur, walked over to him. Arthur stood up and smiled, he noticed, out of the corner of his eye that the boy still hadn't looked up from his constant study of the floor.

"Arthur!" Gwen said with a smile, "You're fathers back from his tests, but he said he'd prefer meet you in private, not quite up to being around people."

"Nothing's changed there then," Arthur mumbled. "Is he okay then?"

"It's remarkable Arthur, he's absolutely fine, never seen a recovery like it. He'd be up and back to work already if we let him." Gwen looked slightly bewildered, as if the whole matter confused her. "It really is amazing… Anyway, you ready? He's just down the hall."

Arthur nodded and stood up, placing his half-drunk cup of tea on the small table next to the chair. "Lead on."

Gwen led him across the room and towards the door. She chatted happily to him about the results of his father's tests; most of it sounded like complete gibberish to Arthur, but he was happy just to hear her talk. He was halfway out the door when he felt an odd itch between his shoulders and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Reflexively he looked round, and scanned the room. Everything looked exactly the same, and Arthur was just turning to leave again when he noticed the dark haired boy had shifted his gaze from the ground, and was staring directly at Arthur. Although Arthur had not thought it possible, the boy looked even paler then before, his eyes were wide and panicked, his mouth open slightly. Arthur frowned, and looked behind him, unsure what caused the boy to stare at him in such a way. When he looked back the boy was taking short, fast breaths, the panicked expression still frozen on his face. Arthur stood, glued to the spot, unsure what to do. Before he could reach a decision, the nurse that had brought the boy in rushed past, knocking Arthur out the way. She knelt down in front of the boy, breaking his eye contact with Arthur, and started talking softly to him. Not knowing what else to do, Arthur turned and left, jogging down the hall to catch up with Gwen.

"You okay?" She asked, glancing at him sideways.

"I'm fine." He replied, "Why?"

"You look a little pale."

They continued walking in silence. Just before they turned the corner, Arthur looked back. He could have sworn he heard someone calling his name.

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