Merlin's day was starting out like any other normal working day for him. He would start up the computer, put on the kettle and sort out the mail. Once that was done, Merlin would wait for Uther to arrive.

He didn't need to wait for long. At eight am sharp, Uther stepped out of the lift and walked up to Merlin's desk.

"Morning Merlin." Uther gave him a nod.

"Morning Uther." Merlin greeted back with his usual grin. Uther wasn't just his boss, he was also his father in law.

He was already Uther's personal assistant when he met (and later on dated) Arthur, Uther's son. Uther was against it at the start, mostly because Merlin didn't came from a family with money, but when Arthur had given his father the ultimatum of accepting Merlin as his boyfriend (now husband) or else he wouldn't be taking over the business, his father had yielded quickly. In fact, Uther and Merlin were now pretty close.

Merlin extended his hand to accept Uther's overcoat and the file that was lying on top of it. "The conference call is ready to begin in about ten minutes. Catrina's office just called to say that she's running a little bit late." Merlin told his boss and it earned him a huff from Uther.

"Tell me something new." Uther grumbled before walking into his office where he opened the blinds.

Merlin packed away the coat and filed the file in the cabinet. He came back to Uther's office with a steaming cup of chamomile tea; something that always did wonders in calming Uther down this early in the morning.

Over the years, Merlin had just gotten used to grumpy Uther in the mornings and he knew that after Uther would've had his tea, he would be more pleasant to be around.

Merlin sat the cup and saucer down in front of Uther and turned to the small cabinet in the corner of the room. It held all of Uther's sweets and Merlin was personal key keeper of it -courtesy of Uther's wife, who made it her life mission to keep Uther's blood sugars normal. He crouched down, grabbed the biscuit tin and held the tin up. Merlin turned his head to look over his shoulder. "What'd you think? Two or three this morning?"

He grinned when he saw Uther glare at him and turned back to get three biscuits out. He wanted to keep the boss happy.

When he stood up, he felt a flash of pain going through his side and he hissed. But as soon as he felt it, just as quick it was away. He just blamed it on standing up to fast and didn't thought any of it. He instead walked to Uther's desk and placed the three biscuits down on the saucer with a wink.

"Don't tell Misses Pendragon." Merlin whispered, almost hanging completely over the desk to be as close as possible to Uther.

Uther ignored Merlin's comment and dipped the biscuit in the hot liquid. He hummed in contentment when he tasted the sugar in his mouth. Merlin gave a nod and walked back to his own desk. There was lots to do.

Three hours later, Merlin was bustling about and a small headache had set in. The conference call was still going on and Merlin came and went with tea, files and copies. He could grab five minute breaks in-between, but that was about it. He didn't even had time to call Arthur.

Normally Arthur would be working in his office down the hall, but he was now gone all day for meetings with shareholders. They had only briefly spoken this morning before they both hurried off in different directions.

As he was trying to enjoy a sandwich, his intercom crackled. "Merlin can you get me the Johnson file?"

Merlin stuffed the rest of his sandwich into his mouth and chewed quickly and washed it away with some water. He pressed the button of the intercom. "Coming right up." He got up again and walked up to the large filing cabinet. When he pulled the necessary drawer out, he felt the same sort of twitch in his side again, just like this morning, it was just below the ribs.

He shook his head, this wasn't the time to get sick… or whatever this was. His slender fingers continued to glide over the files; G, H, I ah, J.

He pulled out the correct file and then there was a sharp pain going through his abdomen. It made him double over in pain.

Meanwhile the intercom crackled again. "Merlin, have you found the file already?"

When there went thirty seconds by and Uther didn't heard anything, he pushed the button again. "Merlin?"

More seconds went by.

" Merlin…?"

There was a rustling in Uther's office and moments later the door opened quite harshly. Uther looked around him, trying to find his assistant and found him close to the filing cabinet; doubled over with one hand holding the file and supporting himself on his knee, while the other hand was clamped against his abdomen. Uther went to his son in law's side, putting a soft hand in the small of Merlin's back.

"Merlin, what's wrong? Talk to me."

Merlin drew a few breaths in through his nose and breathed out through his mouth. Then he straightened himself with a wince. "It's, hnng, nothing. Probably that stomach bug that's going round." He held up the file. "Here's the file."

"Forget the damn file!" Uther pulled it out of merlin's hand and threw it on the ground. He took three steps to Merlin's desk and pulled his desk chair back with him. His eyes never leaving Merlin.

"Sit." He ordered.

"Uther-"

"I said, sit."

Reluctantly Merlin sat down and got a glass of water that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere pressed into his hand. He looked up to Uther who nodded towards the glass. "Drink."

Merlin drank it all and Uther placed the empty glass on Merlin's desk. He stood in front of Merlin with his arms wrapped over each other. "And now tell me exactly what you're feeling." There was a moment of silence and Merlin could see, if he was not mistaken, a glint in Uther's eyes. "Are you…"

But Merlin shook his head no. "Hardly possible, you know about us. We can't…" Merlin didn't finish, it was always hard for him to speak of children when he knew that he and Arthur probably never would conceive again. Merlin suffered from severe hypertension and although dangerous with pregnancy, it wasn't impossible if they would be under a doctor's careful watch. But they already had a miscarriage once, and Merlin knew he couldn't go through that again.

And then there was also the fact that Arthur wasn't a carrier, so that wouldn't work either. There had been talking of adoption, but they never took actions.

"Besides," Merlin continued. "We always use condoms and I had my flowing last week." He blushed slightly. Discussing his sex life and bodily fluids with his father in law wasn't exactly high on his list.

"But maybe you are-"

"Uther! It's probably a bug. Just... just leave it." Merlin looked Uther straight in the eye for a full ten seconds and then broke eye contact to bend down and pick up the loose papers that had fallen out of the file. That's when another sharpness attacked him. He groaned softly, hoping that Uther wouldn't hear, but unfortunately for him, he did.

"Alright that's it." Uther announced, dialling a number on his phone. "I'm calling George, he'll be bringing you home with the company car."

Merlin heard Uther speaking on the phone and he wanted to oppose it, but he could barely breathe out a word. He curled up into himself and it seemed like hours passed by, when it were only mere seconds.

Uther placed a hand on Merlin's head, but didn't found any signs of fever. When he got the call back that the car was ready, Uther personally brought Merlin to the car and before he closed the door, he said, "Take some rest. And if it gets any worse, call me."

Merlin nodded. Perhaps going home and staying in bed wouldn't be a bad idea.

~oOoOo~

Merlin woke when he felt a hand going through his hair. He softly coaxed his eyes to open and had to take a few seconds to get used to the darkness. He saw the outline of a person and grunted. He just wanted to sleep a little bit more.

"Come on baby." Arthur bent down and pecked a kiss on Merlin's temple. "Time to get up, or you won't be getting any sleep tonight."

Merlin groaned softly again, but now because of the light that was flooding in when Arthur pulled the curtains away. He had thought it was already well into the middle of the night but his alarm clock told him that it was barely five thirty in the afternoon.

Arthur came back to sit on the side of the bed and felt Merlin's forehead. No fever. He confirmed to himself.

"Dad told me that you weren't feeling well this morning, and when mum heard about it she made some soup for you. It's on the stove if you want some." He went to their closet and changed out of his stiff suit and into his more comfortable sweatpants and t-shirt.

Merlin rose, only barely, and supported himself on his elbows. He saw Arthur turning to him. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I just couldn't get out of these meetings." Arthur looked guilty.

"S'fine." Merlin mumbled, forcing himself to get up and stretched high and wide. The nap he took did wonders; he didn't feel anything now. Maybe it had been a bug, or maybe it was just plain stress.

Pendragon Incorporate was currently in the middle of a fusion with another company, and the past month had been a busy one where he had been making ten hour work days. It was inevitable that there would come a breaking point for him sooner or later, and it seemed that it had come now.

"How are you feeling now?" Arthur asked him when Merlin followed him into the kitchen.

"Better." Merlin answered thrutfully when he sat down while Arthur scooped up two bowls of his mother's homemade soup. "Don't know what came over me, I just… didn't feel right." Perhaps it really was his body that was somehow telling him that he had to slow down.

"Well, you quite achieved in giving my father a heart attack! Alright almost." Arthur let a small smile appear when he sat the bowls and two spoons down onto the table.

"Good! Serves him for working me to the bone last month." Merlin grinned and Arthur was happy that his husband seemed to be feeling better again.

~oOoOo~

The next morning, Merlin got up and dressed for work. He made himself and Arthur some toast. The latter arrived just minutes later into the kitchen and ran a hand over his tired face and through his still damp hair from the shower. Once he saw his husband standing at the counter he frowned. "You're up?"

Merlin stopped what he was doing and looked down and then looked back up with his mouth wide open. "I'll be damned! I am up."

"Ha, ha. Very funny." Arthur took his usual seat at the breakfast bar. He poured in some orange juice and gave his husband a stern look. "Merlin, look, perhaps it's better if you stay home today."

"Why? I feel good. Arthur you just have to stop overreacting." Merlin retorted and took a large bite of his toast.

"Even so…" Arthur began, trying to reason with his husband. "From what my dad told me, you were in quite some pain. Maybe just take the day off and, I don't know, see a doctor?"

Merlin chewed and rolled his eyes simultaneously. When his mouth was empty, he said, "Gods, I have one sore side and suddenly everyone is treating me like an invalid."

"I'm not saying that. I'm just… concerned. Have you checked your blood pressure already today?"

Merlin tried to not look annoyed. "Yeah, when you were in the shower."

"And…?"

"A little high, but-"

"Merlin!"

"Arthur!"

"Merlin, cut it. You know that you can't afford high blood pressure. Look, you're just staying home today."

"No." Merlin crossed his arms.

Arthur placed his hands in front of his face in frustration. "Just don't fight me on this."

"Arthur you're not the boss over me. I'm just going to work, whether you like it or not."

Arthur looked at his watch and growled. "You're insufferable!" Merlin just cocked an eyebrow, not caring much what his husband told him. "Merlin, I need to go to this meeting now." He got off his stool and pressed a kiss on Merlin's cheek. "Just… promise me that you'll measure your blood pressure every half an hour. Even at work."

Merlin sighed deeply.

"I love you." Arthur said and waited just as long until he would hear those same words back.

"Love you too." Merlin mumbled, picking up his toast once again.

~oOoOo~

Arthur stepped out of the lift, intending to go straight to his own office. During the meeting he realized his (incredibly stupid) mistake; he had forgotten a file that was quite important for the meeting. He had excused himself from his client and rushed back to the office to pick it up… and to simultaneously stop by his husband on his way back from his office to check if Merlin already measured himself. He was perhaps a bit strict when it came to Merlin and measuring himself, but he couldn't forget what had happened last summer. A shiver went over his spine just thinking back at it.

He rushed past Merlin's office, but stopped once he saw that Merlin's desk was unattended. He walked into the small kitchenette adjoinging Merlin's desk to see if Merlin was there, but he wasn't. He then knocked on his father's door. Perhaps Merlin was in there, it wasn't that uncommon for Merlin to work in there.

When he heard, "Enter.", he opened the door, but he only saw his father in there. He even checked behind the door to see if Merlin, by some miracle, was there, but again, it was empty. His father stood up and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Weren't you supposed to be in a meeting in like…" Uther glanced at the clock on the wall. "Forty minutes ago?"

"Yes, but I forgot- never mind. Where's Merlin?"

Uther sat down on his chair and pulled himself closer to the desk. "Home, I suppose. I assumed he would take a day off because of what happened yesterday."

Arthur's eyebrows knitted together. "No, he was coming in. We had a whole fight about it this morning." Arthur did become a bit worried now.

"Perhaps he changed his mind? Let me call his work mobile." Uther reasoned, he looked calm when he pressed the speed dial to Merlin's mobile.

Arthur came closer, waiting, hoping that his father would speak to Merlin. But when the seconds ticked by and a frown appeared on Uther's forehead, he knew that Merlin wasn't picking up. He grabbed his own mobile out of his pocket and dialled the home phone, but just like his father he had no such luck.

"Maybe he's asleep?" Uther said, but his normally calm and collective tone made way for a quiver. Despite their rocky start, Arthur knew his father had grown fond of Merlin in the three years that they were married.

"Let me try his normal phone." Arthur suggested, pressing the digits of Merlin's phone number. It immediately went to voicemail.

"Shit." Arthur let out a string of more swear words and mumbled something about high blood pressure to his father as he bolted out of the door.

He not yet burst through their apartment door and made his way towards the living room. There he found Merlin's phone on the ground, still beeping from disconnecting, and Merlin lying on the ground just a few feet away from it. His arm was still stretched out towards the phone. Arthur sank down onto his knees next to his husband and immediately noticed his husband's closed eyes and shallow breathing.