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One of the waiters who had enough of watching the brutal scene occurring, rushed progressivo, para a frente with a tray and whacked it as hard he could at Joe, who is choking Arthur.
“Arghhh!!” Joe screams and lands to his side, clutching his head.
Another waiter rushes towards Karl and breaks a bottle on his head. Karl releases Gwen, staggers due to the impact of the break and she uses the opportunity to hurry towards Arthur, helping him up. Arthur coughs as blood seeps out freely from his nose.
“Arthur… Arthur?” Gwen calls in terrified voice. Arthur keeps coughing and grabs his throat. Gwen peels his hand and inspects his throat. It has red marks all around it, the finger marks of the man who choked him. But Arthur is still coughing and has rolled to his side now, clutching his throat. “Arthur …?” Gwen is scared. Suddenly someone grabs Gwen again and it’s Karl. He has knocked the waiter and rushed to grab Gwen from behind.
“Arghhhh… Let me go… let me go, Arthur help me,” Gwen shouts as Karl drags her away. The other waiter comes to help but gets held por Joe instead. Arthur rolls back and tries to reach out at Gwen but it’s too late as Karl grips Gwen as tightly he can.
“Guinevere,” Arthur manages to call but his throat hurts courtesy of the choke a short time ago. But he still manages to pick himself up and crawls to where he suspects Gwen is being held up. The waiter who whacked and helped Arthur minutos atrás lands on the mesa, tabela and crashes down. Joe comes progressivo, para a frente towards Arthur, his hand digging deep into his jacket. Gwen watches in horror as Arthur is still trying to get to his feet. Joe smiles at Gwen and flashes out a faca from inside his jacket.
“Watch him die you bitch!” he says and nears Arthur. Gwen’s coração skips a beat.
‘God… please help him!’ she prays silently. Joe nears Arthur and grabs a handful of Arthur’s blond locks.
“Arthur look out!” she shouts, warning Arthur and it helps. As Joe swings his knife, trying to stab Arthur, Arthur ducks to his left and the blade instead just slashes his arm. But Joe hasn’t given up; instead he punches Arthur in his stomach and pushes him back. Arthur crashes against the chair and falls clutching his arm.
“Arthur!!” Gwen shouts. Karl laughs behind her.
“There’s nothing mais you can do for him, sweetheart,” Karl says, licking Gwen’s earlobe. And that was a very bad mover indeed. Gwen’s coração now rages in anger. Watching Arthur suffering and herself a victim of these unfortunate events makes her amargo, amarga and she is done with playing a damsel in distress. She uses all her force and steps onto Karl’s feet, the heels of her two inch high heeled shoes plunging into his own sneakers and she hears Karl’s scream behind her. He releases her and using that opportunity, she grabs the plate beside her and whacks it on his face. Then she grabs another plate and whacks it on his head. Blood trickles down Karl’s forehead.
“Hey!!” Joe shouts and heads towards her but she is ready for him. Grabbing the vase on the table, she flings at him and it lands perfectly on his face. The shards pierce his skin and he grabs his face in pain, screaming as blood spurts out from the tear on his face. The faca he held a while atrás drops on the floor. Someone grabs her shoulder and spins her around. As she turns, Karl slaps her hard and she falls down beside Arthur, clutching her face.
“Guinevere?” she hears Arthur calling her but her face hurts and she finds it difficult to mover her mouth.
Karl spits out his blood and walks towards her. Reaching down he grabs her curls but someone pounces on him, crashing down alongside him. Karl tries to get up but Arthur holds him down as tightly he can, circling his hands around Karl’s shoulder. Gwen crawls to a safety and cups her hurting cheek.
“Guinevere… get out of here!” Arthur warns.
Gwen looks around and notices Joe is finally finding his feet and would be on her anytime. Arthur can’t hold Karl for long; that man is far too strong for Arthur. She has to find a way to get both of them out. She’s not leaving without him. She looks for anything that might come in handy in case Joe attacks her.
Another couple of waiters comes progressivo, para a frente and helps Arthur to hold Karl tightly. They too pounce on him down, pining him on the floor.
“Let me go!!” Karl shouts as mais weight bears him to the floor. “Joe!!” he calls.
Joe, his face now washed red with blood is a raging bull. He wipes his blood, pull out a shard sticking on his chin and starts towards Gwen, his eyes sharp on her. Gwen looks around in panic. She spots the faca Joe held a while ago, lying near a table. She looks back at the approaching Joe. He too has spotted the knife. Their eyes meet. As she crawls to the knife, Joe rushes to it as well. But both Gwen and Joe stops short when they hear a gun shot, blaring in the Diner’s. Gwen stops and covers her ears while Joe, sensing he and Karl are now within the clutches of the police, tries to run but they get rounded up. Three police officers rush at Karl and pins him down while the waiters help Arthur up his feet. Another policeman walks up to Gwen and helps her to her feet. Another two cuff Joe and pin him on the table, face down.
“Are you all right?” a policeman asks, helping her. Gwen finds her hand trembling and she hides it por clasping it tightly. She nods. The policeman nods back and turns quickly at both men, now pinned against the table, face down. “We may need your denunciar on them, please don’t go away,” the policeman says, turning back towards Gwen.
“Sure, thank you for coming to our aid, if you don’t mind I’ll like to check on my friend,” she says and rushes towards Arthur as the officer steps away. She thanks the waiters and takes him into her arms, embracing him tightly. After a minute, she releases him.
“Guinevere?” Arthur calls, his voice startled as he searches for her. She takes his hand and brings it to cup her face, beijar it in relief.
“I’m here Arthur, I’m here,” she says as tears rolls down her face. She is surprised she didn’t cry when they were being attacked but now, after being saved por the police, fresh tears seem to be rolling down her cheek freely. She didn’t know why she is crying, is it because they’ve been hurt or is it because she is relieved all this is over and saved or is it because she is sad that Arthur has suffered so much for her. She feels it could be the last.
“Are you all right? I heard gun shots, is everything all right? Who’s here?” he asks, as he strokes off her tears.
“I am… I am, don’t worry the police are here and they’ve taken them into custody.” she tells him as she watches both the ruffians being cuffed and taken away por the police. The owner of the o jantar, lanchonete talks with the police and approaches Gwen and Arthur.
“You’re hurt, Arthur… that slash, it seems pretty bad” she inspects his arms and the slash across it. Blood drenches his tee and as she touches the wound lightly, she notices him flinching.
“I’m all right, it’s just a slash, nothing deep,” he lies to her. Gwen knows he is lying but she says nothing about it.
“I’m sorry, Arthur…” she says and mais tears escape her eyes.
“Hey, it’s not your fault, love… don’t blame yourself. I’m fine, thanks to you. If you didn’t warn me I could have been dead por now… but it’s over and you can pat yourself on the back for saving me.” Arthur tries to joke. “What matters now is that you are safe, Guinevere, and I was waiting for that news all afternoon. I don’t care about my injuries, as long as you’re all right,” he says. Gwen’s coração sinks hearing those words. She just wants to pull him close and kiss him but she couldn’t find the courage to do so. She remains still and sniffs.
Arthur wipes Gwen’s tears and pulls her closer to him, his arms circling her protectively. She closes her eyes and feels the warmth of his embrace, feeling seguro in his arms. Her trembling body is now slowly relaxing as he strokes her back. She doesn’t want the moment to stop; she doesn’t want the time to pass. She wishes everything would stop and allows them to savour the moment. But their wishes don’t come to pass as the owner of the o jantar, lanchonete clear his throat. Gwen pulls away from Arthur and smiles nervously at the owner. Beside her Arthur looks grim.
“Are you both all right?” he asks cautiously, looking guilty for what has happened.
“I am fine but Arthur here needs to be taken to the hospital. We are good, thanks to your Valente staff,” Gwen says.
“We shouldn’t have allowed something like this to happen… I am very sorry,” the man apologises.
“Sorry?” Arthur cuts Gwen before she can reply.
“Arthur…”
“Is this all you can offer? Sorry, the word sounds way to simple mister! Do you know what happened? We could have lost our lives a while atrás and all you can offer is your petty sorry? I’m afraid that is not enough!” Arthur snaps bitterly.
“Sir, if there’s anything I can do in return…”
“There’s nothing you can do actually!! Nothing… what if we had been killed?”
“Arthur, he’s not at fault here… what could he do if they decided to…”
“Shut up, Guinevere!” Arthur snaps at her and his behavior stuns her. He seems determined in blaming the owner for what has happened and now he is shouting at her. He is not the person she came to know. He is a lot different now. And he reminds her of his… father.
“Look… we were supposed to be having a good time and all that changed because you allowed some thrash talking ruffians into your diners and look what they’ve done!! You are supposed to be preventing your customers from being hurt, and now, like it or not, you caused it. This is not what a manager like you should be doing…”
“We tried to chase them away…”
“Excuses, excuses, excuses!!! When something like this happens, it’s always easy to come up with excuses and get away with it. I don’t want excuses, mister. I am expecting something mais concrete!”
“I can compensate for the damages caused…”
“Do I look like I need money from you? Who do you think I am, some roadside beggar? I am Arthur Pendragon. Does my father’s name ring any bells to you?” Arthur struts proudly. Gwen didn’t like his tone or the way he uses his power to intimidate the poor man. Something is terribly wrong with Arthur. He is atuação very strangely indeed.
The owner of the o jantar, lanchonete gapes at the mention of the name and he immediately bows at Arthur. “Oh my God!!! You are Uther’s son? I am so sorry… I didn’t know…I, oh god!!”
“I can get this place closed and sealed for good, I have the power in my hands to do it, understand? One mention of this incident to my father and you’ll have to go back doing what you did before you owned this diner. You wouldn’t want this, do you?”
“Of course not sir, please don’t do anything like this. I just bought this place a mês back and it took me my whole fortune to rebuild this place after the accident and I don’t want anything to happen any more. I don’t have the strength or the money to reconstruct this place should anything else happens” the man explains. Arthur’s face changes after listening to him. Gwen’s coração skips a beat when she hears the man’s explanation.
‘Crap!’ she thinks. ‘Please don’t say anything, please …’ she thinks to herself and silently prays the man will not reveal what happened.
“Accident, what accident?” Arthur asks his voice croaky. The man wipes his forehead.
“Arthur, we need to get you to the hospital…” Gwen tries to divert the topic but he shrugs her off. But Gwen is still persistent. “Arthur?”
“Not now, Guinevere!” he snaps at her. Gwen sighs and keeps quiet.
“What accident?” Arthur perguntas again. “Come on!” he urges when the owner takes a long time to answer. The owner looks back at Gwen and then at Arthur. Gwen prays to herself.
“A mês back, there was an accident here where a man drove his car against the mural and killed a pedestrian. It was a terrible accident I heard. I know the pedestrian was killed on the spot but I have no idea what happened to the driver. Right after the accident, another man died por choking to death on a bone and one of the staff here was killed in a hit and run accident just outside the diner. These were seen as bad signs por the customers and business started slowing down. The anterior owner was hit with massive losses and it cost him his family as his wife left him and his son eloped, leaving with him with nothing but just this diner. He didn’t want to own this place anymore because he saw it as a bad omen, too, and sold it to me at a discount. I used my entire fortune to reconstruct this place, fix certain areas, including the mural out front, and replace it with a fountain. Business started picking up after the reconstruction and I managed to recoup half of what I invested and I really do not want anymore troubles… if your father intervenes I will definitely lose everything, sir, including my investment. I understand your father is a very powerful man here, but please have some courtesy sir, I aplogise for what happened and I didn’t know about this incident until I walked in. I called the police and asked my staff to help you both. I have put myself in danger because when those two come out from the prison, they’ll come looking for me. Yet I took the risk and saved your lives. At least for that, could you please spare me? I promise I’ll look into the security and tighten it. But please sir, do not bring your father into this,” the man pleads; clasping his hands together like in a prayer and bows his head.
Gwen sighs in relief and feels sorry for the owner. Looks like he is a new owner of the Diner, so that means he doesn’t know it was her father who was killed right here at his place. She had been so worried if he was the original owner because he would definitely speak mais about the accident; thankfully he is not and kept his information to a limited edition. That means her secret is still seguro with her. But she feels very sorry for him. It isn’t his fault at all yet he shoulders the blame instead. And Arthur is adamant in making the man pay for the hurt they’ve been through. Gwen wishes she can do mais for the man but unfortunately she can’t. Arthur has just shouted at her, asking her to keep quiet and she isn’t wishing for any mais rude remarks from him. But she isn’t done with him either. She wants to get him alone and enquire the manner he’s been behaving with everyone, including herself. He definitely could learn some manners. But she will wait until Arthur is done with the owner before expressing her thoughts. Just because Arthur embarrassed her a while atrás doesn’t mean she has to put up with it.
But Arthur isn’t listening to any of the owner’s words. He was in a world of his own. Is this the place he crashed and lost his sight? It can’t be… but the man, he says something about the wall. He knows he crashed onto a mural but could it be the same wall? He thinks. “The accident… what do you know about it?” he asks the owner.
The owner squares his shoulder and shakes his head. “Nothing much except that the crash outside damaged the mural entirely. And the pedestrian was killed. But I heard it was gruesome. The car ran over the poor man, killing him on the spot!” the owner explains.
Gwen turns away and wishes she could run away from the place. Listening to the gory details of her father’s death was torturous indeed. Something is upsetting Arthur about the accident and she just wish he won’t suspect anything. But the topic will have to end. She cannot tolerate it any longer.
Arthur’s hands trembles and he feels dizzy. This isn’t happening to him. If what this man says is right, then he is standing in the place he wants nothing to do with. He is actually standing in the midst of his pain, his sin and his agony. He came back to the place his disastrous life started. ‘I’m here? Back in the place I almost died? Why has Guinevere brought me here?’ he asks himself. When he crashed a mês back, he didn’t know the name of the place or where he had landed. But he remembers the mural pretty well. How could he forget? It was the last thing he actually saw before collapsing and losing his sight. And from what the man tells him, it looks like both walls are the same. Arthur’s coração beats faster now.
He has been trying to forget the place as its memories are amargo, amarga enough to torture and torment his soul. But now, he came back to the very place he intends on forgetting, thanks to Guinevere. Why did she bring him here? There are plenty of other places they could’ve gone to, yet she chose here! Arthur winces at his stupidity. How would she know for pity’s sake! How is she to know he has a history in this place? Or that he killed an innocent man on that night? She didn’t know any of that and she brought him here on her good nature, to have a good meal together. This isn’t her fault. No, it’s not. It’s his and his alone. Arthur sighs deeply. He recalls back the gruesome imagens of the man he ran onto before flinging his car against the wall. The memory, still vivid in his mind is his reminder. A reminder of his sin, to remind him of his mistake. He will never be able to forget that image, even after death claims him.
But there’s another image playing vaguely in the corner of his mind, one he hasn’t told anyone and isn’t sure if it’s real or the figment of his imagination. The night he drove his car towards the wall, he thought he saw the image of a woman in front of him. But he was drunk and when he closed and opened his eyes, he saw a man instead and ran over him. Though he still remembers the first image, he isn’t sure if that woman was real. He remembers asking Merlin about it and his friend dismissed it saying it could have been the work of the alcohol Arthur consumed and Arthur himself dismissed it as his imagination. But what’s real is a man had died and he caused it. And now he finds out he caused mais damages than the life he took away. A good man lost his business and his family and now another is on the verge of losing it for the segundo time. Arthur’s anger at the owner evaporates and replaced with anger with himself; for everything he has caused directly and indirectly. What’s past is past and there’s no point in dwelling in the matter any longer. Arthur wants to leave the place as soon as possible, but not before he deals with the matter at hand. This incident, despite hurting both him and Guinevere, isn’t anyone’s fault. Arthur knew it isn’t the owner’s as well but he was very angry, and for a minute, he stepped into Uther Pendragon’s shoes and became his father. He was insistent on blaming the owner and almost succeeded if the man hadn’t fished out the information’s about the accident. That was the turning point for both men. It saved the owner from Arthur’s ruthlessness and Arthur from becoming his father. And he is ashamed for behaving appallingly. He knows he owes both the owner and Guinevere an apology but he also wants to get the bloody hell out of this Diner. Too much misery surrounds this place and it’s suffocating him. He needs fresh air.
“Sir please…”
Arthur jerks from his deep thoughts as the owner grabs his hand and sighs.
“Please do not inform your father,” he pleads again. Gwen crosses her hands and waits. She has been noticing the changes in Arthur ever since the owner of the o jantar, lanchonete mentioned about the accident. She didn’t want to suggest anything. She’d rather wait and watch.
“I won’t… I promise,” Arthur says shortly, much to Gwen’s surprise. The man didn’t suspect anything and his face beams with happiness.
“Thank you, sir… I will do anything you want. What is it you require for your loss?”
“Nothing… just tighten the security and that will do,” Arthur finishes crisply. Now the man seems to be hit with suspicion. His smile fades and he looks at Gwen and then back at Arthur.
“But sir… I thought…”
“Just tighten it, will you!!” Arthur hisses and the man gets the picture. “Do it before I change my mind,” Arthur says again, his face sour. The man tosses a quick questioning look at Gwen. She nods back, asking him to follow Arthur’s instruction. The owner nods back.
“I will… thank you. Do you need a lift to the hospital?” he offers generously.
Before Guinevere can answer, Arthur cuts her first. “NO!!” he snaps. Gwen looks at the man apologetically and he nods sadly and walks away, ushering his staffs to get back to their work. The policeman who’s been watching and listening to the conversation nears them, taking out his notebook and pen. Gwen wishes the police hadn’t interfered because she seriously wanted to slap Arthur for his behaviour. Fortunately for Arthur, he was saved por the police.
“Miss?”
“Gwen”
“Miss Gwen. I need to take some details from you and him regarding the matter. Can you spare me a minute?” the policeman asks, looking at both of them. Arthur is walking off and quickly Gwen rushes after him and helps him to a chair.
“Is it necessary?” she asks, helping Arthur sit down.
“If you want to see them both behind bars for a long time, yes, it’s important”
“Can you wait until I take Arthur to the hospital?”
“I can get you both there,” the officer offers and Gwen thinks that’s a good idea. They need to give a full denunciar to the police regarding what has happened and they will need the doctor’s denunciar to support theirs so let the police take them instead.
“Sure,” Gwen says shortly.
“Thank you… you sure you won’t need a lift back home?” the officer closes his book and slid his pen back into his pocket. They were seated near the dressing room where Arthur is being looked at por the doctor.
“No officer, thank you. A friend is picking us up and we will wait for him,” Gwen says.
“Very well, then… I’ll update you with the progress as soon as I get the information,” the officer informs and shakes Gwen’s hand before leaving. Gwen sighs and waits for Arthur outside the dressing room. Leaning against the wall, she looks at her trembling hands. Though they weren’t as bad as they were a while ago, the trembling still hasn’t stopped. The same goes with her body; she is still shaking inside. She has never been through anything like this before. It not only rattled her, but her confidence as well. She wonders how Arthur is coping. He must be terrified like her though he hardly showed it. And the sudden rage with the owner of the diner, though it was out of character for him to blow himself out of proposition, Gwen knows he was actually scared inside and he tried to mask his horror with his anger. That way he will not be seemed vulnerable though in reality, he is. He must be feeling guilty for not being able to defend himself during the incident and had to depend on others to save himself. And it must’ve driven him mad, which explains why he was shouting and blaming the owner. Gwen feels sorry for him. A while atrás she was angry with his outburst but throughout the drive here to the hospital, Arthur was very quiet and it gave her the opportunity to rethink her assessment of him. She tries to put herself in his shoes and feel like he does and she understands his rage. Anyone in his place would do exactly the same. When someone is vulnerable and unable to help in any kind of situation, they will often use anger to mask their weakness. Arthur did exactly that. But there was another issue plaguing her mind throughout the drive here. Arthur’s sudden change of attitude after realising he was in the same o jantar, lanchonete at which her father was killed. He was threatening to use his authority to foca, selo the place for good, channeling his father’s characteristics but the moment he found out about his accident, he mellowed. No longer his father’s son, he was still harsh but he wasn’t threatening any more. Gwen wonders what could have prompted for the change in attitude and why? Maybe it has everything to do with her father’s death. She knows he still feels guilty about it and isn’t surprised if he chose to mellow down because of that. If it is, she’s relieved. That poor man was being accused for no reason and if Arthur had carried on, Gwen swears she would have slapped Arthur herself.
The door to the dressing room swings open and she manages to steal a peek inside and notices Arthur being treated por the doctor. Gwen sighs and leans back against the wall. Her cheek hurts and she knows it has swelled. She cups her cheeks and softly massages it. She wonders what could have happened if the man had stabbed Arthur instead of slashing. ‘No!’ Gwen covers her ears and shakes her head. She couldn’t urso to think of the possibility of losing Arthur. Her coração beats rapidly as she tries to shake the thought away. ‘No, no … go away’ she thinks again. Someone touches her shoulder. She removes her hands and looks up. Merlin was standing beside her. All of her sudden, she starts to sob and fresh tears rolls down her eyes. She gets up and hugs Merlin, tightly.
“Gwen? What happened? Is everything all right? Where’s Arthur? You’re shivering Gwen!” Merlin asks as he strokes her back, comforting her. Gwen sobs uncontrollably now. Every emotion which she kept tightly secured within her chest is being unleashed now and she didn’t want to stop crying. She didn’t care if anyone saw her. She wanted to cry her coração out.
“Gwen?” Merlin calls again. She releases him and still sobs.
“Hey, is everything all right? You’re trembling, do you want to sit down?” he asks, wiping her tears away with his thumb.
“Sorry… “
“No, no, sweetheart… don’t be sorry. There’s nothing to be sorry for. How’s Arthur?”
“He’s being dressed inside. He got slashed in the arm.”
“So I heard… let’s sit down shall we? You’re shaking. Come on,” Merlin says and they sit down, Merlin clasping her hands tightly.
“Want to tell me about it?”
“It was horrible, Merlin. We were having lunch and all of a sudden these two men enter and starts to cause trouble at our table. When Arthur starts to argue, they started beating him. Choking him, strangling him… God, it was horrible. And they were roughing up on me as well… doing all sort of stuff… it was,” she couldn’t carry on and Merlin pulls her close and hugs her warmly.
“Shhhh, it’s all right. You don’t have to tell me more. It’s all right, you and Arthur are seguro and that is all that matters,” Merlin assures.
Gwen pulls back and he wipes her tears off her cheek. “Think of it as a nightmare, Gwen, and it’ll be gone after few days,” he advises.
“They had a knife, Merlin, and they wanted to stab Arthur… but fortunately they just ended up slashing his arm. Imagine if they had…”
“It must have been so hard for you both, especially you, Gwen… it’s cruel but it’ll soon pass like a nightmare. You must be brave, Gwen, at least for Arthur. He must’ve been very worried for you and if you’re sacred it’ll affect him too.”
“I know… I’ll try, Merlin,” Gwen promises.
“That’s the spirit,” Merlin says with a smile. Then he notice the finger marks on her cheek. “Your cheek Gwen? It’s all swelled up”
“I know… one of them slapped me.”
“Oh my God! I am so sorry you and Arthur had to go through all this… I wish I was around. Don’t you want the doctor to have a look at your marks? It looks pretty bad, Gwen.”
“No, I am fine, Merlin. It’ll go away after a few days,” Gwen assures and Merlin nods at her, agreeing.
“Did you know Arthur behaved rather nastily with the owner of the diner?” Gwen says, wiping her eyes with the back of her palm.
“What did he do?”
“He was his father’s son, Merlin”
“Don’t follow you there, Gwen.”
“He blamed the owner for what happened and threatened to close the place, using his father’s name and power to intimidate the poor man. He was ruthless and inconsiderate, just like his father. And he even snapped at me!”
“He was terrified, Gwen, and Arthur becomes aggressive when he is protective over someone.”
“So I thought. I know he was scared, but there was no need to be cruel with that man.”
“That is Arthur’s other personality. Bet you didn’t expect it!”
“No, and I am very surprised por his behaviour. But I try to put myself in his place and what he did didn’t seem wrong to me except, he didn’t have to become his father to bring out his other self.”
“Agree, but I think he didn’t expect it either. It can be just that moment sometimes, yeah… where we do things unexpectedly, you know,” Merlin tells her.
“Hmmm… I don’t like it when he turns nasty like he did. He loses his good nature.”
“Agree… I tried advising him before and he wouldn’t listen. Perhaps you can try your way. He may want to listen to you, Gwen.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because he happens to have a very good understanding with you. And he values your ideas and advices,” Merlin explains.
“You can’t be sure of that, Merlin. From the way he snapped at me today, he does have his moments with me.”
“Nah, I don’t think he meant it. Trust me, Gwen; he really values your words.”
“Fine, I’ll try but if he doesn’t listen, you can’t blame me.”
“Deal,” Merlin says with a smile. “Feeling better now?”
“Yes, thank you Merlin.”
“Pleasure’s all mine; what’s taking him so long?” Merlin asks looking at the room where Arthur is being treated.
“I don’t know,” Gwen says and looks at her watch. After a while she looks up at Merlin. “Merlin?” she calls. Merlin looks back at her, arching his brow.
“I’m sorry,” she says shortly, her face sad.
“Why?”
“If I hadn’t taken him to that place, maybe he wouldn’t have gotten hurt. This is all my fault. I am sorry.”
“Nonsense, Gwen. This is no one’s fault. No one expected it, you know.” Merlin assures. “This was supposed to happen and it did. But it has passed so let’s not talk about this all right?”
“Thanks.”
“Do you want coffee? I think I’m going to get one since Arthur is going to take longer than I expected.”
“No thanks.”
“All right. I’ll be back in a jiffy… when Arthur comes out, tell him to wait for me, yeah?”
“Sure,” Gwen replies as Merlin hurries to the cafeteria to get himself a hot cup of coffee.
Arthur keeps quiet as Merlin opens the door and allows Gwen to guide him into his apartment. His arm hurts as does his buttock. The doctor gave him an injection to cure the wound faster and Arthur wish the doctor had injected his arm instead. It’s bad enough his entire body hurts after getting beaten up, now he’s going to have problem sitting down. Arthur curses his bad luck and walks slowly beside Guinevere. He hasn’t spoken a word to her after leaving the o jantar, lanchonete and she hasn’t attempted in striking any conversation with him either. He didn’t blame her. She is shaken as he is, then what else can he expect her to do? Though he didn’t see what happened, he heard enough to assume her confrontations with those rascals were nasty. It must have been mais than that, though she didn’t say anything to him. She never will, he’s sure of that, but he also knows she’s terribly hurt por what happened. Arthur sighs deeply and winces when his arms hurts as he tries to mover it. Gwen slows down.
“Are you all right?” she asks, her first words to him.
“Yes,” he keeps it short. Gwen leads him to the sofa and helps him sit down. Merlin walks past them to the kitchen.
Arthur doesn’t know why he doesn’t want to speak to Guinevere. He isn’t angry with her but himself. He is amargo, amarga he couldn’t save her life, couldn’t help her out when she needed him. He is supposed to be the one saving her, yet it was she who did it for him. He is ashamed to be in her presence, let alone strike any conversation. She almost sacrificed her life for him, and yet he couldn’t do anything in return. Not even a single fight! He was defenseless against those men and it hurts to think how vulnerable he has been. She must’ve known his weakness por now. What will she think of him? Will she consider being his friend after learning of his vulnerability? Will she even want to visit him after this incident? Arthur didn’t want any of these perguntas answered because he knows either way he will be hurt. He doesn’t have the strength to withstand the pain and it’s best he doesn’t know what she thinks right now. That’s why he chose to keep mum all the way back. Now, he just hopes she’ll leave so he will be deprived of the pain for a day.
“Can I get you anything?” she asks him, quashing his hopes. He makes a face and shakes his head. Merlin nears them and hands her a packet of ice.
“What’s this for?” she asks, clutching the ice.
“For your cheek… it’s all swelled up, Gwen. The ice will reduce the swelling,” Merlin advices. Gwen takes the ice packet and brings it near her cheek, pressing it against the swell.
Arthur looks startled. “What’s wrong, Guinevere? What happened to your face?” he asks, sitting up straight, his hands searching for her.
Gwen takes his hand and sits down beside him. “Nothing’s wrong, Arthur. My cheek’s swelled up because one of the guys slapped me…”
“Slapped you!!”
“It’s just a little swelling, Arthur. I am all right,” Gwen assures him as he still looks startled. Merlin scratches his elbow and loosens his tie.
“Can I… feel it?” Arthur asks cautiously. Merlin throws the tie on the mesa, tabela and rolls his sleeve.
“Here…” Gwen takes his right hand, brings to her face and cups it gently. As his skin touches hers, she winces as it is still painful, but she makes sure he didn’t hear her wincing. Arthur strokes her cheek gently and feels the swell. She hears him gasp.
“I… I’m so sorry Guinevere,” he says sadly.
“Why? This is not your fault?”
“If only… if only I could have helped…” Guinevere covers his mouth and silences him.
“You did enough to save me today, Arthur, and you should be proud of yourself. You did all you can…”
“But it wasn’t enough!!” he peels her hand off angrily and turns away. He is feeling hurt inside. He didn’t realise she was beaten up as well. He was trying to protect her back at the o jantar, lanchonete and took most of the beating himself so that she’d be seguro but he failed. She still got hurt.
“Gwen’s right, Arthur. What could you do? They were thrashing you as well”
“If only I could see Merlin… if only, I…” Arthur slams the side of the sofa angrily.
“Arthur!! What are you doing? Your arm!” Merlin rushes to his side and crouches por the side of the sofa, examining Arthur’s wound but Arthur snatches it away, still reeling in anger.
“Arthur, what are you doing?” Guinevere asks, stunned por Arthur’s behaviour. She tries to touch him but he flinches from her touch as well.
‘What the…!’ Merlin is getting irritated and calls his friend again, “Arthur…” “Guinevere… please leave,” Arthur puts it shortly.
“What’s wrong, Arthur?” she asks, looking at Merlin, her face puzzled. Merlin shakes his head as he, too, didn’t know why Arthur is behaving like this.
“Just go, Guinevere. Leave me alone.”
“No! I won’t until you tell why you are behaving like a jerk!” now she is getting pissed off por his behaviour.
“Please, try to understand me…”
“If you’re feeling guilty because of what happened, let me freshen you up, mister. Those two assholes were a joke. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time, all right? They messed us up, yes but they paid the price as well. You tried all you can to save me, Arthur, and you did. You took most of the beatings because you were protecting me, isn’t that proof enough you did your best? And look at me, Arthur; I am fine. Thanks to you, I am saved. Please don’t take it so hard on yourself.”
“She’s right, Arthur. I spoke to the doctor and he mentioned you sustained some pretty bad injuries. If your motive was to save Gwen, then you can be proud of yourself,” Merlin chips in.
“NO!!” Arthur shouts and gets up. Merlin gets to his feet and tries to help Arthur but the latter pulls away, snatching his hands away from Merlin.
“No!!! No matter what you both say, I… I didn’t do anything! I almost let them get you, Guinevere, and you, you actually saved me, not the other way around. If you didn’t warn me about the knife, I would have been dead por now. I was useless… I was blind and bloody useless,” he walks straight without aid and knocks himself against the coffee table, falling down beside it.
“Arthur!!” both Gwen and Merlin rushes to him.
“No, don’t help me!” he says before they can help him up.
“Arthur, please…” Gwen pleads but he stops her with his outstretched hand.
“No, please leave me alone, Guinevere. Just leave!” he says again, this time quite harshly. Gwen looks at Merlin, distraught. Merlin doesn’t know what to do either. He has never seen Arthur behaving erratically like this and he doesn’t know how to comfort Gwen.
“What is it, Arthur?” Gwen finally asks; her hands on her hips.
“What’s what?”
“What is bothering you?”
“Nothing…”
“Bullshit!”
“What do you want, Guinevere, I thought I asked you…” Arthur tries to change the subject.
“To leave, yes. I will, Arthur, but not before you answer me?”
“There’s nothing for me to answer.”
“Yes there is, and you know it! I want to know just one bloody question! Answer me and I’ll leave you alone!”
“Just go, Guinevere” Arthur tells her sadly and waves his hand. His knee hurts from the knock he sustained earlier por the mesa, tabela but his coração hurts more. He just wishes Gwen would listen to him, just this once.
“Why are you shouldering the guilt yourself, Arthur?” she asks him. Beside her Merlin stands with his hands firmly crossed across his chest.
“Nothing, just…”
“Listen!” she kneels in front of him, grabs his hand and tilts his face to her. “Something is troubling you and I can sense that since we left the Diner. You changed your attitude the moment the man mentioned about the accident. And after that, you kept quiet, all the way to the hospital and all the way here. What happened, Arthur? Did the accident have something to do with your change of behaviour now? Why aren’t you telling us, we are your friends and we mean only to help you… please. Don’t do this… tell us, tell us what is bothering you.”
“Nothing,” he pulls his face and bows his head. He hears Gwen sighing. Gwen looks up at Merlin, her face turning red with anger.
“For God’s sake, Arthur, just spit it out will you?” Gwen shouts at him. Merlin circles Arthur and quickly puts his assuring hand on her shoulder, calming her. Gwen sighs and pats his back.
“Arthur?” Merlin calls softly. “Please,” he pleads.
Arthur doesn’t want to hurt his friends, especially Guinevere, but his coração is aching too. Why can’t anyone see that? They want the answer but can they handle his answer? His mind is in a jumble. He couldn’t bring himself to think in peace. Guinevere is right, something is troubling him but it isn’t just the attack or the accident he was involved earlier. There’s something else, something which is connected to both these incidents. Something involving his conscience. But how will he explain it to them without hurting them. Will they understand?
“Please Arthur, tell me,” Gwen pleads, her voice softening. She reaches over and touches his hand.
“I wish I could see, Guinevere! I wish I had my sight back… that’s all!” Arthur snaps and pulls his hand from her touch, startling Gwen. “I want to see!!!” he repeats again.
Arthur’s sudden rant stuns both Gwen and Merlin. They have not seen him like this nether did they expected it now. Though Merlin is still taken back por Arthur’s outburst, Gwen has softened and closes on him, kneeling por his side. She clips his chin and forces him to turn her way.
“Is that it?” she asks, looking at him. “That’s all been bothering you?”
“Do you have any idea what’s going through my mind right now?” Arthur can’t believe Guinevere can cast his feelings aside so lightly. Can’t she understand how he is feeling?
“Arthur, we told you before this is your choice…” she starts.
“Yes, and now I regret it!!” he snaps back at her. Gwen sighs and exchange looks with Merlin. She could use Merlin’s help now.
“What are you saying, Arthur?” Merlin asks, taking a step closer.
“I wish… I never drove the car and crashed it, never ran over that man… never became blind, never disagreed with my father… I wish I never said and did all those things I did before… I wish my life didn’t turn out this way!”
“You can still correct it, Arthur, the ball is in your court. The decision is still yours,” Merlin says.
“How can I Merlin? How… I’ll be dishonoring my promise I made for that man!”
“But he’s dead, Arthur, and he wouldn’t know anything!” Merlin says. Gwen clenches her cheek. She didn’t need to listen to any of this.
“I can’t… my conscience wouldn’t allow it.”
“I can’t help you if you can’t decide, Arthur!” Merlin respostas wryly.
“I… don’t know Merlin!!” Arthur pounds the floor with his fist. “I… I don’t know. I am so angry at everything right now. Myself, my disability… that man!”
“That man?” Gwen asks quickly. ‘Why is her father being involved into this matter?’ she thinks fast. She didn’t like the way Arthur’s dragging her father into his troubles.
“Yes, him… if only he didn’t come across me…”
“You would have died!” her voice rises. Merlin turns to look at her.
“At least I wouldn’t have ended up blind!” Arthur argues.
“That was your fault, Arthur, not his… as far as I remember, you got drunk and rammed on that man, not the other way round! You could have ended up on a slab in the morgue if that man didn’t come across you and the wall, risking his life in return and you blame him for your own stupidity?” her harsh words got Merlin all wide eyed.
“Gwen?” Merlin calls her but she shakes her head.
“Not now, Merlin!” she stops Merlin and continues to glare at Arthur “Are you blaming him Arthur?” she asks straightforwardly at him.
“Yes, yes I am… I wish he didn’t come in between me and that wall. I should have been dead; at least I am deprived of this madness!! I don’t have to go through this torment!! Do you have any idea how torturous life is living like this Guinevere? I can’t go through this anymore, I really can’t!”
“Then don’t!! You can have your operation, who’s stopping you?” she snaps back.
“I made a promise!”
“To hell with the promise, Arthur… like Merlin said, that man is dead and no one will know if you kept that promise or not! You don’t have to sacrifice for him because no matter what you do, he isn’t going to return back to his family. Don’t blame his death for your chance of to cure yourself!”
“No!! It’s not what I promised myself!! That man had a family and I killed him… I should punish myself!”
“There are other alternatives,” Gwen replies.
“But this is the only valid punishment for me,” Arthur argues back.
“Then why are you complaining?” Gwen snaps back. Her voice was getting croaky because she tends to get emotional when she is angry.
“Because I am useless to anyone, Guinevere, don’t you see it? I am not good for anything or anyone and you know how it makes me feel? I feel as if I am burden!” he says and Gwen can feel his sadness. She is angry he is blaming her father for his troubles but she also feels sad for his misery.
“Like I said, it’s your choice Arthur… is that why you are angry?” she asks him.
“Yes!”
“Because you think you’re a burden?”
“I am… there’s no doubt about that”
“I think that’s bullshit! No one except you thinks you’re a burden, Arthur! If that’s how shallow your mind is, there’s nothing we can do about it,” Gwen scolds him.
“Try putting yourself in my shoes, Guinevere, and you’ll know how I feel!”
“Look, I don’t need to put myself in your position to know your feelings Arthur. We all do and we want to help you but it’s you who’s keeping us at arm’s length. Actually, I don’t understand why are you behaving like this right now. You had been fine when we walked out of this place this afternoon. You were full of confidence and determined in making yourself heard, but now, where’s that confidence? You are not the same Arthur I know. What happened to you? Don’t tell me those two men broke your confidence? You’re never one who’ll lose your will to fight.”
“Maybe now I do!”
“Guys… come on, cool it out shall we?” Merlin tries to intercept.
“This is stupid, Arthur; I can’t believe you’re behaving like a child!” Gwen ignores Merlin and scolds Arthur.
“You don’t know anything about me, Guinevere!”
“Oh yes I do, Arthur! I think you’re a man with some seriously complex inner issues! You have good friends around you but you don’t want them to help you. You choose the easiest way to beat your troubles, por drinking and trying to commit suicide! You think those two solutions will ease your troubles, no! Looks at what you turned yourself into? This condition, this unfortunate condition you put upon yourself was at your own expense so stop blaming anyone except yourself for becoming blind! You always mention your father is your worst enemy but no: you are your own worst enemy and you don’t know it!”
Merlin didn’t know what to say or do. He keeps his silence and looks at the two bickering souls in front of him. He silently applauds Gwen for her bravery. Her every word is spot on and if only Arthur listens.
“Are you suggesting that I am blinded por my own doing?” Arthur clenches his teeth.
“Yes!! You became blind because you didn’t know how to solve your problem. You took a detour and see where it landed you. Your father was offering you a way out of the mess you created and you didn’t want to accept it because of your arrogance! Not because of your conscience! You will be indebted to your father if you accept his help and that’s the last thing you want, so you created a story about your conscience and got away with it!”
“That’s preposterous!”
“Really? Then why are you blaming the man you killed for your disability? Why are you feeling insecure about your blindness?” she asks him.
“Because I had to blame someone!! That’s why!!” Arthur shouts back.
“Then blame yourself!” Gwen shouts at him. “You are what you are because of yourself! Not anyone else’s doing but your own. Be man enough to accept your decision and carry on with your life, Arthur. I think you really need help… you can’t make your decisions because you are clueless about yourself. If you can’t understand your own life, how do you expect others to understand? It took Merlin and me almost ten minutos to get you to open up to us, how are you going to confide in others when you’re burdened por insecurity, Arthur? You have to shed that insecureness first, than tackle your life one por one. We are here and we can help you. You need to trust, Arthur, and it has to start with you!”
“You make it sound so easy, don’t you? Of course you wouldn’t know my situation because you haven’t lost anything. It’s always easy advising, Guinevere, but try being me and lose something or someone in your life first. Then you’ll know what I mean!” Arthur says rudely. Gwen’s jaw drops.
“What did you say?” she asks.
“Gwen…” Merlin can sense something is definitely going to explode. He tries to pull Gwen away but she brushes his hands away.
“I haven’t lost anyone? You think I’m giving you free cheap conselhos because I haven’t lost anyone?” she repeats his question.
“Gwen, please… “Merlin tries to reason with her but she isn’t in the mood to listen to him right now.
“I haven’t lost anyone, you say, Arthur? You really think you’re the only person in the world who’s suffering right now? You think you’re the only one who lost something dear to you? No, let me correct that, Arthur Pendragon. I lost someone, too, and he was my precious gem. He was my world and he was taken away from me!!! So I know about losses, too, and that’s why I’m trying to help you if you’ll stop being such a thick headed fool!”
“Who you’re calling a fool?”
“You!”
“Yes, you’re right… I am fool. That’s why I can’t even kill myself! Someone else took that opportunity instead!”
“Stop talking about that man like that, Arthur!!” Gwen screams at him. Her scream stuns Arthur. Merlin sighs and sits down on the sofa. This is going to take longer than he expects.
“What’s with you and that man, anyway?” Arthur asks, arching his brow in frustration.
“Respect the dead… that’s all I am asking of you”
“Why? Does he mean anything to you?”
“Nothing… look! I have to go!” Gwen gets up and prepares to leave.
“Not before you answer my pergunta Guinevere!”
“I don’t have to answer anything to you, Arthur. This is your problem so stop dragging others in.”
“Like that dead man?”
“Stop talking about him, understand!” she points at him.
“I won’t until you tell me why does he interest you?” Arthur asks.
“You don’t know anything about him so don’t assume you do!”
“So now you know him?” he teases. Merlin shakes his head.
“Drop it Arthur…”
“Do you know him?”
“No.”
“Then why are you supporting him?”
“Because I think you’re stupid to blame your faults on him… that’s why”
“He’s stupid too… if he didn’t run across my car, he could be living too,”
“He didn’t run across your car Arthur, he was saving a life and risked his in return! Understand? And you know whose life he was saving? Mine!! Yes, my life. I was standing in the same path your car was heading and he pushed me aside only for you to run over him, killing him! And you know why he saved my life? Because he is my father!! Yes, Arthur Pendragon, the man you killed was my father!” Gwen tells Arthur and stands, glaring at him.
One of the waiters who had enough of watching the brutal scene occurring, rushed progressivo, para a frente with a tray and whacked it as hard he could at Joe, who is choking Arthur.
“Arghhh!!” Joe screams and lands to his side, clutching his head.
Another waiter rushes towards Karl and breaks a bottle on his head. Karl releases Gwen, staggers due to the impact of the break and she uses the opportunity to hurry towards Arthur, helping him up. Arthur coughs as blood seeps out freely from his nose.
“Arthur… Arthur?” Gwen calls in terrified voice. Arthur keeps coughing and grabs his throat. Gwen peels his hand and inspects his throat. It has red marks all around it, the finger marks of the man who choked him. But Arthur is still coughing and has rolled to his side now, clutching his throat. “Arthur …?” Gwen is scared. Suddenly someone grabs Gwen again and it’s Karl. He has knocked the waiter and rushed to grab Gwen from behind.
“Arghhhh… Let me go… let me go, Arthur help me,” Gwen shouts as Karl drags her away. The other waiter comes to help but gets held por Joe instead. Arthur rolls back and tries to reach out at Gwen but it’s too late as Karl grips Gwen as tightly he can.
“Guinevere,” Arthur manages to call but his throat hurts courtesy of the choke a short time ago. But he still manages to pick himself up and crawls to where he suspects Gwen is being held up. The waiter who whacked and helped Arthur minutos atrás lands on the mesa, tabela and crashes down. Joe comes progressivo, para a frente towards Arthur, his hand digging deep into his jacket. Gwen watches in horror as Arthur is still trying to get to his feet. Joe smiles at Gwen and flashes out a faca from inside his jacket.
“Watch him die you bitch!” he says and nears Arthur. Gwen’s coração skips a beat.
‘God… please help him!’ she prays silently. Joe nears Arthur and grabs a handful of Arthur’s blond locks.
“Arthur look out!” she shouts, warning Arthur and it helps. As Joe swings his knife, trying to stab Arthur, Arthur ducks to his left and the blade instead just slashes his arm. But Joe hasn’t given up; instead he punches Arthur in his stomach and pushes him back. Arthur crashes against the chair and falls clutching his arm.
“Arthur!!” Gwen shouts. Karl laughs behind her.
“There’s nothing mais you can do for him, sweetheart,” Karl says, licking Gwen’s earlobe. And that was a very bad mover indeed. Gwen’s coração now rages in anger. Watching Arthur suffering and herself a victim of these unfortunate events makes her amargo, amarga and she is done with playing a damsel in distress. She uses all her force and steps onto Karl’s feet, the heels of her two inch high heeled shoes plunging into his own sneakers and she hears Karl’s scream behind her. He releases her and using that opportunity, she grabs the plate beside her and whacks it on his face. Then she grabs another plate and whacks it on his head. Blood trickles down Karl’s forehead.
“Hey!!” Joe shouts and heads towards her but she is ready for him. Grabbing the vase on the table, she flings at him and it lands perfectly on his face. The shards pierce his skin and he grabs his face in pain, screaming as blood spurts out from the tear on his face. The faca he held a while atrás drops on the floor. Someone grabs her shoulder and spins her around. As she turns, Karl slaps her hard and she falls down beside Arthur, clutching her face.
“Guinevere?” she hears Arthur calling her but her face hurts and she finds it difficult to mover her mouth.
Karl spits out his blood and walks towards her. Reaching down he grabs her curls but someone pounces on him, crashing down alongside him. Karl tries to get up but Arthur holds him down as tightly he can, circling his hands around Karl’s shoulder. Gwen crawls to a safety and cups her hurting cheek.
“Guinevere… get out of here!” Arthur warns.
Gwen looks around and notices Joe is finally finding his feet and would be on her anytime. Arthur can’t hold Karl for long; that man is far too strong for Arthur. She has to find a way to get both of them out. She’s not leaving without him. She looks for anything that might come in handy in case Joe attacks her.
Another couple of waiters comes progressivo, para a frente and helps Arthur to hold Karl tightly. They too pounce on him down, pining him on the floor.
“Let me go!!” Karl shouts as mais weight bears him to the floor. “Joe!!” he calls.
Joe, his face now washed red with blood is a raging bull. He wipes his blood, pull out a shard sticking on his chin and starts towards Gwen, his eyes sharp on her. Gwen looks around in panic. She spots the faca Joe held a while ago, lying near a table. She looks back at the approaching Joe. He too has spotted the knife. Their eyes meet. As she crawls to the knife, Joe rushes to it as well. But both Gwen and Joe stops short when they hear a gun shot, blaring in the Diner’s. Gwen stops and covers her ears while Joe, sensing he and Karl are now within the clutches of the police, tries to run but they get rounded up. Three police officers rush at Karl and pins him down while the waiters help Arthur up his feet. Another policeman walks up to Gwen and helps her to her feet. Another two cuff Joe and pin him on the table, face down.
“Are you all right?” a policeman asks, helping her. Gwen finds her hand trembling and she hides it por clasping it tightly. She nods. The policeman nods back and turns quickly at both men, now pinned against the table, face down. “We may need your denunciar on them, please don’t go away,” the policeman says, turning back towards Gwen.
“Sure, thank you for coming to our aid, if you don’t mind I’ll like to check on my friend,” she says and rushes towards Arthur as the officer steps away. She thanks the waiters and takes him into her arms, embracing him tightly. After a minute, she releases him.
“Guinevere?” Arthur calls, his voice startled as he searches for her. She takes his hand and brings it to cup her face, beijar it in relief.
“I’m here Arthur, I’m here,” she says as tears rolls down her face. She is surprised she didn’t cry when they were being attacked but now, after being saved por the police, fresh tears seem to be rolling down her cheek freely. She didn’t know why she is crying, is it because they’ve been hurt or is it because she is relieved all this is over and saved or is it because she is sad that Arthur has suffered so much for her. She feels it could be the last.
“Are you all right? I heard gun shots, is everything all right? Who’s here?” he asks, as he strokes off her tears.
“I am… I am, don’t worry the police are here and they’ve taken them into custody.” she tells him as she watches both the ruffians being cuffed and taken away por the police. The owner of the o jantar, lanchonete talks with the police and approaches Gwen and Arthur.
“You’re hurt, Arthur… that slash, it seems pretty bad” she inspects his arms and the slash across it. Blood drenches his tee and as she touches the wound lightly, she notices him flinching.
“I’m all right, it’s just a slash, nothing deep,” he lies to her. Gwen knows he is lying but she says nothing about it.
“I’m sorry, Arthur…” she says and mais tears escape her eyes.
“Hey, it’s not your fault, love… don’t blame yourself. I’m fine, thanks to you. If you didn’t warn me I could have been dead por now… but it’s over and you can pat yourself on the back for saving me.” Arthur tries to joke. “What matters now is that you are safe, Guinevere, and I was waiting for that news all afternoon. I don’t care about my injuries, as long as you’re all right,” he says. Gwen’s coração sinks hearing those words. She just wants to pull him close and kiss him but she couldn’t find the courage to do so. She remains still and sniffs.
Arthur wipes Gwen’s tears and pulls her closer to him, his arms circling her protectively. She closes her eyes and feels the warmth of his embrace, feeling seguro in his arms. Her trembling body is now slowly relaxing as he strokes her back. She doesn’t want the moment to stop; she doesn’t want the time to pass. She wishes everything would stop and allows them to savour the moment. But their wishes don’t come to pass as the owner of the o jantar, lanchonete clear his throat. Gwen pulls away from Arthur and smiles nervously at the owner. Beside her Arthur looks grim.
“Are you both all right?” he asks cautiously, looking guilty for what has happened.
“I am fine but Arthur here needs to be taken to the hospital. We are good, thanks to your Valente staff,” Gwen says.
“We shouldn’t have allowed something like this to happen… I am very sorry,” the man apologises.
“Sorry?” Arthur cuts Gwen before she can reply.
“Arthur…”
“Is this all you can offer? Sorry, the word sounds way to simple mister! Do you know what happened? We could have lost our lives a while atrás and all you can offer is your petty sorry? I’m afraid that is not enough!” Arthur snaps bitterly.
“Sir, if there’s anything I can do in return…”
“There’s nothing you can do actually!! Nothing… what if we had been killed?”
“Arthur, he’s not at fault here… what could he do if they decided to…”
“Shut up, Guinevere!” Arthur snaps at her and his behavior stuns her. He seems determined in blaming the owner for what has happened and now he is shouting at her. He is not the person she came to know. He is a lot different now. And he reminds her of his… father.
“Look… we were supposed to be having a good time and all that changed because you allowed some thrash talking ruffians into your diners and look what they’ve done!! You are supposed to be preventing your customers from being hurt, and now, like it or not, you caused it. This is not what a manager like you should be doing…”
“We tried to chase them away…”
“Excuses, excuses, excuses!!! When something like this happens, it’s always easy to come up with excuses and get away with it. I don’t want excuses, mister. I am expecting something mais concrete!”
“I can compensate for the damages caused…”
“Do I look like I need money from you? Who do you think I am, some roadside beggar? I am Arthur Pendragon. Does my father’s name ring any bells to you?” Arthur struts proudly. Gwen didn’t like his tone or the way he uses his power to intimidate the poor man. Something is terribly wrong with Arthur. He is atuação very strangely indeed.
The owner of the o jantar, lanchonete gapes at the mention of the name and he immediately bows at Arthur. “Oh my God!!! You are Uther’s son? I am so sorry… I didn’t know…I, oh god!!”
“I can get this place closed and sealed for good, I have the power in my hands to do it, understand? One mention of this incident to my father and you’ll have to go back doing what you did before you owned this diner. You wouldn’t want this, do you?”
“Of course not sir, please don’t do anything like this. I just bought this place a mês back and it took me my whole fortune to rebuild this place after the accident and I don’t want anything to happen any more. I don’t have the strength or the money to reconstruct this place should anything else happens” the man explains. Arthur’s face changes after listening to him. Gwen’s coração skips a beat when she hears the man’s explanation.
‘Crap!’ she thinks. ‘Please don’t say anything, please …’ she thinks to herself and silently prays the man will not reveal what happened.
“Accident, what accident?” Arthur asks his voice croaky. The man wipes his forehead.
“Arthur, we need to get you to the hospital…” Gwen tries to divert the topic but he shrugs her off. But Gwen is still persistent. “Arthur?”
“Not now, Guinevere!” he snaps at her. Gwen sighs and keeps quiet.
“What accident?” Arthur perguntas again. “Come on!” he urges when the owner takes a long time to answer. The owner looks back at Gwen and then at Arthur. Gwen prays to herself.
“A mês back, there was an accident here where a man drove his car against the mural and killed a pedestrian. It was a terrible accident I heard. I know the pedestrian was killed on the spot but I have no idea what happened to the driver. Right after the accident, another man died por choking to death on a bone and one of the staff here was killed in a hit and run accident just outside the diner. These were seen as bad signs por the customers and business started slowing down. The anterior owner was hit with massive losses and it cost him his family as his wife left him and his son eloped, leaving with him with nothing but just this diner. He didn’t want to own this place anymore because he saw it as a bad omen, too, and sold it to me at a discount. I used my entire fortune to reconstruct this place, fix certain areas, including the mural out front, and replace it with a fountain. Business started picking up after the reconstruction and I managed to recoup half of what I invested and I really do not want anymore troubles… if your father intervenes I will definitely lose everything, sir, including my investment. I understand your father is a very powerful man here, but please have some courtesy sir, I aplogise for what happened and I didn’t know about this incident until I walked in. I called the police and asked my staff to help you both. I have put myself in danger because when those two come out from the prison, they’ll come looking for me. Yet I took the risk and saved your lives. At least for that, could you please spare me? I promise I’ll look into the security and tighten it. But please sir, do not bring your father into this,” the man pleads; clasping his hands together like in a prayer and bows his head.
Gwen sighs in relief and feels sorry for the owner. Looks like he is a new owner of the Diner, so that means he doesn’t know it was her father who was killed right here at his place. She had been so worried if he was the original owner because he would definitely speak mais about the accident; thankfully he is not and kept his information to a limited edition. That means her secret is still seguro with her. But she feels very sorry for him. It isn’t his fault at all yet he shoulders the blame instead. And Arthur is adamant in making the man pay for the hurt they’ve been through. Gwen wishes she can do mais for the man but unfortunately she can’t. Arthur has just shouted at her, asking her to keep quiet and she isn’t wishing for any mais rude remarks from him. But she isn’t done with him either. She wants to get him alone and enquire the manner he’s been behaving with everyone, including herself. He definitely could learn some manners. But she will wait until Arthur is done with the owner before expressing her thoughts. Just because Arthur embarrassed her a while atrás doesn’t mean she has to put up with it.
But Arthur isn’t listening to any of the owner’s words. He was in a world of his own. Is this the place he crashed and lost his sight? It can’t be… but the man, he says something about the wall. He knows he crashed onto a mural but could it be the same wall? He thinks. “The accident… what do you know about it?” he asks the owner.
The owner squares his shoulder and shakes his head. “Nothing much except that the crash outside damaged the mural entirely. And the pedestrian was killed. But I heard it was gruesome. The car ran over the poor man, killing him on the spot!” the owner explains.
Gwen turns away and wishes she could run away from the place. Listening to the gory details of her father’s death was torturous indeed. Something is upsetting Arthur about the accident and she just wish he won’t suspect anything. But the topic will have to end. She cannot tolerate it any longer.
Arthur’s hands trembles and he feels dizzy. This isn’t happening to him. If what this man says is right, then he is standing in the place he wants nothing to do with. He is actually standing in the midst of his pain, his sin and his agony. He came back to the place his disastrous life started. ‘I’m here? Back in the place I almost died? Why has Guinevere brought me here?’ he asks himself. When he crashed a mês back, he didn’t know the name of the place or where he had landed. But he remembers the mural pretty well. How could he forget? It was the last thing he actually saw before collapsing and losing his sight. And from what the man tells him, it looks like both walls are the same. Arthur’s coração beats faster now.
He has been trying to forget the place as its memories are amargo, amarga enough to torture and torment his soul. But now, he came back to the very place he intends on forgetting, thanks to Guinevere. Why did she bring him here? There are plenty of other places they could’ve gone to, yet she chose here! Arthur winces at his stupidity. How would she know for pity’s sake! How is she to know he has a history in this place? Or that he killed an innocent man on that night? She didn’t know any of that and she brought him here on her good nature, to have a good meal together. This isn’t her fault. No, it’s not. It’s his and his alone. Arthur sighs deeply. He recalls back the gruesome imagens of the man he ran onto before flinging his car against the wall. The memory, still vivid in his mind is his reminder. A reminder of his sin, to remind him of his mistake. He will never be able to forget that image, even after death claims him.
But there’s another image playing vaguely in the corner of his mind, one he hasn’t told anyone and isn’t sure if it’s real or the figment of his imagination. The night he drove his car towards the wall, he thought he saw the image of a woman in front of him. But he was drunk and when he closed and opened his eyes, he saw a man instead and ran over him. Though he still remembers the first image, he isn’t sure if that woman was real. He remembers asking Merlin about it and his friend dismissed it saying it could have been the work of the alcohol Arthur consumed and Arthur himself dismissed it as his imagination. But what’s real is a man had died and he caused it. And now he finds out he caused mais damages than the life he took away. A good man lost his business and his family and now another is on the verge of losing it for the segundo time. Arthur’s anger at the owner evaporates and replaced with anger with himself; for everything he has caused directly and indirectly. What’s past is past and there’s no point in dwelling in the matter any longer. Arthur wants to leave the place as soon as possible, but not before he deals with the matter at hand. This incident, despite hurting both him and Guinevere, isn’t anyone’s fault. Arthur knew it isn’t the owner’s as well but he was very angry, and for a minute, he stepped into Uther Pendragon’s shoes and became his father. He was insistent on blaming the owner and almost succeeded if the man hadn’t fished out the information’s about the accident. That was the turning point for both men. It saved the owner from Arthur’s ruthlessness and Arthur from becoming his father. And he is ashamed for behaving appallingly. He knows he owes both the owner and Guinevere an apology but he also wants to get the bloody hell out of this Diner. Too much misery surrounds this place and it’s suffocating him. He needs fresh air.
“Sir please…”
Arthur jerks from his deep thoughts as the owner grabs his hand and sighs.
“Please do not inform your father,” he pleads again. Gwen crosses her hands and waits. She has been noticing the changes in Arthur ever since the owner of the o jantar, lanchonete mentioned about the accident. She didn’t want to suggest anything. She’d rather wait and watch.
“I won’t… I promise,” Arthur says shortly, much to Gwen’s surprise. The man didn’t suspect anything and his face beams with happiness.
“Thank you, sir… I will do anything you want. What is it you require for your loss?”
“Nothing… just tighten the security and that will do,” Arthur finishes crisply. Now the man seems to be hit with suspicion. His smile fades and he looks at Gwen and then back at Arthur.
“But sir… I thought…”
“Just tighten it, will you!!” Arthur hisses and the man gets the picture. “Do it before I change my mind,” Arthur says again, his face sour. The man tosses a quick questioning look at Gwen. She nods back, asking him to follow Arthur’s instruction. The owner nods back.
“I will… thank you. Do you need a lift to the hospital?” he offers generously.
Before Guinevere can answer, Arthur cuts her first. “NO!!” he snaps. Gwen looks at the man apologetically and he nods sadly and walks away, ushering his staffs to get back to their work. The policeman who’s been watching and listening to the conversation nears them, taking out his notebook and pen. Gwen wishes the police hadn’t interfered because she seriously wanted to slap Arthur for his behaviour. Fortunately for Arthur, he was saved por the police.
“Miss?”
“Gwen”
“Miss Gwen. I need to take some details from you and him regarding the matter. Can you spare me a minute?” the policeman asks, looking at both of them. Arthur is walking off and quickly Gwen rushes after him and helps him to a chair.
“Is it necessary?” she asks, helping Arthur sit down.
“If you want to see them both behind bars for a long time, yes, it’s important”
“Can you wait until I take Arthur to the hospital?”
“I can get you both there,” the officer offers and Gwen thinks that’s a good idea. They need to give a full denunciar to the police regarding what has happened and they will need the doctor’s denunciar to support theirs so let the police take them instead.
“Sure,” Gwen says shortly.
“Thank you… you sure you won’t need a lift back home?” the officer closes his book and slid his pen back into his pocket. They were seated near the dressing room where Arthur is being looked at por the doctor.
“No officer, thank you. A friend is picking us up and we will wait for him,” Gwen says.
“Very well, then… I’ll update you with the progress as soon as I get the information,” the officer informs and shakes Gwen’s hand before leaving. Gwen sighs and waits for Arthur outside the dressing room. Leaning against the wall, she looks at her trembling hands. Though they weren’t as bad as they were a while ago, the trembling still hasn’t stopped. The same goes with her body; she is still shaking inside. She has never been through anything like this before. It not only rattled her, but her confidence as well. She wonders how Arthur is coping. He must be terrified like her though he hardly showed it. And the sudden rage with the owner of the diner, though it was out of character for him to blow himself out of proposition, Gwen knows he was actually scared inside and he tried to mask his horror with his anger. That way he will not be seemed vulnerable though in reality, he is. He must be feeling guilty for not being able to defend himself during the incident and had to depend on others to save himself. And it must’ve driven him mad, which explains why he was shouting and blaming the owner. Gwen feels sorry for him. A while atrás she was angry with his outburst but throughout the drive here to the hospital, Arthur was very quiet and it gave her the opportunity to rethink her assessment of him. She tries to put herself in his shoes and feel like he does and she understands his rage. Anyone in his place would do exactly the same. When someone is vulnerable and unable to help in any kind of situation, they will often use anger to mask their weakness. Arthur did exactly that. But there was another issue plaguing her mind throughout the drive here. Arthur’s sudden change of attitude after realising he was in the same o jantar, lanchonete at which her father was killed. He was threatening to use his authority to foca, selo the place for good, channeling his father’s characteristics but the moment he found out about his accident, he mellowed. No longer his father’s son, he was still harsh but he wasn’t threatening any more. Gwen wonders what could have prompted for the change in attitude and why? Maybe it has everything to do with her father’s death. She knows he still feels guilty about it and isn’t surprised if he chose to mellow down because of that. If it is, she’s relieved. That poor man was being accused for no reason and if Arthur had carried on, Gwen swears she would have slapped Arthur herself.
The door to the dressing room swings open and she manages to steal a peek inside and notices Arthur being treated por the doctor. Gwen sighs and leans back against the wall. Her cheek hurts and she knows it has swelled. She cups her cheeks and softly massages it. She wonders what could have happened if the man had stabbed Arthur instead of slashing. ‘No!’ Gwen covers her ears and shakes her head. She couldn’t urso to think of the possibility of losing Arthur. Her coração beats rapidly as she tries to shake the thought away. ‘No, no … go away’ she thinks again. Someone touches her shoulder. She removes her hands and looks up. Merlin was standing beside her. All of her sudden, she starts to sob and fresh tears rolls down her eyes. She gets up and hugs Merlin, tightly.
“Gwen? What happened? Is everything all right? Where’s Arthur? You’re shivering Gwen!” Merlin asks as he strokes her back, comforting her. Gwen sobs uncontrollably now. Every emotion which she kept tightly secured within her chest is being unleashed now and she didn’t want to stop crying. She didn’t care if anyone saw her. She wanted to cry her coração out.
“Gwen?” Merlin calls again. She releases him and still sobs.
“Hey, is everything all right? You’re trembling, do you want to sit down?” he asks, wiping her tears away with his thumb.
“Sorry… “
“No, no, sweetheart… don’t be sorry. There’s nothing to be sorry for. How’s Arthur?”
“He’s being dressed inside. He got slashed in the arm.”
“So I heard… let’s sit down shall we? You’re shaking. Come on,” Merlin says and they sit down, Merlin clasping her hands tightly.
“Want to tell me about it?”
“It was horrible, Merlin. We were having lunch and all of a sudden these two men enter and starts to cause trouble at our table. When Arthur starts to argue, they started beating him. Choking him, strangling him… God, it was horrible. And they were roughing up on me as well… doing all sort of stuff… it was,” she couldn’t carry on and Merlin pulls her close and hugs her warmly.
“Shhhh, it’s all right. You don’t have to tell me more. It’s all right, you and Arthur are seguro and that is all that matters,” Merlin assures.
Gwen pulls back and he wipes her tears off her cheek. “Think of it as a nightmare, Gwen, and it’ll be gone after few days,” he advises.
“They had a knife, Merlin, and they wanted to stab Arthur… but fortunately they just ended up slashing his arm. Imagine if they had…”
“It must have been so hard for you both, especially you, Gwen… it’s cruel but it’ll soon pass like a nightmare. You must be brave, Gwen, at least for Arthur. He must’ve been very worried for you and if you’re sacred it’ll affect him too.”
“I know… I’ll try, Merlin,” Gwen promises.
“That’s the spirit,” Merlin says with a smile. Then he notice the finger marks on her cheek. “Your cheek Gwen? It’s all swelled up”
“I know… one of them slapped me.”
“Oh my God! I am so sorry you and Arthur had to go through all this… I wish I was around. Don’t you want the doctor to have a look at your marks? It looks pretty bad, Gwen.”
“No, I am fine, Merlin. It’ll go away after a few days,” Gwen assures and Merlin nods at her, agreeing.
“Did you know Arthur behaved rather nastily with the owner of the diner?” Gwen says, wiping her eyes with the back of her palm.
“What did he do?”
“He was his father’s son, Merlin”
“Don’t follow you there, Gwen.”
“He blamed the owner for what happened and threatened to close the place, using his father’s name and power to intimidate the poor man. He was ruthless and inconsiderate, just like his father. And he even snapped at me!”
“He was terrified, Gwen, and Arthur becomes aggressive when he is protective over someone.”
“So I thought. I know he was scared, but there was no need to be cruel with that man.”
“That is Arthur’s other personality. Bet you didn’t expect it!”
“No, and I am very surprised por his behaviour. But I try to put myself in his place and what he did didn’t seem wrong to me except, he didn’t have to become his father to bring out his other self.”
“Agree, but I think he didn’t expect it either. It can be just that moment sometimes, yeah… where we do things unexpectedly, you know,” Merlin tells her.
“Hmmm… I don’t like it when he turns nasty like he did. He loses his good nature.”
“Agree… I tried advising him before and he wouldn’t listen. Perhaps you can try your way. He may want to listen to you, Gwen.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because he happens to have a very good understanding with you. And he values your ideas and advices,” Merlin explains.
“You can’t be sure of that, Merlin. From the way he snapped at me today, he does have his moments with me.”
“Nah, I don’t think he meant it. Trust me, Gwen; he really values your words.”
“Fine, I’ll try but if he doesn’t listen, you can’t blame me.”
“Deal,” Merlin says with a smile. “Feeling better now?”
“Yes, thank you Merlin.”
“Pleasure’s all mine; what’s taking him so long?” Merlin asks looking at the room where Arthur is being treated.
“I don’t know,” Gwen says and looks at her watch. After a while she looks up at Merlin. “Merlin?” she calls. Merlin looks back at her, arching his brow.
“I’m sorry,” she says shortly, her face sad.
“Why?”
“If I hadn’t taken him to that place, maybe he wouldn’t have gotten hurt. This is all my fault. I am sorry.”
“Nonsense, Gwen. This is no one’s fault. No one expected it, you know.” Merlin assures. “This was supposed to happen and it did. But it has passed so let’s not talk about this all right?”
“Thanks.”
“Do you want coffee? I think I’m going to get one since Arthur is going to take longer than I expected.”
“No thanks.”
“All right. I’ll be back in a jiffy… when Arthur comes out, tell him to wait for me, yeah?”
“Sure,” Gwen replies as Merlin hurries to the cafeteria to get himself a hot cup of coffee.
Arthur keeps quiet as Merlin opens the door and allows Gwen to guide him into his apartment. His arm hurts as does his buttock. The doctor gave him an injection to cure the wound faster and Arthur wish the doctor had injected his arm instead. It’s bad enough his entire body hurts after getting beaten up, now he’s going to have problem sitting down. Arthur curses his bad luck and walks slowly beside Guinevere. He hasn’t spoken a word to her after leaving the o jantar, lanchonete and she hasn’t attempted in striking any conversation with him either. He didn’t blame her. She is shaken as he is, then what else can he expect her to do? Though he didn’t see what happened, he heard enough to assume her confrontations with those rascals were nasty. It must have been mais than that, though she didn’t say anything to him. She never will, he’s sure of that, but he also knows she’s terribly hurt por what happened. Arthur sighs deeply and winces when his arms hurts as he tries to mover it. Gwen slows down.
“Are you all right?” she asks, her first words to him.
“Yes,” he keeps it short. Gwen leads him to the sofa and helps him sit down. Merlin walks past them to the kitchen.
Arthur doesn’t know why he doesn’t want to speak to Guinevere. He isn’t angry with her but himself. He is amargo, amarga he couldn’t save her life, couldn’t help her out when she needed him. He is supposed to be the one saving her, yet it was she who did it for him. He is ashamed to be in her presence, let alone strike any conversation. She almost sacrificed her life for him, and yet he couldn’t do anything in return. Not even a single fight! He was defenseless against those men and it hurts to think how vulnerable he has been. She must’ve known his weakness por now. What will she think of him? Will she consider being his friend after learning of his vulnerability? Will she even want to visit him after this incident? Arthur didn’t want any of these perguntas answered because he knows either way he will be hurt. He doesn’t have the strength to withstand the pain and it’s best he doesn’t know what she thinks right now. That’s why he chose to keep mum all the way back. Now, he just hopes she’ll leave so he will be deprived of the pain for a day.
“Can I get you anything?” she asks him, quashing his hopes. He makes a face and shakes his head. Merlin nears them and hands her a packet of ice.
“What’s this for?” she asks, clutching the ice.
“For your cheek… it’s all swelled up, Gwen. The ice will reduce the swelling,” Merlin advices. Gwen takes the ice packet and brings it near her cheek, pressing it against the swell.
Arthur looks startled. “What’s wrong, Guinevere? What happened to your face?” he asks, sitting up straight, his hands searching for her.
Gwen takes his hand and sits down beside him. “Nothing’s wrong, Arthur. My cheek’s swelled up because one of the guys slapped me…”
“Slapped you!!”
“It’s just a little swelling, Arthur. I am all right,” Gwen assures him as he still looks startled. Merlin scratches his elbow and loosens his tie.
“Can I… feel it?” Arthur asks cautiously. Merlin throws the tie on the mesa, tabela and rolls his sleeve.
“Here…” Gwen takes his right hand, brings to her face and cups it gently. As his skin touches hers, she winces as it is still painful, but she makes sure he didn’t hear her wincing. Arthur strokes her cheek gently and feels the swell. She hears him gasp.
“I… I’m so sorry Guinevere,” he says sadly.
“Why? This is not your fault?”
“If only… if only I could have helped…” Guinevere covers his mouth and silences him.
“You did enough to save me today, Arthur, and you should be proud of yourself. You did all you can…”
“But it wasn’t enough!!” he peels her hand off angrily and turns away. He is feeling hurt inside. He didn’t realise she was beaten up as well. He was trying to protect her back at the o jantar, lanchonete and took most of the beating himself so that she’d be seguro but he failed. She still got hurt.
“Gwen’s right, Arthur. What could you do? They were thrashing you as well”
“If only I could see Merlin… if only, I…” Arthur slams the side of the sofa angrily.
“Arthur!! What are you doing? Your arm!” Merlin rushes to his side and crouches por the side of the sofa, examining Arthur’s wound but Arthur snatches it away, still reeling in anger.
“Arthur, what are you doing?” Guinevere asks, stunned por Arthur’s behaviour. She tries to touch him but he flinches from her touch as well.
‘What the…!’ Merlin is getting irritated and calls his friend again, “Arthur…” “Guinevere… please leave,” Arthur puts it shortly.
“What’s wrong, Arthur?” she asks, looking at Merlin, her face puzzled. Merlin shakes his head as he, too, didn’t know why Arthur is behaving like this.
“Just go, Guinevere. Leave me alone.”
“No! I won’t until you tell why you are behaving like a jerk!” now she is getting pissed off por his behaviour.
“Please, try to understand me…”
“If you’re feeling guilty because of what happened, let me freshen you up, mister. Those two assholes were a joke. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time, all right? They messed us up, yes but they paid the price as well. You tried all you can to save me, Arthur, and you did. You took most of the beatings because you were protecting me, isn’t that proof enough you did your best? And look at me, Arthur; I am fine. Thanks to you, I am saved. Please don’t take it so hard on yourself.”
“She’s right, Arthur. I spoke to the doctor and he mentioned you sustained some pretty bad injuries. If your motive was to save Gwen, then you can be proud of yourself,” Merlin chips in.
“NO!!” Arthur shouts and gets up. Merlin gets to his feet and tries to help Arthur but the latter pulls away, snatching his hands away from Merlin.
“No!!! No matter what you both say, I… I didn’t do anything! I almost let them get you, Guinevere, and you, you actually saved me, not the other way around. If you didn’t warn me about the knife, I would have been dead por now. I was useless… I was blind and bloody useless,” he walks straight without aid and knocks himself against the coffee table, falling down beside it.
“Arthur!!” both Gwen and Merlin rushes to him.
“No, don’t help me!” he says before they can help him up.
“Arthur, please…” Gwen pleads but he stops her with his outstretched hand.
“No, please leave me alone, Guinevere. Just leave!” he says again, this time quite harshly. Gwen looks at Merlin, distraught. Merlin doesn’t know what to do either. He has never seen Arthur behaving erratically like this and he doesn’t know how to comfort Gwen.
“What is it, Arthur?” Gwen finally asks; her hands on her hips.
“What’s what?”
“What is bothering you?”
“Nothing…”
“Bullshit!”
“What do you want, Guinevere, I thought I asked you…” Arthur tries to change the subject.
“To leave, yes. I will, Arthur, but not before you answer me?”
“There’s nothing for me to answer.”
“Yes there is, and you know it! I want to know just one bloody question! Answer me and I’ll leave you alone!”
“Just go, Guinevere” Arthur tells her sadly and waves his hand. His knee hurts from the knock he sustained earlier por the mesa, tabela but his coração hurts more. He just wishes Gwen would listen to him, just this once.
“Why are you shouldering the guilt yourself, Arthur?” she asks him. Beside her Merlin stands with his hands firmly crossed across his chest.
“Nothing, just…”
“Listen!” she kneels in front of him, grabs his hand and tilts his face to her. “Something is troubling you and I can sense that since we left the Diner. You changed your attitude the moment the man mentioned about the accident. And after that, you kept quiet, all the way to the hospital and all the way here. What happened, Arthur? Did the accident have something to do with your change of behaviour now? Why aren’t you telling us, we are your friends and we mean only to help you… please. Don’t do this… tell us, tell us what is bothering you.”
“Nothing,” he pulls his face and bows his head. He hears Gwen sighing. Gwen looks up at Merlin, her face turning red with anger.
“For God’s sake, Arthur, just spit it out will you?” Gwen shouts at him. Merlin circles Arthur and quickly puts his assuring hand on her shoulder, calming her. Gwen sighs and pats his back.
“Arthur?” Merlin calls softly. “Please,” he pleads.
Arthur doesn’t want to hurt his friends, especially Guinevere, but his coração is aching too. Why can’t anyone see that? They want the answer but can they handle his answer? His mind is in a jumble. He couldn’t bring himself to think in peace. Guinevere is right, something is troubling him but it isn’t just the attack or the accident he was involved earlier. There’s something else, something which is connected to both these incidents. Something involving his conscience. But how will he explain it to them without hurting them. Will they understand?
“Please Arthur, tell me,” Gwen pleads, her voice softening. She reaches over and touches his hand.
“I wish I could see, Guinevere! I wish I had my sight back… that’s all!” Arthur snaps and pulls his hand from her touch, startling Gwen. “I want to see!!!” he repeats again.
Arthur’s sudden rant stuns both Gwen and Merlin. They have not seen him like this nether did they expected it now. Though Merlin is still taken back por Arthur’s outburst, Gwen has softened and closes on him, kneeling por his side. She clips his chin and forces him to turn her way.
“Is that it?” she asks, looking at him. “That’s all been bothering you?”
“Do you have any idea what’s going through my mind right now?” Arthur can’t believe Guinevere can cast his feelings aside so lightly. Can’t she understand how he is feeling?
“Arthur, we told you before this is your choice…” she starts.
“Yes, and now I regret it!!” he snaps back at her. Gwen sighs and exchange looks with Merlin. She could use Merlin’s help now.
“What are you saying, Arthur?” Merlin asks, taking a step closer.
“I wish… I never drove the car and crashed it, never ran over that man… never became blind, never disagreed with my father… I wish I never said and did all those things I did before… I wish my life didn’t turn out this way!”
“You can still correct it, Arthur, the ball is in your court. The decision is still yours,” Merlin says.
“How can I Merlin? How… I’ll be dishonoring my promise I made for that man!”
“But he’s dead, Arthur, and he wouldn’t know anything!” Merlin says. Gwen clenches her cheek. She didn’t need to listen to any of this.
“I can’t… my conscience wouldn’t allow it.”
“I can’t help you if you can’t decide, Arthur!” Merlin respostas wryly.
“I… don’t know Merlin!!” Arthur pounds the floor with his fist. “I… I don’t know. I am so angry at everything right now. Myself, my disability… that man!”
“That man?” Gwen asks quickly. ‘Why is her father being involved into this matter?’ she thinks fast. She didn’t like the way Arthur’s dragging her father into his troubles.
“Yes, him… if only he didn’t come across me…”
“You would have died!” her voice rises. Merlin turns to look at her.
“At least I wouldn’t have ended up blind!” Arthur argues.
“That was your fault, Arthur, not his… as far as I remember, you got drunk and rammed on that man, not the other way round! You could have ended up on a slab in the morgue if that man didn’t come across you and the wall, risking his life in return and you blame him for your own stupidity?” her harsh words got Merlin all wide eyed.
“Gwen?” Merlin calls her but she shakes her head.
“Not now, Merlin!” she stops Merlin and continues to glare at Arthur “Are you blaming him Arthur?” she asks straightforwardly at him.
“Yes, yes I am… I wish he didn’t come in between me and that wall. I should have been dead; at least I am deprived of this madness!! I don’t have to go through this torment!! Do you have any idea how torturous life is living like this Guinevere? I can’t go through this anymore, I really can’t!”
“Then don’t!! You can have your operation, who’s stopping you?” she snaps back.
“I made a promise!”
“To hell with the promise, Arthur… like Merlin said, that man is dead and no one will know if you kept that promise or not! You don’t have to sacrifice for him because no matter what you do, he isn’t going to return back to his family. Don’t blame his death for your chance of to cure yourself!”
“No!! It’s not what I promised myself!! That man had a family and I killed him… I should punish myself!”
“There are other alternatives,” Gwen replies.
“But this is the only valid punishment for me,” Arthur argues back.
“Then why are you complaining?” Gwen snaps back. Her voice was getting croaky because she tends to get emotional when she is angry.
“Because I am useless to anyone, Guinevere, don’t you see it? I am not good for anything or anyone and you know how it makes me feel? I feel as if I am burden!” he says and Gwen can feel his sadness. She is angry he is blaming her father for his troubles but she also feels sad for his misery.
“Like I said, it’s your choice Arthur… is that why you are angry?” she asks him.
“Yes!”
“Because you think you’re a burden?”
“I am… there’s no doubt about that”
“I think that’s bullshit! No one except you thinks you’re a burden, Arthur! If that’s how shallow your mind is, there’s nothing we can do about it,” Gwen scolds him.
“Try putting yourself in my shoes, Guinevere, and you’ll know how I feel!”
“Look, I don’t need to put myself in your position to know your feelings Arthur. We all do and we want to help you but it’s you who’s keeping us at arm’s length. Actually, I don’t understand why are you behaving like this right now. You had been fine when we walked out of this place this afternoon. You were full of confidence and determined in making yourself heard, but now, where’s that confidence? You are not the same Arthur I know. What happened to you? Don’t tell me those two men broke your confidence? You’re never one who’ll lose your will to fight.”
“Maybe now I do!”
“Guys… come on, cool it out shall we?” Merlin tries to intercept.
“This is stupid, Arthur; I can’t believe you’re behaving like a child!” Gwen ignores Merlin and scolds Arthur.
“You don’t know anything about me, Guinevere!”
“Oh yes I do, Arthur! I think you’re a man with some seriously complex inner issues! You have good friends around you but you don’t want them to help you. You choose the easiest way to beat your troubles, por drinking and trying to commit suicide! You think those two solutions will ease your troubles, no! Looks at what you turned yourself into? This condition, this unfortunate condition you put upon yourself was at your own expense so stop blaming anyone except yourself for becoming blind! You always mention your father is your worst enemy but no: you are your own worst enemy and you don’t know it!”
Merlin didn’t know what to say or do. He keeps his silence and looks at the two bickering souls in front of him. He silently applauds Gwen for her bravery. Her every word is spot on and if only Arthur listens.
“Are you suggesting that I am blinded por my own doing?” Arthur clenches his teeth.
“Yes!! You became blind because you didn’t know how to solve your problem. You took a detour and see where it landed you. Your father was offering you a way out of the mess you created and you didn’t want to accept it because of your arrogance! Not because of your conscience! You will be indebted to your father if you accept his help and that’s the last thing you want, so you created a story about your conscience and got away with it!”
“That’s preposterous!”
“Really? Then why are you blaming the man you killed for your disability? Why are you feeling insecure about your blindness?” she asks him.
“Because I had to blame someone!! That’s why!!” Arthur shouts back.
“Then blame yourself!” Gwen shouts at him. “You are what you are because of yourself! Not anyone else’s doing but your own. Be man enough to accept your decision and carry on with your life, Arthur. I think you really need help… you can’t make your decisions because you are clueless about yourself. If you can’t understand your own life, how do you expect others to understand? It took Merlin and me almost ten minutos to get you to open up to us, how are you going to confide in others when you’re burdened por insecurity, Arthur? You have to shed that insecureness first, than tackle your life one por one. We are here and we can help you. You need to trust, Arthur, and it has to start with you!”
“You make it sound so easy, don’t you? Of course you wouldn’t know my situation because you haven’t lost anything. It’s always easy advising, Guinevere, but try being me and lose something or someone in your life first. Then you’ll know what I mean!” Arthur says rudely. Gwen’s jaw drops.
“What did you say?” she asks.
“Gwen…” Merlin can sense something is definitely going to explode. He tries to pull Gwen away but she brushes his hands away.
“I haven’t lost anyone? You think I’m giving you free cheap conselhos because I haven’t lost anyone?” she repeats his question.
“Gwen, please… “Merlin tries to reason with her but she isn’t in the mood to listen to him right now.
“I haven’t lost anyone, you say, Arthur? You really think you’re the only person in the world who’s suffering right now? You think you’re the only one who lost something dear to you? No, let me correct that, Arthur Pendragon. I lost someone, too, and he was my precious gem. He was my world and he was taken away from me!!! So I know about losses, too, and that’s why I’m trying to help you if you’ll stop being such a thick headed fool!”
“Who you’re calling a fool?”
“You!”
“Yes, you’re right… I am fool. That’s why I can’t even kill myself! Someone else took that opportunity instead!”
“Stop talking about that man like that, Arthur!!” Gwen screams at him. Her scream stuns Arthur. Merlin sighs and sits down on the sofa. This is going to take longer than he expects.
“What’s with you and that man, anyway?” Arthur asks, arching his brow in frustration.
“Respect the dead… that’s all I am asking of you”
“Why? Does he mean anything to you?”
“Nothing… look! I have to go!” Gwen gets up and prepares to leave.
“Not before you answer my pergunta Guinevere!”
“I don’t have to answer anything to you, Arthur. This is your problem so stop dragging others in.”
“Like that dead man?”
“Stop talking about him, understand!” she points at him.
“I won’t until you tell me why does he interest you?” Arthur asks.
“You don’t know anything about him so don’t assume you do!”
“So now you know him?” he teases. Merlin shakes his head.
“Drop it Arthur…”
“Do you know him?”
“No.”
“Then why are you supporting him?”
“Because I think you’re stupid to blame your faults on him… that’s why”
“He’s stupid too… if he didn’t run across my car, he could be living too,”
“He didn’t run across your car Arthur, he was saving a life and risked his in return! Understand? And you know whose life he was saving? Mine!! Yes, my life. I was standing in the same path your car was heading and he pushed me aside only for you to run over him, killing him! And you know why he saved my life? Because he is my father!! Yes, Arthur Pendragon, the man you killed was my father!” Gwen tells Arthur and stands, glaring at him.