Prompt: Cal is suffering from a bad bout of the flu, Ethan is helping to take care of him, but manages to come down with it himself when Cal has recovered. Poorly Ethan, Caring Cal.
"Eth? Is that you?" Cal called, his voice croaking slightly.
"No, I'm an armed robber and I've come to steal the TV." Ethan called from the hallway, shrugging off his jacket and dumping his bag at the door, walking into the living room. An ill Caleb lay on the sofa, curled up in a blanket, a small smile on his face.
"Please don't, I've got another series of Friends to catch up on..." He said, sniffling and shuffling to sit up.
"How have you been today?" Ethan asked, sitting next to his brother, blinking as he felt himself become slightly dizzy.
"Better..." Cal said, blowing his nose. "I've not had to take any paracetamol since this morning, I've had plenty to drink, I've been taking my temperature and it's stayed pretty low, considering I've got flu..."
Ethan smiled, feeling his forehead and neck, nodding as he felt the difference in temperature compared to this morning. "That's good, you should be back on your feet tomorrow, maybe."
"Hopefully. Though I must admit, I'll miss lounging around all day, you waiting on me hand and foot..." Cal said with a faux wistful grin.
"Well, I certainly shall not, you're a very whiny, demanding patient..." Ethan chuckled, suddenly breaking into a short, chesty coughing fit.
Cal frowned, sitting up more. "You okay, Eth?"
Ethan sniffled, nodding. "Yes, I'm fine..." He said. Cal though otherwise as he saw his younger brother's pale, pinched face. His eyes had large dark circles underneath them, a faint red flush glowing on his cheeks, and he could tell by his expression that he was trying desperately to hold back an oncoming sneeze.
Cal quickly handed his the tissue box, just in time for Ethan to grab one and sneeze thrice. He groaned quietly as he head spun, leaning forward and resting it in his hands, closing his eyes.
"Nibbles?" Cal asked, sitting closer to his brother and rubbing his back.
"I'm fine, I promise..." Ethan said, sounding congested.
"Don't be daft, Ethan, I'm a doctor, and you're sick..." Cal said, reaching for the thermometer and placing it in Ethan's ear, waiting for it to take his temperature.
"38?" Cal said, wincing. "Oh dear, you need to get to bed, Nibbles..."
"Look, Caleb, I'm okay, so what if I've got a bit of a temperature and a cough? I'll manage..." Ethan said, sitting up. Cal sighed. Ethan had never enjoyed being ill, he always convinced himself that he could just pretend he wasn't sick and carry on with everyday life, often exhausting himself to the point of passing out, and, or, crying. Cal had seen it before, and was not about to let it happen again.
"Eth, please, you're going to tire yourself out and make yourself even worse..." Cal pleaded, resting his hand on his brother's shoulder in case he tried to stand up. "Come on, at least let me make you a drink and something to eat, you look famished..."
Ethan looked to Cal in the way he'd look at them when they were little and Ethan was painfully sad; his huge brown eyes would go glossy with tears, his bottom lip trembling as he looked desperately to his older brother for reassurance that everything would be okay... He nodded meekly and sat back into the couch, holding a cushion a Cal had been resting on to his chest, sighing as Cal shuffled off to go and make the tea.
"There we go," Cal said, returning to the living room with two mugs of tea and a piece of toast for Ethan. "Milk and two sugars, and I suppose dry toast is the only real thing you can keep down with flu- Eth?"
Ethan was half-asleep, in the same position he had been when Cal had left the room, looking exhausted and even more sickly than Cal.
"Nibbles..." Cal whispered. "Why didn't you say you felt ill?" He sat next to Ethan and handed him his tea.
Ethan slowly sat up straight, brow creasing as his head spun, quietly thanking Cal for the tea. "I, um... I didn't need you to worry about me, you're ill, you need to concentrate on getting better..."
"I think it's you who needs to take a break and get better, little brother..." Cal said empathetically, gently wrapping an arm around Ethan and pulling him closer, taking his glasses off for him and stroking his hair.
Ethan sipped his tea, the hot liquid soothing his burning throat momentarily, only for the dry pain to return seconds later. He closed his eyes, relaxing into Cal's touch. Cal smiled and hummed softly, resting his chin atop of Ethan's head, still stroking his curls.
"Try and eat something, Nibbles." He said, offering his the piece of toast.
Ethan reluctantly took it, living up to his nickname by nibbling the corner. Cal chuckled softly and took a swig of his own tea.
"I didn't actually eat anything today..." Ethan confessed. "I felt too sick..."
"You should've told someone you weren't feeling well..." Cal said softly. "Charlie, or Robyn, or Lofty- heck, even Lily would've understood..."
"Connie wouldn't though..." Ethan sniffled, placing the toast down. "You've heard her, always going on about how she can't afford weak staff on her team..."
"Ignore her, she's wrong, we all need a break sometimes," Cal said, "She's far too demanding; you're ill and you can't help it, you can't go in because, as well as risking the health of your patients, you'd only worsen your condition and end up being sent home anyway..."
Ethan groaned quietly. Cal was unsure if it was because of the pain, or the idea of facing Mrs. Beauchamp when he returned to full health.
"Listen, I'm probably going back in tomorrow anyway, I'll explain to her, yeah?" Cal offered, knowing how shy and scared a Ethan could be. "She can't get angry at you. I won't let her."
A small smile graced Ethan's face. "Thank you..." He said quietly, taking another sip of his tea before placing that down too.
"Good," Cal said, rubbing his back. "Now, I think an early night is needed." He said, glancing at the clock upon the wall, which read 9:30 PM.
The process of getting Ethan to bed proved to be more difficult than Cal had wanted. Despite all of the reassurance, Ethan was still stubbornly convinced he wasn't that ill, and shook Cal's guiding hand away from his shoulder, only to grow dizzy and disorientated due to his pounding headache, causing him to stumble and sway, Cal swooping in just in time to catch him before he fell.
"Woah there," He said, holding his brother steady. "Come on, you can kip in with me if you want."
Ethan grumbled, mumbling something under his breath about how he "wasn't a child anymore", but Cal could see that the offer had relieved, partially, the worried expression that creased his younger brother's face. He slowly led him into his own room, gently sitting Ethan down on the bed.
"Here, I'll go fetch your pyjamas and toothbrush." Cal offered, dimming down the lights a little, trying to get rid of anything that would make his little brother feel any worse.
He returned to the room with some pyjama pants and a t-shirt for Ethan, as well as his toothbrush (with a blob of toothpaste already on it.) handing them over to him before turning around to look for his own night-clothes.
Ethan begrudgingly changed into his pyjamas, brushing his teeth half-heartedly, standing to shuffle off to the bathroom to rinse his mouth. Cal couldn't help but accompany him, just to make sure he was okay. Ethan spat into the sink, looking up to see Cal and glaring playfully.
"I'm a full-grown man, Caleb, not a child." He said jokingly, unable to stop himself from smiling at his brother's thoughtfulness this past evening.
"You're still my little brother, Nibbles." Cal replied, poking his nose and leading him back to bed.
Ethan crawled into his side of the bed, practically asleep already. Cal bumbled around the room, searching for supplies in his bedside table, pulling out various painkillers and decongestants, fetching Ethan a glass of water and a cold compress.
"You really don't have to do this, you know..." Ethan said, looking down at the bedsheets.
"Hey, I'm your older brother, it's my job to take care of you," Cal said, sitting at the foot of the bed and popping the pills out of their packet, handing them over to Ethan, along with his glass of water. Ethan swallowed them, sipping the water as Cal stood and walked to the other side of the bed, carefully climbing in next to Ethan and fixing the sheets around them.
"There you go, all comfy cosy," He joked, dumping a couple of necessities, such as Ethan's old inhaler, onto his nightstand. "Lay back." He told Ethan.
Slightly confused, but more than eager to get some rest, Ethan placed his water down and shuffled to lay down, head resting half on the pillow, half on Caleb's shoulder. Cal gently pressed the cold compress against Ethan's forehead, chuckling softly as he heard him squeak at the sudden temperature change, but soon relaxing into it.
"There, you'll be better in no time, Nibbles." Cal said, lightly grazing it over his cheeks as well.
It didn't take long for Ethan to fall asleep, totally knocked out by the long and tiring day he had managed to survive. Cal looked down fondly at his sleeping brother, smiling sadly, as he knew the worst was yet to come...
He couldn't stand it when Ethan was sick. His little brother wasn't the type to say how he felt if he was ill, which really scared Cal, because if Ethan didn't tell him that he felt worse than the day before, Cal had no way of knowing how serious his condition was. Call him over-protective, but since the crash, Ethan was now his number-one priority, and he cared for his sibling deeply... despite the constant bickering, he loved his brother a lot, and wasn't prepared to see him in such pain as he did when the crash happened.
"Night, Nibbles." He whispered, stroking Ethan's hair back and switching the lights off completely.
Woo hoo! The beginnings of what I hope will be a successful chaptered fic!
It's kind of a bit plotless; just an excuse to waffle on about them being cute lol
The title came to me as a bit of an epiphany; I'm writing about poorly Ethan, and how, for Cal taking care of him, looking after his sick brother is no "cup of tea" woahhhh, what a radical pun
I'm yet to watch tonight's episode (16-01-16) because I'm actually sick myself; tonsillitis or some other nasty throat infection is floating around my school and I feel disgusting so I'm basically living vicariously through Ethan here haha
Anyway, if you enjoyed this chapter, please do rate and review, maybe even give it a follow to see what happens next? ;)
Thank you so much for all of your support, love you guys!