Ethan groaned, his eyes closing against the pain. Blood was splattered across his forehead.

"All of this to get out of some public speaking." Cal said, slightly shakily. Ethan opened his mouth, breath coming out rough and painful as he tried to speak.

"Don't try to speak." Cal reminded him, searching for his injuries. His hands lightly probed the sides of Ethan's pale chest. Ethan's arms shot up, and grabbed Cal's biceps, trying to weakly push him away. Cal moved his hands away, turning his hand to Robyn and voicing his diagnostic.

"Let's get an urgent x-Ray before we even think about a CT."

Cal stood back to let the nurses wheel Ethan away. His fear and worry for his little brother came flooding to his face. Cal's troubled eyes didn't leave Ethan for a second as he was pulled away.


Suddenly a rush of movement caught Cal's eye. Ethan was being swiftly wheeled into an empty room. Cal's eyes widened.

"What happened?" He demanded, rushing after his brother. Connie quickly examined the blond doctor lying on the bed in front of her, barely even hindered by the brace on her wrist. Cal barely even heard what she was saying, but the impact of her tone hit him hard. Ethan was not okay. Connie looked across Ethan to Cal.

"We need to do a pericardiocentesis right away." She exhaled sharply. "I can't risk it with my wrist, you're going to have to do it."

Cal stepped back slightly. Connie looked across at him.

"Cal?" She asked concerned. Cal shook himself out of his trance.

"Um, yeah." He breathed. "I'm, eh, going to need a..." He rattled off a list of medical equipment, Connie correcting him when he named the wrong size gauge.


Needle in shaking hands, Cal stepped up to the bed.

"45 degree angle." Connie reminded him. Cal nodded, holding back tears. Her slim fingers tapped near the centre of Ethan's chest. "Do it about here."

Cal lined the silver point up the mark that Connie had pointed out. Then he looked at Ethan's unconscious face and it was too much. He couldn't do it, not to Ethan. He dropped the needle back into the tray and backed off. A wavering hand covered his mouth and he looked hopelessly at his baby brother. The machine connected to Ethan changed it's tune to something much more urgent. Connie looked at Cal, gentle urgency tugging through her voice.

"If we don't do this now, we may lose him, okay?"

Cal nodded, and breathed out heavily. His hands were shaking even more horrifically than before as he picked the needle up once more. As he aligned it to the spot, a pair of soft, feminine hands glided over his, steadying them. They gently pulled back the plunger and Cal turned to the young doctor in surprise. He couldn't see much more than the black curls swept up into a hasty bun. She lifted her hands and head, and looked into Cal's eyes with her own startling green ones. She turned away, disappearing before Connie had even finished speaking.

"Just leave it there a moment," she looked across at Lofty. "We need a pericardial drain."

Cal did as she said, but now that his brother was out of danger, his mind was torn between Ethan and the mysterious doctor.